My vendor experiences so far (1 Viewer)

[wmatt140]

This site was a huge help when I first got started with locating vendors and exposing me to a variety of stores so after six months I thought I'd chime in. Obviously my opinion so your mileage may vary.

Best service and livestock would be Global Leader Aquatics. This is the last store I went to because of the distance but it was well worth it. Reasonable prices and by far the nicest quality fish and corals. I haven't been anywhere else since.

Honorable mention for service would be Andy at Fishland. He's always very friendly and helpful. I bought my initial set up here and was very happy with the prices.

Air Water and Ice sent me a faulty RO/DI unit but fixed it with no hassles. I will buy from them again.

During my initial search it seemed like everybody was raving about City Pets. I likely would have bought my equipment there but no one could give me a price quote. I was told to come back the next day and did but I walked around the fish and corals for about 15 minutes with no sales people offering assistance even though they were standing around. When I'm looking to spend that kind of money I expect better service so I left. I've been back a few times and it was the same story. The one time I bought a few frags I had track someone down.

TnT, staff seemed nice enough but I wasn't impressed with the selection. I've only been once so it may have before a shipment of new livestock.

B&B is the closest to my house but the health of the fish don't look very good. It seems like there are always some dead fish in the tanks and the selection is limited.

Fish R Us is the first store I found. By far the worst conditions I've seen.

Hope it helps someone else.

 

[joedirte8]

I concur with your assessments of the Local Fish Stores for the most part. However, I would put Fish Land at the top and then GLA a very close second. The friendliness of Andy and his staff put Fish land over the top. Not to mention the fact that he gives a 15% Marsh Discount.

I do think that you must have gone to T&T on an off day. They normally have a nice selection and you probably went a day or so before a big order.

I think that service is always a HUGE problem at City Pets, however their deals are hard to beat. Also, I have been to Fish stores in all 5 states that I have lived in, and I have never seen a frag selection like City Pets has.

I would like to add that Fish Gallery is a good place for beginners. I have purchased several corals and a few fish from them (they are a little pricey even with a 10% Marsh Discount). They normally have a nice selection and they have one of the most knowledgeable staff’s in Houston. Those guys are a wealth of information.

I have been to B&B several times and they always seem to have very nice anemones. You are correct as to the very limited selection and there corals are normally in very bad shape. However, the last time I visited, I bought a nice Cynarina Deshayesian (aka meat coral or scolymia). The owner of the store thought it was a Lobo and sold it to me for $40.

I would tell anyone considering buying anything for an aquarium to stay away from Aquarium World and its super high prices and very Un-knowledgeable staff. I think they just hire people from the local fast food place to work there and they charge 2 – 3 times as much as all of the other stores in town.

I think that the best place for High-End Corals is All About Fish. However, he might tell you one price and tell the next guy that walks in a totally different price for his corals. So, be aware that if the price is not marked, he will just make up a price based on how you look.

I have never even heard of Fish R Us and by your comment, I'm glad I haven't.

As for online vendors: Vivid Aquariums treated my like a valued customer on my first order. Then on my next order they treated me like trash, and as a result, I will never use my $221 store credit that I have.

I bought 2 very expensive corals from Austin Aqua Farms and both died within a week. I have heard that this is a common problem with this vendor.

Please do not every waste your money at Extreme Corals. I made an $800 purchase and every single coral died within 1 month. Plus they take the pictures of their coral with super high actinics and then they photshop the pics. So, what you see is not what you get.

Pet Solutions has been a very good vendor for equipment.

Coral Universe is my favorite vendor on the net. Everything that I have bought from them is still alive and they have reasonable prices.

I hope you found my information helpful.

 

[bristones]

I have to agree with Fishland, Andy and Wang are great guys to deal, I may be a little biased being I live right around the corner

Brian