Howdy,
Speaking as a store owner, we do get some awsome corals here, many that are as nice as what " they " get in the states.
There are 2 ways to buy wholesale marine livestock. Either from a Canadian or American wholesaler, or buy Transhipping direct from the collector.
Most stores in western Canada buy their corals and fish from transhippers located in Vancouver. These companies buy direct from various collectors and have the livestock shipped directly from the country of origin to them. The fish and corals are selected and sorted by the collectors and boxed up as per each store's order. The transhipper's job is to act as a go between between the store and the collector. He has no control as to who gets what, but by combining orders the stores save on freight and get a better price on the livestock. This way we each get a fair selection of the corals ordered with no store getting " better stuff" except by pure luck.
Either way a store decides to order, the early birds get the worms.
When a wholesaler like Quality Marine in LA gets his shipment in there are lots of stores waiting to get the choice pieces. The rest get put in the tanks and are put on the availability list the next day. Likewise in a local LFS , we have customers waiting ( sometimes at 2 am because the plane was late), to get the best pieces. I know in my store it is not uncommon to sell 1/2 a shipment right out of the box.
My reccomendation for those of you wanting anything out of the ordinary is to make friends with your LFS. Tell them what you want ! Specify color , shape and size. If they have a good relationship with their supplier it is very likely that sooner or later you will get what you want. I know in my store those that attend my weekly " new fish party" get better prices too .
Cheers...
Scott
__________________
.
|