Finding Nemo

That's funny that they might have to charge more, rotfalmao. How would they charge more when The Aquarium Company is less than a mile away and charges a lot less already for much nicer fish and corals? As soon as Marine Scene's customers figure this out, I think Marine Scene will be out of business or will have to cut their prices and improve their customer focus. Anyone who has been to The Aquarium Company knows this is true. FN

Hi my name is Scott, and I'm a fragaholic. It has been 13 hours since my last frag. Made my second visit to the Aquarium Company yesterday. I went right at 5 when they openned to get those frags that you were planning to buy. I got two large frags of the coolest Aussie favias I have ever seen for $30 each. I really thought they were gonna be that much or more per polyp, but Sean gave me about an 8 polyp frag of each. I put them in my tank near a Baby's Breath favia I got from reefready.net for $120 (for 2 polyps), and they make the reefready piece look like total crap. I really love this new store, although I am a little worried about them staying in business because they keep getting such high quality stuff and selling it off so inexpensively. If you haven't been here, you are really missing out on the best high quality coral selection in the area. FN

Am I the last guy in the area to find this place, or is it pretty new???

Today I made my first visit to The Aquarium Company in Reston where I was referred by another WAMAS member for high quality stock at a good price. Boy was he right. It is a new place and it is great. If you haven't been there yet, you need to check it out! They are on Sunset Hills in Reston and are a sponsor, so you can find more info under their vendor forum. Good luck. FN

The Aquarium Company on Sunset Hills in Reston has great stock and great prices. Shawn is really helpful. Close to Marine Scene but they give you a lot better deal. Try it.

I am on vacation next week and am new to the area. I live in Oakton, VA. Is there anyone that lives near me that would be willing to top off my tank and feed fish a couple of times next week? Before we moved here it was easy to get a teenager to do it because it takes 5 minutes and I paid them $50 per visit. Now I don't even know a teenager here. FN

It may say so on their website, but what percentage of their customers have visited there? I never had. I think it should be displayed on the front door and the cash register. Why don't they do that? Because they don't what to scare away potential customers with thier draconian policy. They are trying to have it both ways. FN

What is ACG??? I haven't been there.

If they disclosed their policy to everyone up front, I would agree with you completely. However, when you only pop that on people when someone actually tries to exchange a fish, I think it is deceptive, disgraceful and dishonest. I don't think that it is being hard on them to ask for honesty up front. Especially when you charge so much more than places like BRK.

That is an excellent decision!!!!

I didn't know how many people were frustrated with Marine Scene. I agree BRK is great. FN

I moved here from Detroit and never had an issue there. I bet that the Chicago stores don't mislead people about it like Marine Scene. FN

I purchased 2 clown fish at Marine Scene. One was purchased about 6 weeks ago and the other about 2 weeks ago. Unfortunately, they are almost exactly the same size and will not quit fighting, so I quarantined one and took I back to exchange it for a smaller one today. When I took it in they explained that they will only accept returns on Tuesdays due to their quarantine process. At least that was the excuse they are asked to give for not exchanging their own fish. I explained that I work in DC and can't get there during store hours on Tuesday and they said that I could not exchange it then. I told them that all of the other fish stores I go to accept their own fish any day. They said they won't. I have asked at Marine Scene before if I could exchange a fish if I had a problem and the answer was "yes," not "only on Tuesdays." All other LFS that I have ever gone to, which is a lot, will accept a fish like this and put it in a separate quarantine tank. To me it sounds like a lame excuse to minimize returns, and is unquestionably deceptive up front. The people that work there are always professional and polite, but this store policy is deceptive and disgraceful. Anyone else have a problem with Marine Scene? FN

So Freezerburn, what did you end up getting? FN

I think BRK has a lot lower prices than Marine Scene and a lot more stock than F and F. I would try there. I if you know what you are looking for, it pays to call first. Often they will special order for you if they do not have something you want. FN

Topping off a 10 gallon tank can be time consuming.

Solana looks very nice. How much do they cost? FN

I was told that the Red Sea max have PC lighting that is T5 size. So they call it T5 lighting. I am not sure this is true but is what I was told. I was interested in t5 also but couldn't find one so I got the JBJ 28 gallon. FN

The screws are directly exposed. I assume they are stainless steel. The wiring is inside the plastic. There is a large external ballast that is hidden inside the stand. Incidently, mine only has the 150 DE MH bulb. There are not actinics. Although it does have the 4 blue night lights as pictured. I also like the adjustable alternating flow feature. Pretty nice for a small tank.

It is sealed off for fish, but has holes and 4 fans to let out the heat. It can't rust because it is all plastic.

I was assuming that I would need a nano chiller by July. Temp has been fine so far, the 4 fans in the hood seem to help. Temp is 76 degrees right now.

I just bought one for the same reason and fired it up last weekend. I think it is really nice for the price. I paid $550 for it with the new stand version included. Only thing I was unhappy with is that the instructions were pretty limited. If you were new to reefing, it didn't begin to tell you enough to step it up and actually use it. Since you have experience, that should be no problem. FN

Not new, just had to break the old tank down to move here. 2 years with a 90 gallon AGA with 35 gallon sump and refugium, asm2 skimmer 2x250 de mh with Phoenix 14k bulbs and supplemental actinics. Since we are renting for a year here in DC, I only wanted to set up a small tank so moving at year end will be easier. Therefore, I bought a 28 gallon JBJ nano cube with MH. I have to have a tank cause I'm a reef addict. I kept e. quadricolors, true percs, and a blue spot successfully in my old tank. Only the firefish would be new. I just think they are beautiful fish.

I started up a 28 gallon jbj with 150 mh last weekend. Added 25 pounds of pre-cured solomon islands live rock, an inch and a half of aragalive substrate and RO saltwater. So far, all readings are clean and hitchhikers seam to be happy. If the tank continues to test clean I want to add fish in a week or two. I am thinking of one rbta with a true perc, one blue spotted jawfish, and one helfrichi firefish or possibly a blue assessor instead of the firefish. My corals are coming from Michigan in a few weeks. Do you think 3 small fish is overstocked? What do you think would improve the fish lineup? Scott

I was looking for a blue-spotted jawfish and a Helfrichi firefish yesterday at Marine Scene in Herndon. Very nice store but had neither. Where can I find one in this area? FN