Pristine Aquariums

[howaboutme]

So I took a drive w/ my daughter this morning to visit PA, one of the last few LFS that I have yet to visit. My initial impressions were very good. They have a large selection of dry goods and a lot of very nice livestock, both fresh and salt (more fresh though) and corals. The tanks look clean and I watched them do their water change routine as well. Both gentleman that I spoke with were very nice and helpful. They also tested my water (for free) and verified what I had been getting at home (time for CUC!).

 

I left with some things here and there that I will eventually need like algae magnet scrapper, some airline and valve for drip acclimation, a net and an API reef test kit. I rec'd the WAMAS 10% discount (THANKS WAMAS!).

 

Another thing that was nice is their assortment of in stock tanks, a lot of them from Deep Blue. It's nice to see (and dream for the future upgrade) in person what each tank size is as opposed to just seeing it online or in a catalog.

 

Although a drive for me, I'd go again.

[linkfalcon]

Do u mean va

[Coral Hind]

I stop in there about once a month and the staff is always nice. Not many stores carry live brine shrimp anymore which is why I stop in there.

 

Do u mean va

He had "PA" for Pristine Aquariums.

[howaboutme]

Thanks for the clarification Coral!

[YHSublime]

These guys we're my go to before I joined wamas. Its hit or miss for me. Sometimes they help you right away, sometimes I've walked the store for 30 before someone knows I'm there. They are very friendly, got my first cuc there, and a couple frags of lps. Its cheaper to deal with some of our local club vendors, but its nice PA offer a wamas discount when they don't have too.

 

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk 2

 

 

[Coral Hind]

When they first opened they were club sponsers but it was hard for a new store opening up in a recession to keep up with the financial support of being a sponser so they dropped off. I think of their store being geared more to the newbie hobbiest.

[howaboutme]

Well..I'm a newbie!

 

But yes, I would think that when you go and how many other people are in the store will affect the service. I think that's to be expected. I was at BRK on Sunday and they were busy so I patiently waited for 20 or so minutes, not a big deal since browsing fish is not a bad thing. I also tend to go first thing in the morning and you are guaranteed great service then.

[Coral Hind]

I agree, I like spending that time observing the fish before I purchase it. To me that's pretty important to make sure it is acting right and doesn't look sick.

[brad908]

I wouldn't trust their frag tank. Always tons of dead or dieing corals. They've also have had pest problems and had to rip down the tank. No type of dip or inspection when they add new corals.

 

Their staff is nice and they do a WAMAS discount. But coral quality is a bit suspect.

Edited March 15, 2013 by brad908

[Wyatt]

I want to like Pristine Aquariums, they are right next to where I live, but over the last 6 months or so when I go in I notice a few sick/dead fish in some of their tanks.  I've also seen some gigantic fish that are still there many months later.  I purchased a firefish from them last year and it died randomly about 2 weeks later (everyone else in my tank is fine) so I suspect their quality sometimes.  Honestly I'd give them 2-3 stars out of 5.  The desire is there to be a great store, but I don't see the effort and I've also seen total newbies walking out of there with way too many fish/coral/etc for a brand new tank.  Also their prices are a bit high, $35 for a quarter size frag of GSP is a bit much.