looking to relocate to florida / aquarium stores?

[CiXeL]

from los angeles. the only thing thats missing is aquarium stores. what are the good aquarium stores in florida and what cities are they located by?

i realize i may have to but id like to relocate somewhat within range of a decent aquarium store if any exist there. i only visited one on my scouting trip and it was kinda in the process of being set up.

naturally i wont have access to the same range of stuff that i have here in los angeles but the cost of living for almost everything else seems cheaper there.

so anyone from florida who could enlighten me as to the best stores to pickup corals for my reef tank out there?

 

[usafresq1]

Not from Florida (never been there) but I wanted to move there myself until these hurricanes hit there pretty bad. Hope your researching a back up power supply LOL. I'd be interested in hearing from residents of Florida and how the hurricanes effected them.

 

[fishinsouthga]

im new here but i have been going to oceans reef near the jax beach area and their competitor Alantis aquariums down the street, both on atlantic, Oceans seems to have nicer tanks friendlier people (seems mostly family) but they are somewhat smaller stocks i.e smaller animals. Alantis on the otherhand is a bigger store has mostly large animals ( ie for bigger tanks) and more hard corals and less invters, lots of big fish though. they are mostly helpful but usually more crowded and prices between the 2 are back and forth, but i wouldn't buy any equipment from either as they seem expensive. if you want free dead fish i would go to aqua zoo as they should be shut down but every saturday you can go for there buy 1 get one dead or 1/2 off our mostly dead fish, i go there sometimes to rescue some sad animals even though i know im only helping them buy more....... but if you need some equipment in a pinch they are cheaper then most......

 

[Speckled Grouper]

There must be 3 to 4 dozen stores in South Florida alone, and as everywhere else, there is good, mediocre and bad. And it's also a matter of personal preference, my favorite stores might be other peoples least favorites....
I like to collect my own stuff in the Florida Keys, now that's something that's not a possibilty in most other states....

 

[Hatebrigade]

There is nothing worth mentioning in tampa, you will either be greeted by ignorance or arrogance, or of course a poor selection.

marinewarehouse in tampa, though, if you stay vigilant you will get good steals every now and then.

oh and as far as the hurricanes went, since they all hit at once there were a lot of problems keeping up stock in the stores, since flights were canceled and such.

also power outages were a pain but for me they didn't last more then 12 hours.

 

[Anonymous]

I take exception to the Tampa complaint. There is a great store in Oldsmar (near Tampa and Clearwater) called Fish and Other Ichthy Stuff. The owner is a bit gruff until you get to know him, but he is very knowledgeable and his livestock is top notch. Even his prices on dry goods are reasonable.

mitch