South Florida Reefers

[jtjimbo]

Have any of you been to Aquacons Showroom in Sunrise. I live up in Stuart and I am thinking of taking a drive down there. Is it worth the drive? Do they have a lot of livestock? I have checked out their website and their prices seem pretty good {baby maximas for $20 as where I would have to pay $60 around here}.

Or do you know any good places that are easy to find from I-95 around the Palm Beach area?

Thanks

[dtsherry]

The Barrier Reef in Boca Raton is a good store for reef enthusiasts. Unlike many other saltwater aquarium stores, it has been around a long time. Good selection of livestock, fair prices and knowledgable staff. The store is on Boca Raton Boulevard which is not far from the I-95, Glades road exit.

[Bocaswim]

T max? Anything else specifically? I have probably been to most of the stores in the area, and I am aware of several reefers who sell frags out of their homes. Here is a general recomendation.

Fish- Barrier Reef ( Boca Raton, NE 2nd Ave- off Glades Rd)
It is a nice clean store with healthy fish and a wide selection. If your not sure about compatability find Robin. He is very knowledgeable, but he's always running around. Most fish are reasonably priced. Corals......IMO expensive. Not much of a selection. Several Gonipora. Mostly LPS. Mostly Green or Brown.

Corals/Clams-(retail $) Coral Seas (Ft. Laud, Commercial & 441)
Very nice coral and clam selection. Wide variety of SPS, LPS and softies. Most beautiful xenia collection. Rob and Eva are the owners/hobbyist very informative. Hardware (expensive) most coral and clams are reasonably priced and healty. Some rarer coral are pricey. Overall worth the trip- Just FYI two clams and three sps I purchased there recently are doing great.

Corals/Clams- (wholesale $) Marine Life Designs (Deerfield Beach, Powerline Rd. South of the Sawgrass Ent.) Fri, Sat & Sun only.
Hit or Miss selection. Sometimes I have found a diamond in the rough. (Brown A. valida colony $30-turning puprle) Other times I've seen the rough in the rough. Exotic anemones, some nice clams, a few SPS, LPS and lots of button polyps. Mostly Fish. FWIW a friend heard their chiller was broken, so they may not have the best selection for the time being, they do mostly wholesale/holding.

Regarding aquacon, I know they have recieved alot of bad press lately for their mail order business. I went there over a year ago, and was not too impressed. Recently though, I stopped by after visiting Coral Seas (they're very close) they had just closed, but were nice enough to let me in to look around. I ended up picking a stunning blue acro colony for $80. It is doing great, I have given frags to several others. Coincidentally the employees mentioned how they know people talk bad about them ( I never said a thing) that they are really upset about that, cuz they always try to be nice to people. Like staying open late. ;) Anyway, off the subject. I would say hit or miss, close enough to Coral Seas to check out both places.

As far as local hobbyists who trade/sell frags, let me know if your interested, I will get you their email.

[jtjimbo]

Thank you for the info, Boca if possible could you give me a little detailed directions to Coral Seas from I-95.

[DC321]

Boca Swim definitely knows her stuff.


Not a big fan of Aquacon. They wouldn't give the website specials in person for some reason.

Coral Seas is great. Nice Deresa clam doing very well in my tank.

Marine Life designs has a great selection of fish if you catch them at the right time, lik right after a delivery.

Like Boca said...the chiller is broken and no sps for a while now. I live 1 mile away. They have been talking about getting it fixed for 2 months now.

THey lost more corals to RTN than it would have cost to fix the chiller.
DC

[jtjimbo]

Not a big fan of Aquacon. They wouldn't give the website specials in person for some reason.


Yea I was wondering if there was going to be different prices from their website. Thanks for the heads up on that sherry.

[Bocaswim]

JTJimbo,
I have dyslexia, so I stink at left and right. Plus I drive slow, so what would seem like 5 miles is probably only 2.;) Anyway, here goes:

Coral Seas: I-95 to Commercial Blvd. Go west to 441. the North on 441 maybe a few blocks. It is on the east side of 441 behind a Big Daddy's liquor store. It is located in the corner of the L-shaped plaza. If you get to Prospect Rd. you have missed it. HTH

Thanks for the compliment DC- were your ears burning?:D I have definately been to most of the South FL LFS. Some days I feel like I am singlehandedly putting the owners kid through college. Don't you?

[oceanjunkie]

The first time I went to Aquacon I was impressed. They had one of the best selection of corals and clams I've seen yet, and all looked very healthy. Then I went back to make a purchase..... They dont have the prices marked, so you have to ask. Now, I'm a bit of a cheap reefer (oxymoron??), but their prices seemed very high for the torch coral and the cleaner shrimp I asked about. I don't know about the rest of their stock. Definitely worth checking out, especially if you are going to Coral Seas (which I would recommend).
-JB

[DaveN2NL]

I live in Palm Beach Gardens....there's a couple places I know of a little bit closer to Stuart.

Oceans Below - located on the east side of US1 about 200 yards south of Northlake BLVD. Pretty nice selection of corals and fish. The fish I've gotten have done pretty well. The prices seem reasonable for live stuff, but dry goods are steep. He gets new live stock every Friday at about 2:30PM. I recommend you go then to get the best selection. Take 95 to Northlake BLVD east to US1. Take a right onto US1 (south). You will see it on the left side after about 200 yards. You'll have to make a U turn at the light to get to the entrance.

Crystal Reef Aquariums is further south on US1 - only another 300-400 yards further south - on the east side of US1. I've never been in there so can't tell you about it.

There's another place on Military Trail, just south of Blue Heron. I don't remember the name. Take Blue Heron BLVD West to Military Trail. Take a left, cross the train tracks, and make a left at the next light. Make another immediate left into the shopping center - he's located in there. His name is Bob - very knowledgeable guy. He used to be a distrubuter but couldn't make it against the competition out of Miami. The store is very rough - just a wall full of tanks - but has some very nice fish. He can special order anything you want. Prices are good - he doesnt list them on the tank so you can probably negotiate with him. Cash only.

These are the only places I am aware of....Oceans Below has some beautiful tanks set up, worth seeing.

Personally, I have more fun catching them on my own :) The Blue Heron bridge sometimes has some nice juvenile french angels....

Hope this helps...
Dave

[jtjimbo]

Thank you all for sharing your experiences and for the directions.