Jan July 17, 2009 July 17, 2009 I finally made it to Roozen Nursery Inc. yesterday and I loved it. If you're looking for a LFS with immaculate tanks, fancy displays, central air or even floors this is not the place. Ladies don't where heels to this place. However, if you're looking for an aquatic treasure in a full large size this is the place to go to. There are no prices on anything so I recommend that you take a look at Roozens price list on line and maybe even print it and take with you as a reference/starting point. Jos, the owner, walked with me aisle by aisle. He eagerly and patiently answered all of my questions. He never pressured me into anything. The tanks don't look very clean but all the fish and corals appear to be very healthy. I didn't see any fish laying in the bottom of the tanks, or scraping up against rocks or exhibiting any other signs that would indicate they were sick or in distress. I saw several goniopora that were brightly colored (green and red) large and fully opened along with large elegance corals, large purple gorgonians and beautiful red scolys. He had a very unique pair of bright pink wrasse that I've been looking for online and still can't find. So you can imagine the cost. There was a fish that I kept looking at and finally decided I wanted and when I asked about it Jos was very honest and told me not to get it because it would eat my corals. I always apprecate this kind of honesty in a vender. I recommend that everyone visit Rozen Nursery at least once. Maybe go with a couple of buddies, buy a large piece, split the cost, and frag it. Their opened 7 days a week http://www.roozens.com/
DJBoy98 July 17, 2009 July 17, 2009 (edited) Did you see any Long nosed Butterfly fishes there? Edited July 17, 2009 by DJBoy98
GaryL July 17, 2009 July 17, 2009 there has been a many discussion about roozens on here. i used to go there when i first started out. you might have opened a hornets nest. but i have had pretty good luck with their fish.
amay121 July 17, 2009 July 17, 2009 Coal, it's not even winter yet and you're looking for Coal. You can come over to WV, we're coal country over here. Anyways, I know you meant coral...
capsfan July 17, 2009 July 17, 2009 Coal, it's not even winter yet and you're looking for Coal. You can come over to WV, we're coal country over here. Anyways, I know you meant coral... lol Anywho, I may have to check the store out if I am ever up that way. The only WAMAS sponsor I have ever been to is Mr Coral.
Jan July 17, 2009 Author July 17, 2009 Did you see any Long nosed Butterfly fishes there? He had so many fish and several butterfly fish that I really couldn't tell you specifically. But they all looked good. But treat and QT if you decide to buy.
Jan July 17, 2009 Author July 17, 2009 I have never been there. How big is their coal selection? One display in the front with Anthias and SPS. Huge on LPS and others.
Stephen July 17, 2009 July 17, 2009 Roozens is definitely worth a visit if you've never been. It's not your typical saltwater/fish store, but definitely an experience. The handful of times I've gone it never fails that I see something in his tanks I've never seen in any store, online, book, or video. Jos seems like a good guy and has always been willing to haggle a bit on price if your like me. He gave me a very good price on my blue spotted jawfish. If he was closer I'd be in there at least once a week just to see what he has. Actually I'd probably be in there daily. The highlight of every trip is always asking him when he did his last water change... Me: How many gallons do you have here? Jos: 20,000 Me: How often do you do water changes? Jos: Haven't done one in 30 years. Me: .......
Jan July 17, 2009 Author July 17, 2009 Roozens is definitely worth a visit if you've never been. It's not your typical saltwater/fish store, but definitely an experience. The handful of times I've gone it never fails that I see something in his tanks I've never seen in any store, online, book, or video. Jos seems like a good guy and has always been willing to haggle a bit on price if your like me. He gave me a very good price on my blue spotted jawfish. If he was closer I'd be in there at least once a week just to see what he has. Actually I'd probably be in there daily. The highlight of every trip is always asking him when he did his last water change... Me: How many gallons do you have here? Jos: 20,000 Me: How often do you do water changes? Jos: Haven't done one in 30 years. Me: ....... Yeah, I know. But he's doing something right. I wonder when was the last water change for the Atlantic Ocean? All kidding aside. He has a point with his theory that the ocean is dirty and there's all kinds of life thriving in it. We're the ones killing the oceans. He proves his point by the fact that he's still got all that livestock. He also saves a ton of money for himself the way he has everything set up. Just think about it. He's been doing this for 30 years....
Stephen July 17, 2009 July 17, 2009 Yeah, I know. But he's doing something right. I wonder when was the last water change for the Atlantic Ocean? All kidding aside. He has a point with his theory that the ocean is dirty and there's all kinds of life thriving in it. We're the ones killing the oceans. He proves his point by the fact that he's still got all that livestock. He also saves a ton of money for himself the way he has everything set up. Just think about it. He's been doing this for 30 years.... I've no complaints with the way he's doing anything. It's obviously right or he'd be broke and out of business from all the livestock loss. I got the impression he's well educated regarding the hobby and the livestock he keeps right off the bat. I wasn't suggesting otherwise with the water change banter. I mentioned it simply because it amuses me, and I've asked him those same 2 questions since the first day I came in there. The only thing I've ever disagreed with him on through our conversations was his view on different salt brands and where he rates them. That's an interesting conversation to have with him.
dschflier July 18, 2009 July 18, 2009 Well I have always been a big supporter of them. Since I work at Andrews I go on my breaks all the time. This time if someone has something bad to say I have learned my lesson. Everyone is entitled to their opinion Jos and his brother Eric have always been very good to me and I actually appreciate their way of doing business. They always keep Reef Choice products on their shelves, and the second two rows of tanks which is 10,000 gallons is treated through a Grey Seas Aquatics industrial sized media reactor, which I fill with a couple of pounds of PhosBgone and carbon each month. I have mentioned that I would love to clean up the front acrylic tank but so far they are not going for it. I think that front tank could be a great advertisment for them. going to their store is always alot of fun.
Nate July 18, 2009 July 18, 2009 Coal, it's not even winter yet and you're looking for Coal. You can come over to WV, we're coal country over here. Anyways, I know you meant coral... Ha, yeah coal looks great in my tank. Anyway, looks like I am going on a roadtrip tomorrow. I will be stopping by Roozens along with Tropical Lagoon, and Petland. It will be my first time visiting all three stores.
astroboy July 18, 2009 July 18, 2009 I've no complaints with the way he's doing anything. It's obviously right or he'd be broke and out of business from all the livestock loss. I got the impression he's well educated regarding the hobby and the livestock he keeps right off the bat. I wasn't suggesting otherwise with the water change banter. I mentioned it simply because it amuses me, and I've asked him those same 2 questions since the first day I came in there. The only thing I've ever disagreed with him on through our conversations was his view on different salt brands and where he rates them. That's an interesting conversation to have with him. What does Jos say about salt brands? I'd be really interested to hear.... I've also wondered about doing water changes. There's someone in WAMAS whose had a marine tank for a decade or two, whose name I can't recall and whose posts I can't find, who seems quite knowledgeable and claims that with a remote deep sand bed and a little vodka water changes aren't necessary, as long as you put in a few common sense additives such as kalkwasser, etc. Activated carbon removes alot of the organics and the alleopaths (or whatever the slime the corals secrete is called) and skimming and the RDSB remove the rest. Trace minerals that are depleted are replaced by the dissolving of the sand bed over time. By not doing water changes you avoid the accumulation of heavy metals. It would be interesting to hear Jos's rationale about not doing water changes..... The notion of having a system that's well tuned enough that you don't have to replace 10% of it each week has a real appeal to me. By the way, does anyone know where Larry who used to work at Roozen's is now? My impression is that the place was better kept when he was there. I don't think one person (Jos) can keep such a large system running at 100% and you'd have to look long and hard to find someone with Larry's experience and knowledge, IMO.
Stephen July 18, 2009 July 18, 2009 What does Jos say about salt brands? I'd be really interested to hear.... I've also wondered about doing water changes. There's someone in WAMAS whose had a marine tank for a decade or two, whose name I can't recall and whose posts I can't find, who seems quite knowledgeable and claims that with a remote deep sand bed and a little vodka water changes aren't necessary, as long as you put in a few common sense additives such as kalkwasser, etc. Activated carbon removes alot of the organics and the alleopaths (or whatever the slime the corals secrete is called) and skimming and the RDSB remove the rest. Trace minerals that are depleted are replaced by the dissolving of the sand bed over time. By not doing water changes you avoid the accumulation of heavy metals. It would be interesting to hear Jos's rationale about not doing water changes..... The notion of having a system that's well tuned enough that you don't have to replace 10% of it each week has a real appeal to me. By the way, does anyone know where Larry who used to work at Roozen's is now? My impression is that the place was better kept when he was there. I don't think one person (Jos) can keep such a large system running at 100% and you'd have to look long and hard to find someone with Larry's experience and knowledge, IMO. Ask him about salts next time you're in there. Or ask if he stocks reef crystals. He's got a LOT of water. From what he's told me it is all connected in some way or another and with the various live rock vats, 1000+ gallon "thing" full of algae, and his way more than established sand beds he's able to do what he does. You couldn't really compare his system of 20,000 gallons to something an average reefer keeps inside his home even if it was a average system that's been up for as long as his. And it would be pretty hard and long term to recreate. I think he gets by without the water changes because even though he has a lot of livestock it's not even remotely close enough of a bio-load to swamp or even dent the amount of water and various biological filters he has there. The whole place is basically one big biological filter. After 30 years it's like a mini ocean if you will. The guy seems to have put a lot of thought into the whole thing. Regardless of the appearance and the lack of all the fancy gadgets we use he's doing something very right. Or he's lucky as H-E-double hockey sticks!
GaryL July 18, 2009 July 18, 2009 when i was there several yrs ago...he always pushed the marinemix bioassay and it was pretty cheap there.
dschflier July 19, 2009 July 19, 2009 Well he actually does do some water changes just not much compared to many other stores. I once asked him about that, he didn't seem to have anything set in stone. He said you have to make some new salt water just because of bagging fish and taking water out of the system. Besides the tanks in between each row is a very large basin filled with a lot of water.
Nate July 20, 2009 July 20, 2009 Took my first trip to Roozen's today. When I got there I was a little confused as to where the fish department was. After asking the guy at the front desk, I finally found the "fish greenhouse." The greenhouse reminded me of a ghetto fish store under a circus tent...The tanks were very dirty and the wooden racks holding them up looked to be turning into pulp. But the store makes up for their first impression with their large selection of decent fish. When it comes to their coral, I was a little disappointed only because they lacked in sps. They did, on the other hand, have a ton of lps. The one thing that absolutely pissed me off about this store is the fact that they don't have listed prices. Every time I found something interesting I had to track down an employee and ask how much. And its not like they even had a set price on anything..it was as though they just pulled the price out of thin air. I swear I saw people asking for a price on some of the very same things I was looking at and they were given a different price. Anyway, aside from the listed price issue, this store is definitely worth checking out once as Jan said. It was an hour and 20 min drive for me so I don't think I will be going back.
Jan July 20, 2009 Author July 20, 2009 Nate, where on earth have you ever seen a ghetto fish store under a circus tent? LOL.. This is why I said print their price list and take it with you. Then you gotta haggle. If you've never haggled I suggest you practice first. Jos reminds me very much of the merchants in China town, Delancy street and the diamond district in New York. They all want to sell and if you don't haggle you buy it at their price or not at all. They all want to make a sale. There is a happy medium, you just have to work at it. I went back today too and asked the little boy where all the livestock went. He said "A lot of people from that aquarium group came". quote name='Nate' date='Jul 20 2009, 12:32 AM' post='270271'] Took my first trip to Roozen's today. When I got there I was a little confused as to where the fish department was. After asking the guy at the front desk, I finally found the "fish greenhouse." The greenhouse reminded me of a ghetto fish store under a circus tent...The tanks were very dirty and the wooden racks holding them up looked to be turning into pulp. But the store makes up for their first impression with their large selection of decent fish. When it comes to their coral, I was a little disappointed only because they lacked in sps. They did, on the other hand, have a ton of lps. The one thing that absolutely pissed me off about this store is the fact that they don't have listed prices. Every time I found something interesting I had to track down an employee and ask how much. And its not like they even had a set price on anything..it was as though they just pulled the price out of thin air. I swear I saw people asking for a price on some of the very same things I was looking at and they were given a different price. Anyway, aside from the listed price issue, this store is definitely worth checking out once as Jan said. It was an hour and 20 min drive for me so I don't think I will be going back.
Nate July 20, 2009 July 20, 2009 Nate, where on earth have you ever seen a ghetto fish store under a circus tent? LOL.. Ha ha, back home we had our annual carnival and there was always this one vender that had this huge tent setup with a bunch of games like ring toss and what not. All the prizes were fish so they had a bunch of tanks all over the place. And there you have it. a ghetto fish store under a circus tent.
queloque July 20, 2009 July 20, 2009 (edited) Took my first trip to Roozen's today. When I got there I was a little confused as to where the fish department was. After asking the guy at the front desk, I finally found the "fish greenhouse." The greenhouse reminded me of a ghetto fish store under a circus tent...The tanks were very dirty and the wooden racks holding them up looked to be turning into pulp. But the store makes up for their first impression with their large selection of decent fish. When it comes to their coral, I was a little disappointed only because they lacked in sps. They did, on the other hand, have a ton of lps. The one thing that absolutely pissed me off about this store is the fact that they don't have listed prices. Every time I found something interesting I had to track down an employee and ask how much. And its not like they even had a set price on anything..it was as though they just pulled the price out of thin air. I swear I saw people asking for a price on some of the very same things I was looking at and they were given a different price. Anyway, aside from the listed price issue, this store is definitely worth checking out once as Jan said. It was an hour and 20 min drive for me so I don't think I will be going back. I agree with you Nate. I went there for the first time. One cool thing was everything was supersized. From the shrimp to the coral. Everything was big. The negative side was it just seem so dirty. It appears he relies on the natural light from the greenhouse and the sun shooting through the roof so all the tanks look like a hazy green and give you a natural untouched effect. Also just about every tank was full of aptasias. I'm not talking small ones but big ones. If you put you hands in there one might drag you in. Also the same, the price list is not available but I had my iphone where you can pull the price list from their website. Their live rock tank is full of aptasias too so i will never buy life rock from them. It seems like it operates exclusively like an online fish store so nobody can see how dingy and dirty the place looks in my opinion. But if you want something big, that is the place to go if you don't mind all the aptasias you can possibly transfer to your tank. One guy in passing said the prices are not concrete and you can do some haggling with the guy. Plus his green house is very hot so I could imagine his chiller is running overtime. Oh well. Thats my 2 cents. Edited July 20, 2009 by queloque
extreme_tooth_decay July 22, 2009 July 22, 2009 Roozen's has been by far my favorite LFS (except That Fish Place) for many years. Their selection cannot be beat (they have more selection than many other LFS combined), their fish are as healthy as anyone else's on a per capita basis (yes, you might see a sick one or 2 out of 100 hippos, but no other store has 100 hippos so it's not a fair comparison to say you see a bad one), and their prices are reasonable (sometimes they are a steal, other times not. Like most other places). I bought a pair of black clowns there for $28 and an Achilles for $48 as 2 examples. I've seen the biggest chunks of aussies there by a long, long way I've ever seen anywhere. I've seen Hawaiian dragon eels, Gem tangs, Black Tangs, Nautilus, Sharks, Cold Water anemones, Pine Cone fish, many corals I could not even identify, and several other fish I've NEVER seen at ANY other LFS. They also have the best selection of mantis shrimp you will find anywhere. Sometimes 1 or 2, sometimes 10. Hardly ever see 1 anywhere else. That's where I got mine a few years ago. Worth a trip. Unfortunately you can't stock up on used car audio any more since Larry left.
trockafella July 23, 2009 July 23, 2009 I agree with the amount of nice sized corals and uncommon fish, but the place is creepy, aipstasia infested, and who wants to play the haggle game.. Its not a yardsale its a store.. I have been there many times and just cant bring myself to buy livestock, mainly bc I dont wanna haggle on prices.. It could be a really nice store if the cleaned it up and posted prices, instead of haggling, have sales to make there overly high prices look better... Its been called roozens death camp, and thats never a good rep to have.. I know we all have our own opinions and experiences with them, but how do you compare all of there livestock to cleanliness and quality of help to say a place like BRK.. Fun to go there and look at the livestock, but I wont be buying from them..
capsfan July 23, 2009 July 23, 2009 Ha ha, back home we had our annual carnival and there was always this one vender that had this huge tent setup with a bunch of games like ring toss and what not. All the prizes were fish so they had a bunch of tanks all over the place. And there you have it. a ghetto fish store under a circus tent. Yeah, it happens every Apple Blossom here in Winchester. You could win a 10 cent goldfish if you pay $2 and get the ping pong ball in the cup!
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