Originally Posted by
DaneDodger
I don't know about your ***** but mine only has two types of sand, one is VERY fine dry sand and the other is already bagged livesand. In my experience, the bags of livesand there aren't worth the money. Many times they've leaked and who knows how long they've been bagged, some to all of the live things in the sand may already be dead. It's something to ask about!
the packages of live sand have a date on them. the price at my ***** was right for the live sand.. i went with the cheaper stuff, 28lbs of regular white sand, and 40lbs of the live sand to seed it.. be sure to shop around, but some things are decently priced at *****.. i bought the fish i have from my *****, but that is only because they are 10 minutes from my home. All fish acclimated very well and showed very small signs of any stress (stayed in a corner for about 20 minutes after release into tank). I have seen some dogfish there with disease and they have had this one that has caught everything u can think of.. It is best to find a place with staff that actually knows how to care for the tanks.. Two of the several people who work at my ***** have tanks at home but they still arent the brightest. I got a hitch hiker crab from ***** and when i took it back because it eats coraline, one of the guys was excited to have a free pet to take home to his tank... not too bright of an idea if u like the looks of coraline.. test the staff with stuff u already know, and maybe look a few things up b4 u go so that u can test their knowledge a little more.. If they are ignorant about saltwater, then ask them if anyone works there that has a tank at home..
watch behind ur ***** because they tend to throw lightly scratched tanks away, or tanks with small broken pieces that will work just fine.. be careful at ***** and dont let em tell u to cycle with fish! the live rock at ***** is very expensive and it is advised to either order it online, or drive an hour if u have to... my ***** wants $8/lb.. when i drove to another place that wa 40 minutes away, it was $5/lb... needless to say i saved a but-load of money there! You can usually get things cheaper online then anywhere else, but watch the shipping charge, it might be high and cost u more total then if u went locally..
welcome to the board! and good luck with the hobby.. and questions (yes, even dumb ones) can be posted and almost immediately answered.. this is the best forum i have found so far when it comes to needing answers faster.. post some pics when u get it all set-up, we really enjoy pics!
