occelaris and perculas

[mhaynes01]

where is the cheapest but still good quality store to buy occelaris or perculas

i want two

also where is a good place to get nassarius and margarita snails also ?

[captexas]

Plenty of LFS have Occelaris clowns at any given time. Most of them are labled as Perculas when they really aren't. Snails are usually cheapest online. Just keep an eye on the group order forum as people do orders fairly often for clean-up critters.

[StephenA]

I don't know if I'd use cheap as a means to pic a fish. I'd got to several of the stores in Austin and see which ones have the healthiest fish. Make sure they are tank raised too. Austin Aquriums and Aquatek usually keep multiple type clowns in stock.

On the snails, depends on how many you want. If you want 12 got to a lfs in town. More than that get on a group order.

[havrda]

I went to Austin Aquariums this week. No clowns. AquaTek has plenty of clowns but I am not sure if they are tank raised.

[cvonseggern]

Aquatic Warehouse in SA usually has tank-raised clowns in stock. And they'll get them for you if they need to special order.

[Brett Wilson]

AquaTek carries tank raised clowns from ORA. so does petco but their stocking methods are pretty shaddy. and of course petco is evil, so I try to avoid them :-p
http://www.orafarm.com/

[JimD]

Actually, the Petco at Brodie and 290 isnt too bad, I was there yesterday and the tanks and livestock were in pretty good condition. One tank was full of Oscellaris and one was getting a serious whippin by the others, I spoke with the young lady and brought this to her attention, she quickly realized that the clown had no chance of survival in that tank and moved it to a tank of its own. I could see a big "thank you" on the fishes face. Not all Petco employees suck, this one actually cared.

[GaryP]

mhaynes,

As with everything in this hobby, cheap and high quality rarely go with each other. Wild caught clowns are cheap, but have a lower survival rate. Tank raised are more expensive, but have a higher survival rate.

Gary

[mhaynes01]

thank you very much everyone and jimd are youi talking about teh petco acroos from the petsmart

also where is teh best live rock at?
i only want 5-10 lbs.

[JimD]

thank you very much everyone and jimd are youi talking about teh petco acroos from the petsmart

also where is teh best live rock at?
i only want 5-10 lbs.

Yes, I believe so, across from the new Home Depot also.
For live rock, keep an eye on the for sale forum here, theres usually some up for grabs by Tim Marvin and others.

[Brett Wilson]

I've purchased clowns from that petco before, they did well and are still around . sold them a while back..

Petco has the exact same clowns as Aquatek, however, they are half the price at petco. That is because ORA recently changed their pricing for their smaller retailers. Big firms like Petco get a much better price.

[mhaynes01]

thats is interesting

[brewercm]

The problem isn't where Petco gets there fish from, it's once they get dumped into their contaminated tanks the problem begins. Probably not true for every Petco but definately most.

[Brett Wilson]

yeah,brewercm is totally correct here. contaminated and too many per tank.

[cvonseggern]

Have to wonder what kind of acclimation they do, too. Probably float 'em for 20 minutes then cut the bag and dump em in...

[Instar]

Becareful not to encourage people to go to all PetCos. Most of them are hazardous to you and fish. Over the term of things it has seemed that one of the Austin stores is the exception. Since PetCo exists everywhere, this gives the idea its a safe place to shop. Too expensive for me actually, but, thats just me.

AW in SA has stopped getting tank raised clowns because people would rather watch a cheaper mishandled wild fish die or take their chances here than to pay the cost of tank raised. Too bad IMO. I recall a day when we could get wild caught fish that were awesome. Things have changed a lot. Tank raised is the only way to go. They don't bring dreaded diseases into the home tank, don't die even when a minor mistake is made normally, they eat cheap food and thrive on it and they aren't affected by weather changes. Its worth a little more to get tank raised for me. Their life expectancy is very long by comparison.

[StephenA]

The tank raised at Aquatek usually look pretty good. I'd rather pay $25 for healthy fish. Much less kill 8 out 10 bringing them from the wild to kill in our tanks.

[mhaynes01]

so i should go to aquatek to buy my clowns instead of petco because i have been there and there clowns look kinda bad

what about this: 4 nassarius and 2 margaritas fro my tank where should i go to get them? open for suggestion on types of snails

[StephenA]

I wouldn't buy a bad fish from any lfs. A lot of the lfs get small ones in. If you want something nicer tell them! They all can order larger, nicer fish. AquaTek had nice nassarius last time I bought some. They always have margaritas. If the lfs's don't have what you want, ask them. Everytime I've asked they get it. That's even true with dry goods.

[mhaynes01]

thanks stephenA so you definently recommend aquatek

what about aqua dome?

[Brett Wilson]

Aquadome; the good and the bad:
They do not sell aquacultured fish, they do trans-shipping. What this means is the fish go directly from the collection facility to aquadome. They have a lot of die-off as a result but also have some of the lowest prices around.

[StephenA]

Yes I'd recommend AquaTek. I prefer their coral selection over anyone elses. I usually have them order the fish I need. Most of their fish orders come in on Tue.

I've never been down to AquaDome, but others in Austin have said that their fish selection is pretty good.

I'd call both of them to see when their fish are coming in for the week.

[Brett Wilson]

Aquadome gets orders every monday and have the new items for sale on Tuesday.
They are closed on mondays.

-Brett

[mhaynes01]

ok thanks guys but my tank is still on its cycle and i hope this weekend i will getr some live rock