is clayton pet emporium any good?

[fishhead14]

Ive been going to saltwater city since i started my tank. They got me set up in what seemed to be the right way, and i know that they did set me up right. What clayton pet emproium told me to do though, completely contradicted what saltwater city told me to do, so im not too wild about them. I still buy all of my livestock from swc, but i recently went into pet emporium just to look, and it was pretty impressive. There livestock looks great. Im just wondering how it is. They still dont seem as knowledgeable as swc though. I called them and pretended to not know anything, and they told me that i could just use tap water for the tank, as long as i mixed the salt in first, so thats not good. Plus i noticed that after many years of being a store, they finally remodeled after saltwatercity moved in. Anyway, is there livestock good?

[witche42]

hi there,
just thought i would put my litttle 2 cents in. i like swc and clayton both the same with clayton in front just a tad. due to the fact that i don't buy those $100 corals but buy the smaller ones up in the front tanks that are $25 alot of other stores don't price their corals so i feel like i am going to a car dealer's lot. i don't like that, having to ask what the prices are and such i did go into swc the other week and he now has his tanks setup so they are grouped pricewise, so i will start going back there more often. plus the prices seem a little better there at swc for larger colonies. clayton is for sps and swc for lps andsofties in my opinion. if your tank setup is working, i wouldn't change anything. as far as the water thing goes, some districts have decent water but i still run mine through an ro filter just incase.

steven

[fishhead14]

thanks. I also get ro/di water, but anyway, Is the livestock at clayton pet emporium healthy? Do you have any complaints about their corals and fish?

[planker]

I didn't get any livestock from them yet but the LR i got was great, fully cured. I don't remember the price but it was very reasonable. and did not get covered with algea like my other more expensive LR i got else where

[billwynne]

have been buying from clayton pet for over a year. all livestock I've bought has been healthy. They've nicely upgraded their corals of late.

[TooFar2Sea]

I have been visiting Clayton Pet Emporium for many years. Although we do not always agree on methods (I like sand, they don't use it, etc) I have always found their livestock to be first rate. As for water, ironically, I purchase my RO at CPE, so I am there a lot. The new set up is spectacular.
The prices between CPE and SWC are comparable with maybe CPE being a bit cheaper concerning fish. Coral pricing is never an exact science and I have seen great deals at both stores.

[steviep]

I've bought many fish and some corals from Clayton Pet, their newly upgraded setup is pretty nice and I'm interested to see it once they complete the other side. Saltwater City has some nice corals also, but I have never been very impressed with the look of their fish. I'm not sure (don't quote me) but I believe that Clayton Pet keeps copper in their fish only tanks, while Saltwater City does not. It just seems that SWC's always got some fish in there that look like they aren't doing too well.

Steve

[TimsReef]

There is no doubt that Clayton uses copper. If you buy a fish from them they'll tell you that and warn you not to get any of the water into your system.

[Wyzird42]

That's interesting, I've bought 2 fish from Clayton Pet, and they did not mention copper either time. (Thank goodness I don't transfer water just out of habit)

I do know they use hypo-salinity, about 1.019.

I will agree that usually the fish there look very good, but I did see a horribly underfed regal tang there yesterday. I have been told they keep fish for at least 2 weeks before they sell them.

Also, I'd suggest you know your fish before you go there. They said they were sure a fish I was buying was an orchid dottyback, but it turned out to be the more aggressive magenta dottyback. (sigh) Luckily it was very small, and it has worked out OK so far.

Wyzird42

[saltyrenee]

I have found them very helpful. Prices are a bit high but I don't mind supporting the local economy. We did buy our new 80g acrylic bowfront from them. Came with some minor scratches on the inside and Jan gave us acrylic polish for free; we really didn’t need it. Also honored a quote on the tank that was $200 less than actual. Got an 80 gal bow for about the same price for a 90 gal. rectangle. The staff is always nice, by far the one of the best LFS in St. Louis, if you can actually say that about any LFS.

Live rock is first rate. I checked into it and the owners, Jan and Gary are actually partners in the facility they receive the rock from in Fiji and Tonga. Check out www.waltsmith.com under staff.

Darin