Buucca March 1, 2007 March 1, 2007 Greetings, I am leaving tomorrow for a couple days stay in the Annapolis/Baltimore area and would like to shop at some of their Local Fish Stores. I'm especially interested in picking up 4 or 5 160 gal. buckets of Instant Ocean Salt. Does anyone know of any good LFS's in that area that you can recommend. Thanks so much.
Guest JasonD March 1, 2007 March 1, 2007 (edited) Well, the best LFS in that area USED to be the Aquarium Center on Liberty Rd. in Randallstown, just west of Baltimore. However, they suddenly closed 2 weeks ago and are supposed to be opening on March 2nd as the Aquarium Depot. If it's anything like the Aquarium Center, it'll be the best around. There's House of Tropicals in Glen Burnie, but I won't do business with them because they have many dead and sick marine stock every time I go there. I think the best stores are in the DC/NoVA area. Edited March 1, 2007 by JasonD
SDBDRZ March 2, 2007 March 2, 2007 Aquarium Depot will not reopen until 3/7. Exotic Aquatics is on the north side of the Baltimore beltway and is probably one of the best shops in the Baltimore/Washington area. Excellent selection of fish, corals, frags, clams, etc and they carry a lot of high end gear like Deltec, Tunze, etc, certainly worth the trip in my opinion. They also have a very sweet SPS dominated Display tank, cant remember the exact size but I think around 500ish gallons.
Buucca March 2, 2007 Author March 2, 2007 Thanks guys, putting "Exotic Aquatics" on list. Also read in my search about "House of Tropicals" although I don't know about their reputation or if they even stock sea salt. I'll call in morning B4 I leave. Thanks again Bill
Guest tgallo March 2, 2007 March 2, 2007 exotic aquatics, ditto. house of tropicals, waste of gas money.
Buucca March 2, 2007 Author March 2, 2007 Thanks Tony, I was just about to log off when I caught your post. You saved a trip and with gas prices creeping back up, I appreciate the info. Cheers Bill
jamesbuf March 2, 2007 March 2, 2007 The first, and last time, I went to House of Tropicals they wanted $50 for a small frag of yellow polyps. Maybe 8 polyps. They were trying to sell male blue jaw triggers for $110 each. You can get a pair cheaper than that at BRK or F&F. The last straw was finding cerith snails for $6 each. I walked out after seeing that. The staff consisted of what seemed to be a pack of 15 year olds with little knowledge of the hobby. They did seem to have good prices on their freshwater inventory and their food. I hope it doesn't seem like I'm bashing, just giving as much detail as I can remember and being as honest as possible.
Buucca March 2, 2007 Author March 2, 2007 I imagine with their high mortality rates they need to make up their profits by bilking unsuspecting potential customers. Bill
geofloors March 2, 2007 March 2, 2007 House of Tropicals isn't that bad. They have fish transhipped in on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday so there is a good chance you may see not so good fish because they are stressed from the long plane ride. They do get in nice fish other stores don't get but people know when the shipments come in a buy them within a day or two. It's always worth a stop at all stores. Their coral prices marked on the tanks are often wrong. If you want a price you need to ask. They carry 200g boxes of IO salt for $40 I think. Aquarium Center has been the worst store in town for several years. Even as bad as it was I still would go there to see what they got in. From time to time they would get in unusual fairy wrasses, butterfly's, gobies, and corals. They usually didn't know market price for their livestock so you could get a bargain on some livestock items if you know what you're looking at and it's value. Exotic Aquatics is the nicest store in town. They have a fairly new storefront so it's very clean. They bring in rare fish and corals all the time but they know what they have and charge accordingly. If you go there you'll but something, it's a great store and definitely my favorite. They are stock 200g boxes of IO salt. George
Guest JasonD March 2, 2007 March 2, 2007 Looks like I need to plan a trip to Exotic Aquatics this weekend!
extreme_tooth_decay March 2, 2007 March 2, 2007 Looks like I need to plan a trip to Exotic Aquatics this weekend! Exotic Aquatics is great. They are also the only place I know that carries the HUGE pack of PE mysis. 40oz for $32 is a way better deal than anyone else you will find, and it lasts forever in the freezer properly stored tim
90OcReef March 2, 2007 March 2, 2007 I second george's comments that a trip to all LFS are worth it. House of Tropicals and Exotic Aquatics are well worth the time of day. -Jess
ArtC March 3, 2007 March 3, 2007 Sea Save is across the street from House of Tropicals, but you'll have to call ahead to get in during the week. They're technically only open on Saturday, but they don't mind. They do most of their own collecting, so the livestock depends on whether they just got back from Florida or are just about to go. But they take good care of it. They don't stock a lot of dry goods. www.seasave.net Personally, I buy four buckets of salt from F&S when its on sale. Cheaper, and I only have to carry it off my doorstep.
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