Richmond lfs

[giantxtc]

I was looking for advice on some local stores.I firstly am looking for fish,then corals.I need a mate for my Ocellaris clown,as well as a Tang of some sort.Small Tang,that is.I visit Strictly Marine every now and again,but I will be in the Richmond area sometime this week and wanted to check things out.Thanks!

[parker d]

will fish world no busy st. has the biggeat number of fish that i know of mike at strictly marine is the corals guy and there richmond aqu off of hull st. who has both

[Bass Master]

Joe (fish world) is out of ocellaris. Richmond Aquarium probably has some. Atlantis Marine had some yesterday.

[giantxtc]

Thanks for the leeds!

[Scarlett]

There's also Azalea Aquariums. It appears to be a hole-in-the-wall place, but we've gotten some cool stuff there before. They've got salt and fresh water goodies.

[Bass Master]

And if you play your cards right you can usually get at least 10% off your purchase. At azalea that is.

[bobherbertperry]

be sure to check out fin and feather on lakeside avenue as well, they are more than helpful all the time. richmond has a pretty good selection of LFS. all the others are good to check as well

[giantxtc]

Well,this afternoon I found a small false perc to pair up with my other.I visited Atlantis Aquarium,and they had a few to choose from.I put the little one in and they paired up immediately.I got very fortunate!They have been swimming around together since I introduced him.And,all the other fish have'nt paid him any mind at all.

[kellbot]

Perhaps this would be a good place to start compiling a list of LFS?

I am new to saltwater, so my LFS experiences around here may not be the same as yours (I'm sure there are some stores that have nicer freshwater than saltwater or vice versa) and I'm certainly not trying to pass judgement on any of these stores since I feel inadequately experienced to judge them. I'm just offering my observations.
I do consider myself a decent judge of staff courtesy though :) I work in customer service. I also have the misfortune of looking like a 15 year old, despite the fact that I'm in college and have been living in my own apartment for two years. You'd be amazed how many people treat me like a moron as a result of looking young. Nothing like getting approved for a mortgage and then heading over to 7-11 for a slurpee where they ask "are you even old enough to have a credit card?" But thats another rant alltogether.

My experiences are as follows, along with their distance from VCU (my only point of reference, sorry :( )

Fin and Feather: ~10 minutes north of VCU. A number of their tanks appeared to have dead fish, and many fish looked lethargic. However I only went there once in search of antibiotic goldfish pellets, so they may have just been having an off day. Carries both livestock (I only remember seeing fish but I wasn't looking for corals at the time) and supplies.

Azalea Aquariums: ~15 minutes northwest of VCU. Hole-in-the-wall store divided into two stores, freshwater and saltwater, but every time I've been in there their tanks look nice, the fish are active, and the staff is friendly and knowledgable. A decent amount of livestock (Fish and corals), and some supplies. I get all my plants there for my freshwater and have yet to have snail problems.

Atlantis Aquariums: West end off Pump Rd. Definatley the nicest display of the stores I've been to. Extremely well lit, lots of livestock (including tank-raised seahorses! yay! I'm a big fan of captive-raised livestock), gorgeous display tanks. Staff consists of a married couple who are very nice. Since they are an all-saltwater store and I'm still in the midst of setting up my saltwater tank, I can't really judge their merchandise.

I know of another store called Fish Tales, but I only stopped in there breifly looking for some Java Moss one day, and don't have a good. I know it's somewhere on southside, but I was lost when I happened to see it and stop by so I couldn't tell you where.

[corriewf]

I think that Marvin's Atlantis Aquariums is the best! They have tons of frags and Marvin is always willing to offer advice or refer to another LFS if he doesnt have what your looking for and knows a place that does.He seems to actually care about the tanks his corals are going into.Also gotta say his display tanks are the best with the addition of a new sps tank.

[corriewf]

I just wanted to add that yesterday I went down to strictly marine and they have an amazing store.I have never seen so many frags in one place.Their sps are amazing and prices are cheap.My buddy picked up a blue tort that had colors ive never seen on a tort and it was cheap too.If you ever have a few minutes to spare check out that lfs as its worth every little bit of the drive.

[hisc1ay]

-=shameless plug=-
And soon Mike will have a website where you can browse his selection from the comfort of your not-so far away home. :)
-=/shameless plug=-

-j

[corriewf]

Really?

[hisc1ay]

really.

[corriewf]

seriously?

[giantxtc]

That might be nice for me because it takes over an hour to get there.How come Mike has'nt mentioned it before?:rolleye1:

[Bass Master]

kellbot - Don't forget Fish World and Richmond Aquarium.

[corriewf]

Nice corals but overpriced imho.

[Bass Master]

This may be true, but if you have a problem with your coarl or fish it will be replaced at no cost instead of 1/2 credit. I have seen the invoices for drygoods and there isn't much mark-up at all. IMO Atlantis Aquarium and Fish World are the best localy. Strictly Marine is next, especially for corals.

[Charlie Davidson]

We are very lucky to have a good amount of stores in our area. I really believe someone from out of town - or in town should hear about all of them, visit them, and make thier own opinion.. Each shop has different things to offer, most of them have people in RRC (our group) and all of them are here because they love this Great hobby and I truly believe they help us in our efforts!

BTW, One not mentioned is cmoresps- If you love awsome corals! But-I Don't know if their website is up yet?

[corriewf]

So whats the deal with cmoresps? Is he selling frags out of his house or....?

[Bass Master]

WayneY has some of the best frags I've seen yet - selling out of his condo. He has an add in the trading post. IMO that will be short lived though. There are business' that have licenses' and overhead that won't put up with it if you get my drift. All of those business' have been mentioned in previous posts in this thread. I figure once they get wind of the "selling out of the house" thing there may be phone calls and license inspectors knocking on doors. JMO.
On another note - I have 3 different brains and 3 frags of green and pink frogspawn for sale. Please don't turn me in.

[AQUAN8TOR]

Very true, BassMaster!! I know of at least a couple incidences where people were shut down b/c of doing business out of the house. Kind of crappy, but on the other hand, I kinda understand. Double edged sword, b/c I'm on both sides....

[Bass Master]

Me too. I'm working on growing zoos. I have 13 different colonys I'm growing out. Nice ones. Those "orange" ones you gave me grow like crazy. I've got a frag for you when you're ready.

[mr294]

Originally posted by corriewf
So whats the deal with cmoresps? Is he selling frags out of his house or....?

No, cmoresps sells at frag swaps and will be selling from a new website that will be up and running in a couple weeks.

[cmoresps]

Thanks MR294, correct I DO NOT sell out of my house, and my site clearly states so. I do come to the meetings and will bring things with me. I do have a legitamite business license and am also registered with the state for sales tax purposes. The site will be complete in the next week (it better, advertising is real expensive!!), unfortunately there is an art to taking quality photos of your stock (particularly when you have 80+acros, especially when its high end sps). For local sales, I will either meet the buyer somewhere as other online vendors do, or if I can find a LFS to work with buyers could pick up their items at a local store.

I must admit I am amazed at the stories I hear from time to time in this business about incumbents trying to knock out new entrants, it is unfortunately cut throat. Let me state it this way, if I am good at what I do, have quality stock at good prices, why would I feel threatened by others? There is a big pie out there, plenty to go around without needing to get greedy.

[WayneY]

TO ALL IT MAY CONCERN I also am registered and licensed. My wife being a CPA and all I think we know what steps need to be taken to do things legitimately.

[Bass Master]

GLAD TO HEAR IT. You had some nice frags to choose from.

[Country Boy]

Well, Put a Yard Sale Sign for Coral in your Window at your house!

I used to have a friend that would go to yard sales at the end of the day and buy up peoples stuff and then take it to his house and resell it. Made Great money doing it might I add. He was partially disabled due to a back injury and this is the route he chose for making income. The state cannont stop you from having yard sales, and they do not require a business licence. ( Some County's might require you too notify them of yardsale) but I honestly dont see a problem with it! If the LFS stores cant hang with a good ol' boy making sum side money ( which im sure its not his main source of income) then why should any one be worrying about what he is doing.......?

[Bass Master]

Well, the obvious answer to your last q would be jealousy. LFS pay rent, employees and the list goes on. Not that it matters to me, but you can't blame them. I like the yard sale thing.

[corriewf]

Originally posted by cmoresps
Thanks MR294, correct I DO NOT sell out of my house, and my site clearly states so. I do come to the meetings and will bring things with me. I do have a legitamite business license and am also registered with the state for sales tax purposes. The site will be complete in the next week (it better, advertising is real expensive!!), unfortunately there is an art to taking quality photos of your stock (particularly when you have 80+acros, especially when its high end sps). For local sales, I will either meet the buyer somewhere as other online vendors do, or if I can find a LFS to work with buyers could pick up their items at a local store.

I must admit I am amazed at the stories I hear from time to time in this business about incumbents trying to knock out new entrants, it is unfortunately cut throat. Let me state it this way, if I am good at what I do, have quality stock at good prices, why would I feel threatened by others? There is a big pie out there, plenty to go around without needing to get greedy.

Once you get it up let me know and maybe we can work something out for getting a banner up on saltcreep for ya.