How far is it to your nearest LFS (Salty of course)

[hillbillyreefer]

Just wondering how far away some of us boonies people live from their nearest saltwater dealer? What are some of the tricks you use to transport stock successfully? How many pails of salt do you pick up while in town, etc, etc?

According to the GPS my local store is 225km. We never leave home without a lunch cooler in the summer or a fish shipping cooler in the winter. 8hr heat packs are in the cooler along with the digital thermometer. Enough food is purchased for several months at a time. When there is a good sale on somewhere lots of salt is purchased, haven't bought any in almost 2 years. Additive supplies such as Calc/Alk, and micronutrients are checked prior to leaving and purchased as needed.

Let's hear some of your long distance horror stories!!

[Milad]

i drive out of my work place and if there is traffic, i take a left and go into JL aquatics and spend too much money :(

i hate traffic!

[reefwars]

about 6 blocks:)

[The Grizz]

About 1 1/2 hours North or South depending on traffic and weather.

[Ian]

1.5 hours north or 2 hours south..plus city traffic either way but I still get to the stores more often than my bank account would like

[dunl]

Just wondering how far away some of us boonies people live from their nearest saltwater dealer? What are some of the tricks you use to transport stock successfully? How many pails of salt do you pick up while in town, etc, etc?

According to the GPS my local store is 225km. We never leave home without a lunch cooler in the summer or a fish shipping cooler in the winter. 8hr heat packs are in the cooler along with the digital thermometer. Enough food is purchased for several months at a time. When there is a good sale on somewhere lots of salt is purchased, haven't bought any in almost 2 years. Additive supplies such as Calc/Alk, and micronutrients are checked prior to leaving and purchased as needed.

Let's hear some of your long distance horror stories!!

I'm afraid that if you are going 225km, then you're going to Red Deer...and you're spending even MORE money than if you chose to go to Edmonton or Calgary. Now, I've been out of the game for a few years, but when I was just told that the price on a juvenile lionfish was "a couple of hundred dollars, and only because I could get more but I am not greedy", not much seems to have changed - except that customers are uninformed about just how cheap things are in Calgary or Edmonton.

As for travelling....you only need to remember how many hours these animals have travelled to get from the ocean to the stores....properly packed, a few hours drive to Consort should be nothing for them. I've successfully shopped for livestock, had it packed properly (to which you seem to be quite knowledgeable, no worries there), and then shopped around at a few places for some hours before returning home. No problems. None at all. Only time there ever were was when I was a beginner and didn't understand anything (like letting a LFS employee blow air into a bag from their lungs before sealing it).

Networking with people is a good thing to do as well...the Alberta Aquatica site has a free travel section where you can post if you need something transported. Find a nice piece of livestock in Calgary or Edmonton? See if you can arrange for someone to bring it to Red Deer when you're coming through....saves you some travelling and opens up more possibilities. :)

Good luck, and let us know in the area if we can help out in any way. Prices can be checked and PM'd your way. :)

[hillbillyreefer]

Actually the store in Red Deer is a bit further @ 255 km. My LFS is in Lloydminster, Red Deer is pretty much avoided due to the lack of a store.

Thanks for the offer dunl, it's much appreciated.

Packing the animals properly is critical. It's simple to do and in a little over 3 years, not a single critter has been lost in transport.

As for you just down the street people @#$%^$#%&$%&%^&% you.:biggrin: I'd be so broke I wouldn't be able to afford to walk next door to look!!

[Myka]

Bayside is about 10 mins away and Reef Shoppe is 2 1/2 hours away.

I buy all my salt for the year during Boxing week sales since I tend to travel during that time anyway. I have 3/4 of one bucket left right now, so I guesstimated pretty good! Last year I bought my salt at Red Coral in Calgary on my through from BC for Christmas...Kevin had a wicked sale going on! It chaps my @$$ to pay a bunch of money for salt because I like to do water changes, and don't want to watch the dollar signs go down the drain. I actually find I do more water changes when I pay less for the bucket. :lol: My 90 really doesn't go through all that much salt though at 10 gallons per week. My Zoa tank gets 5 gallons of used water from the reef every week, so that's like recycling. :D

[Jfish]

Nearest fish store for me is two hour drive. Haven't really bought much there though except maybe a test kit or some food. All fish and corals arrive after a 6-8 hour bus ride with no ill effects winter or summer. The dealers know how to package their stuff and I have never lost anything due to transport.

In the rare case I do have to transport, livestock is double bagged and surrounded by newspaper in styro cooler. Cooler moves into a warm or cool vehicle and is never exposed to elements more than needed.

[Rbacchiega]

across the street.

[fishoholic]

Hate to say it but my lfs is 5-7 mintues away :mrgreen: My other lfs are 20-30 mintues away. I have however transported livestock from Calgary to Edmonton before, most recently was this weekend when I brought up a bunch of desinger clownfish (rare and expensive) thank God they all made it safe and sound, would of hated to have had such expensive fish die during transport.

[Parker]

Probably a 20 min walk from my house... :D

[lorenz0]

15-20min sunday is lfs day

[bignose]

About 10 min to Red Coral. Liking this allot because it used to be 40min before they opened.

[cale262]

40 minutes to the nearest reputable LFS for me, I guess that’s all relative though…

[kevNnic]

Im about 20 minutes from Kens, and big al's and about 40minutes from all other stores in edmonton.

[sweet ride]

about 4 hours if I want to hit most of the LFS and 8 hours if am browsing. This is a total of 10 stores!!!!!

[globaldesigns]

I live in the deep south of Calgary, but like dealing with Kevin @ Red Coral, in the deep North... So depending on traffic, 30-45 minutes. But it is always worth the time.

[brettm3535]

1.5 Hours South and 1 hours North depending on traffic

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

4 minutes to King Ed's
15 minutes to J&L
25 minutes to OA
1 hour to Oceanic Corals

[dsaundry]

Depends on what type of lfs I want to go to, if I want to co to the way overpriced one with staff that has no knowlege at all its 10 minutes, If I want to go to a really good lfs then its off to oceanic corals in aldergrove.:biggrin:...

[e46er]

average around 45 min to JL
i did it in 25 min on the bike this summer

[plutoniumJoe]

12 minutes.

[scherzo]

15 minutes to J&L
40 minutes to Ocean Aquatics
50 minutes to Oceanic Corals
25 minutes to King ED's

[hillbillyreefer]

I'm envious of all you 2min-1hour people.

Now that I've skimmed through all the posts, it seems that many members on here are very close to their lfs. Do you think that has any bearing on being in the hobby? If you moved closer to the LFS just to be close to it, do you have a problem?

[Edmonton newbie]

5 min to 20 mins to 4 of the 5 players in town for me :lol:

[reefwars]

I'm envious of all you 2min-1hour people.

Now that I've skimmed through all the posts, it seems that many members on here are very close to their lfs. Do you think that has any bearing on being in the hobby? If you moved closer to the LFS just to be close to it, do you have a problem?


i think living so close to so many def helps in the hobby, if theres a sale i mean im there in five mins 3 if i speed lol plus im not sure on the number but theres about half a dozen in the city all within 30mins drive im sure :)

if you moved just to be close to a lfs that would be on the slight side of stalking lol:):)

[rjengen]

Blah!

Even getting a CUC was a chore for me...it's usually a 5 - 5.5hr drive to go see Ken at Blue World. When I come down, even if I don't intend to stop in for fish, there's always a cooler hidden in the back of the truck...just in case :redface: I've used J&L for most of my dry goods, and they're top notched when it comes to shipping / costs, and you can get most things you need from them, the free shipping is a bonus too. I've also just started using the Reef Shoppe for a few things, and I'm sure I will be using Kelly more and more for most of my dry good, and depending on when it's in the mail, stuff is usually at my doorstep the next buisness day before 10am :lol:

I'm actually glad I don't live near a store! Since it's a challange to get livestock, I've really been able to take the slow approach to my tank, and mature my understanding of the hobby.

[Wanderer]

about 10 minutes to J&L

[cwatkins]

25 minutes to J&L
25 minutes to Ocean Aquatics
30 minutes to Oceanic Corals
35 minutes to King ED's