other side of the state, rough hobby to keep

[erikjphillips]

So i've been a member on this board for maybe a year now and have gotten a ton of great advice and learned so much. do you guys have any recomendations for someone who only has one LFS within an hour and a half of me. There are months where i go in and its the same thing week after week after week. great guy, just a very small market here. i guess what i'm getting at is i'm starting to get bored with the hobby due to no variety, any sugestions?

I'm very sceptical about ordering online for coral

 

[onefish]

when my last tank was up and running i would drive to the great stores, granted i was living in another state. my new tank isnt setup yet and ive already traveled all over just to check out what stores look like, what the staff knows, whats in stock and so on.. the beauty of shopping around.
IMO no point in supporting a store that doesnt know what they are doing with their livestock, no matter the deal to be made. its the stores that know what theyre doing that keep the hobby going, and i have no problem driving there to show my support. calling in advance always is a good idea too,you can ask if what your looking for is in stock or would hate to see you drive to find the stores closed.
you can also try to ask if your store can order select things for you. this way DOAs are on their hands.
ive never personally ordered online. i like to observe what im buying. this may mean my face is against the glass watching a fish for 45 minutes, lol.

 

[mordibv]

I hear you
I am in no mans land too. I may have to go abstinent. Lol

 

[delta]

We have members that will ship you corals

Just post in WTB shipped coral will pay shipping cost. list what you are looking for

All corals that hit the LFS are either from local reefers(more than you would think) or shipped to the LFS

 

[Bobbofin]

There is a shop called Aqua Dreams in Feeding Hills near Springfield which is about an hour and a half away. There's Krystal Clear Aquatics in Auburn which is 2 hours away. There's House of Fish in Chester and Ossining NY which both are about two and a half hours away. House of Fins online store is www.saltwatercritters.com. You may want to sign up at www.manhattanreefs.com so you can post and ask some folks out in the metro NY area if they know of any shops worth going to in the Albany area. That's only an hour and a half for you. I search of Albany gives me Benson's Pets www.bensonspet.com. I hope this helps.
I live in the Manchester, NH area and often do a three shop tour to Salem, NH and to Skipton's in Boston. That's about three hours driving for me round trip. Often times it's worth it. This is a hobby where patience is key so you don't have to fill up your tank all at once. Enjoy!

 

[pallobi]

I'm very sceptical about ordering online for coral

If u use a quality and reputable site, and make sure u pick up the package from the delivery company hub urself, u really cant go wrong and have nothing to worry about... cultivated reef and live aquaria are my top two recommendations...

 

[Jocko]

Yeah corals for the most part tend to ship quite well actually. Fish on the other hand are a little more of a gamble.

Or you could come to MACNA next month. You could take care of your whole yearly coral buying budget in a couple of days. Hehe.

 

[Turbosnail]

There is a place called swamp bottoms aquatics out near you that seems to get new stuff in every week according to there newsletter.

 

[pech29]

I've ordered from multiple site online, have had great experiences with all of them. Just read the reviews in other forums and go from there. I haven't had a loss yet from buying online from vendors or fellow reefers. I live in southern NH and will make the hour drive just to go to Skiptons in Boston, I've also ventured to RI and CT

 

[jimrawr]

Local LFS dont really carry much nice stuff in the way of corals, you need to buy online