PatW
2500 Club Member
I used to go to a small shop up in Deltona, Storm Born Reef. Sarah was very careful with the fish she got and they tended to be in good to great condition. Unfortunately, she had to close for non store related issues.
Closest to me is Oceans Direct, They are a small shop and they are convenient for getting frozen food and other items, Their fish seem to be fine also.
The Orlando area has 3 of nationally known reef aquarium stores. Each has developed various varieties of corals. And each has a national reputation..
Of these, I like Top Shelf Aquatics the best. They have an excellent variety of corals, They have a big variety of various aquarium tests, and various reef paraphernalia. And their fish seem to be OK. I have had good luck with their corals. If they are not busy and you might get them to give you a tour through their coral farm. I would say as far as national reputation, Top Shelf is #2 in the area.
Another local store is World Wide Corals. World Wide Corals is probably #1 for national reputation based on their years of producing various kinds of corals. In facts, as far as a national reputation maybe only Jason Fox, and ORA have a bigger presence. For a boutique shop, I really like Battlecorals Which is definitely NOT LOCAL.
And there is also Pieces of the Ocean. They are a smaller operation than TSA and WWC, but they do have a number of highly regarded corals with their names attached.
I would say that one would be hard pressed to find a metropolitan area that has better reef aquarium stores than Orlando. And that is surprising, Orlando has great theme parks and many other things are second tier or third tier. But in reef aquarium stores, Orlando is right up there.
