First Post. Suggestions about LFS in Philadelphia area?

[reef137]

Hello. I am a new member and also new to reef keeping. In the past few months I have set up a 40-gal tank to house primarily two seahorses (H. reidi, from the Seahorse Source). Tank mates include one each of a yellow clown, neon and prawn goby, as well as a clean-up crew. More details below.

Could forum members recommend LFSs in the Philadelphia area?

This is what I am aware of so far:

Hidden Reef (Levitown, PA). My stock and most of my liverock is from this store. Although I am new to the hobby, to me they appear to have many clean tanks with a good assortment as well as knowledgable staff. They buy about 3,000 pounds of live rock at a time (mainly Fiji, $2.89/lb) and the rock I used from them has produced lots of interesting growth and hitchhikers. They sell RO water (50 cents/gallon) and to me that is a convenient source to replace evaporated water. So far this store is my favorite.

Big Al’s (Norristown, PA). Their prices for equipment and accessories seem high to me. The prices on their web site are much lower. They did adjust a price downward when I said another store had a lower price, but because of that I am not a big initial fan of the store. I did buy some Tonga live rock, and they had some interesting other pieces that they sold at the same price. I am a neophyte, but the Hidden Reef’s tanks seemed cleaner to me.

(Big Al’s Online seems to have competitive prices for items such as filters, especially since I was able to take advantage of a free-shipping sale.)

That Fish Place (Lancaster, PA). I bought my tank and accessories here since that was the first store I knew about. They are too far away, however, to be convenient for my purposes.


Here are more details of my system. Suggestions are welcome.

Tank:
40 gallons, glass. ~75% of the top is covered.

Stock:
2 seahorses (H. reidi, one M, one F)
1 prawn goby
1 yellow clown goby
1 neon goby
(I do not plan to add any more fish)
Clean-up crew – eventually will number about 25-30.
15 snails (6 astrea, 1 margarita, 4 nassarius, 3 certith). I plan to add 4 more nassarius or nertites to increase the number of detritus cleaners
2 blue-legged hermit crabs
1 peppermint shrimp
I also have about 6 small snails that appeared on their own (live rock hitch hikers). I am trying to identify them.


Food source:
Frozen mysis cubes (Hikari). Occasional use of Selco supplement.

Base:
40 lbs Aragonite

Filtration:

• Live rock: 65 lbs (50 lbs Fiji, 15 lbs Tonga)
• Canister Filter: RENA Filstar XP 1 with carbon (250 GPH, ~ 6 volume changes per hour). This set up has a horizontal exit tube with holes in it. This arrangement directs the incoming water down the back wall of the tank.
• Skimmer

: Sea-Clone 150 (I now know it gets bad reviews. It does, however, collect a few ounces every few days. I could replace it with a better one, but perhaps it is good enough. If I replace it, I would use a Remora C. )


Water parameters:
73 C
pH 8.1 (pH meter)
NH3, NO2, NO3: 0 (not detectable with test kit at this point)
kH 11
I replace evaporated water with distilled water to avoid salt build up.
I change 4 gallons (10%) every two weeks. I use tap water (kH 6. Analysis by the water company indicates: 0.2-0.3 ppm P; nitrate, 3.6 ppm).


Lighting:
Coralife Aqualight system. 96 w daylight (about 4 hours/day), 96 watt actinic (about 8 hours/day), on a Coralife dual timer (3 hours of actinic, 4 hours or daylight, 5 hours of actinic, Blue LED lunar light at other times)

Supplemental circulation:
Rio 50 Powerhead, using supplied venturi adaptor to give additional surface agitation.

Macroalgae: Will add in the future.

[kathywithbirds]

Hi! I'm on the other side of the walt whitman bridge -- nothing so big over here I've seen as yet. Defintiely smaller. I've only been to big al's -- name changing to captain nemo's, dunno why...

There's discount aquarium center, a store in connaminson I forget the name of and in living color here. I plan to visit Hidden Reef and that fish place sometime, it is a little bit of a hike for me.

[lcstorc]

Welcome to RS!
I'm not from that area but a number of our members are.
Just wanted to say hi and welcome.

[chris&barb]

the hidden reef is a good store, been around for a long time but in a new location since the fire a while back. ive never been to Big Als but know they changed there name because it was a franchise of the Canadian Co. and were limited to dry goods that the parent company sold so droped the franchise.

there's a small store right around the corner from the hidden reef that seems to have some good corals most of the time(name alludes me at this time)(i think its the Fish Factory)

one of my favorite stores is East Coast Aquatics in south Philly Prospect Park.

theres a place in Frazer PA called the Frazer Zoo (Frazer is probably spelled wrong) that a lot of people like but ive never been there

try this link and if you find a store thats not on it add it Aquarium Store Finder - Map

[caitrina]

Well I can't help you, but I can welcome you to RS and tell you that we love pictures here. Welcome!

[AQTCJAK]

Welcome Aboard

[hma]

Welcome to RS

[Jason25]

Not sure if shipping is an option for you but I live in the Lancaster area and THAT PET PLACE is my LFS, they have a huge selection of equipment as you already know. You can also order everything online from our sponsors here.

[reef137]

Thank you for the welcome greetings and for the information about additional stores.

The link to the Aquarium Store Finder is especially helpful for a newcomer.

I'll try the suggested stores over time.


Local Fish Stores (LFS) near Philadelphia

Hidden Reef (Levittown, PA)
Big Al’s (Norristown, PA)
Fish Factory (Bristol, PA)
East Coast Aquatics (Prospect Park, PA)
Frazer Zoo (Frazer, PA)
That Fish Place (Lancaster, PA)

[Melanie]

[kathywithbirds]

Frasier zoo? is that an LFS or an actual zoo?

[chris&barb]

Frasier zoo? is that an LFS or an actual zoo?

its an LFS but i think they also sell reptiles.

there is a Frazer zoo in MD. that is a zoo, more of a petting zoo for the kids

[JFK_Jr]

[asamel]

Another option is a very small store in Toms River, NJ. I've been dealing with them for something like 15 years and I drive there from Philly. The owner runs it himself and is super knowledgable. He has designed and built filters over the years and, in my view, has always been ahead of the curve. He took me away from undergravel filters way before wet/dry systems were out there.

Most products are sold only after he's tried them himself. His critiques are honest and he won't sell anything that hasn't worked well on his tanks. He'll also say things like "I don't sell their salt since they changed suppliers and get it from China-poor quality control".

He doesn't carry huge amounts of dry goods and his fish supply is hit or miss but he'll set you up right and trouble shoot you better than anywhere else I've been. If he needs to order something he gets it quick and will ship most things (not chillers or tanks).

The store also has an interesting ambiance. His customers are super loyal and often will walk in and start helping other customers if the owner is busy. I had my hood wired by a guy who just happened to walk in while I was there. He was an electrician so why not?

Anyone else familiar with this place?

Bruce
Philly area

Aqua Oceans
2175 Route 9
Toms River, NJ zip code
Phone: (732) 363-7907