oceans floor is awful, make the drive to DARK LORD CORALS!!

[dukey787]

Today, my friend and I tooled around the greater chicagoland area going to fish stores. First off, we went to this place in north aurora called reef plus...dont even waste your time.

Then we went to DARK LORD CORALS....i must admit, we were both skeptical at first as we realized this store was based in the basement of someones house....but when we got in there, man, it was prob one of the most impressive setups I have ever seen. Very VERY kind people, nice frags. The brains were by far the healthiest and brightest brains I have ever seen in this area. The prices were fair, and because we came all the way from rockford, he threw in 2 free frags on the house. We prob spent over an hour in that house, and it was definately well worth it. They have some of the most colorful things that I have seen in a long time.

Color? Yes, this is something that OCEANS FLOOR LACKSSSSS! this store, the first time i went into it a year ago, was great. The sps tank was full of life and color, even though the fish selection was down. Well, Dave, this genious, decided to move his light fixtures down closer to the sps tank, or else he added more light/power because everything in that store is brown. The sps selection was the worst I have ever seen. EVERY CORAL WAS BURNED and had no color to it at all. This place has gone down hill very fast, and I fully intend on not giving them the time of day to drive down there any more. I am sick of the lackluster selectoin and most importantly health of their product. Hell, waynes could do better, no joke.

So, what i am trying to say is this, quit wasting your time with oceans floor, dave first of all makes up the prices off the top of his head, and makes you feel like a idiot if you are not part of the reef "elite" who has every gadget and knows all the lingo. His selection is now colorless, and his store, from a rockford dweller's perspective, isnt worth the haul anymore. Contrary to this, you are better off spending another 40 minutes or so going to Dark Lord, because I guarantee you will actually be satisfied when you leave, and also join in on good conversation with the owners. IM DONE WITH OCEANS FLOOR

[svb57]

I have a question....it says you have a 220g FOWLR...is that your only tank? Just Curious.

Jim Mc

[dukey787]

yes, but my friend owns a full blown reef tank, and since we work together, i see his tank every day and he sees mine almost every day, so we are both familiar with the fish side of things and the reef side of things, and what to expect from both

[PeterC2508]

I am going to have to side with Dukey on this one. I'm not sure what bomb blew up in oceans floor, but when I was in there last week it wasn't pretty. Their new zero zoo tank didn't have anything in it but crap brown softies. i also noticed in the sps tanks that the color that I had previously enjoyed was absent. i spent about ten minutes just staring in awe of what happened until I saw evidence of what was happening. i noticed an acro that was half blue and the rest brown. I don't know what happened or what is causing this but Dave needs to fix it fast, I expected more from him. I was also astonished at the fish selection. Petland has more. I probably wont go in there for a while. This store has been going down hill for the past six months, but the constant advertisements of specials has lured me. i am sick of the excuses from Dave that his stock was depleted form these so called specials. Oceans Floor no longer has my business.

On the hand I did see the set up at Dark lord. i found it interesting that he acclimates his corals with T5s. This might be why all of Dave's corals are fried. I reccomend this store to anyone who is looking for sps or lps. Prices are resonable and the owners are welcoming.

[goat585]

Dukey,

You are more than entitled to your opinion on Oceans Floor but Dave has been extremely generous and supportive to our club. He donates many items to us for raffles and has held meeting for us at his store. I have been to his store a number of times and have always received great service and have picked up many nice items from them. I have not been there in the last month so I don't know if things have changed or he got in a poor shipment of corals. I also do not keep SPS corals so I will not comment on the quality. I am sure other members will chime in.

By the way I have not been to DLC but plan to head out there soon.

Thanks

[PeterC2508]

Why do we have to bring Dave's personality into the conversation? Can we please just talk about the quality of the store without considering dave's personality as a factor in the quality of his livestock.

[dukey787]

I know dave can be a nice guy, im not saying otherwise. This isnt like a personal vendetta against the guy, this is against his livestock, and from what i saw today, and the last time i went there, it isnt good at all and just seems to be getting worse. i

[goat585]

Peter,

I am simply stating my opinion on the store just like you guys are.. I have gone to plenty of stores that had great livestock but there prices were terrible and the people who work there are jerks. I would prefer to go to a store with someone who will help you out.

Here are the last to corals I bought from them a month ago.

http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w249/goat585/IMG_2166.jpg

http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w249/goat585/IMG_2169.jpg

I think the quality is pretty good.

[dukey787]

goat, those are sure nice looking. I know that he has sold some nice things, it just gets frustrating when you make the trek 3 times in a row now and see the same things happening in each tank. Whether the corals are stressed or bleached is one thing, but it just is like, "why did i come here for this"...but yea, your corals do look good and healthy!

[dukey787]

since i am apparently embattled in a war with chicagoins, if you disagree with me fine, thats what forums are for, but if you are here to turn me into a mod, claim the bashing card, or else say no, dave is nice, so his store cant have a bad selection, then please remove this posting. This is my opinion, whether good or bad, i think im entitled to it, and its not a ploy to make you all hate dave and give your money to dark lord corals, they didnt pay me on the side to do this

[SHowald72]

I was there a month ago and then again last weekend. There were only a few new SPS there, that was dissappointing. I knew what I was looking for though and since his selection was down he was very generous with the size of the frags and the discounts he gave me. It seems to me that he is taking most of his new SPS and his rare ones to his new propagation facility. That could be the main reason for the low selection. As for the coloration, I try and look past that and more to the health of the corals. Every frag I have gotten from him so far is doing great. As far as pricing goes, he seems to get more generous if he knows you are willing to spend a little more.

I can't wait to go to DLC but as for now, I have no complaints with the OF.

[goat585]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10330914#post10330914 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by dukey787
since i am apparently embattled in a war with chicagoins, if you disagree with me fine, thats what forums are for, but if you are here to turn me into a mod, claim the bashing card, or else say no, dave is nice, so his store cant have a bad selection, then please remove this posting. This is my opinion, whether good or bad, i think im entitled to it, and its not a ploy to make you all hate dave and give your money to dark lord corals, they didnt pay me on the side to do this

I think you are entitled to your own opinion as I and everyone else on this board is. I have no issues with people expressing their opinions and discussing our experiences with eachother. This is why we started the club to learn from eachother. I do hope at some point you attend our club's events and share your experiences with us.

Maybe your experience could be a result of him starting the new facility. I would not be surpised if his selection is dwindling for the time being well he is trying to stock both locations. I know he was planning on setting up 4-8 large troughs to grow coral in.

Anyways I think why people are up in arms is the title of you post. If your opinion was presented differently you might have gotten a better response. I do agree that it is frustrating to drive a long distance and to be disappointed in a store a few times in a row. Everytime I have been to Ocean's floor they have not had a very good selection of fish because he was "low" on inventory but he has always made up with it by good deals on corals and equipment I have bought from him.

[geo]

Starting a thread to continue a closed topic is not a good idea. I suggest this be your last post on this subject.