quazi March 29, 2008 March 29, 2008 I dropped by the "secret" location of The Aquarium Company and I was impressed. Here are my impressions: 1. Sean, the owner, is a great guy. He has been in the biz for a good long while and knows it well. He has a business plan that makes sense. He is a fountain of knowledge. The Aquarium Company will succeed because he is really good. He is the reason you will want to go there. He is the reason a 10 minute drop by turned into a 90 minute philosophy discussion. He will need people other helping him in the store, because you are going to want to spend time talking to him. He reminds me of the guys at The Reef Tank. Helpful, friendly, and honest. 2. Sandy. Sean hired Sandy (I think she is a hire, maybe a partner? I am not sure). She has been working at Marine Scene for a while and is very competent and knowledgeable. She is a great asset. 3. Quarantine. The fish you will get go through a complete quarantine process without excess medications or drugs. Sean said he will not run chemicals through the quarantine system without some specific issue which requires treatment. Also, the quarantine tanks are plastic food grade tubs. This will allow a low stress environment for the fish to pass quarantine. I have never seen a quarantine like it. It is very well done and will result in fish that are not stressed when they are ready for sale. 4. Pricing. Sean said he needs to make money (well, no duh) and he will charge appropriately and fairly. He is still trying to come up with a WAMAS discount strategy. Since he quarantines so well, he might be a little more expensive than some other places. We will know that when he opens. However, his fish will be able to go right in your tank without a QT and they should be low stressed. Worth a couple of bucks in my opinion. I think you will see him competitive with BRK. But we will see what is up when he opens. 5. Stock. Sean describes his store as boutique. He is modeling the store somewhat after Marine Scene (my POV, not his.) This is a good thing, IMHO. So, he is keeping limited middle to high end dry goods and food. He will special order anything (like deltec). And he is going to work with group buys to get specials in at a good price. Oh, he has sand (I forget which kind, crushed coral, I think) @ 50 cents a pound. That is a deal. His live rock looked great. His fish are great. He has a great selection of frozen and dry food. 6. Tanks. Sets of tanks are on separate filtration. So, any disease can be contained and not infect the entire system. The systems are all UV sterilized. He uses ozone in quarantine to ensure nothing gets through to the sales tanks. Coral tanks look great. 6. Overall impression. We have a winner. This store is just off RT 267 and about 10 minutes or less off the beltway (non rush hour, of course). Sean will run a no nonsense business and he will support WAMAS and his customers well. His approach is professional and he knows the business well. It is not a big store, but it is laid out well and will be fine for a social I cannot wait until he actually opens up.
quazi April 6, 2008 Author April 6, 2008 Reston, not far from Marine Scene. would this be somewhere near Tyson's?? bob
civitan.erichanson April 8, 2008 April 8, 2008 Any idea on when they will open? Thanks for the review. Eric - no tank yet.
quazi April 8, 2008 Author April 8, 2008 Any idea on when they will open? Thanks for the review. Eric - no tank yet. He is open now: go to http://www.wamas.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=21276 for details.
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