Local LFS Report.

[Havre]

On sat. Scott O and I made a run to several of the LFS in the twin cities area. Following is our findings....

Har Mar- A nice little selection of corals (in reasonable health)
several LPS (hammers, frogspawn, fungia etc) in the $50-$75 range
Two particularly nice SPS heads in the $75-$100 range. (nice color but probably will not last if they are not sold)
A few good sized leathers (including one yellow) that were not looking the greatest. but that could be the lighting.
and of course lots of nice mushrooms.
I bought a 5" Lunare wrasse for the fish only ($29.99)

Petco (Roseville) Not much to speak of, but Scott bought a nice little (3 inch) orange fromia star for $15.

Aqualand- Dont bother, unless your into freshwater. This place is probably the best freshwater store in the area (along with Forest Lake)

Sea Dreams- It was 2pm on sat afternoon and there was a sign on the door that said, we are closed, Sorry for the inconvience.

A Wet Pet- There are a few people who have told me this was a good store. But Scott and I thought it was pathetic! Their was one piece of mushroom rock and thats it for coral selection! Every saltwater fish they had looked liked a starving Ethiopian.

World of fish-Same old story here, lots of nice corals at prices that Bill Gates would even question. Particularly some really nice Scolymia that was bright red but cost $220. Average price for most corals (even leathers) was $119-$175.
However dont give up on this place if you keep your eyes open once in awhile they have something really nice at a decent price!

Something Fishy- We skipped here simply because it is our favorite store and we go there all the time anyways.

Wet World- This place was the most pleasant surprise of the day!
I know what your thinking, really nice corals at unbelieveably ridiculous prices. But this is no longer the case. Yes their prices are still on the high side but not insane as before.
Also all the prices are posted by the tanks (so they are the same for everyone , no matter how you are dressed!)
Average prices ranged from $79 for a really nice (softball size bubble) to $200 for some very large nice SPS heads. Most of the corals were around $99. I ended up buying a blue linkia star for $60 (he is about 12" across!!!)
Also I have been wanting a shark for the fish only. (one of the smaller species) so I went back on sunday and bought the one they had for $120.(Whitespotted Bamboo)
Also their salt is $29.99 for coralife and $44.99 for 200g buckets of both instant ocean and reef crystals!!(I bought a bucket of reef crystals)

[Minnreefer]

cool Thanks

Jon

[al437la]

The next time you are in the cities, you might want to consider a trip slightly North. There is a shop called Premier Pets on Hwy 10 in Champlin (North of Anoka) that has a good selection of fresh and Saltwater fish, including a wide variety of corals.
The prices are significantly below what you pay in the cities. The shop's appearance is less appealing

[FastFish720]

If you guys plan on coming up here and have frags available give me a PM. Oh yea PP has some good livestock coral wise with reasonable prices. I would stay away from the fish as 3/4 I have bought developed ich within an hour.

[madrefkepr]

If your ever in Buffalo, I usually stop at Country Critters Pets. Although they only have about 6 saltwater tanks, they've had something interesting every time I've been in there. No corals last 2 times I was there, but I did pick up a fuzzy dwarf lion last time, in great health. Eats like a pig! They had an angler in there a while back. Half a dozen Horeshoe Crabs last weekend (not the greatest for a reef, but I did say interesting, not practical). Owner told me they would be expanding the saltwater selection pretty soon. My thought is, it's a small store, and probably will never be a "main" store, but it is something to check out if you're there. As far as prices, all over the place. Fuzzy Dwarf was $26, perculas were like $18, or very close to that, and hermits were 4.99 (label did not say how many you got for this price, and I forgot to ask).

[manderson0805]

Mad, what about Lil' Buddies in Monticello? I thought they have great prices on their livestock, compared to the cities stores. Corals are VERY limited, to one tank, but hopefully they'll expand to more corals in the future. Mike

[madrefkepr]

Mike,

Actually, I still haven't found Lil' Buddies. I haven't gone to Monticello very often, even though I'm only 10 minutes away. However, the company I work for has just moved into Monticelllo, so I'll have to find it now that I don't have that excuse!

[mnreefgeek]

Thanks for the report. Did you end up buying a clam?

[kaba]

Good stuff to know. Thank you.

[mmclain]

Mad,

Lil' Buddies is easy to find.

Coming into Monticello on 94, get off on the main Monticello exit (hiway25) and head north (like you are going to Big Lake). At the first light, turn left. At the next intersection (Cubs is on the left) make a right, go through the stop sign and Lil' Buddies is on the right hand side (across from the community center).

Paul and Barb (owners) are great folks. They've tried to serve the community well with a much better than average selection of stuff for dogs, cats, birds, reptiles, etc. but clearly about a third of the store is dedicated to fresh and saltwater. I believe they are planning on expanding their salt collection (including corals) in the near future.

Pricing is usually better than what you will find in the cities. Good selection on dry goods (including Salifert kits), etc.

My 2 cents worth.

[madrefkepr]

Thanks for the directions! Maybe I'll stop over there on lunch today.

[Havre]

Chad, No I didnt. Even though they looked nice they were just too small. (1.5")

[EdgeKrusher]

Hey ya'll I have an on going list of LFS's on my web site. Check it out let me know what needs to be added, JnS and I are talking about making a poll for rating each store but for right now I'm just throwing up the rating I'm getting from whoever gives it to me. my site is www.ambuscaded.com/edge just click the LFS button and check it out. It has phone #'s and directions to each store i have up. Updates are very welcome, just want to have one handy place for everyone to be able to find.

Peace

Edge

[Achilles Tang]

Hey guys thanks for the info on the stores. Sounds like a fun adventure may have to schedule one to the stores I been missing

As for “Wet Pet” think of the store like a lottery ticket. There are many winning days when you go in. And then others are a total waste of energy. The owner does a good job of ordering and spreading the wealth between freshwater, saltwater, and koi ponds, considering his limited space. Its more a matter of knowing his shipping schedule and timing your visits around that. It is truly shopped heavy on delivery days.

I like the endless rows of tanks at Something fishy just as much as the next person. But you won’t get the wish lists, phone calls, and country store service like you do as a regular at wet pet.

OK OK so is it obvious yet I bought my first salt tank from Wet Pet. Just thought I’d give them a plug since I can see you caught them on one of their down weeks.

[trodder]

As stated about Premier Pets, the fish look like they are in bad shape but all else is usually looking pretty good and they areusually well priced. Sometimes everything looks a little less than healthy but most of the time most everything is okay. They are also willing to negotiate on prices of some items.