new reefer here in nj

[mingc]

Good luck on your journey dude. I buy all my corals from these people. You can find them on Facebook also.

Lucky Corals - Live Corals for sale

Coral for sale: torch corals, hammer corals, frog spawn corals, mushroom corals, zoas, soft corals, brain corals, scoly, acanthos (acanthophyllia), elegance corals.

luckycorals.com

.

For more moderately priced stuff I use these people

AquariumDepot.com carries the Biggest Amphipods and Copepods for sale .

AquariumDepot.com offers FREE shipping to the US on orders over $99.99

aquariumdepot.com

Can’t help you with any local fish stores. But I’ve had good luck with these folks.

i feel this website has very similar price to the Manhattan aquarium in midtown manhattan, been there last week and their price are scary high, much higher than pacific aquarium in downtown manhatttan.

 

[PeterC99]

Welcome to R2R!

Corals get expensive quickly! Look to get good deals from fellow reefers.

 

[mingc]

There is absolutely fish in Clifton which can b overpriced but always a good go to and POTO on state island. TSM in south Jersey for conditioned and fully QT fish well worth it. Staff are great and they just opened back up to public. Planning a trip.

i will diff check out this store soon since my friend also recommended. thanks a lot!

 

[redfishbluefish]

Welcome @mingc to Reef2Reef. If you’re up to driving slightly south, I’d recommend these two for starters

Aquatic Obsessions 1150 St Georges Ave, Avenel, NJ 07001

Aquatic Obsessions

www.aquatic-obsessions.com

Reefco Aquarium Services 319-323 US-22, Green Brook Township, NJ 08812

Reefco Aquariums

reefcoaquariums.com

​

 

[vetteguy53081]

 

[tharbin]

Welcome to R2R!

 

[ReeferSamster]

just want to know if any reefer around nj that can show me witch store around jersey city that has decent price.

AbsolutelyFish in Clifton is great.

https://absolutelyfish.com/

I used to dislike the store about a decade ago, but they have really evolved over time and they are my go to LFS now.

PROS:

Its big. Almost 10,000 gallons of marine and freshwater tanks

They are very conscientious of the environment and are a part of many Reef/Coral/ Marine Organizations.

They have a great reefclub membership. Its $65 for a year, all of it which goes to Coral and Reef donations to the research groups. You get 10% off all drygoods, I think 15% off all fish and corals. You also get a specialized drygood you can specify, which allow you for 35% discount. The eventual discounts end up paying for your membership quite fast.

Drygoods prices are expected for an LFS, but the salt are overpriced. Can't blame them, its the salt makers that drove the prices up across MAP controlled E-Commerce and Brick and Mortar. (except for Instant Ocean )

Fish prices are acceptable. Coral frag prices are acceptable.

Nice selection of fish
They have a nice little invert section and there's always something interesting there: Sexy shrimp, pistols shrimps, goby shrimp pairs, lobsters etc. I wish the invert section was bigger.

The best aspect of Absolutely Fish:
THEY HAVE LIVE BLACKWORMS and give generous portions at a fair price.


CONS:

Larger piece corals or colonies are way overpriced.

All their coral tanks are 100% Near UV, "blacklight" style lighting. 0% whites, so that I dislike. I can't really see the corals. All their coral tanks look like neon blacklight rave parties. And if I ask them to turn on the whites so I can see them, they say no.

They keep their fish tanks at 1.020 or something low. Although, I think that's common practice to lower expense.

 

[mingc]

AbsolutelyFish in Clifton is great.

https://absolutelyfish.com/

I used to dislike the store about a decade ago, but they have really evolved over time and they are my go to LFS now.

PROS:

Its big. Almost 10,000 gallons of marine and freshwater tanks

They are very conscientious of the environment and are a part of many Reef/Coral/ Marine Organizations.

They have a great reefclub membership. Its $65 for a year, all of it which goes to Coral and Reef donations to the research groups. You get 10% off all drygoods, I think 15% off all fish and corals. You also get a specialized drygood you can specify, which allow you for 35% discount. The eventual discounts end up paying for your membership quite fast.

Drygoods prices are expected for an LFS, but the salt are overpriced. Can't blame them, its the salt makers that drove the prices up across MAP controlled E-Commerce and Brick and Mortar. (except for Instant Ocean )

Fish prices are acceptable. Coral frag prices are acceptable.

Nice selection of fish
They have a nice little invert section and there's always something interesting there: Sexy shrimp, pistols shrimps, goby shrimp pairs, lobsters etc. I wish the invert section was bigger.

The best aspect of Absolutely Fish:
THEY HAVE LIVE BLACKWORMS and give generous portions at a fair price.


CONS:

Larger piece corals or colonies are way overpriced.

All their coral tanks are 100% Near UV, "blacklight" style lighting. 0% whites, so that I dislike. I can't really see the corals. All their coral tanks look like neon blacklight rave parties. And if I ask them to turn on the whites so I can see them, they say no.

They keep their fish tanks at 1.020 or something low. Although, I think that's common practice to lower expense.

Great infos, thanks! i will check their coral frags out soon

 

[G Santana]

Welcome to R2R @mingc, I'm in Jersey City as well and there aren't too many close by.
There is the Clifton store and one Smart Frag in Staten Island and a couple in NYC.
I will be starting to visit some if those stores in the spring.

Good luck with your build.

 

[Adolfo]

 

[dennis romano]

Greetings from Passaic County. I like Iconic Aquarium in Tenafly. It is a little one man operation with plenty of frags. You will get the personal attention there that a newcomer like yourself needs.

 

[bnord]

Welcome and sorry, don't know Jersey, bit just remember to go slow and steady in the early days

and Island GSP and Xenia!

 

[BanjoBandito]

I don't know the distance, but Pieces of the Ocean is located on long island I believe and I've always had good things to say about them. Don't know if they have a "retail" location, but they have a good online presence.

 

[jcdeng]

welcome to r2r, start slow, plan your fish additions, docile fishes go in first.

 

[HudsonReefer2.0]

I don't know the distance, but Pieces of the Ocean is located on long island I believe and I've always had good things to say about them. Don't know if they have a "retail" location, but they have a good online presence.

Staten Island. It’s ok u play a banjo. Lol. Jkn Cump.

 

[Schraufabagel]

 

[ReeferSamster]

I don't know the distance, but Pieces of the Ocean is located on long island I believe and I've always had good things to say about them. Don't know if they have a "retail" location, but they have a good online presence.

@mingc . Another good place, but totally in contrast to Absolutely Fish, in Clifton NJ in a lot of ways.
It's actually in Staten Island. @Pieces of the Ocean If anyone is local, it's better if you go there in person. Sometimes you can catch the new arrivals and Kenny lets you have first dibs before they go live online auction. Kenny is one of the owners, and he is a cool fellow reefer and very personable and negotiable. But don't go in there looking to haggle or ask for discounts. They have fair prices to begin with.

Pieces of the Ocean Website.

They are no frills shop with corals and frags in giant tubs, and they are comparatively small to a big store like Absolutely Fish. They don't have a fish section. But being small, they give you more personal attention more than a big store. They have EXCELLENT high quality frags and they maintain their corals very well. They are extremely nice people and unlike Absolutely Fish, willing to temporarily adjust light or take the frag out into another tank temporarily so you can see them in different lighting.

In terms of corals and frags they are 10x times better and higher quality than Absolutely Fish. (And they don't drown their corals in blacklight neon rave party tanks ;Woot)
I guess because they specialize in it, their corals and frags are superior, whereas Absolutely Fish needs to cater to the general aquarium hobby (Freshwater section, lots of fish, drygoods, etc etc).

11/10 for Pieces of the Ocean.
PS: Kenny, you would be my goto LFS if you sold live blackworms!

 

[bruno3047]

i feel this website has very similar price to the Manhattan aquarium in midtown manhattan, been there last week and their price are scary high, much higher than pacific aquarium in downtown manhatttan.

It all depends on what you’re looking to buy. I believe their prices are very competitive on the more commonly found green and purple torches, hammers and what not. Now if you start talking about Gold Torches and Hammers, or Dragon Soul, NY Knicks or Malaysian God type Torches, their prices are better than their competition online and blow away my LFS.

 

[bruno3047]

It all depends on what you’re looking to buy. I believe their prices are very competitive on the more commonly found green and purple torches, hammers and what not. Now if you start talking about Gold Torches and Hammers, or Dragon Soul, NY Knicks or Malaysian God type Torches, their prices are better than their competition online and blow away my LFS.

Just as an example, I bought this orange tip hammer for $80.

Here it is in my tank You won’t find any orange-tip hammers anywhere for under $200. At least that’s my experience.

 

[Sean Clark]

Just as an example, I bought this orange tip torch for $80.

Here it is in my tank You won’t find any orange-tip torches anywhere for under $200. At least that’s my experience.

With the drastically different lighting, I do not see this as a very fair comparison.
Do you have a photo under simular lighting?