I have noticed that a lot of people talk about their LFS (one of the other acronyms I know - it is Local Fish Store, isn't it?) and thought that it might be cool for people to spread news about their LFSs and what they think about them. After all, we're on here to help each other and to promote responsible reef and fish keeping, so why not support the businesses that support us in a friendly, informative, and most importantly, cost effective fashion? And, a lot of us shop at one place and don't go to other places, so don't see as much variety as we can.
Anyways, I figure I'll start since back in my law school days I spent more time seeking out that cool fish store than studying....
I live right next to O'Hare Airport, and these stores are all within an hour of me.
Living Sea, Park Ridge: some cool stuff, reef stuff not as healthy as I would like to see, but they're trying, also carry unique vertebrates (sharks, rays); price is very high (so's the rent!), but they have specials every month that turn out to be great deals; staff is usually very helpful and informative, and they give in store lectures on their sharks and rays, but I've seen them make questionable sales to unqualified people and also to me (from what I've learned on this bb).
Sea Shell, Skokie: pretty much the same as the above, but prices are a little better, but, unfortunately, their reef selection has gone down in the recent past, and they don't stock quite as much as they used to that is really cool, although they were the first place with a shark pond I've seen.
Coral Reef, Norridge?: not a large reef selection, but pretty well priced, fish are usually pretty plentiful and they get some unique stuff in (some cool snails there, forgot what kind, don't know if they're reef safe), great clams once in a while for mail order prices if you ask, always willing to make a deal with you and give you suggestions on your stock, although a while back, I did see one person come back in with about 5 beautiful dead marine fish saying they died within a few hours, and it turns out, when they came in looking clueless, the employee (haven't seen him lately) didn't bother to make sure that the customer had a salt water tank.
Old Town Aquarium, Chicago: haven't been there in a long time, but they always had great stuff in a very small space, and usually kept it up in great condition, but their prices were always going up and down depending on who the current manager was or who the current staff was; they had the only zebra octopus I've ever seen in my life, even a picture of, coolest one I have ever seen, and this is coming from someone who had a blue ring in the past;
Scott's Pet Shop, Westchester: annoying radio ads, but have a good selection and get unique stuff in; they have very competitive prices, especially when they have a sale, but I've seen too many dead fish, and too many diseased fish, and had too many fish from there die after a while to believe that they are not caught with cyanide in the Phillipines, but all of you know the feeling of seeing something you have to have, and disregarding your instincts when it comes to the store...
Reef Dweller, Chicago: have only been there 3 times, but the owner is the only guy there, and he's the most helpful guy I've met at a store, and he has no problem in giving you tons of advice, he also does internet stuff; bought one of his 6 for $50 frag deals the other day and got a couple nice frags of acropora (one intense lime green and very cool), some montipora digitata, and a very large unmounted frag of birds nest which is taking off (it probably has between 15-25 new buds on it in just a few weeks and is almost mounted to the rock I rubberbanded it to - rubber band has been overgrown already), and also a great big 6"+ colony of montipora capricornis for $30 that has several separate colonies growing in a cup; also, he said he's getting to the point he said where everything he sells will be a captive bred piece of coral, which is what we want in the hobby, right?
Ocean Design, Chicago: 2 nice coral tanks, got some great xenia there before (elongata and some white pom pom - not sure of the scientific name) for a good price, but the fish aren't as healthy as I'd like; they seem to have a lot of project fish (I got a one-eyed queen angel and a beat up navarchus there before for less than $30 each), but beware of disease even though they quarantine for a while; ONE OF THE FEW PLACES THAT REFERRED ME TO ANOTHER STORE, VERY CLASSY IMO.
A Splash of Life, Elgin (now Schaumburg?): has a great internet site, but when I called to see what kind of stock they had (a little over an hour drive) they lied and said they had tons, I got out there and they had very little there, and the prices were very high IMO (example- an encrusting xenia species they had overgrowing all of their troughs, at least a few thousand polyps per trough, they were charging $5 a polyp head!); bad taste in my mouth because of the phone conversation I had, and also the fact that the guy who "helped" me spent more time ignoring my questions about the little stuff they had than he did breathing, although I've been told that there are 2 guys to talk to there, and I talked to the wrong one.
Capture the Sea, Chicago: they moved pretty far away from me, in a suburb, so maybe they've improved again like they did when they moved to the spot where I went to them; used to have one of the largest selections of fish I've seen and definitely had the largest invert selection I've ever seen, but they changed over the years and were pretty sad last time I saw them, although they had great hardware and equipment deals, especially on used stuff, hopefully they've reestablished themselves as a high quality place with their move.
Flying Fish Express, Mail Order: thought I'd throw this one in for those of you who haven't used them before or who don't know about mail order, the fish are usually about 50% high quality, 50% I can't believe this thing is actually a fish, as far as corals are concerned, they seem to be pretty good, but their prices are no longer the great deals they were before they got bought out, before that, everything was incredible, now it's hit or miss, which IMO, is not what it's all about (they owe me quite a few specimens based on their guarentee, but I can't think of when I'll ever order again to get them).
If I think of any more, I'll add another post, and if anyone disagrees with me or has their own opinions on these stores, please post it here, and also, add the stores that I haven't been to, I've heard a lot of places near Schaumburg that I'd like to go to, and I also hear a ton about this place called inland reef in Nasuha, NH, so no matter where you're from, put it on here!
[ August 07, 2001: Message edited by: davelin315 ]
[ August 07, 2001: Message edited by: davelin315 ]
[ August 07, 2001: Message edited by: davelin315 ]
[ August 07, 2001: Message edited by: davelin315 ]
