Finding a good supplier for your reef specimens is very important. There are two primary issues at hand. Do they carry quality specimens and maintain them in good health until sale and are they able to provide advice which is more helpful than harmful?

Within my local area, there were 5 pet stores that carried reef supplies. Here is a synopsis of my experiences with these stores early in my ‘formative’ years.

Pet store #1 got me started with my first reef tank. They happened to be the closest to my house and they had a nice looking reef tank on display. At least it looked like a nice reef tank to me. I had not seen any except in magazines and books. I setup my tank based upon their suggestions as well as information that I had gotten out of some fairly outdated books. I did quite a bit of research on filtration requirements and built my own wet/dry filter, bought a protein skimmer and built my own light hood based upon information in a well regarded book on reef tanks. My tank started out OK, but quickly got onto the wrong side of some serious hair algae. Specimens in the tank did not thrive. Some seemed to survive well enough, while others just faded away. Not surprisingly, that nice display tank at the pet store also fell into similar disarray. The hair algae monster took over and the tank was dismantled. So was my tank.

Pet store #2 and #3 keep a couple of fairly nice looking reef tanks that they sell specimens out of. Both tanks have low lighting to keep algae at bay and specimens mercifully wait for someone to take them home to hopefully better conditions. If a specimen stays in one of the tanks too long, it generally starts to look poor. There are of course the exceptions, but these are specimens that happen to like these types of conditions.

Pet store #4 setup a large 300 gallon reef tank. This was a new pet store and I carefully watched the evolution of their display tank. The tank was setup with large amounts of live rock and large amounts of Caulerpa and yellow tangs to cycle the tank. 3 months later, the tank still had live rock, caulerpa and yellow tangs in it. 6 months later the store had closed down.

Pet store #5…. As I walked into this pet store for the first time, the first thing I saw was the most gorgeous reef tank I had ever seen. It was every bit as impressive as those pictures you see in magazines and books. This was not a tank filled with rocks and some specimens perched on them. This was a tank with virtually every surface covered with hard corals and soft corals. Xenia was growing up the glass like a weed and SPS corals had grown together over time! It was obvious that this tank has been a stable, thriving environment for years! Within 5 minutes of walking into this store, I knew I had found a pet store upon whose advice I could depend on. They had obvious unspoken proof that they knew what they are talking about. Further investigation revealed that the business was family owned and operated. All personnel there are avid reef keepers in their own right. If they have helpers who are less knowledgeable helping out and you ask a question which they do not know, they call over someone who can answer it. This store specializes in reef tanks even though they do sell some freshwater specialty items and reptiles and amphibians.

Most good pet stores that carry reef supplies will maintain a display reef tank of their own. The long term health of their own tank(s) gives you a direct correlation on how well they really understand reef keeping. The key words here are ‘long term health’. Frequently a poor quality pet store that has difficulty in maintaining their own tank, will tear it down every few months and then set it back up to keep it looking OK. You might see it soon after setup and make the false assumption that they know what they are doing. Monitor the tank over the next few months and see if the specimens are thriving and algae is kept under control.

Another thing to watch for is a display tank in which the specimens are for sale. This tank may look OK, but since the specimens are constantly being rotated in and out of the tank, you cannot tell if they are thriving or merely surviving until someone hopefully takes them home before they die. These tanks are often seriously under lighted which prevents algae blooms, but which also would prevent many of the specimens from surviving long term.

If a pet store does not have a nice display tank, it does not mean you should not necessarily do business with them at some level, but it does mean that you should regard any suggestions on how to maintain a reef tank suspect. After all, if they can’t or choose not to keep a high quality reef tank themselves, how can you have any confidence that they are talking from experience rather than from something they read in a book. Worse yet, they may be telling you something only to sell whatever product they have sitting on their shelves and unfortunately, there are a lot of expensive snake oils being sold in this hobby to the unsuspecting hobbyist.

A quality pet store takes pride in their specimen tanks as well as their display tanks. There should not be a lot of dead or dying fish in the tanks. Some mortality is to be expected since the animals are always subjected to considerable stress during shipment to the store, but it should not be excessive or due to obvious disease symptoms. Corals, clams and other light requiring specimens should be under adequate lighting to maintain them in good health. Typical specimen tanks are fairly narrow and shallow and 2 VHO type fluorescent lamps running the length of the tanks is usually the minimum lighting needed for long term health of the specimens. High light requiring specimens such as SPS corals and Tridacna clams should only be kept under Metal Halide or large amounts of VHO/PC type lighting.

The term LFS is short for ‘Local Fish Store’. This is your local pet store that carries at least some reef tank supplies. If a quality LFS exists in your area, it is the preferred way to buy your specimens. You can observe them prior to purchase for health and color.

A version of LFS are the large retail chain stores such as Petco.  These stores seldom have reef knowledgeable personnel on staff, although there are some exceptions.  Their livestock typically is inferior health wise from the smaller LFS.  While it is OK to purchase livestock through them if it is healthy, I would not recommend depending on getting any significant useful advice.

Mail order is becoming more and more popular in this hobby for purchasing both supplies and livestock. It has several advantages. One is that dry goods i.e. non-livestock items, are generally considerably cheaper than at the LFS. Also, they may have a better selection of livestock than you are able to find locally. As an example, a popular power head sells at the LFS here for about $45. I can purchase the same one mail order for $18. One thing to be cautious of is that mail order items may also have shipping charges applied. This can add significantly to the cost of the goods, especially for livestock that require next day priority delivery service from UPS or FedEx. Dry goods orders are generally fairly cheap to ship.  When purchasing livestock, you obviously are not going to be able to see the exact item that you are purchasing, so you are more at the mercy of the company you are buying from.  I have provided some links in the links section of on-line suppliers that I have first hand knowledge of as being good businesses to do business with.  I have also listed some that have been less than stellar performers when I have dealt with them.

If a good quality LFS exists in your area, try to buy as much as you can through them. Remember that this is a hobby for you, but it is their livelihood and the more they sell, the better they will be able to stock their store. Good advice is invaluable, as is being able to hand select your specimens. Use mail order for specimens that you cannot easily get locally or when significant cost savings can be obtained on dry goods, especially items that you purchase over and over such as supplements.