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Thumper1
02/19/2005, 12:14 PM
About the only time i have to go around to the different stores is on Mondays and by this time of the week most all of the cool corals and fish are taken. Does anyone know if any of the stores recieve stock in on Mondays? I would like to catch somebody when they get their new stufff in.

SoonerReefer
02/19/2005, 02:39 PM
Check out Aquarium Oddballs they usually get orders in on Monday evenings,he got a nice order in lastweek awesome live rock and fish!

lanamarks
02/19/2005, 04:59 PM
Anyone know the phone number for Aquarium Oddballs?

Travis L. Stevens
02/20/2005, 10:35 AM
I know that it's not a Monday, but sometimes Ultimate reefs gets Tuesday shipments. They usually come in right before he opens the store

TheMcs
02/20/2005, 10:55 AM
Aquarium Oddballs is 831-0099

quaz
02/21/2005, 12:02 PM
Ultimate Reefs has a friday shipment but is pretty picked through by monday. This week will have a large tuesday order though

P.S. Ultimate Reefs SPS tank is up and running with the new t5 lights. If you have frags to trade they are welcome or not, we'll be ordering some with clams as well. Keep an eye on UR

TheMcs
02/21/2005, 02:10 PM
Cool! Looking forward to my next visit there!

jessisimpsonfan
02/27/2005, 01:13 AM
You should definatly go to oddballs. They have good prices and you always get your moneys worth there unlike some of the other stores in tulsa!! They dont mark up things so much as the other stores do. Definatly my fav store of them all.

keckles
02/27/2005, 02:41 AM
Scott, at Aquarium Oddballs, is an awesome guy. He is a great guy to work with, always helpful and has very reasonable prices. I was in desperate need of an aquarium stand tonight. I called him 10 minutes after closing time and he stayed there until I arrived to pick it up. Not only that, but he gave me an amazing price. :thumbsup: to Scott

DJ88©
03/02/2005, 02:53 AM
Cichlid67,

I notice that you and jessisimpsonfan are posting from the same computer. Strange coincidence don't you think?

plus you are both posting about a store in your area. And I see you have posted about this store on more than one occasion. In both cases you and jessisimpsonfans first posts are about this store. Over half of yours are. Very interesting.

As of right now it is looking like you have some form of relationship with the store in question. What am I going to find if I do some more digging?

I will ask that you please take a careful read of the [ua] you agreed to here on RC. shilling commercial businesses is not something we take lightly here. It is frowned upon actually.

I am going to have to ask you to contact me immediately regarding this situation. my email is dj88@reefcentral.com If I don't hear form you within 48 hours I will have no choice but to suspend your cichlid account as well. Two accounts is a no no here on RC. Two accounts shilling a business is a big no no.

Cheers

Thumper1
03/02/2005, 09:24 AM
Could be the computer at the homeless shelter,LOL
It does sound a bit fishy now that you mention that.

TheMcs
03/02/2005, 12:50 PM
As much as I like Scott and Gena, and the store, I don't like going there because every time we are there we get to hear something negative about another store. I noticed the plugging too.
I understand trying to get a new business going and marketing, but the Oddballs gang needs a new approach. They've got a very promising store with and pretty solid customer base this early in the game. Don't ruin it by trying to point out the negative of your competitors. In the end it only makes one store look bad.

DJ88©
03/02/2005, 01:10 PM
Hey guys n gals.

If you see something that you don't think is appropriate in a post or thread. There is a link at the bottom of each post. "Report this post to a moderator".

By letting us know we can keep the forums as they are meant to be. Free from "hidden" agendas and postings. Misleading posts are exactly that. Misleading. And it doesn't do anyone anygood.

A store should build its customer base on its merits. :)

Travis L. Stevens
03/02/2005, 07:02 PM
I know this thread was started by someone else for a different reason, but just because youre moderating it at the moment, I would like to ask out of pure speculation about two different people using the same computer with different accounts. I know that my wife would rather have her own account name if she wanted to post as well as my brother-in-law and his room mate. Though they don't share the same interest as I do about reef aquariums, we all still use the same computer. Is this still looked down upon?

As regards to the comment(s) posted above about the negatives of a certain store, the positives of another and being caught with the same computer for two different accounts, I feel that this plugging is useless in my eyes. Ive seen the good and bad from both of these stores and my advice to everyone is to take it with a grain of salt creep =P Not everyone has the same experiences in the same store. I recommend just going out and finding out what the best store is for you. I personally prefer Ultimate Reefs and Paws but EVERYONE will disagree with me in some way shape or form, but lets be a little more responsible with our postings. Personally, I think that all these "store" related posts need to be wrapped up in one thread as to not confuse or stray anyone's personal opinions. If they want to read it, they can, if they don't, we won't make them.

I started to feel a little worried once I started to see all these postings about stores and different "plugs". I really felt rather uncomfortable to know that someone was asked to leave a certain store, but that is probably something that might not have been posted in the first place.

Anyways, that's enough of my ramblings, and I'm hoping I don't get in trouble for this either. But I just thought that I would put in my opinion on this as well. Let's all try to keep this as civilized as we can. Let's try not to name any stores when offering opinions. Name stores when offering facts. Such as "Ultimate Reefs put some T5s on the display tank." Thats the truth. But should not by any means someone should say that Ultimate Reefs is better than Aquarium Oddballs because of this fact. I hope that makes sense.

I hope that wasn't out of line DJ88. Sorry, if it was.

DJ88©
03/02/2005, 08:56 PM
Travis,

Not out of line. Far from it. :)

The best thing to do in a situation where it is a husband and wife is to let others know. In a post works best. Put it in your signature. Just make it known in some way shape or form. Then if something comes up as it did here the staff will see it in the posting history. Now this can be misused and that is where the gut instinct and experience the staff here has comes in. After a while you can read between the lines and see a post for what it is. With a little investigation if things still don't add up then something is done. Whether it is right away or later on when more proof is at hand will depend on the situation.

What it comes down to with this thread is a bit of experience with posts that are "shills". They differ greatly from regular everyday postings made by say a husband and wife duo. Or any regular poster for that matter.

Prior to me making my first post here I did some searching and made some confirmations before suspending the second account. I can't go into all of it but needless to say I don't just ban and ask questions later if there is a clear demonstration of something "fishy".

Plugging may be useless in your eyes and that is a good thing, base feelings and thoughts about a business on personal experenice is the best way to go about it. Sometimes tho you can't really do that and the posts such as these can be used to forma sound decision. Not everyone looks at posts on the internet with a grain of salt tho. They take them as gospel. I have seen many people who were shocked to learn the truth about another person posting as a 'customer'. I have seen too many businesses do this in the last few years. And I would rather that the members here on Reef Central get the most truthful and unbiased opinions about a store from customers NOT the owners or representatives of a store.

I walk this line all the time. I have worked at one of the biggest suppliers in the hobby for Canada for over a year. Once I did I ceased all postings about that store as I am biased due to the fact it is my job. Not everyone does this and I don't think it is fair. It isn't really.

Normally I wouldn't answer all the Q's.. but You have some valid questions for sure..

I hope I have answered them to your satisfaction. :) And you make perfect sense. But this is the internet and people can say things as they wish. (within reason;) ) so we all need to take the good with the bad and make a decision based upon all the facts and go from there ourselves.

Hopefully I haven't made it more confusing. ;)

:D

Thumper1
03/02/2005, 10:17 PM
Allright for the record I dont want anyone to frown upon me. I was simply trying to find out where the best place to look for new corals on Mondays, nothing more. I shop at all the stores so to be honest i dont care who has what as long as they have it when i need it. Sorry for disrupting the forum.

TheMcs
03/03/2005, 12:25 PM
I don't think anything was done on your part Thumper, the thread was pretty much hijacked.

Travis L. Stevens
03/03/2005, 03:39 PM
Yes, I apologize for that, but lets restart this thread starting here.

I personally don't know of anyone getting any shipments in on Monday, but as stated, Ultimate Reefs gets Tuesday shipments in on occasion. But that might be a day late and a dollar short. If you list me some corals that you are looking for, I will do what I can to check for you. I often go in on Tuesdays to UR just because it's near and handy

Thumper1
03/04/2005, 04:25 PM
I have never looked for sps but who sells this around here.

TheMcs
03/05/2005, 12:54 PM
I know that UR, Oddballs, & Tulsa Aquatics carry SPS. Not sure about Corals & Reefs.

jnichols
03/05/2005, 01:21 PM
They have a few SPS but they are always the same ones when I go in there.

Thumper1
03/05/2005, 01:44 PM
I'm at the point to where I think I want to go with more sps. I guess I'll look around but probably order more online.

quaz
03/06/2005, 08:43 PM
We have been stocking quite a bit more sps. (porites, acros, monti shelfs, hydnophoras, and others) more here lately.

speaking of corals and reefs though, I saw a nice piece of fire coral "I think" in a friends tank that he got from there.

Ben with UR... not plugging, just posting

westernman89
03/07/2005, 03:43 PM
I was at UR last Friday and saw their T5 "SPS" system. Looks like a bright and healthy 58gallon SPS system!

Eric West
OMAS President

jjmcat
03/13/2005, 01:28 AM
this is realy bugging me. mr dj88 you talk about plugging stores but i believe quaz is an employee of ur. Hes plugging his store isnt he. As far as odballs goes it is a great store. How do we know this isnt a husband and a wife who enjoy fish? scott uses odball as his name dont know who chiclid is.and as far as mcs not liking odballs then why do you know his phone number. I love my saltwater fish tank and yes i buy from everyone but a light from ur friday,got lots of frags from Betty. Ive been all over this part of Oklahoma going to fish store to fish store trying to learn all i can about my tank and what i need. Got burned to many times on lr and fish, odballs is simply the cheapist in town on fish. I think this is a set up.

TheMcs
03/14/2005, 01:26 PM
Originally posted by TheMcs
As much as I like Scott and Gena, and the store, I don't like going there because every time we are there we get to hear something negative about another store.

Originally posted by jjmcat
and as far as mcs not liking odballs then why do you know his phone number.[

Preference and memory are two separate issues.
But to address your charge, I do like Oddballs as well as the owners as stated in my previous post. I said I didn't like some of the things said there. Scott and I have worked out the issue (initiated by him which I appreciate).

Originally posted by DJ88
If you see something that you don't think is appropriate in a post or thread. There is a link at the bottom of each post. "Report this post to a moderator".

By letting us know we can keep the forums as they are meant to be. Free from "hidden" agendas and postings. Misleading posts are exactly that. Misleading. And it doesn't do anyone anygood.[

If you don't like quaz's posts please feel free to take the advice of our Mod.

TXN-inOK
03/14/2005, 09:34 PM
I hear what you are saying jjmcat,,, I sent a report to the moderator about the same thing you are talking about,and I didn't see any action taken. As for as "oddballs" I can only say good things about the store. Scott has been very informative about anything I have ever asked him, and never said anything about any other store here in Tulsa. I shop there and order fish and anything else I can.I also shop at other stores here in Tulsa but, at this point I know where myself and my wife will deal in the future. She would have posted her opinion also on an account of her own ,,,but,,, didn't think that was a good idea.

oddballs
03/15/2005, 02:47 PM
i see a lot of negative energy spent from people in and around the hobby i love i just wanted to drop a note about this. the one reason we are all go to any store that sells fish or drygoods is we all love aquatic life wether fresh or salt. no one person or store has every anser for all questions or problems.there are endless ways times two million that i or joe bob have done and been successful at it . that does not mean you must do it that way but we should all share our triumphs and failures if we dont its info wasted !!!!! not all people have the same expieriance at the shop you go to sometimes people have bad days but that is no excuse to treat you bad but you cant base something on a one time experience we should all learn to give second chances i am learning this as we speak. i guess what im rambling on about is we all love fish and corals so unstead of fighting we should turn things around and all strive to get along , shareinfo and go to any store you please!!!before we opened i shopped at southern ag ,ultimate reefs , aquarium dynamics,corals and reefs and i enjoyed them all i dont visit much now but that doesent mean i dont like them .this is a joyus grand hobby that we have enough problems without making more for ourselves tulsa has a lot of great shops so we should all enjoy them without the negitivity like i said im nowhere close to being perfect butt im working hard at it thanks scott and jena P.S sorry about my use if you call it that of the english language !!!!

GLD
03/15/2005, 03:58 PM
Go Scott !!

Great message.

The key for all of us (store owners, wholesalers, retailers, end users, home acquarists, curious friends, and tolerant spouses) is to take care of the reef's critters at every point along the chain, including on the reef itself. If we choose to join this "hobby", we in essence are taking a vow to do the best that we can to maximize the health of the critters that pass through our hands.

This means that retailers must resist the temptation or even the need to cut corners to maximize or maintain the bottom-line. This ALSO means that hobbiests need to support the lfs, recognizing that the cheapest price isn't necessarily the best price.

Pure capitalism and the free market do not promote the conservation of resources. Cooperative and unselfish effort enhanced by education and understanding and hard-earned knowledge (from shared successes and failures) is the only route to any form of effective conservation of a resource, whether oil, timber or reef critters.



Thus, stores and hobbiests must cooperate and support one another so that we all can strive to improve the health of the world's reefs and the critters in our tanks.

Thanks for the passion and care that you and Jena bring to your store and to Tulsa acquarists.

Sincerely,
George Davenport

TheMcs
03/15/2005, 05:25 PM
Well said Scott. Just in case there is any confusion left over, I do like Oddballs, Scott and I get along great, and I think he's doing great things with his store. I don't apologize for my comment but do realize it was misplaced. It was offered as constructive criticism and should have been done so directly to Scott and not in a public forum. My major was business, not communication!

Now, back to corals!

jjmcat
03/15/2005, 11:51 PM
Its all good i hope, besides we are all a fish loving family.

mrmeola
03/16/2005, 04:23 PM
OK...well now that I have shopped at Aquarium Oddballs I can voice my opinion on the issue (I am in no way affilliated with any retail store)

Scott did stay late for me to pickup what I needed (30 min) He was very friendly and was not put off by having to be there late. Prices seem good and didn't hear anything negative out of his mouth...so with that said...I agree with the people that have said positive things about Oddballs!


Just my 2ΒΆ

trekbear
03/23/2005, 01:04 AM
Hello Tulsans!

I am not new to the hobby but it has been awhile since I have had a reef tank running.. oh about 5 years. I am starting up again small w/ big ambitions 24 gallon Nanocube... ;) .

I only know of 5 stores in T=Town besides PETCO, and 1 in Owasso... that sell Saltwater Fish/corals.

1) Ulitmate Reefs
2) Sharkey's Reef (used to be Aquarium Dynamics)
3) Southern Ag 71st street (now carries salt water)
4) Pet Mart on Lewis
5) Tulsa Aquatics
5) Owasso Pet Stop

Corals and Reefs is gone by the wayside unless they moved to a different location.

Where is Oddballs? are there any others that I don't know of or that are close by?

And also, I was looking at the OMAS website and there is not really a place listing the LFS' in town or surrounding area that I could see. Another question if you will? Where are the meetings being held? Looks like I will have to wait until Aprils meeting since it's past the 3rd Tuesday already.

Thanks in advance. I look forward to meeting fellow reefers in Tulsa.

Regards,
Tom

TheMcs
03/23/2005, 09:17 AM
Corals & Reefs moved to 61st & Garnett.
Aquarium Oddballs is on 31st W of Sheridan across from the $1 movies.
PAWS is across Sheridan from Oddballs and has some saltwater also.

Meetings are held at a different member's house each month. It's usually posted on here within a week of the meeting. April is TBA but will include a refugium workshop and raffle for members.

Hope to see you at the next one!

trekbear
03/24/2005, 12:52 AM
Thanks TheMcs!

I will check them out too!

I will be watching for info on the next meeting. I look forward to meeting other REEFING Tulsans. :)

Travis L. Stevens
03/24/2005, 05:05 PM
this is a directly copied list from a previous thread that I made. This is to inform the newer people that are monitoring this thread and not others

A)Southern Agriculture: 71st & Sheridan, and one off Mingo (just starting in reefs, only damsels, but some dry goods)
B)Paws: 31st & Garnet (Pretty new to offering corals)
C)Ultimate Reefs: 61st & Memorial
D)Corals & Reefs: 58th & 115th(Garnett)
E)Aquarium Dynamics: 51st & Sheridan (Soon to be 58th & Memorial)
F)Love-a-Pet: 81st & 145th(Kenosha?)
G)Petco: 71st & Memorial (Just opened up)
H)Petsmart: 71st & Mingo (Dry goods only)
I)PetMart: 71st & Lewis (Re-doing Coral selection and overall overhauling)
J)Tulsa Aquatics: 47th & Mingo
K)Pet Stop: 86th and 129th (Never been)
L)Aquarium Oddballs: 31st & Sheridan (Brand new. About 3 weeks old)

There are more in the surrounding Tulsa areas, but Those are the ones that I know of right off bat.

zoomfish1
03/25/2005, 01:21 PM
Wow, from what I can tell this could turn out to be a cat fight. I am new to RF, this is my first post. I also shop all the stores, see what I want, then compare prices. Some stores are too high, some pretty cheap. Scott @ Oddballs does have good prices, cheaper than most, but certainly not cheaper than all. If you want to see a totally fantastic store, take a drive to Roger Ark. I was blown away by both his prices and selection. UR has been good to most of their regular customers as have other retailers.

Thumper1
03/25/2005, 11:13 PM
Where is Roger Ark. and how far is it. I keep hearing about. I'd like to take a drive this weekend.

new day
03/25/2005, 11:36 PM
Exotic Tropicals is the name. 115 N Dixieland, # 28 Rogers, Ar 72756 Maybe I'll see you there leaving Tulsa at 8:00 New Day

Thumper1
03/26/2005, 11:31 AM
Thanks, When are you going?

Thumper1
03/26/2005, 11:36 AM
Anyone have a phone number??????????????

zoomfish1
03/27/2005, 10:58 PM
I made the comment about Rogers, Ar store being real nice with good prices. Don't want to get under anyone's skin. It is purely my opinion, if you live in Tulsa I think you should support those stores, Oklahoma City--buy there. I went to Rogers on an invite, no intention of spending any money, and didn't. Came back to Tulsa enthused about looking for some of those items here. Any one taking that trip might consider the same thing. We have great stores here, I personally visit them all and buy from a few of my favorites. Cheers, and good shopping!!

new day
03/28/2005, 11:22 PM
That phone # Exotic Tropicals 479- 636- 8265 . It's a very clean store and lots and lots of corals and fish. I do support all the local stores in Tulsa But I sure do appreciate the clean tanks, healthy fish and corals.

Thumper1
03/29/2005, 12:57 AM
Believe me when I say i support the local stores, my bank account reflects this to be true but I also like looking at a different variety of corals. Most of the stores around here carry the same types.

zoomfish1
03/29/2005, 09:27 PM
Bet my bank account mirrors yours. Amazing how such an enjoyable habby can be so expensive. My wife cringes when I say I'm going out for a while. But like you said, it is nice seing all those beautiful creatures in different environments.

LotR Clown
04/01/2005, 06:22 PM
Wish I had known about Rogers, Ark. We just passed through Springdale on a fishing trip and could have stopped by without a problem coming back.

Kevin

lanamarks
04/06/2005, 12:52 PM
Just wanted to say that I dropped by Aquarium Oddballs this weekend and picked up a little green acro frag (first try with SPS) and a rainfordi goby. Both had very attractive price tags and Scott was very helpful. He had a nice selection, his selection gets bigger every time I'm there and it is supposed to be growing quite a bit more.

I also shop other stores so that no one jumps on me about, well, whatever. Just wanted to say I was really happy this weekend with my new purchases.

AlienSpawn
04/07/2005, 11:43 PM
As an unbiased reef enthusiast and overzealous comparison shopper I feel the need to put in my two cents. I have been in this hobby now for 10 years in the Tulsa area and have always felt it was starved for a good reef store. Betty at Cowboy Sharkies is great to work with and in my opinion was the best around when Aquarium Dynamics was in it's prime. She had the only good selection of coral around. She is now recovering and has been getting some corals back in recently at her new location. I have bought alot of fish at Love A Pet in broken arrow but their staff knows NOTHING and you have to know how to pick a healthy specimen because they will sell anything. Recently they raised their prices too and seems to be too high. With that said my new favorite is Aquarium Oddballs. They are VERY aggresive on pricing of dry goods which is unusual (I usually buy mine on the net because they are half or less of most stores retail in town) but Scott wants your business and has got alot of mine. I am putting together a 215 gallon system and have bought a tank, stand, sump, magdrive, tunze system, wrasse, and shroom rock so far and plan to buy my live rock and maybe sand from him too. Don't be fooled by the small store, talk to Scott or Gina and they will get what you want. I am special ordering almost everything and I don't mind because nobody has the good stuff in stock at a reasonable price. I have talked to Scott alot and know he is frustrated with other store employees 'plugging' their stores pseudo-innocently on Reef Central but I have told him not to stoop to their level and truly don't believe the accusations on here about him doing it have merit. Do the right thing and reefers will come again and again. He is always adding new stuff (just got a big shipment of acros last week, and is in the process of setting up a clam tank) and I hope he grows and succeeds. I will always check out all the different stores but Oddballs has it going on right now in my humble opinion and would encourage people to check it out.

Gwalker
04/28/2005, 05:33 PM
I never knew the aquarium hobby had such drama!! Could this be the new reality TV concept??? The days of our -LFS- Lives.

I could'nt resist, Here's to hoping everyones continued enjoyment of our little hobby!!

Cheers!

Gary

oddballs
04/30/2005, 01:59 PM
question gary what is aquatic resource tectechnologies ??also with out the drama to write about people would have to write about fish, corals,or their tanks how borring!!!what kind of animas do you keep??

Gwalker
05/08/2005, 08:15 PM
Aquatic Resource Technologies (or ART) is the name of my shop. We do custom aquarium fabrication in acrylic or glass. Of course we have salt and freshwater fish and aquarium supplies as well. We are currently doing a renovation/expansion that will result in 1500gallons of saltwater holding tanks and 1800gallons of freshwater holding tanks. This will hopefully be done around the first of next month. I will be up in your neck of the woods in a few weeks. We are installing a 720 gallon freshwater exhibit at the nature center at the Bernice State Park near Grand Lake. As far as what animals we have, anything aquatic pretty much, we will be propagating various jellyfish species for suppling public aquariums in the near future. Our next shop project is a 500 gallon coral stocking system with a 700 reef display. And just call me boring, I just like the fish talk, could do without the drama. After all isn't this hobby suppost to be relaxing!!

Gary

oddballs
05/08/2005, 09:32 PM
im in full agreance(great spelling huh?)it seems to be calming down a bit .i wrote a letter saying the reason we all are even on this site is because we love aquatic life whatever animal it is!!thanks for the reply and feel free to come visit !!

Travis L. Stevens
05/09/2005, 09:19 AM
And by "...feel free to come visit !!" he means it. I am OFTEN in there just visiting, but often find myself leaving with a bag of water with something in it. :lol: