Which LFS pulls the nicest corals ??

[xCry0x]

I like Aquatic Collection, but I have only been to aquatic collection, aquarium concepts and Atlantis.

Aquarium concepts in dublin has hands down the best fish selection but their corals are kind of blah unless you want a big frag of some generic LPS. A lot of the cheaper smaller frags are on rocks that are half covered in dead skeletons as opposed to a clean frag plug.

Aquatic collection is great because they have a ton of frags in all price ranges and everything is clean and healthy looking.

 

[davskee]

That is because that strawberry watermelon did originally come from him.

Correct that watermelon he has alot of people got from him and renamed it to other names like Ultimate Frags.

 

[Avaron]

Went to a few aquariums for the fist time last week:

Atlantis - kinda ghetto because the hydroponic store closed on the other side. The coral pricing didn't seem too bad.

Aquatic Central - I liked their display and thought it was easy to peruse. That said, their saltwater fishes downstairs were in bad health. A number of them were dead in the tanks and tanks were full of detritus.

Neptunes - I was overwhelmed by their selection. I couldn't believe how many corals they had. Definitely the best selection for SPS. Price was high but this store is hands down the best for corals in my opinion.

As for fish, I still favor going to Steve at Lucky Ocean...

 

[Chris Sims]

[violation]

 

[sfpd]

Wow, now the owner of every LFS is watching this thread. Interesting!!!!

 

[eldiablosrt8]

Threads like this are really useful, thanks to all members who reply. I just wanted to say thanks to my customers also for supporting me. It's not easy having a life, let alone kids, outside a business like this. I'll be interested to see how any of the other stores fare as soon as they join my club. That being said, it's no excuse for shortcomings, and finding good help is very hard, so anyone ever interested, come talk to me !!!

Chris

I feel you on this chris, it makes for some long weeks. I have 2 kids(4yrs old and 1 yrs old) and a wife. I also have a show car that actually requires more time than the shop,LOL.

I am glad to see what people think about the stores im also glad to be friends with a few of the other owners of these stores mentioned. Ive learned alot in these last 8 months since moving from a garage operation to store front, and i wouldnt change anything. You guys rock and we appreciate all the remarks good and bad......

 

[Doppler17]

It is good for them to watch threads like these. Everyone can still be learning. This hobby is not perfect and has made many advances in the last several years. Feed back for store owners can be a huge benefit to customers if taken to heart.

Being a beginner to the hobby threads like these can definitely sway me as far as where i should go to look for new goodies . I live in Oakley , so the closest LFS to me is a good 25 minutes at least away. And I would rather double thatdrive time if i know I am going to go to a store the is an A++ grade store versus a C grade store. Quality matters...

 

[fishmonger007]

I think it's a good thing owners are watching these threads.. It shows they care and want to improve. Why would you want a store that didn't give a crap?

Btw, what does a fat chalice look like?

 

[davskee]

Yeah I hear fat chalices have a short life cause of high cholesterol.

 

[Robert4025]

I feel you on this chris, it makes for some long weeks. I have 2 kids(4yrs old and 1 yrs old) and a wife. I also have a show car that actually requires more time than the shop,LOL.

I am glad to see what people think about the stores im also glad to be friends with a few of the other owners of these stores mentioned. Ive learned alot in these last 8 months since moving from a garage operation to store front, and i wouldnt change anything. You guys rock and we appreciate all the remarks good and bad......

+1 you guys.

I swear, if I don't love this hobby so much, I would've walked away from this industry couple years ago. For the amount of crappy work and time us shop owners have to put in everyday and nights, we can easily earn twice as much holding a 9-5 job. Honestly, if I knew then what I know now, I wouldn't do it. Just too much work and not enough in return. Blah...too late now so we just chug along...it is what it is...lol.

 

[SALTWATERSIG]

Tough crowd here


My personal experience has been very good with Aquatic collections , Diablo corals , Neptunes , due to being located closer to areas I frequently visit. It does help greatly when I receive emails or facebook updates on what they just got in stock. The only time I order coral online is if its something that is not common in our area or the color uncommon and bright. down side is its usually a very small frag or color is not what you expected .

Not only is it rare to find good live goods but just as important is being able to build a freindship with the stores owners especially when they do care about the livestock as well. After all ......we are all hobbiest at heart.

Thank you Karson & joe (Aquatic collections) , Jesse (Diablo corals), and Cerissa (Nepunes) but not the mean older guy that works with her (I think it her father, goes by the name of Robert) .

 

[Ninjapotamus]

aquatic collection is my favorite.. seems like they get new stuff more frequently than any other store. Neptune is also great.

 

[650-IS350]

This gives them a perspective of what people think of their stores?

 

[sfpd]

Let's hope for the best to come soon.

 

[SUGO]

Neptune and Aquatic Collections are my only two spots worth going (yet to try Diablo).

Atlantis use to be one but selection is poor and prices are too high. They hardly have a dry good selection.

 

[tcoral]

I can't imagine what the PG&E bill looks like since many places are running halides on the coral tanks, not to mention all of the other equipment required to run the store. Or the yearly replacement cost for bulbs. I really think people fail to realize that all of the LFS are doing what we're doing at home (in terms of tank upkeep) but on a much larger scale. And this doesn't include the customer service aspect, such as handing out mochas to our wives and Capri-Suns to our kids, as well as the back room with the couches and Wii hooked up to the TV to keep our families occupied. Got your attention there did I? LOL

Maybe this is a good time to thank all of our LFS for bringing us the good, no, great stuff and going the extra mile to look for the things we want in our tanks. I can honestly say that I've never felt the need to shop online since I'm very happy with what I see in our stores. This is a departure from my normal shopping habits -- if Amazon starts selling livestock, then you guys might be in trouble.

+1, also doesn't do any good to get a bargain and then have it die in your tank due to improper collection/handling/care before reaching you. Cheaper isn't always better, I frequent stores with healthy livestock and have a track record of staying alive in my tank . I love coming up to the Bay Area frag swaps so I can hit the LFS you have, and the ones listed are ones I like to see .

Plus think how tough it is for fish stores with local fish tanks and "I've got that already" That's why it's nice to see what other City's LFS are carrying, and must make LFS owner's lose sleep at night figuring out what people want to buy and then keep it alive until somebody buys it.

 

[Ninjapotamus]

ive only been to atlantis once... the big tank up front is the only thing worth looking at. the tanks in the back are full of the generic corals that every lfs seems to stockpile over time because they dont sell.

however... when i asked if they sell out of the front tank they said yes....awesome! then i asked them the prices... they didnt know. your selling out of the tank and you dont know the prices? I think the owner wasn't around and the workers had no idea how to price or frag the corals. not very professional IMO. ill probably go back, but it definitely wont be one of my weekly stops.

aquatic central... same thing. walked in the store just to the left there are a bunch of nice z/p in a tank. Awesome im going to buy some!... wait... nvm. owner isnt here, employees cant sell them. I drove up from san jose for that?

Diablo corals... small store with some charm, lots of frags for only a couple tanks, but the nice z/p tank had a lot of algae on the plugs. From what I Could see The cleanup crew for this tank was 1 purple tang and some cerith snails. this tank could be very nice but it needs a major CUC overall before the corals are worth buying. Prices were good if the plugs in this tank were cleaner. I noticed that the small plugs with algae were mostly the same type of plug... I would bet that these plugs are leaching and feeding the algae growth in this tank...

 

[sfpd]

Ninja, I definitely feel u on that one. Drove all the way from sj without scored anything. I would be disappointed and frustrated at the same time.

 

[SALTWATERSIG]

Ninja, I definitely feel u on that one. Drove all the way from sj without scored anything. I would be disappointed and frustrated at the same time.

Idk. Not scoring/spending $$$ sounds like a win/win situation at the end of the day. Lol

 

[scoly]

I travel down that way as much as I can, and when I do, neptunes is my main focus for my trip. I come from redding. Robert and his wife treat me and my friends with upmost respect! And for that I try to bring as much business as I can! Aquatic collections are next on my hit list, never leave empty handed! And like Robert, they always give me really good deals! They know I have to travel quite a ways to see them! They all make me feel like we are friends. Jess at diablo, just met him at a swap in sac a few months ago, then went to a swap at his store recently, he treats me good also, has some really cool stuff. Keep up the good work!! To all that are comparing, u guys don't know how lucky you are to have stores like those in your area!!! Our selection up here really stinks if you are into high end pieces!! I know when I travel down to that area, I'm always coming home with some beautiful pieces! My favorite place to shop ANYWHERE is neptunes!!

Dwayne