lfs in clifton

[eastonreef]

i am looking for the name and phone # of the large fish store on route 46 west in clifton.. it is right next to the hearth ...
i am visiting my inlaws in clifton and i may as make the trip even better.. i need to find out how late they are open..

also if i buy a fish, how long can it stay in the bag b-4 it effects the fish.. when you order online it is in the bag a long time....how long is too long...

[Phyl]

Absolutely Fish (973-365-0200). They bag the fish with O2 there which is nice. My Purple Tang & Gramma came complete with Ich so make sure you QT any new arrivals. I'm pretty sure the Gramma had another parasite too but ended up biting the dust.

I have an hour ride home from there. Let them know you're traveling a distance. Have them triple bag your buy and bring a styro cooler and a heat pack to keep the fish to temp. Make sure to temp acclimate before opening the bag when you get home.

Your ride shouldn't be much longer, if any, than mine.

Enjoy!

[radiata]

eastonreef,

You want...

http://www.absolutelyfish.com/

The hours are...

Monday thru Friday 12:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Saturday 12:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
Sunday 12:00 p.m to 5:00 p.m.

I think they'll work with you on the packaging - tell them in advance how many hours you'll be in transit...

Enjoy your visit! On a specimen-by-specimen basis, they have to be the best shop in the North East. I've been in the hobby 30+ years, and it never ceases to amaze me that on one of my (frequent) visits there, that I'll see some fish I've never seen before...

Regards,
Bob D.

[smoknreefrs]

yeah... and make sure you have plenty, and i mean plenty of dough...they are the most expensive shop in the North East as well...

[eastonreef]

thanks phyl,,

i also bought a few fish there including a royal gramma... i treated him for ich and marine velvet -- still sick ....... eventually i got him out and he took a final swim... i could not risk him killing the rest of the fish.... i gave him about 4 months ,, that was long enough...

do they have a bad reputation?? are sick fish normal for them or did we just get unlucky...

anyone else with experience with them pls let me know

[radiata]

4eastonreef,

Sounds to me like neither you nor phyl have quarantine tanks.

Absolutely Fish keeps their fish at a very low salinity (that, I admit, annoys the hell out of me - I wind up doing six to eight hour fish acclimations) and I believe they also use therapeutic doses of copper sulfate in their fish system as well as significant uV. (How could one possibly run a successful business whilst giving away free ich with each fish one sells?)

FWIW - if you don't quarantine, then you already have ich in your tank. The fish currently in your tank are holding their own because they're not especially stressed. Add a new fish and all the other fish will (quite naturally) gang up on it. The new fish stresses out and comes down with something from your tank.

The solution, with an already infected system, is to reduce the stress on the new fish when adding it to the tank - but I could write a great magazine article on that subject (and get paid for it).

I agree with the observations that Absolutely Fish isn't cheap. If you want cheap, buy from your local mass discounter where the variety of fish is commonplace, the inverts stressed, and the part-time high school sophomore employees you ask for advice have never kept a marine tank themselves.

In a prior post I referred to Absoultely Fish as one of the best shops in the "North East". After some thought, I need to change that to the "East Coast". I have a friend who has retired to Florida and who returns to Absolutely Fish to pick up his rare specimens when they call him with any new "finds". (Note: my friend recommends flying Delta - he pre-arranges with them to hand inspect his carry-on luggage as opposed to running it through their x-ray...)

Regards,
Bob D.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by eastonreef
[B]thanks phyl,,

i also bought a few fish there including a royal gramma... i treated him for ich and marine velvet -- still sick ....... eventually i got him out and he took a final swim... i could not risk him killing the rest of the fish.... i gave him about 4 months ,, that was long enough...

do they have a bad reputation?? are sick fish normal for them or did we just get unlucky...

anyone else with experience with them pls let me know

[BlueTBird]

Absouktely Fish does have a good selection. I also really like the fish selection at Reef Encounters in Hackensack.

[Phyl]

Originally posted by radiata

Sounds to me like neither you nor phyl have quarantine tanks.



Absolutely not the case. My PT and my RG went from the store straight into QT. I used drip acclimation and did not move the fish until the SG & pH of the two tanks matched.

After 3 days in there the Ich was very noticable on my PT. The gramma took a couple of days to display symptoms of ich but from jump had symptoms that were in line with Uronema. I'm all but positive that is what the fish had and died of.

Not another fish in my main tank has ever exhibited signs of ich OR Uronema.

Phyllis

[erfig]

Absolutely fish is in my opinion the best store around but and a big but, i worked by there for years and stopped by a couple times a week. more then ive seen them change the price on corals overnite. in other words i would go in on monday and see a nics coral for 60.00 and return on wed and the same coral witch is opening up much nicier and the price changed to 80.00. thats out right wrong. just because a coral is looking better dont mean you have to change your price.

eric

[diverdan814]

excellent selection and knowlegable staff- better be prepared to pay for both.

[smoknreefrs]

well with all that said i found a nice shop in ridgefield park NJ....the shop is called underground fish....the selection isnt that great but what is there, is great...you can also make request....the prices are great too...

[Ilia]

Absolutely Fish owns their wholesaler. That's why their selection is so good.

[BlueTBird]

What is the address in Ridgefield Park? I work in RFP.

Reef Encounter is really getting a good selection of corals and their fish selection is great.

[dflint]

i think its called "the fish underground", they have a web site also