Mobile Bay Reef Keepers

I have never been to Rich's , but have been wanting to go. When is a good time to catch him at his shop? Is there a particular day that he is there most of the day?

Thanks,
Brandon

The main reason I never go by there unless I need something really bad: You never know when he is going to be there. I called him one morning and he said he would be back at 1:00 he didn't show until 2. I called several evenings and he was out. If he had set hours when you could just drop by I would not purchase anything from B&B. The only thing you can do is call and see if he is free.

Scott

I went by there for the first time, this afternoon, and then went to B&B afterwards. Man, I wanted to buy all the corals at B&B just to save them.. it's so sad the condition things are in.
Rich's tanks are impressive, never seen any other like them. I am a little unsure on his pricing though.. things don't seem to match the prices on his web site.
I did buy a ph meter from him though, unfortunately I think might be broken .. so guess I will need to go back to return it. I can't seem to get it to settle down on a reading, it's drifting all over the place, and it won't turn off with the on/off switch... oh well :\

I know how you feel about B&B.

We went by there Saturday too. Most of the corals are just sad. They had one pagoda that seemed allright, but it probally just came in. I did see that small Sunrise Dottyback that tempted me, it's just the $40 price tag that scares me off. The only thing I've gotten there, besides some snails and crabs, were a colony of zoos. The price was actually less than there 39.99 normal price, had some color in htem, and it had some 60+ polyps on it. I just don't feel right about shelling out $40 for 8 grey polyps.

I went by Rich's once. I had emailed him a few days before, and he gave me a time he would be home. It was actually kind of a good experience. He had just got back from picking up a shipment, so he didn't have time to "hard sell" me anything.

Don't get me wrong, Rich has some of the best looking corals in the area. I have bought more stuff from him than anyone else put together, but recently it has been more trouble than it was worth to try and track him down when I was free. I have been to his new house only 2 times.

I hate going to B&B because I see the terrible conditions that the corals are kept in. I have seen more corals die in there than I care to remember. They have a purple montipora that is now brown that I thought about buying, but it isn't much bigger than an orange monti frag that I got for $10.

Scott

It's a tough decision for sure; Rich is definitly a "hit or miss" about his business hours... B+B is a disaster for corals... and the few that *do* look good, they want a killing for... they have a TINY xenia oblongata for $40... yeah right. Their livestock levels are depressing sometimes too... I got a gift certificate for $25 at B&B for my b-day this weekend... went looking, and couldn't even find anything we wanted, it was a real letdown.

Any of you guys ever go to the pensacola stores? Water World , Reefer's Aquatics, Aqua Works, Reefscapes? Theres probably some I don't know about also.

http://www.reefscapes.com/home.htm
http://www.reefersaquatics.com/
I don't know if the others have web pages or not.. couldn't find them if they did.

I will have to say Rich cant help his business hours much, I dont think he makes much money on the corals, if not lose money from deaths. His main money is new setups and cleanings. That is why he is not home much in the morning. I always find that he is more likely to be home after 1pm cause he does cleaning early mornings and usually seems to come home to eat around one and I can normally catch the poor guy eating. I never go to B&B anymore, Rich beats there prices by far and has a better variety. I mean some of his stuff has problems but what doesnt, the survival rate from the ocean to tank is less than 10 percent anyway. I know what you mean about the pricing varying and have had people complain to me about it before. All I can say is this, most prices are "off the top" of his head but that seems to be normall for just about anyone that runs a business out of his house. This is a pastime for him and he has found a way to make money off it in the process, I am sure in time he will find a price structure and stick to it. No matter what price he tells me for a Cleaner Shrimp, its still $10 less than B&B. BTW after a year I think I lost a cleaner shrimp.

P.S. I think I fixed the "anonymous post" thing. If you find a forum that you can anonymous post, let me know.

Oh, has anyone talked to Elizabeth lately ? I think her and Rich are talking about her getting the 500 gallon off his porch. That is by far the tank of my dreams. I was hoping Rich was going to set it up though. Anyone remember the one in his living room ? That was the most beautiful tank I have seen in person. The amount of life in that tank was amazing. Rich Gallop definitely has a green thumb with tanks.

NM, saw the other post about her tank......

I have been to Water World and they had good prices and a selection of corals from frags to colonies. Drew (Fishfood) lives in Pensacola and likes Reefers Aquatics. The trade in frags for credit too. I have never asked around here because I really don't have anything that Rich doesn't have and I don't want anything from B&B.

Scott

The way I see it... Rich is a hobbyist turned business person. The best case scenerio by far. He has a good knowlege of aquatics, and I believe cares about the quaity of what he keeps. I did question his pricing differeces though from what he sold to me vs the website... (I was quoting to another person his prices and what I got...and that person..out of state was saving over 70.00 more than me!). Rich has since upped his website prices.... , but they are still less than buying local. His reasoning... if I gathered correctly...it had something to do with shipping from vendor costs... still didnt make much sense , but either wayhis prices usually come close or beat eveyone... and the way i see it... even if I have to spend a few more bucks... i'd rather someone like Rich get my $$ than B&B.

If htings change then I'll go somewhere else. For now... He's a good local source.

Just my .02 cents.....

Ditto

Rich has a website? Post link please

Doh! guess that's pretty obvious there... quick reply too!