Fish shops in NJ

[jjersey85]

Hey i live at the jersey shore and am looking for a few new shops to visit. I usually go to Tropiquarium in Ocean Twp. Any ideas???

 

[jaa1456]

Reefs to reptiles is right across the street from it.

 

[jjersey85]

I've been there several times and I'm not really impressed, the frags don't look healthy and neither do many of the fish, last time I went there were lots of dead fish in the tanks. Then again it seems like the guy just reopened the place so ill wait a few months before I go back.

 

[jaa1456]

Yea he just opened and the fish selection is not that good. Ocean Gallery 2 in north plainfield, red sand in Dunellen , and there are more.

 

[Audi0s]

If you come up north, theres reef encounter in hackensack and absolutely fish in clifton. Theyre about 15 min away from each other but usually great livestock, and abs. has an awesome coral selection, although they are a little expensive. theres also 15 and 25$ frag tanks there. OGII is a great store, Aquatic obsessions is real nice too

 

[DEL]

+1 on the places jaa and audi mentioned..

 

[sharkbait69]

reef to retiles did just open. greg is a great guy and very nice. the prices are a heck of lot better then trop. They get some great color sps in and some top shelf zoas.
I have bought a couple of acros from him and the colors are some of the nicest i have seen around and at prices that i highly doubt any store can or will beat.
I doubt any place would sell a purple deep water or forrest fire table acro frag three nuckles tall for 50 or so bucks.
yeah the fish section needs to be worked on a little, but the guy is just starting out and trying to get his tanks in order.

 

[motortrendz]

theres aqua ocean in dover... not bad..steves a real nice and smart guy..but dont be in a rush if u go there.. other than that...in howell, pet asylum, they dont carry a huge assortment of salt water, they get really nice FW.. but if you ask he can show you his saltwater order list and he gives good prices on fish and coral, ive gotten quite a few things from gary..

 

[jaa1456]

+1 on Greg having some top shelf stuff at ridiculous low prices. Trop is a rip off in my opinion and always have sick fish. Pets pets pets in somerset has awesome prices as well but very limited pickings. Also greg has the best frag prices I have ever seen, not to many places have sun corals(black or orange) for 10 bucks. I got a really hard to find green Lord acan there for 30 bucks with about 8 heads.

 

[motortrendz]

+1 on trop being too high priced and sick fish... but their corals are nice to look at to see what you would want to buy from someone else..lolbut theres a couple guys there that really know what their doing and have picked their brains a few times, and they have no problem talking to you forever and you walking out empty handed(but theyre not the owners lol) its very sad the shore really has nothing good to offer...

 

[DCG1286]

Depending on how far you are willing to travel ...

Ocean Gallery II (Been there MANY times ... love it ... always worth the trip) It is located in North Plainfield.
980 U.S. 22
North Plainfield, NJ 07060-3625
(908) 226-1100

If you are looking for collectors stuff and ridiculous chalices, acans etc.etc. and willing to drop a lot of $$$ ... you could hit up Underwater World in Roselle Park.
209 E. Westfield Avenue
Roselle Park, NJ

I was at Tropiquarium not too long ago ... played a concert over in Deal ... wasn't overly impressed with their stock ... the large reef tanks in the front are nice to look at ... but the colonies of LPS and SPS were priced too high for what they were, but that's just my opinion. The fish weren't in horrible condition, I didn't see too many dead ones when I was there ... maybe they had just cleaned them up.

Absolutely Fish in Clifton has been mentioned ... I never liked the store personally ... the attitude some of the guys get to me ... not that I really care about that ... but it was so obvious with some of the workers. They do have a decent collection of FISH ... but their corals kinda suck ... the wild SPS colonies barely have any skin on them and being fried a few inches under their halides ... fresh picked from the ocean. Again this is just my opinion ... DON'T TAKE MY COMMENTS PERSONALLY.

 

[sharkbait69]

+1 on Greg having some top shelf stuff at ridiculous low prices. Trop is a rip off in my opinion and always have sick fish. Pets pets pets in somerset has awesome prices as well but very limited pickings. Also greg has the best frag prices I have ever seen, not to many places have sun corals(black or orange) for 10 bucks. I got a really hard to find green Lord acan there for 30 bucks with about 8 heads.

I lol when I go into trop. the prices are just insultingly high.
I can go into reef to reptiles and get just about any coral in any of the above listed stores and drop some good money but walk away with awesome size frags. I just picked up a nice metallic neon yellow millie for 65 bucks that?s 4 inches tall and multi branch. So I again I doubt anyone will try and beat that.
I really think once he gets the store fully stocked and not running around crazy, that store will be good competition for other stores in the area and not so close by.

 

[jjersey85]

Thanks, I've been going to Trop forever for freshwater but always thought their saltwater stuff was expensive, even though i knew nothing at all about marine. I think ill have to make a trip up north this weekend to check out those places. I still have a couple more weeks i think before my tanks done cycling.

On that note though, if i wanna add more live rock do i have to wait for the tank to cycle all over again?

Also does anybody know how trustworthy it is to order uncured live rock from LiveAquaria.com? I know cost shouldn't be a huge issue when starting up but $7 a lb. adds up pretty quick when i need another 60 or some odd lbs.

Thanks again

 

[motortrendz]

buy it locally from people on here!!!!

 

[jjersey85]

buy it locally from people on here!!!!

Word!?!?! I'm super slow for not thinking of that lol

 

[Wes]

I always liked Absolutely Fish.

Stopped by the Trop one day and the prices were ridiculous.

 

[fish keeper 7]

Absolutely fish is absolutely amazing, i like tropiquarium too just REALLY high prices imo.
absolutely fish is nothing to bargain for either, ive seen true peculas there going for like 50$ when i can get them for 17-25 in staten island. but absolutely fish is on the top of the NJ stores ive been too and i never mind taking the hour road trip from s.i to go there even if i leave with nothing. or if i leave with an empty wallet =X

 

[sharkbait69]

I think in time reef to reptiles is going to put a hurt on trop.
I'll drive to where ever for coral and what nots, but price and nice coral all play a part.
I heard people talking absolutely fish drove all the way and was not impressed with the prices.
like I have said, for the money I spend I walk out with nice size frags, dare I say small colonies.
Plus the fact, to me its huge that greg goes to three local wholesalers and cherry pics the coral him self and he’s the only one who has nice shelf rock at a price that anyone would jump on. Show him what your looking for and if he can get it he will bring it into the store for you. If you want a frag of what ever and he can find it, he’ll bring it in an frag it at the size and price your looking to pay. Again I defy anyone to walk into any store and ask for just a frag of a colony. They look at you like your nuts. Its nitch greg has found that makes everyone happy, even my wife.
I would not be so quick to throw that store on the back burner.

 

[jjersey85]

I had no idea how many people don't like Trop lol, good thing I didn't wait till I was ready to start adding coral before I checked lol. I think today after work ima take a ride down south and tomorrow morning ima go up north and check out absolutely fish and a few other places nearby.

 

[sharkbait69]

I had no idea how many people don't like Trop lol, good thing I didn't wait till I was ready to start adding coral before I checked lol. I think today after work ima take a ride down south and tomorrow morning ima go up north and check out absolutely fish and a few other places nearby.

Trop used to be the place to go, but now its to the point that its all about money. Hang out in trop long enough and you will hear them tell people all kinds of crazy stuff to sell a coral, fish or anything just to make a buck. Clams under compact, canister filters for 125 gallon sps tanks. All kind of nutty stuff all meant to bring the hobbyist back in to by more liquid band aids and snake oil. It makes me sick when I used to go in an listen to them try and sell stuff.
Back in the yearly 80"s they were the only store around with saltwater and canisters and under gravel filters were the only filter types you had. I followed them to all three locations, cause they were like the gospel, you did as they said and you were ok. Now they are to the point they got to big to be a competitor. I understand they have to make money, but damn 200 plus bucks on maricultured colonies with the strings still hanging out the base?
Plus they are dirty on the 10% sale they are having. My wife had been watching a small colony of acro. The price was 199 bucks, not bad for the colony size and color. They put up the 10% off sale and for some strange reason the price changed to 215.00 but we got 10% off that price ????? Go figure.
(I know it’s a trick if the trade, its still dirty)
The last thing I bought from them was a 3 head frag of black center blassto on the 20 dollar rack. As I checked out some frags I saw the blastos on the 20 dollar rack they gave me a hard time telling me they were meant to be on the top center for 50.
As I left the store I saw a magical yellow sign that said REEF to reptiles and I have never been back since. My wallet and wife are so much more happier now.
I like the stuff greg brings in from NY, PA and LA. Sometime he gets coral from TX and that has some of the nicest acans I have seen. I have learned to find out when greg is going to the wholesalers and go and check it out the next day, cause the nice stuff doesn’t stay in the tanks long.
I was in the store yesterday and picked up a Dracula goby match up with a pistal shrimp for 120 bucks. He told me the price, I thought he meant just the Dracula goby. While I was there they were measuring for a new setup along the back wall for all the leathers and mushrooms and keeping the front DT sps and lps.
i do want to go to UWw and check them out, but like you and so many others have said, the prices are high.