A favour to ask: Does anybody want any new livestock?

[Delphinus]

I got a tip from someone on RC that there were some blue Stichodactyla gigantea for sale at www.oakvillereefgallery.com out of Toronto.

You guys may or may not know how long I have been trying to get one of these. This has been my quest for the holy grail, for about 4 or 5 years. So when I heard that there was some in Canada, my hopes went up hugely and I called Oakville.

Well, they want a minimum order of $400 to consider to send livestock out of Ontario.

Well, the carpet is $150, so ... I guess I need to drum up $250 worth of livestock orders. Is there anything anybody wants (that can't be satisfied with the pending J&L order which I don't want to trip up). How about another carpet? Any corals?

Take a look at some of the pictures, if you see anything, let me know.

I know this is a long shot, but if you had any idea how badly I've been after one of these, you'd understand why I'm obligated to at least try. I have to try ... I can't stand waiting another 4 years. :frown:

http://www.aquariumpros.ca/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=6689
http://www.aquariumpros.ca/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=6693
http://www.aquariumpros.ca/forums/s...s=&postid=46732

I'd consider ordering two anemones, then I only need an additional $100 worth of livestock to complete their requirements. Originally they said they wouldn't even touch my order for less than $750 but I whined and whined and they eventually came down to $400, but that was as far as they were going to go.

Anyhow, please let me know.

[Aquattro]

Originally they said they wouldn't even touch my order for less than $750 but I whined and whined and they eventually came down to $400, .

Remind me never to consider doing business with these guys :rolleyes: You need to whine to get them to sell you $400 worth of livestock?? Now there is customer service!! Sorry to jump into your thread Tony, I know how much you want one, but that's ridiculous!

[AJ_77]

I'm envisioning an e-mail campaign to protest, but don't want to mess things up for you either, Tony.

:confused:

at the same time, I don't need any livestock.

[Delphinus]

Yeah, I just thought I'd ask "just in case." But I know it's a tall order.

[Samw]

Originally they said they wouldn't even touch my order for less than $750 but I whined and whined and they eventually came down to $400, .

Remind me never to consider doing business with these guys :rolleyes: You need to whine to get them to sell you $400 worth of livestock?? Now there is customer service!! Sorry to jump into your thread Tony, I know how much you want one, but that's ridiculous!

Brad, maybe they aren't a mailorder company. That's my guess. Nothing wrong with having a minimum order to make it worthwhile to do something that is out of the ordinary from their every day workflow. Afterall, they could say "No, sorry, we don't do mail orders".

[Aquattro]

Sam, Tony tells me that their website says they'll mail order anywhere....

[Quinn]

Tony, if they have a possum wrasse I'm in.

Why don't you have someone from Aquaria Canada buy it and ship it to you?

[Samw]

Sam, Tony tells me that their website says they'll mail order anywhere....

Yeah, they'll mailorder anywhere if its worth their while. :lol:

I didn't see much on their website though other than a title page. Is there something I didn't click on?

[Samw]

Never mind. I just had to wait for that damn flash program to load. I hate flash menus.

Well, I found the quote:

"Although we are not in the regular Mail Order business, please contact us with your product or livestock needs. We will arrange shipping anywhere. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Tom or Flavio, or drop by our retail store. "

[eposer]

Try contacting http://www.aquariumdepot.com in Toronto too as they probably get alot of their stuff from the same distributors. They're very willing to ship anything as the're litterally at the end of the runway at Pearson Intl. Airport.

Just a thought.

Here's a site with some nice pics I found Tony, although I'm sure you've seen it already.
http://www.exoticreefs.us/reefflat/anemone.htm

E.

[monza]

I'm sure there is some stuff I can buy and help you out I'll PM ya.
Dave

[Quinn]

Oh sure here comes moneybags. Hey Dave, I bet there's some stuff you can buy me as well. :razz: :mrgreen:

[monza]

I wish... just a simple t-shirt salesman. What kind of snail did you want teevee?

Dave

[Quinn]

No need for any snails. If ORG happened to have a possum wrasse (Wetmorella sp.), I would take one for my nano but I doubt they do. They don't seem common in the hobby. :sad:

[Seriak]

I still need a Yellow Watchman Goby if it would push you above and they have one!

[Delphinus]

Thanks guys. They're closed for the night now, but, I'll call them again tomorrow and see what they have available, and if our wishlist is enough to tip the scales. Brad is right though, it's a bit uncool to make customers jump through these kinds of hoops. I understand mail-order isn't their primary business but maybe they shouldn't say "we'll arrange for shipping anywhere" when they mean "we will be happy to process out-of-town orders but be aware we have a $XXX minimum order
or something.

Anyone else? I think I'm still about $100 shy. So at the moment I'm kind of half expecting this won't work out, but I really do appreciate the help anyways. Thanks guys. :redface:

[Stretch]

I might be interested in ordering a nice maxima clam. If they have any good looking ones.....

If they aren't too over priced

[mr_alberta]

Hey Tony,

If someone is willing to meet me half way or bring stuff up to Edmonton, I'd be in for a clam and some cleaning crew...

Hope that helps...

[Aquamarina]

Hi. I am considering buying more fish, but would like to be assured as to the catching method from the wild. Is there any way of knowing whether fish have been ethically caught, without cyanide? Where is the best place to buy them in Calgary, or by mail?
Thanks.
Anne

[wayner]

I think I remember seeing a Blue Carpet at Wai's last year, it was around 5 grand :smile:

[Stretch]

LOL

I saw a blue carpet in edmonton at big al's at the end of december it was only 99 bucks not a bright blue but still a decent blue, but it didn't look like it would last too much longer. not attached to anything, month was open, bleaching in spots, probably due NO lighting

[AJ_77]

The carpet anemones you typically see for sale are S. haddoni (Haddon's or Saddle Carpet Anemone). Check the very good link Evan posted on the previous page - there are pictures of haddoni as well as S. gigantea (Giant Carpet Anemone). There are a couple of canreefers out on the coast that have/have had Giants but no one locally that I know of. I know that the one Tony describes would be the Holy Grail of anemones, especially for him. (the Gr-r-r-r-rail !!!)

As for ethically-collected fish in Calgary shops, as far as I know it's a crap shoot. Someone please correct me.

:biggrin:

[Delphinus]

Blue haddoni carpets do occasionally make their way here from time to time. They're nice too. But what I'm after is gigantea ... they're just a little bit different. I've been told that at one time they were more common than haddoni's, now it's the other way around.

The link Evan showed is a good site that shows the difference.

BonsaiNut on RC has the most incredible looking gigantea I've ever seen. I should dig up the threads and I'll post them maybe, it's just incredible.

...
I'll call the guy tomorrow and ask about the stuff mentioned and then report back what I find.

Anne, I don't think I've said it before, so here goes. Welcome to Canreef! :cool: In answer to your question though .. I'm afraid I don't have a good answer. I think you have to rely on the good word of the person selling you the fish, who in turn has to rely on the good word of the person selling him or her the fish, and so on. If you don't know the person you're dealing with .. then there's probably no good method. Ask around to others and find who they recommend dealing with and in time you'll get a good feel.

[Quinn]

Tony, don't let this one slip past your fingers. If you're a few bucks short meeting the $400 minimum even after all these offers, let me know and I'll think of something I need for my nano.

[Delphinus]

Here's one of the threads with pictures of Greg's (BonsaiNut) incredible purple S. gigantea.

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=314425

[mnoll406]

Hey Tony,
I'd like to help you, but I have no room for more fish or coral colonies. Need a bigger tank.

Mike

[Canadian Man]

Hey Tony,
If they Still have the blue table looking coral in the "What's new Section" (the top right pic) I would be into getting that.

[Veng68]

Great Site :D

http://wish.wodonga.tafe.edu.au/~kwaldon/

Cheers,
Victor [Veng68]

[Delphinus]

Update: I called this Flavio guy (don't you just get an image of a male supermodel with long flowing hair undulating in the breeze as he goes on about tending to his tanks .... ). He was not in his store so I didn't get a very good sense of availability. I got the usual BS about "everything I have is out of the ordinary" but the bad news is that pictures on their own website is of a past order of Walt Smith and this current order is not Walt Smith but instead something out of Indonesia. So the only pictures that would be current are the ones on aquariumpros.ca.

I asked about clams, he said there is one blue maxima, 3", leftover from the Walt Smith order and it's $100. Let me know if anyone's in for that.

I also asked about the possum wrasse, perhaps not surprising ... nope.

Anyhow I am supposed to call him after 2pm today our time (after which he'll be in the store and I'll get better answers as to what's REALLY available and what prices, etc.).

I'm starting to get a little annoyed at how hard this is to try to buy from them. If anyone else feels that way and wants out (that previously indicated they were "in") that's cool with me. We'll see how this goes after 2.

[Delphinus]

It might be time to let go of the idea. As far as corals go I don't think he has anything that we can't get locally via trades or our LFS's or from places like J&L.

This is what he told he me he has available:

green BTA
green mushrooms
elegance
candy cane
torch
fox
branching hammer
goniopora
red Florida ricordea
green star polyps
green plates
doughnuts
spaghetti leather
yellow leather
green montipora capricornis - prop, about 3.5"x2.5"
green bubble coral
stylopora
purple acro
green acro
red acro millepora


The "blue" carpet that he said he'd hold for me, is suddenly not opening up. They originally had 4 of them, now there's only 2 (one green and one blue). Frankly I'm getting a bad feeling about it and am strongly considering backing out. My instincts are telling me it's a potential mistake at this point to follow through, and I really don't see anything in the above list that knocks my socks off. We're better off buying Walt Smith pieces from places that actually care about our business like Ocean Aquatics and J&L (I'm defining "care" as "they don't punish you for trying to buy from them.")

[Stretch]

Well the clam is a little more than i wanted to spend

but if you do go ahead I'll go in on it.
For that blue one anyways :smile:

Edit. I guess i can always go in on a J&L livestock order.

[Delphinus]

After three pages ... I'm pulling the plug on the order. Sorry guys. There were just a couple things about it that didn't seem right to go ahead with this right now. Not the least of which, of course, is that I'm moving in two weeks, so I guess I should really get my head out of the clouds and get grounded back in reality and stop thinking about big-ticket livestock purchases. But there were a few other things about it that didn't feel right (the one comment I heard from someone who saw the anemone was "I wouldn't buy it if it was me looking for one"), so I'm going to go with my instinct (and let it go).

I really do appreciate all the offers to participate though. And I'm sorry I screwed up your chance to get something new. There will be other chances though ... I'm still looking for this anemone in the meantime (just hoping to find one a little closer to home).