How do most of you shop?

i only buy livestock at the lfs as very few places will ship live to me(canada). all equipment i but online with the exception of small maintaiance items(salt, filter floss, frozen foods)

 

i have a reputable LFS its called aquatica (aquaticatinleypark.com) they have two different kinds of live rock fiji LR 6.99/LB and Jakarta LR 10.99/lb. IMO they have good customer service, the owner is always there to help you out. the employees act professional when you first start going, after they see you in there more often they act more like your friends which i dont mind. there are a few other LFS with a a few things that cost less but he does price match if you have the proof. i usually take a pic of the item/fish and show it to the owner at aquatica. they have the cleanest and i repeat the cleanest LFS around. they even have a 3,000 gallon shark pond awesome to watch when they feed on sundays lots of people show up just for that lol. they have a main room with all the fish tanks and equipment supplies and have an equally sized tank showroom with tanks of all sizes and shapes. i dont like getting livestock online if fish get stressed on the ride home from the LFS imagine how stressed they get in a dark box getting thrown around and what not. rather get it locally even if i pay a few more bucks that way i know its eating properly and get a visual on it. sorry i made it so long

 

thats for the info. I felt the same way about my LFS but it closed down before i got into the hobby. I drive about 30 mins to Absolutely fish in clifton, NJ the shop is the best i've seen hands down. The staff seems great but I was not thrilled to pay 29.99 for clowns and then petco had them for 13.00 on sale the very next day!!!! Live rock was going 10 bucks per pound. I know you can't go cheap with this hobby but i don't want to feel robbed either.

As for the comment on live rock by Peredhil "You only need a tiny bit of live rock..." the fish store said i need at least 50lbs for my 55g tank. Why only a tiny bit?

 

You can get the majority of your rock as dry or base rock, and seed it with a few pieces of live rock.

 

I buy a significant portion of what I get from the LFS.

 

I get my dry supplies at LFS as possible. These days I get my fish strictly from the Diver's Den at Liveaquaria.com. They quarantine the fish, treat them for parasites and I have had great success putting them directly into my tank without losses. They are more expensive, but I feel, worth the money.- Paul

 

+1 to this one. With my LFS - he is always willing to negotiate when I am purchasing larger orders - and when paying in cash - even more bargain power.

 

I always keep an eye out on local reef club forums for people taking tanks down. You can find some rock pretty cheap if your just patient.

 

I'm lucky. I have 4 good LFS's withing 1/2 hour or so from me. I use them as much as possible. Just trying to keep the money local. I will also have to say I use craigslist as well. Got a great deal on my 180 there.

 

People who want good prices build a relationship with their LFS. I'll give you example. I had a customer who came in every other Friday like clockwork. He could afford to spend $10~$15. He never came in and bought $5 and he never came in and bought $50 either. I learned what he liked over time and every other Thursday night, I fragged a couple of things that I thought he would like and I was almost always right and he bought one of them. I left that store and time went on. 2 years later I helped another store and he walked in, saw me, and excitedly said, "Curt, you need to see my tank!!!!!". He ran out to his car and brought his pictures. Well, all those frags had been growing for 2 years and his system was awesome. I never knew about his medical bills for his wife until that day yet he was able to turn a free 200g tank into a pretty amazing reef.