Guest tgallo January 27, 2007 Share January 27, 2007 i was there last week and the pinhead owner has a large barracuda in one of his saltwater ponds, 10 seconds later he throws in a large powder blue tang, the barracuda hits it, chews a little and spits it out. that guy is $ick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rsaavedra January 27, 2007 Share January 27, 2007 I don't like the idea, but to each his own. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martin January 27, 2007 Share January 27, 2007 i was there last week and the pinhead owner has a large barracuda in one of his saltwater ponds, 10 seconds later he throws in a large powder blue tang, the barracuda hits it, chews a little and spits it out. that guy is $ick. One trip there was all it took for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TROLL January 27, 2007 Share January 27, 2007 That tang was probably bad and owner decided to punish it... Or he really hates that tang from Finding Nemo... Well, he loses money anyway. Waste of good tang- Was that tang $29 or more? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madmax7774 January 27, 2007 Share January 27, 2007 sounds the perfect viallian for the PETA nuts to go after. Someone should send them an email. That'd keep him busy for a while..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
extreme_tooth_decay January 27, 2007 Share January 27, 2007 (edited) He was telling me one time that a guy had tried to grab the barracuda and got his hand SHREDDED and he had to mop up the blood and call an ambulance. My guess is the tang was on it's deathbed already. He wouldn't throw away a perfectly good fish. Who did it? Was it Larry? Or the owner? I don't know who the owner is. Now I have seen him feed perfectly good crabs to puffers. Being a sicko, I find that rather amusing. I love roozens. Their selection is more than the next 5 LFS combined, and their prices are competetive. That's the main 2 things for me. tim Edited January 27, 2007 by extreme_tooth_decay Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest tgallo January 27, 2007 Share January 27, 2007 it was the owner, not larry or eric. I agree with you, they do have the best selection of common and hard to find marine fish in the area, i wish other stores would stock that many diff fish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keeperofthefish January 28, 2007 Share January 28, 2007 Roozens is absolutely without any ethics in any way shape or form. But their prices and selection are good. So this poses an ethical dilemma for all of us. They'll sell anything to anyone and I'm sure that any safety inspection would shut that place down for good. An outsanding example was seeing them sell a stonefish (highly venemous) to someone who had an IQ of about 8 and was going to put it in a 20 gallon with a bunch of tangs he had also bought. This guy had a little kid with him and the Roozen's guys tried to tell him the fish he was buying was extremely venemous, but it didn't seem to be registering. Lawsuit pending, no doubt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madmax7774 January 28, 2007 Share January 28, 2007 I wonder if he'll sell the blue ringed octopus? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
extreme_tooth_decay January 28, 2007 Share January 28, 2007 it was the owner, not larry or eric. I agree with you, they do have the best selection of common and hard to find marine fish in the area, i wish other stores would stock that many diff fish. As do I. I cant bring myself to drive an hour or more for 1/10 the selection. I've also found some not-so-dead (expensive) corals in his rubble pile and resurrected them. What's the owner's name and what does he look like? Is he the other guy who talks with an accent like eric? Larry was once telling me another story about a drunk man grabbing one of the huge (chainlink?) morays in the other pond. He said he had to get out the hose and wash down the blood after that too. heh. tim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ingo January 28, 2007 Share January 28, 2007 Yeah, I ordered the blue ring octopus for my kids touch tank. to bad the stone fish was already sold. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rrubberbandman January 29, 2007 Share January 29, 2007 Selection yes.........quality no..........buyer beware.! Bryan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coral Hind January 29, 2007 Share January 29, 2007 I have been on the WAMAS boards for over seven years now and there has always been complaints about the "MD greenhouse". Nothing has changed and I doubt anything will. The low prices and large selection keeps the customers coming back and they have out lasted many other LFS in the metro area. It may not be as fancy and clean as other stores we visit which kind of gives it the appearance of being a death trap. I have worked in a fish store and fish deaths are common when new shipments come in. It is the morning routine to go around and remove the fatalities. Roozen's gets more shipments then most stores around here and I do not think the deaths you see there are above normal. The fish I buy there have better survival rates then any other LFS. The copper in the fish only tanks helps to ensure that. I feel like i am at an AA meeting. "I am a reefer, and I shop at Roozen's" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
copps January 29, 2007 Share January 29, 2007 What's the owner's name and what does he look like? Is he the other guy who talks with an accent like eric? Larry was once telling me another story about a drunk man grabbing one of the huge (chainlink?) morays in the other pond. He said he had to get out the hose and wash down the blood after that too. heh. tim The owner's name is Jos, and is Eric's brother and the two of them own the store. For a picture of Jos, refer to the 630 WMAL website for Garden Sense, a morning talk radio show Jos does on the weekends... it's gotta be the most entertaining garden show as Jos gets stories from people getting bogus advice from Home Depot and the like and shoots them down. Larry is missing a chromosome or something... I've gone to Roozen's for years and his stories are sometimes a bit farfetched, and will usually quote much higher prices than Jos. One thing you need to keep in mind is that Roozen's tranships most of their fish, and so they are the front line receiving fish from overseas. Most other stores in the area receive their fish from wholesalers within the US, resulting in much less die off. Generally though, their conditions are horrible and healthier fish can be found at good LFS like Blue Ribbon. Although it will be tough to ever compete with that selection, John at Blue Ribbon could pretty much now get whatever fish Roozen's gets if you're interested... John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
extreme_tooth_decay January 29, 2007 Share January 29, 2007 (edited) The owner's name is Jos, and is Eric's brother and the two of them own the store. For a picture of Jos, refer to the 630 WMAL website for Garden Sense, a morning talk radio show Jos does on the weekends... it's gotta be the most entertaining garden show as Jos gets stories from people getting bogus advice from Home Depot and the like and shoots them down. Larry is missing a chromosome or something... I've gone to Roozen's for years and his stories are sometimes a bit farfetched, and will usually quote much higher prices than Jos. One thing you need to keep in mind is that Roozen's tranships most of their fish, and so they are the front line receiving fish from overseas. Most other stores in the area receive their fish from wholesalers within the US, resulting in much less die off. Generally though, their conditions are horrible and healthier fish can be found at good LFS like Blue Ribbon. Although it will be tough to ever compete with that selection, John at Blue Ribbon could pretty much now get whatever fish Roozen's gets if you're interested... John Hiya Yeah I've dealt with Jos before, I didn't realize he was the owner. I've already decided I prefer to deal with Larry. I agree that some of Larry's stories may be best taken with a grain of salt, heh. As to my own personal experience: I'm certainly not saying all of their fish are healthy, or their conditions are optimal, or anything of the sort, BUT: 1) I've shopped at Roozens for several years. 2) I've never had a problem with any fish or coral I got from them, which have been many. One example is a medium Achilles which I bought for $50 and had for 2 years. 3) I've never personally experienced pricing irregularities. I can usually guess the price of corals exactly. I don't believe I've ever bought corals from Jos, maybe I should! 4) I concur with prevet "The fish I buy there have better survival rates then any other LFS." 5) As to BRK...one trip was enough for me. It just doesn't do it for me. Bottom line: everyone needs to find the LFS that is right for them, none of them are all things to all people. tim Edited January 29, 2007 by extreme_tooth_decay Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
copps January 29, 2007 Share January 29, 2007 Yeah Tim, I didn't add that I too have bought many things from Roozens through the years and know Jos fairly well. This has resulted in me getting much better deals and something lately in the past year or two with Larry has resulted in him quoting much higher prices as I listen to him talk to customers, on top of his sometimes horribly misguided advice... Don't count Blue Ribbon out yet as John has only been into saltwater not too long, but he's got the right attitude, is expanding, and his fish are kept under much better conditions and are overall much healthier... He'll also special order rarer items if you're looking for them... Some recent aquisitions through Blue Ribbon for me are shown below... Longspine cardinals (Apogon leptacanthus)- years since I've seen these at Roozens... Red Stripe anthias (Pseudanthias fasciatus)- never seen at Roozens... Here's my pair of pyramid butterflies (Hemitauricthys polylepis) that I've had for well over a year, but Johnny's looking into getting these reef safe butterflies... John's going in the right direction, and if you ever have a gripe you could just tell him in person or on the forum and he'll take it to heart... unlike many other places in the area... I'm mainly an sps guy and I used to love the shipments Roozens would bring in, but now sps are few and far between there and if they sit there for more than a few days you could kiss them off! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black Mammoth January 29, 2007 Share January 29, 2007 I also don't like Roozen's. I went there because a fellow WAMAS member (before I joined) recommended it to me. I was still looking for a good place to shop at the time. Now I just go to F&F. Anyway, I went over there to get a Flame Angel. The website said $29 and when I called they said they had plenty and they were $29. When I got there they had about 40 of them...maybe more, I dunno, but they had a lot. However, finding one that was healthy was a real challenge. I found maybe 2 or 3 that were healthy. Some were missing eyes and/or fins. Others had either ich or most likely crypto. When I found one that was healthy it was $69. I was like uhm....that's not what I was told. His response was that's how much it costs. I was told that the one guy likes to make up a different price every day. It's not worth my time & money to go over there to find out he's in a bad mood. I was impressed by the selection & variety. I was disgusted by the number of ill fish and dead corals that were still for sale. I won't return there, especially since F&F and BRK are closer. I haven't bought anything at BRK yet (try to give most of my business to F&F), but everything I've seen in there looks great! The prices at F&F and BRK are very similar to Roozens anyway. I rather spend the same amount or more $ at a place that actually cares and sells healthy animals. I'm curious about the Cuda. They need a lot of water flowing so that they get enough oxygen. They are OK in calmer waters if they aren't very active. I wounder how well it is being treated. BTW, that is something to remember to keep you calm when you are snorkeling around a reef and you run in to a 5ft Cuda! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dandy7200 January 30, 2007 Share January 30, 2007 Longspine cardinals (Apogon leptacanthus)- years since I've seen these at Roozens... Your just taunting Rik now Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caribbean Jake January 30, 2007 Share January 30, 2007 Roozens.. yeap, is that kind of place.. but again, they have good selections and competitive prices. I stop in when ever I'm in the area, and occasionally buy livestock, specially shrimps. no different than buying hardware at K-Mart when you can go to Lowes or Home Depot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SDBDRZ January 31, 2007 Share January 31, 2007 (edited) I too have been to Roozens on numerous occassions and I have purchased from them. However, I am morally torn on the issue. On one hand they have selection and pricing which the consumer in me likes, however the conditions make me sad as a hobbiest. I have not been to Roozens in years, I wont say I will never go again but at this point in the hobby I am more interested in minimizing my impact on the reef by acquiring captive frags and tank raised fish when possible. My hope is that one day we advance far enough in this hobby that mass volume transhippers like Roozens will be unnecessary to sustain the hobby. Edited January 31, 2007 by SDBDRZ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norboo January 31, 2007 Share January 31, 2007 I like roozens. However, I wish they will improve the water quality/system. I stop through about once every 2 weeks or so. They have very good pricing and large selection. Basically, they move live stocks fast! From my personal experiences, every live stock I Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mogurnda January 31, 2007 Share January 31, 2007 So this poses an ethical dilemma for all of us.Not all of us. Went there once, that was enough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sleeper February 10, 2007 Share February 10, 2007 Nautili, dudes. They sell Nautili. It *is* a dilemma. But there's a line, and then there's too far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ingo February 10, 2007 Share February 10, 2007 All LFS usually pull their dead in the morning. And there are lots of dead. Roozens just lets them simmer a little while longer. Went to "that fish place" once, walked in when they first opened and they were still scooping lots of deads. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dschflier February 11, 2007 Share February 11, 2007 I really enjoy roozens. I have been going there for years and they have always treated me well. I feel the prices are good and I have never had a problem with anything I have bought from them. They may have more fish that you see in bad condition but that dosn't mean they take worse care of the shipments. Other stores generally have much less to offer and so it is much easier to net out 2 or 3 sick fish when you see them. I will say I commend stores like BRk, a couple of years ago I took issue with something and he addressed it immediatly. Not all business are run that way. I dont think that makes rozens a bad place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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