LFS in Calgary?

[Gripenfelter]

What are the good LFS places to visit in Calgary?

[parkinsn]

The only ones worth it,

Red Coral
Concept
Ocean City
Golds

But there is also
Wai's
Big Als
Picies
Riverfront

[Jackie]

Where is Concept?
Wai's is OK too
Big al is waste of time
RiverFront, have not been there for years

[parkinsn]

Where is Concept?
Wai's is OK too
Big al is waste of time
RiverFront, have not been there for years

19th street just noth of 32nd ave. Sort of behind Big als.

Wai's gets some nice stuff dont get me wrong, but his prices are WAY to high.

Riverfront is the same ole riverfront just a face lift, still poorly kept live stock and poor service.

[reefwars]

19th street just noth of 32nd ave. Sort of behind Big als.

Wai's gets some nice stuff dont get me wrong, but his prices are WAY to high.

Riverfront is the same ole riverfront just a face lift, still poorly kept live stock and poor service.

i haggle with the dude at wais its funny to see...he really doesnt like to budge but then he does lol

and heyt big als may suck but they had some mangroves when i was there last and they didnt know how much they were supposed to sell them for...she said previously they were 20 bucks....i said ok sooooo how much then...she said idk $5 i said awesome ill take 2 lol:) ahhh gotta love when management is not around lol

[spawn]

[QUOTE=reefwars;645670]i haggle with the dude at wais its funny to see...he really doesnt like to budge but then he does lol

hahahahahhaahahahahahhahaha yes!:twised:

[Harpo]

19th street just noth of 32nd ave. Sort of behind Big als.

Wai's gets some nice stuff dont get me wrong, but his prices are WAY to high.

Riverfront is the same ole riverfront just a face lift, still poorly kept live stock and poor service.

WAI's I would stay away if you are a Newb to salt water. He will sell you whatever...give bad advice and charges WAI too much. Didn't take me long to figure out he was in it just for the $$$$ and not the safety and health of the fish. Some nice stock though...if it's still alive. JUST MY OPINION THOUGH.

[The Grizz]

I have ALWAYS got great deals from Dennis @ Wai's. My purple tip elegance cost me $55 & it was huge. The only one that I have seen that nice any where else was almost $100.

I asked the same question about local store several yrs ago & I personally decided to got to all the shop's that deal with fresh water to make my own opinion. I have also got some really nice deals at Big Al's but only when Ryan & Megan are working.

[reefmaster12345]

The only ones worth it,

Red Coral
Concept
Ocean City
Golds

But there is also
Wai's
Big Als
Picies
Riverfront
Riverfront is the worst he is a scamer other priced and he cant take care of **** says his leo ray is the nicest in calgary my brother has one of the nicest leopoldi in canada and the 2 rarest rays in the world

[The Grizz]

Riverfront is the worst he is a scamer other priced and he cant take care of **** says his leo ray is the nicest in calgary my brother has one of the nicest leopoldi in canada and the 2 rarest rays in the world

So true, went there once & only once.

[globaldesigns]

Kevin @ Red Coral has the best live stock and corals

Dennis @ Golds doesn't have much salt livestock, but has great pricing on hardware, supplements and such.

The rest are ok to go visit, but the 2 above are where I would buy from.

[reefmaster12345]

So true, went there once & only once.
the guys a joke to tho as u post adds selling nice corals on kijiji and he makes u a offer less then haft price and the price is already down haft :p one time i let it go for that price and he sells it at his store the next day for triple what he spent on it being a nice guy i gave it to him cuz he said he wanted it for his tank at his house nope not at all hes not a good person at all i wouldnt go there ever again its ok for fresh water but not salt theres nothing there thats good for corals or fish last time i went there haft the fish i say were dead also bad place to go for salt water the best place i like is ocean city vary good guy tells u everything u need to know just need to get to under stan him a bit hes not so good at english but hes a great guy and i go there every weekend and get someing hahaha or just to talk but i need to stop by red coral every one says its great never been there yet :/

[SteveConn]

I have to put my 2c in here.
I just switched from FW to SW in July (what a ride!), and I am disappointed that Wais was a bit pushy with me for livestock..Yeah, I WANTED all the purty things, but I was nervous about my ability to care for the stuff at the same time. I told the guy that my newly acquired tank was going through a "mini" cycle because I screwed up the live rock.. anyway, I felt persuaded to take home favias.. a bunch of corals that required 1-experience and 2- a stable tank.. He also was gung 'ho that I purchase a white (bleached out) anemone and that it would be reef and tank safe.
The tank started to die off.. the anemone kept moving around. Thankfully I sent the anemone back before it would have died, but all the coral except for the toadstool (still recovering died). It was a very discouraging experience as a newbie. I feel responsible for what I acquire and keep, but I do feel, in hindsight, I should have been steered away from such purchases until my tank was ready and my knowledge was increased.
Now... I say Wais has some interesting stuff, but they dont have my trust. I would tell a newbie to stay away. I also find their sales tactics somewhat pressured.

Red Coral though.. I wish they had more stuff. Seems most of what I like is available elsewhere, but I understand that they can bring in specific things if asked.. even better, Kevin was honest with me, directing me away from difficult corals and to START with a simple birdsnest. NOW I know I can keep SPS and in fact my tank has growing SPS.. mostly Acros :-)

Not trashing Wais, but they could do to spend more time with anxious newbies and help them steer away from more difficult corals ..not promote them for newbies to uhm.. kill. I still go to Wais, but as a much more informed consumer (with a heck of a lot more to learn!)

Make that my 3 cents

[reefmaster12345]

I have to put my 2c in here.
I just switched from FW to SW in July (what a ride!), and I am disappointed that Wais was a bit pushy with me for livestock..Yeah, I WANTED all the purty things, but I was nervous about my ability to care for the stuff at the same time. I told the guy that my newly acquired tank was going through a "mini" cycle because I screwed up the live rock.. anyway, I felt persuaded to take home favias.. a bunch of corals that required 1-experience and 2- a stable tank.. He also was gung 'ho that I purchase a white (bleached out) anemone and that it would be reef and tank safe.
The tank started to die off.. the anemone kept moving around. Thankfully I sent the anemone back before it would have died, but all the coral except for the toadstool (still recovering died). It was a very discouraging experience as a newbie. I feel responsible for what I acquire and keep, but I do feel, in hindsight, I should have been steered away from such purchases until my tank was ready and my knowledge was increased.
Now... I say Wais has some interesting stuff, but they dont have my trust. I would tell a newbie to stay away. I also find their sales tactics somewhat pressured.

Red Coral though.. I wish they had more stuff. Seems most of what I like is available elsewhere, but I understand that they can bring in specific things if asked.. even better, Kevin was honest with me, directing me away from difficult corals and to START with a simple birdsnest. NOW I know I can keep SPS and in fact my tank has growing SPS.. mostly Acros :-)

Not trashing Wais, but they could do to spend more time with anxious newbies and help them steer away from more difficult corals ..not promote them for newbies to uhm.. kill. I still go to Wais, but as a much more informed consumer (with a heck of a lot more to learn!)

Make that my 3 cents
yes i think so too as when i went there the first time after my yummy peters burger :lol: he is pushy likes to sell not give info out like when i started i just had blue damsels and i was going to buy a new fish he recomending a sweat lips said they were easy wont eat anything in my tanks ok put him in and wat the hell lol he eat all my shrimps hermint crabs and even a few small slugs i had for flat worms :p but to bad he eat the slugs and died after as they were poison to him but o well he turned out to be a 200 buck fish :p and the next time i went there i talked to him about it this was about 4 days after he tried to tell me he didnt recomend it i was ****ed any ways i walked out of there mad and then went to ocean city and he had a super nice brain and hammer coral made my day got them to but then he was nice anuff to give me a deal on a third coral so i grabed a plat coral for 20 bucks nice guy i do recomend going to him because everything in his store is like reef safe u cant go wrong just dont buy a stingray or octopus its a great store for newbies and if u are starting of go to pices just to take a look they some times have some really rare fish there and they got monkeys :p

[Gripenfelter]

I want to check out Concept and Red Coral.

Where are they located?

I'll be in South East Calgary.

[Ross]

I shop 90% at Red coral.
The reasons are simple, his fish are eating, healthy and fair priced.
Kevin, Doug, & Carmen all treat you with respect and dont try to up sell.
Go when orders arrive as they get picked through fast.

Gold Aquarium:
Best prices, ok selection, get you in get you out service, its a busy store.

Ocean City:
Typically spotless tanks (no sediment on the bottom), decent prices, nearly constant supply of typical fish/lps corals.

Big Al's:
Boxing day sale is about it for me.
(typically sick under fed fish, algae, filty store)

Pisces:
High prices, tiny tanks, clueless staff, ok selection

River front:
Wont go back to a place that makes you feel like someone is out to steal your kidneys. high prices, dirty tanks, sickly livestock.

[Jackie]

I could not find Concept yesterday.
Anyone know the address?

[parkinsn]

I could not find Concept yesterday.
Anyone know the address?

Best to call 1st. He does not sell live stock at the moment, but he has a huge inventory on hardware.

Concept
http://www.conceptaquatics.ca/index.php/contacts/

Red Coral
2501 Alyth Rd SE
Calgary, AB T2G 5L4
(403) 338-1880

[chopperman]

I've never been to ocean city. Where is that shop located?

[The Grizz]

I've never been to ocean city. Where is that shop located?

16th Ave. a couple block west of Peters Drive In, it's on the south side of 16th and is now called Oceans Creations.

[lastlight]

I think that's their third name nutty.

Ocean Aquariums
Ocean City
Ocean Creations

[The Grizz]

Apperantly the owner has another shop in China that is also called Ocean City & it was causing some issues with there book keeping.

[chopperman]

Thanks for the info. Ill have to check it out.

Adam

[Coralgurl]

As a newb, we've been to all the stores except for riverfront.

My experiences...
Wais-first corals from there, very pricey but all are doing very well. He will upsell additives, food and stuff not necessary. Danny has been very helpful with me and my system at times, and I have just learned to keep things in perspective. His lps corals are quite awesome, just pricey. Oh and I need to know my fish before going there as everything fits in a 55 gl reef tank...box fish, angels....
Ocean city-just started buying a few things in the last while, but great service, busy store, good selection on fish and corals.
Red coral-incredible service. Kevin is awesome to deal with. He did the same for me with sps, I've got a small birds nest frag he just gave to me to see how it does in my tank. I had picked out 3 sps that I was just going to buy and he said nope, not yet.
Big ALS, Josh, Ryan and Meagan are great to deal with.
Picses, mixed on this. The manager of the sw section is very helpful and went above and beyond when I had an issue with a ph. Good fish selection lots of varieties, not so much with the corals.

My 0.02 as a newb!

[nozwal]

Picses - over price livestock, corals and hardware, awesome service but not very knowledgeable unless you talk to a manager

Big Als - over price for sure on everything, small selection of livestocks and corals, but great customer service.

Wai's- he has some of the nicest corals in town but its pricey. pushy to sell customers things they dont really need

Ocean city - love this place, the owner is super nice and helpful. in it for the hobby not to scam your money.

Golds- i only go here for cheap corals other then that, service is ..ok

Red Coral - awesome place, best selection of everything IMO. from rare sps to lps and fish. kevin is super nice and helpful the whoel team there is super customer friendly and not to steal your money.

oceans, red coral and golds r the only ones actually worth spending your money on, from my exp

[nozwal]

......O and dont even get me started on riverfront... is that a fishstore or they running a meth lab at the back? sure looks like anything but a decent fish store.
I still remember when i was a little kid tagging alone with my dad to riverfront when they were still in DT where Bookers is right now. back then they were the best LFS they had everything, amazing corals and fish selection but now.....
practically no service at all, hardly any SW fish selection and if any corals that they have.... its half dead. all tanks r dirty , its just a big mess in there.

I dont want to bash a local business but.. they will never earn my $$.
If anything its more of a reptile store then fish.