!*!*!*!*!*!*! LFS or ONLINE STORE VISITS !*!*!*!*!*!*!

[bump3rb33tl3]

@Humblefish , pretty sure @bump3rb33tl3 will be happy to join as well, she always talks about you on the Houston forum :)

Absolutely! Lunch is on me ;-)

 

[Humblefish]

City pets is the oldest pet store in Houston I must say.
Next time you here I'll take you on a tour my friend.

Will be there Jan 2nd (when wife's new job starts). Perhaps sooner if we decide to scout out the area beforehand. :D

 

[Humblefish]

@Humblefish , pretty sure @bump3rb33tl3 will be happy to join as well, she always talks about you on the Houston forum :)

I have a fan in Houston!? :eek: Don't tell my Louisiana peeps. :p

 

[Diesel]

Will be there Jan 2nd (when wife's new job starts). Perhaps sooner if we decide to scout out the area beforehand. :D

So Houston will be it for you Bobby?

 

[Diesel]

I have a fan in Houston!? :eek: Don't tell my Louisiana peeps. :p

They want you to speak in the up coming show in april 1st.
Your friend Jared (as he brags about you on your daily text with him) is sitting on his knees to the BOD's here in Houston.
I have my own opinion about it but that's not really relevant as drama is every where :mad:

 

[Humblefish]

So Houston will be it for you Bobby?

Our first couple of weeks (or possibly months) will be spent in Houston as wife trains for new job. Once they feel she is ready, she will be allowed to choose between Houston & Austin offices. I know... we can be indecisive people. ;)

 

[Diesel]

Our first couple of weeks (or possibly months) will be spent in Houston as wife trains for new job. Once they feel she is ready, she will be allowed to choose between Houston & Austin offices. I know... we can be indecisive people. ;)

Hey you have the best of both.......... what else you want!!
Austin is only two hours out, that is what the average driver spend in traffic in Houston.

 

[Humblefish]

Hey you have the best of both.......... what else you want!!
Austin is only two hours out, that is what the average driver spend in traffic in Houston.

Maybe we'll live in a rural area in-between the two. :p

 

[Diesel]

Bastrop is right in the middle.
Except when it's on fire................

 

[bump3rb33tl3]

I have a fan in Houston!? :eek: Don't tell my Louisiana peeps. :p

Lol!

 

[nervousmonkey]

Can I ask which sites?

Sure!
Battle Corals
ORA
Route 66
Eye Catching Corals
Unique Corals
Cherry Corals
ReefGen

 

[jason.kennedy.98478]

Theres only 1 pet store that's not a big box brand with in 3 hours of me. They are a SW/reef store though and about 30 to 45 minutes away. They have some nice zoas and lps and will order anything you want. But i have to drive 3 hours to spokane or portland to find a store that stocks beyond immediate sale needs, so online is a must and they don't stock any dry goods.

 

[jeffrey holloway]

I have two LFS in my area, both are dumps. But thanks to them I got introduced to just about every known pest in the hobby. No choice but to shop online. A few weeks ago I called both looking for some potassium. They asked what I needed it for. Told them I was running the Zeovit system and the zeovit deplets the potassium. They both gave the how many years they have been in the hobby and have never heard of zeovit answer. I have had better luck Petco!

 

[DED65]

I have two reef stores in my area. I bought my first tank and live rock from one (before I knew what to look for, my fault.). As a bonus, they gave me Aiptasia that I kill on a regular basis. I tried to support them (try to shop locally), but they never have anything new in stock, unless you want dead fish and corals. One will place orders and get items for me, the other I placed two orders and never received a call. I find it easier to buy what I want online and receive quality stuff. I had a little run in with the owner of one, who did not want to take responsibility for an improperlly stored item. I am not bashing as I explained the entire situation to him. I work in a customer service industry and the customer always comes first and I expect this in return. I think the local stores have a tough time staying open with online competition, but they do need to compete a little! I will not buy any livestock at Petco.
I shop online at;
Live Aquaria
Bulk Reef Supply
Pacific East Aquaculture
Blue Zoo Aquatics
Unique Corals
Algae Barn
Drs. Foster and Smith
And the big daddy, Amazon Prime

 

[bump3rb33tl3]

I have two reef stores in my area. I bought my first tank and live rock from one (before I knew what to look for, my fault.). As a bonus, they gave me Aiptasia that I kill on a regular basis. I tried to support them (try to shop locally), but they never have anything new in stock, unless you want dead fish and corals. One will place orders and get items for me, the other I placed two orders and never received a call. I find it easier to buy what I want online and receive quality stuff. I had a little run in with the owner of one, who did not want to take responsibility for an improperlly stored item. I am not bashing as I explained the entire situation to him. I work in a customer service industry and the customer always comes first and I expect this in return. I think the local stores have a tough time staying open with online competition, but they do need to compete a little! I will not buy any livestock at Petco.
I shop online at;
Live Aquaria
Bulk Reef Supply
Pacific East Aquaculture
Blue Zoo Aquatics
Unique Corals
Algae Barn
Drs. Foster and Smith
And the big daddy, Amazon Prime

I too won't buy livestock from Petco, however I did rescue a Yellow Tang from there after I convinced the manager to give him to me. He was gracious in acknowledging that they are really not equipped to handle diseased and deformed fish. After the poor thing was in his itty bitty holding tank for 4 months he (the manager) had lost hope anyone would want him as he was deformed and no one wanted a less than perfect looking fish. Disease had claimed his entire dorsal fin. So I reached out to a buddy of mine who I knew had an available QT set up and asked him if he could take him in if I could convince them to give him to me. It's been a month now and Kronk (what the kids named him) is doing very well! I can only assume that he had built up quite an immunity after being surrounded by ich and velvet almost daily! Guess im just happy this little guy's story has a happy ending and the manager at Petco did right in this situation :-)

 

[shred5]

Yes, I must say @Battlecorals "Adam" and the @The Coral Kings "Dan" here are the to go to SPS vendors on R2R.

Yea and Adam is local for me...
Actually I have not been there in a long time. I need to get there more often..
We also have a LFS that is not too bad called best fish.
We have had garbage for so many years. also have a few others now that are turning it around.

My Favorite online vendor is KPaquatics.

 

[alyee5]

I bought my tank/sump/skimmer/lights from a local LFS who was well known in the area and just started his own shop.

I buy all my livestock at another LFS and haven't had any health issues. I always seem to buy something when I drop by whether it be food and filter etc just to feel that I am supporting a local business.

That being said I have to say that Bulk Reef Supply and Amazon Prime are the go to's for me for any support equipment and chemical supplies and sundry impulse buys.

Still trying out corals.
Used another LFS - coral had aiptasia, bubble algae and maybe some strange worm- QT helped weed most of that out.

Used Aqua SD recently and had a good experience. The losses I've had in QT are my fault- I need to research and execute better.

 

[Opus]

I would like to support the LFS but all the good ones are so far away. The one good store closed a few months back because the owner was having health issues. It seems every highway in our area is under construction so the 45 minute drive usually ends up taking 2 hours. We have a very good SPS store in Fish2morrow but because of the time issue I only make it over there a couple of times a year. In the early 2000's I used to go to 4 or 5 stores every weekend. Then the kids started getting into rec sports so my weekends are now spent watching their games. I do order a lot more now online, usually thru one of the live sales. I usually just wait to the end and pick from the left overs.

One thing not mentioned is the local frag swaps. We are lucky and we have 5 to 7 spread out over the year. Usually have a few national vendors at some of them. I can pick up some really good deals there. That is where I got my Walt Disney and RR Pink Floyd frags for more than half off of what I've seen online. Considering hitting the beer frag swap next month down your way. I don't drink so the beer part is lost on me.

 

[BigJim]

The local stores in my area have a good fish selection, but don't carry many corals I like. I buy most fish locally so I can observe them first. There is a store about an hour away where I buy some coral, but I buy most coral online or at frag swaps. Jason Fox is local, so he is at almost every frag swap and I can order from him and pick up locally.

 

[Brogratz]

Definitely prefer LFS, however sadly the LFS in my area really don't meet my needs 90% of the time. In the last year I have seen the only decent store in my area start to go downhill. The store is dirty, they tend to bring in more fish than corals. The corals they do bring in are generally cheap stuff I have no desire to buy or own. So lately my LFS is over 2 hours away in another state lol. I would buy online, but everyone that does always complain that what they got looks nothing like the photo.