Any lfs in Biloxi/Gulfport area

Saw a nice frag for a great price ? Let us know so we can buy it first !

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gauxjo
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Any lfs in Biloxi/Gulfport area

Post by gauxjo »

I live in Picayune, and am looking for good lfs that handles salt water fish, corals, live rock etc. Any recomendations? ( Or really anywhere in S. Miss.) Thanks!
carlab
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Post by carlab »

PetsMart just off I10 at Hwy49 sells some saltwater supplies(dry goods only thank God!) Crystal Reef on Pass Road in Gulfport has some saltwater critters/supplies. Those are only places on MS coast. I live just north of Gulfport and buy most of my stuff online or in Mobile. HTH
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Brandon
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Post by Brandon »

I think Peter Yo's place in Pascagoula is back open, Custom Reefs. I have not been there in a while so can't tell you anything about it.
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Phisher
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Post by Phisher »

For the most part we are void here. Crystal Reef was mentioned, bit pricey but usually pretty nice stuff. Pass Rd. Pets all the way down close to Gate 7 stocks fish and a few corals. Mr. James Video and Aquariums (not making this one up) was hit and miss until Katrina. Prices are excellent but usually just run of the mill stuff.

Crystal Reef in Hattiesburg is another place you can try, its on Hardy St. just west of I59.

I've not been to Peter's post Katrina either. I go by there when I'm working all the time so I'll stop in one day and let you know.

If you make the trip all the way to 'goula take the extra 30mins and go to Progressive Marine. He's north of the exit of I10 and 90. He usually has a nice selection.

HTH

Joe
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caymanada
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Post by caymanada »

Read two posts down under your post in Vendor Recommendations. Link is:

http://www.mbrk.com/viewtopic.php?t=39220

MrJamez will hopefully open back up soon.
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smork81
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Post by smork81 »

Custom reef in Pascagoula is back up and running. He has good prices on corals and fish. Peter has just started to get more fish in lately also. Normally he had LOTS of corals but has turned a few DT's into fish only for sale. He does have a nice setup imho. About proggresive marine in mobile....Where are they at? I tried to find them sunday when i visited but could not find the store. Someone told me it on Mills rd or something near a lumber store???? Could someone enlighten me on this place?
thanks
-Nika
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Post by marinebiologist »

smork81 wrote:Custom reef in Pascagoula is back up and running. He has good prices on corals and fish. Peter has just started to get more fish in lately also. Normally he had LOTS of corals but has turned a few DT's into fish only for sale. He does have a nice setup imho. About proggresive marine in mobile....Where are they at? I tried to find them sunday when i visited but could not find the store. Someone told me it on Mills rd or something near a lumber store???? Could someone enlighten me on this place?
thanks
-Nika
where is progressives website
http://www.progressivemarine.com/

you would have no luck on suday since they are closed. but what you are looking for is mobile lumber and if you face the front of mobile lumber there is a strip mall shopping center next door to the right and they are in the back of that shopping center give them a call and they can tell you how to get there you will most likely get to talk to bever. I highly recomend them .


As for any other LFS in MS there is none that I would be willing to recomend. Thought I have not gone to saltwater universe (old Mr. James Video ).

I have been to custom reefs both stores (gulfport and hattiesberg) and each and every time I went to either one (was atleast 4 times to gulfport and 6 to hattiesberg) I always walked out wishing i never waisted my time. The fish were always coverd in Ich the coral was dead and dying or so full of aptasia and bubble algae that It wouild not be worth infecting your tank with it. And saying they are over priced is an understatement. they are about 4 times the price that anyone shoud be willing to pay for the critters.

As for Pass Rd. Pets They are not horribe but not really worth the drive. they have stuff but not much (specialy in coral) and seem to cater to the beginer.

But from Picayune i wouild recomend either making the trip out to mobile to Progressive (my first choice) or else making the trip over to metarie to coral conection or ricks reef. both of which have wonderful stuff and great prices. Well worth the trip also.
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smork81
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Post by smork81 »

Thanks!! I know exactly where you are talking about now. I will def. check it out as I have not been there before.

And yeah the crystal reefs in hattiesburg and gulfport is horrible..Ive been ripped off by both of them. I do allthough like pass road pets..The guy there was very informative for me and helped me alot! I dont know of any others nor have i visited any others..And maybe when i go to new orleans i will stop by the one you had mentioned...You said it was in meterie right??

One question..Is it rude to ask a LFS where they get the livestock from?
The guy I deal with mostly (peter) at Custom reefs here in Goula always tells me where he wholesales too and where he gets his stock from...But I had asked a store in mobile and they completely declined to tell me where they get there stock from...And gave me no reason why they could not tell me. This seems completely "sketchy" to me. It's like they have something to hide..But thats just my opinion..Maybe they have a good reason to keep it a "secret" from paying customers that have spent thousands of dollars in that particular store over the past few years....But I say it is BS...And i dont know why they decline to tell me where they get there stock..

If anyone could enlighten me about this it would be much appreciated.

Thanks
-Nika
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smork81
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Post by smork81 »

Oh i am in pascagoula not piciyune :P
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Post by marinebiologist »

the picayune was for gauxjo not you smork81

first off the two stores i talked about in NOLA are the right out side of the NOLA airport the first is coral conection. He is a good guy and has a nice set up in the back (his prop/ sick tank) where you can get good deals on small frags i picked up 3 sps frags about a nickle in size each the other week for $20. His website is
http://www.coralconnection.com/start.htm
the second is ricks reef 651 David Dr Metairie, LA 70003 (504) 733-8560 I havent ever been able to get his website to come up so I think he let it die after katrina. But is also nice stuff and good prices.

If you ever find a need to head over that way and what a guide I would be willing to split the gas with you. Im over in bay st louis.

As for the question about being told where they got the critters from. That is a fair question. And any dealer who has respectable stuff and respectable suppliers should be happy to tell you where they got their stuff from. The fact that they were not willing to tell you where and who they got it from leads me to think that the collection means may be unfavorable (cianide fishing) or illegal (stoney coral collection in the Gulf of Mexico. ect... Most dealers should get a large portion of their stock from wholesalers who 99% of the time will not sell to any individual who is not a dealer.

But either way enjoy progressive marine. It is worth the trip no doubt. Check the website for hours and it never hurts to give a call and check to make sure they are going to be there. since there is only two people working there. It is better safe than sorry to call in advance so you dont waist a trip.

Mike
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Michelle
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Post by Michelle »

And any dealer who has respectable stuff and respectable suppliers should be happy to tell you where they got their stuff from. The fact that they were not willing to tell you where and who they got it from leads me to think that the collection means may be unfavorable (cianide fishing) or illegal (stoney coral collection in the Gulf of Mexico. ect... Most dealers should get a large portion of their stock from wholesalers who 99% of the time will not sell to any individual who is not a dealer.
I disagree to an extent. Though I have no problem talking to people about some of my suppliers, we all have specialties in our shops & often don't want to disclose suppliers where we get specialty items that set each of our shops apart from each other. I know I spent WAY too much time, money, and effort researching and trying out suppliers to just give it away all of that hard work to the competition.
Thanks!
Michelle @ Fat Fish
28851 N. Main St., Ste. D
Daphne, AL 36526
251-626-0926
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Post by StoneFish »

smork81 wrote:..But I say it is BS...And i dont know why they decline to tell me where they get there stock..

If anyone could enlighten me about this it would be much appreciated.

Thanks
-Nika
It only make good business sense to not disclose your wholesaler. There are not many "good" wholesalers out there. Especially when dealing with livestock, there is only so much to go around. Most orders do not get completely filled as it is. When you have taken a finacial loss many times dealing with poor companies, and then you finally find a good source, you don't want to tell everyone, so that your competition can also start ordering from them as well. That means you are less likely to get what you asked for. You no longer have an advantage over the competion with having superior health in livestock and/or pricing.

The business is also a bit cyclical. Take a good livestock vendor. Word gets out that it has quality livestock. Pretty soon more and more LFS are ordering from that vendor on recommendations from others. Fewer and fewer items are availible due to the increasing orders. The vendor begins bringing in more livestock to fill those orders, but it doesn't have the capabilities to handle that volume, so all of a sudden the quality starts declining. The previous guy that had this problem, LFS are no longer ordering from, so it is able to handle the current load. It's quality goes up.

Now, most places have no problem telling you where the shipment came from geographically. As in "this is a transhipment from Fiji", or "this is from a wholesaler in Los Angeles", but as the the specific company, forget about it.
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Michelle
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Post by Michelle »

Very well worded Stonefish :)
Thanks!
Michelle @ Fat Fish
28851 N. Main St., Ste. D
Daphne, AL 36526
251-626-0926
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