keeperofthefish April 14, 2006 Share April 14, 2006 I don't think I'll ever go to Congressional Aquarium again. Last night was my first time visiting since they remodeled. It was also my birthday, so I was hoping to stumble upon something worth putting into my tank. But I wouldn't have bought anything that wasn't sealed. They did away with the great little saltwater section they used to have--nice and neat, etc.--and now they have these horrendous 10 gallon tanks with all kinds of sick critters crammed into them. I saw plenty of tangs--including a powder blue--crammed into teh 10 gallons and suffering from ich and fungal infections. The place looked like death row. The employees were decidedly unhelpful and the overall atmosphere was just sad. I will never go there again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gioNVA April 14, 2006 Share April 14, 2006 I was there today and I agree with the livestock. They do have a 120g AGA RR tank/stand/sunpod MH for sale. It's priced at $800. It's a great deal for someone looking to buy a setup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gadgets April 14, 2006 Share April 14, 2006 WoW!!! I usually work on Sundays, but I will go in and find out what is going on. I am sorry to hear about your experience and I will make my best efforts to try and correct the problems you have seen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dzekunoi April 15, 2006 Share April 15, 2006 Last time I was at Congressional it was nice, I did not get a sad impression. Go figure... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie97L April 15, 2006 Share April 15, 2006 Last time I was at Congressional it was nice, I did not get a sad impression. Go figure... i've been seeing a steady decline in the SW quality since they moved into the new facility. i've seen several dead/dying fish/inverts that have been unattended to, as well as (which i thought was gross negligence) a bicolor pseudo in a tank with 4 fire shrimp. it had torn them all up before i could get anyone over. I personally think they are overbuying on SW. there aren't that many tanks in the area capable of housing tangs, yet i see at least 15-20 in there every time i go in, which is supposedly the normal order. I dunno. It's convenient to me for food, but I wouldn't buy anything live there. Freshwater is another matter, I think they are top notch. but yeah, as far as livestock, i'm trippin to NoVa (f&f or BRK), or maybe heading to Tropical Fish World in Gburg, where they have supposedly fixed up and expaned their saltwater. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie97L April 16, 2006 Share April 16, 2006 i've been seeing a steady decline in the SW quality since they moved into the new facility. i've seen several dead/dying fish/inverts that have been unattended to, as well as (which i thought was gross negligence) a bicolor pseudo in a tank with 4 fire shrimp. it had torn them all up before i could get anyone over. I personally think they are overbuying on SW. there aren't that many tanks in the area capable of housing tangs, yet i see at least 15-20 in there every time i go in, which is supposedly the normal order. I dunno. It's convenient to me for food, but I wouldn't buy anything live there. Freshwater is another matter, I think they are top notch. but yeah, as far as livestock, i'm trippin to NoVa (f&f or BRK), or maybe heading to Tropical Fish World in Gburg, where they have supposedly fixed up and expaned their saltwater. i have to revise this somewhat... it looks like they're starting to get on top of things... i was in there today giving them my psychokiller CBS, and everything looked much more organized, and i only saw one or two fish that didn't look good. in all sincerity, nice work to the congressional guys! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gadgets April 16, 2006 Share April 16, 2006 Thanks! We appreciate your business. Come see us again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keeperofthefish April 17, 2006 Author Share April 17, 2006 I do hope things are getting better. I went in all the time for FW and was looking forward to the day I'd be able to buy SW from them. Now that my tank is setup, I was really disappointed to see what they had in the new space--not to mention the outrageous prices on dry goods. 10 gallons is not an acceptable size to display saltwater species. If you go to a serious place, they have 40 gallon breeders minimum to house fish in. Just my two cents, especially in comparison to Marine Scene, Aquarium Center, Ruzons, others. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie97L April 17, 2006 Share April 17, 2006 I do hope things are getting better. I went in all the time for FW and was looking forward to the day I'd be able to buy SW from them. Now that my tank is setup, I was really disappointed to see what they had in the new space--not to mention the outrageous prices on dry goods. 10 gallons is not an acceptable size to display saltwater species. If you go to a serious place, they have 40 gallon breeders minimum to house fish in. Just my two cents, especially in comparison to Marine Scene, Aquarium Center, Ruzons, others. yeah, i agree on the tank size. i didn't see one Ich fish in there... so that looks to have been addressed. they do have the best price in the area on salt though! and their food is great too... personally, i get all my equipment used or online, so that's no biggie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest alex wlazlak April 19, 2006 Share April 19, 2006 i donno, theres this place up here that has probly 30-40ish new 10gs all plumbed together (looks pretty good) and then they have 4 180g and like 6 55g and only recently got the 10g's up and running and have livestock in them. they do keep everything inline, like keep little damsels and clowns in the 10g's and the bigger fish in the 180g's and 55g's. they also have tons of 10g freshwater tanks all plumbed together and its just a huge wall O' fish. with most fresh fish you can get away with putting them in smaller tanks at stores and they will be happy for the time beeing, but salts totally different with the diseases and such that can happen quickly.. my guess is that they know that freshwater fish can be kept "krampt" for a little while, but they either dont care or dont know what salt fish cant be kept like that. my two cents! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gadgets April 19, 2006 Share April 19, 2006 I was at Congressional today and everything is looking very good. We are going to have an "OK" Shipment of saltwater in tomorrow, but nothing spectacular. I will keep yuou guys posted. I understand what you mean about the 10 gallon tanks, but 40g Breeders is just too much. I can't see how that would really work out in the long haul. Please explain. The point of this post is to get feed back from you guys and help us make the store a better place for all. P.S. We have a photo contest that will start soon. Bring in your pics and you could win something VERY nice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnnybv April 19, 2006 Share April 19, 2006 I was at Congressional today and everything is looking very good. We are going to have an "OK" Shipment of saltwater in tomorrow, but nothing spectacular. I will keep yuou guys posted. I understand what you mean about the 10 gallon tanks, but 40g Breeders is just too much. I can't see how that would really work out in the long haul. Please explain. The point of this post is to get feed back from you guys and help us make the store a better place for all. P.S. We have a photo contest that will start soon. Bring in your pics and you could win something VERY nice. OK, now I'm confused, Chris are you working there? Or is it your shop, or partnered with someone??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gadgets April 19, 2006 Share April 19, 2006 Johnny- I just work there on Sundays and sometimes Tuesdays. I started posating to get some feed back and help make it a better place for the MD/DC crowd. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnnybv April 19, 2006 Share April 19, 2006 Johnny- I just work there on Sundays and sometimes Tuesdays. I started posating to get some feed back and help make it a better place for the MD/DC crowd. Thats cool, I'm sure your knowledge through WAMAS will be a great asset to them. Good Luck. JOhn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caribbean Jake April 19, 2006 Share April 19, 2006 I was at Congressional today and everything is looking very good. We are going to have an "OK" Shipment of saltwater in tomorrow, but nothing spectacular. I will keep yuou guys posted. I understand what you mean about the 10 gallon tanks, but 40g Breeders is just too much. I can't see how that would really work out in the long haul. Please explain. The point of this post is to get feed back from you guys and help us make the store a better place for all. P.S. We have a photo contest that will start soon. Bring in your pics and you could win something VERY nice. I am confused. Do you work there? never mind, I finally read the entire post... OK, good. and Good Luck to you and Congressional. I was there few month ago on my way back from work and they had things organized although not too many specimens and prices where kind like Marine... "HIGH" for the quality they offered. Hope you can make a difference. In the mean time I'm back in VA with BRK & F&F. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keeperofthefish April 19, 2006 Author Share April 19, 2006 I'm glad to know that a WAMAS member is working there, and I'm sure you will do your best to change this. I want Congressional to be a great store because it's fairly close to me! But you really need to ditch those 10s. The reason you want to have a breeder vs. a 10 gallon has to do with surface area for gas exchange. The larger the area of the water in contact with the atmosphere, the more gas exchange. In this way, even a 15 gallon compared to a 10 gallon has a ton more gas exchange. 20 longs are great tanks for this reason, as are 33 longs. A 40 breeder is great because it has height, also, which species that have high fins like because it allows greater range of movement. Bigger tanks=happier fish, no matter what the total volume is of the system. I have simply never before seen 10 gallons used to hold saltwater fish not geared to the "nano" environment. It would be a higher upfront cost to buy the tanks, but I guarantee you would save in terms of healthier fish, more sales, etc. The new store obviously has the square footage to do this. Make it a reality. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie97L April 20, 2006 Share April 20, 2006 i was just in there yesterday, and stuff looked good. btw chris, thanks for the Kent products sale! Haha, although my Alk buffer didn't ring up at 50%, just the calcium! :-o haha, anyway, i think that the 10g are fine for the most part, because you guys have a lot of small fish that you normally stock. but maybe instead of replcing those (not realistic, i know) you could set up one bigger holding tank for the larger fish. i know then you have problems with attitudes and what not, but maybe you could put dividers in or something. a 4-5" tang in a 10 gallon just isn't good, even for a day or so. i know you guys know that, and i'm just not sure what the solution is. that anthias was tempting, btw. looked great. i waaaant one... but i'm not home enough to feed it and can't ask my roomies to do that. it was great to see my coral banded shrimp in solitary in the polyp tank lookin all remorse. ahha. can we submit photos digitally? or on paper? btw, what the heck do you look like? I've been trying to figure out who you are. are you the guy who took custody of my banded for me last week? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mogurnda April 20, 2006 Share April 20, 2006 Chris, I actually don't know if this is still a problem, but one issue I have had with Congressional is the sale of inappropriate species. What I remember specifically is that they were stocking Chromodoris nudibranchs, and didn't seem to care that they will simply starve in captivity. There were a few other questionable choices in there, like sea apples, and I pretty much made up my mind to go elsewhere for about a year after that. I have not been up there much lately, maybe things are better now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie97L April 20, 2006 Share April 20, 2006 Chris, I actually don't know if this is still a problem, but one issue I have had with Congressional is the sale of inappropriate species. What I remember specifically is that they were stocking Chromodoris nudibranchs, and didn't seem to care that they will simply starve in captivity. There were a few other questionable choices in there, like sea apples, and I pretty much made up my mind to go elsewhere for about a year after that. I have not been up there much lately, maybe things are better now. I haven't seen anything like that since I've been going there for the past 4 months, and I'm in there at least once a week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gadgets April 20, 2006 Share April 20, 2006 Thanks for the support everyone! Charlie - I didn't take your banded, but I should be easy to find... I am the only black guy there. If you see me say hi! Morgunda - I am trying to work on that and have been working with the guy that does our ordering. Come by and check us out. The photos have to be printed and brought in. No online submissions. Sorry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mokujin22 April 22, 2006 Share April 22, 2006 i've been going there since i was a little kid, so i may be a bit partial, but i've always had good experiences with purchasing FW or SW livestock from them. i always get with either Chris or Dave when i go there and they point me in the right direction. after all, they did only just move a couple of months ago. i'm sure with a bit of time, they'll get over any of these "growing pains." personally, i'll stick with them. Tony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gadgets April 26, 2006 Share April 26, 2006 PHOTO CONTEST 1st Prize - $200 Store Credit 2nd Prize - $100 Store Credit 3rd Prize - 12g Eclipse Tank Let the games begin!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dzekunoi April 26, 2006 Share April 26, 2006 We have NO CHANCE if you participate.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gadgets April 26, 2006 Share April 26, 2006 LOL!!! Well all of us employees are excluded so u will have a good chance of winning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caribbean Jake April 26, 2006 Share April 26, 2006 lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts