Reefshops in Vic

[Zerandise]

Im sure there is at least one shop in vic that sells corals and invets. Can someone please point them out to me? I went to the one little shop just off hillside next to the bread shop but they just have fish rock and macro.

thanks guys :)

[IslandReefer]

Safarii Pets...off of Blanchard and Cloverdale....in the same complex as Future Shop
....talk to Japardo..I haven't been there in a while, so I don't know what he has but Safarii is pretty much the best in town for reefers.
Enjoy
:cool:

[Johnny Reefer]

Safari Pets and Aquatics.
Corner of Cloverdale Ave. and Blanshard St.
Same plaza that Future Shop is at.
(Blanshard is the same as the Pat Bay Highway as you come into town from Swartz Bay. In other words the Pat Bay Highway becomes Blanshard St. at the 50 km/h zone).

Cheers,

[Johnny Reefer]

talk to Japardo..


It's Japarto.

[rickjames]

Safari's is the LFS i shop at. Great corals/livestock.

[Zerandise]

Yeah i was there the other day. no corals or inverts :( Maybe he was just out? I might have to take alot of trips back to Van :)

[Marnie]

You couldnt have been at Safaris, they have lots of corals etc. I believe its Creatures you were at.

Safaris always has a great selection of corals, I was just there a couple of days ago and Japarto had a good selection in.

Hope this helps.

[Johnny Reefer]

next to the bread shop


McGavin's? Right! You were at Creatures.
I (we?) say again...Safari Pets and Aquatics.
Corner of Cloverdale and Blanshard.
Beside Raymond's Restaurant.
Same plaza that Future Shop is at.
Near Mayfair Mall.
They have a good selection and the livestock is well maintained, but I wouldn't go there expecting to see the selection your used to on the lower mainland, what with all the LFS's over there. :smile:

[Zerandise]

nice!!! Thanks much for setting me on the path of the light! I will go check it out after work today :)

[Veng68]

On a side note........ what stores have a good freshwater selection (plants & Dwarf Cichlids)? :)

I'm contemplating a trip to the Island later in the summer :)

Cheers,
Vic [veng68]

[Johnny Reefer]

On a side note........ what stores have a good freshwater selection (plants & Dwarf Cichlids)? :)
[veng68]

For plants I'd say Safari Pets, again, for that. Particulary after a delivery, of course.
Dwarf Cichlids....? Hmmm. Good question. I don't think there is much of a market over here for Dwarf Cichlids. At least not big enough for the LFS's to carry a substantial stock. (Relatively small population base).

Cheers,

[Zerandise]

went to the shop on hillside/ceaderhill today. the fish selection if far better than anything i have seen on the isnland. much better than safari and creatures. you guys guys are right. I cant think on the same quality/scale as on the lower mainland. Its just not the same here. I will get use to it in time I think ;)

[Jaws]

Be very careful when buying anything from that store. Very, very careful. Not the most honest operation.

[Zerandise]

thanks for the heads up. the guy seemed to be nice enough and the fish seemed to be in good order. The tanks were low on water but i assumed they were doing a water change. Didnt seem any worse than the other two stores. Maybe when you come over soon to check out my half empty tank we can talk about it over a beer or a coffee ;)

Just name the day

[Jaws]

Any day's good for me really. My work's pretty flexible. What's your schedule like?

[RonD]

Be very careful when buying anything from that store. Very, very careful. Not the most honest operation.

I shop all three privately owned salty stores here in town .. oh yeah, Hi all :) ...and all have been great to deal with and I have heard things said about each one... good, bad and indifferant. No place has a perfect rep with every single person that walks thru the doors.. its just not possible. Yes, the prices are higher than on the mainland, so that takes a bit of getting used to .. but convenience does cost and so does shipping...( or you could spend a whole day, a ferry ride etc etc to save ten bucks lol) Less stressfull on live stock buying locally as well. Paying double for stuff bothers me alot but after showing the people in these local stores that you are there to support them and let them know that you are watching prices on the mainland...may in turn help you, help them .. if you catch my drift.

As for your post quoted above and not to single you out at all jaws.. just making balance for all. I have been treated like gold at that store by a three caring people who work there.. how I found out about them was by word of mouth of a few people like you and I... I am guessing. They didn't have or need to spread a good word.. but I am sure glad they did.

[Kabong]

Truthfully theres good and bad about all the locale stores!
Hillside has a great selection, But they are also the type of store that doesnt care what there supplier sends them.
Flying gurrand, octopus, and a lot of large aggresives. are a few that ive seen
(truthfully i lost all faith in her when she tried to tell my wife that almost all fish are captive bred these days)

Creatures started off horribly but seem to be getting it together, in the livestock sense but i found that if they dont know you. There the type that will sell you a panther grouper for your nano tank. i will add though while overpriced they do have the best selection of inverts ive seen, and i whould say they are the only one you could actually put together a cleaning crew at.

Safari gets a decent selction of fish and corals in, no inverts though. and have crazy high prices sometimes, like i saw a bicolor angel they wanted over a $100 for!

personally i frequent all the stores, its just a matter of doing some research and not rushing into a purchase.
You could buy 2 and still have them shipped for that price.

[Jaws]

I'm glad to hear that there are people with success stories about Hillside. Up until now, I have heard very very few. Nothing against their selection or their staff, because they are always very friendly. They can just be very misleading at times which can be very costly if you end up putting the wrong animal in your tank. It's up to you to research an animal before putting it in your tank anyways. That being said, I'm very careful about what advice I take at most places. There's a couple though, that I trust completely. And I feel very strongly about supporting your local stores. JMO.

[Johnny Reefer]

Safari gets a decent selction of fish and corals in, no inverts though. and have crazy high prices sometimes, like i saw a bicolor angel they wanted over a $100 for!

A reliable source told me it is/was a Passer Angel, not a Bi-color.
(Was? Not sure if it's still there).

Cheers,

[Kabong]

A reliable source told me it is/was a Passer Angel, not a Bi-color.
(Was? Not sure if it's still there).

Cheers,[/quote]

The one i saw was written on the glass as a bicolor for like $120, I can't guarantee if it really was, but it sure looked like a bicolor to me.
Its gone so its either sold or died.

[Johnny Reefer]

The one i saw was written on the glass as a bicolor for like $120, I can't guarantee if it really was, but it sure looked like a bicolor to me.

That's one problem I have with Safari is that the specimens written on the glass aren't always what is necessarily in the tank and what is in the tank isn't always written on the glass. What I'm trying to say is that they are terrible for keeping their customers informed as to what livestock they currently have and the prices of their stock. They don't update their "glass/livestock advertising" (for lack of a better term) often enough. I find that I'm always asking "What's that?", or, "How much for this?" Even if I bring a book in with me and do IDs myself, I usually still have to ask for a price because what's written on the glass is often out of date and what I am interested in is often not written down. Even the corals...They have their base prices for large and small, but then you still can't be sure and have to ask. Some are larger than large and in a different price range. It also depends if the coral is brightly colored or not. I guess they couldn't write every individual price on the glass for each individual coral, though. You wouldn't be able to see in the tanks. I'd like to see some consistent updates on the fish, though. I hate asking how much something costs. I'd rather see it.

Having said that, it is my favorite LFS, however. I receive excellent "how to" advice from J.
I am loyal to them and I do not shop anywhere else.

JMO and cheers,

[jennytheleopardgrouper]

Sorry about the next post, I only read the first page of comments. Question answered! (For some reason my post was entered twice, and I can't delete it, but I could edit this one)

[StirCrazy]

The one i saw was written on the glass as a bicolor for like $120, I can't guarantee if it really was, but it sure looked like a bicolor to me.

That's one problem I have with Safari is that the specimens written on the glass aren't always what is necessarily in the tank and what is in the tank isn't always written on the glass. ,

that can stand for any of the three stores.

Ok I have stayed out of this one but I will make a comment. I have had good results at hillside, I have had good results at Safari and I enjoy visiting Ken at creatures when his wife isn't around. now as far as creatures goes I haven't been there reciently but last time I was there there salt section left a lot to be desired but then again they are having to get all there tanks re plumbed properly so I think they were holding off. now I have always liked creatures for there fresh water selection as it used to be second to none but in the new store it leaves a lot to be desired compared to the old store.

Hill side is good people, I like cora and go to visit her once and a while. I have had good results with fish I have bought there but a bad result with a clam I bought there but you do have to know what you want and know about it befor you go there as like any store they have to pay the bills.

Safari is a good store also, sometimes you get ignored a lot there but thats that Japarto making them move stuff over here then deciding it isn't what he wants and making them move it back, and so on and so one :mrgreen: (just kidding Japarto) seriously though I have bought a lot of nice corals and fish from Japarto (sence I won't deal with anyone else there because hey, I don't know them and they never introduce them selves) but I have also had stuff I got at Safari die. its hit or miss people depending on everything from harvesting to putting it in your home tank so much can happen along the way to make your purchase a success or a flop.. thats why I wait about a month and let you guys buy the pretty ones then I go find the ones that look ugly but turn into beauties and have been groing in the tank for 6 months :mrgreen:

Steve

[Jaws]

Very well said.

Not sure I believe this one though: :razz:

thats why I wait about a month and let you guys buy the pretty ones then I go find the ones that look ugly but turn into beauties and have been groing in the tank for 6 months :mrgreen:

[Aquattro]

Very well said.

Not sure I believe this one though: :razz:

thats why I wait about a month and let you guys buy the pretty ones then I go find the ones that look ugly but turn into beauties and have been groing in the tank for 6 months :mrgreen:

Almost every coral that comes in is nice. Once it's in a store for a week, it goes brown. Taking it home 6 months later at a discount most often results in it turning into it's former beautiful self. I've seen plenty of these leftovers turn into show pieces.

[Jaws]

Ahhh, I'm just givin him a hard time. :smile: