AquaMart??

[djkms]

Here is my story about Aquamart. I live only a couple of miles away. Bill who works there actually owned Rocky Mountain Reef back in the day. I worked for Bill at RMR for about a year before switching jobs. He is a great guy, very friendly and pretty knowledgeable. From what I understand he and his girlfriend own Growize.

I purchased my 2 false percula's form Aquamart and they are doing great! I went in there a couple of weeks ago to get some more CUC guys and they had a mandarin in one of their display tanks and it was covered in ich. This made me really sad because it was not a 1 day infestation, the mandarin was covered in ich, no slime coat and lost almost all its color.

I really want to shop there but I just can bring myself to do it anymore after this. I am not trying to bash Aquamart by any means I just wish I would have never seen this, they do have plenty of quarantine tanks in the back. I just don't get why they didn't put the poor mandarin back there.

Also from what I understand the owner of Aquamart also is ADHI.

 

[dv3]

what is ADHI?

i could be wrong but i think its pretty common for most stores to let a sick fish die rather than spend more money treating it

 

[djkms]

what is ADHI?

i could be wrong but i think its pretty common for most stores to let a sick fish die rather than spend more money treating it

ADHI - He makes sumps, etc
http://www.adhi-usa.com/home.html

If the LFS would rather the fish die that's their choice but to have sick fish in their DT's. Not cool

 

[katyttt]

Ichy Mandarin

Hi Kris and fellow reefers,
I usually do not reply to many of these type of reports but thought it important to make our situation clear here at Aquamart.
Tom is the owner of Aquamart, Tom is also the owner of ADHI.

There is only one mandarin in any of our display tanks (we have two main display tanks, each 210 gallons, the only mandarin to reside in either in in our LPS DT). The mandarin in question is a target mandarin who is fat and happy without a spot of ich on him.
Kris, I am certainly not doubting what you saw, but the last time I saw you in our shop, the timer had just come on for the lights in the display tank. As you know mandarins like to sleep under the sand (a mix of Bahaman OOlite and Fiji Pink) that would definitely have stuck to him for a short time as he was waking up and roaming on his copepod hunt.

We have many tanks in our QT area and use them on every fish delivery.

BTW
Aquamart is having a coral sale, 30% off any coral.

Chris

 

[djkms]

Sorry, should have been more clear, it was in a sales tank.

Sorry not sure I have ever met you, I have really only ever talked to Bill when going in.

 

[jonthefb]

it is VERY difficult for mandarins to get ich. They have an EXTREMELY thick slime coat, which often results in things getting stuck to them and misdiagnosis of parasites/disease. And I am also not sure how you can see a slime coat on a fish?

it is a tough gig running an lfs, and even taking all the precautions such as QTing, propyhlactically medicating, etc, things will still happen. I trust Chris and the gang to recognize this and adjust accordingly!

 

[Wicked Color]

+1 on the dragonettes not likely to get ich (slime coat), and sleeping under the sand so it is very easy to mis-diagnose, same with wrasses (sleeping under the sand, not the slime coat) I have thought my melanurus had ich a bunch of times, then an hour later he will have no spots, used to freak me out till I figured out what was going on.

 

[djkms]

If a mandarin has no "shine" to it that leads me to believe that its slime coat is not there.

I had a ich outbreak in my tank 15 years ago. I had a mandarin in my tank and it got ich also.

I am sorry I said anything. I am wrong. Must have been sand.

 

[68RUSTANG]

I have a Blue Spotted Jawfish, last week he had something missing/growing on his side. I finally got the oppurtuinity to get a good look at him and the spot was gone. Considering he is the only fish in a 65G tank, and has been for six months. I'll asssume he scraped himself on some rocks.

When my tank was new I had ich come and go a few times. I never lost any fish, but I'm sure it is still in the system.

 

[Cake_Boss]

I am sorry I said anything. I am wrong. Must have been sand.

don't feel bashed, you saw what you saw no one can argue with you on that. The other guys are just sharing their experiences.

 

[katyttt]

No Worries Kris,
We are certainly not perfect and have had ich in the store in the past, but we do our best to avoid it and are one of a few stores that QT fish and medicate them to rid them of internal, external parasites, as well as bacterial and fungal issues before they are available to the customer.
Not perfect, but trying to be better.

Chris

 

[Heffe01]

I would have to say aquamart is my favorite store in town. I just wish I could convince them to raffle off one of there display tanks each year. Sell tickets for around 20 bucks for a few months and then have a huge end of the year sale get some people in to buy all the livestock and hold the raffle the same night. I would love to win one of those tanks.

 

[katyttt]

I would hate to have to tear either of them down to move them, would be fun to have either of them as a show tank in a home though. Either of them is better than my 150 at home for sure.

 

[spstimie]

Mandarins are rarely taken care of once they are caught from the wild. Often times the procedures used for catching them are brutal(as bad cyanide, IMO). They are not stored well at a majority of wholesalers(tossed in together to fight until sold). By the time a store gets them, most no longer have a healthy slime coat and are emaciated. They are almost impossible to run through any QT cycle, much less a full cycle, due to their dietary needs. That plus the large demand that has them out the door of the LFS within days means they rarely are healthy specimens at the time of purchase by hobbyists. It took me forever to get a female and I had to nurse her back to health(I need another male, they are fun to watch spawn). These conditions do make them more likely to get diseases and parasites(I didn't see it so I can't say for sure). We really should start only buying these captive bred now that they are available. These and Bangaii Cardinals, but higher price and lower mark up means most stores don't even look at the captive bred animals.

 

[KhensuRa]

Went to AquaMart yesterday as I just did not feel like driving to Elite and was happy to say that they had some people in there that were not dinks. They have lowered their prices on a few things but still raped me on water compared to everyone else on Colorado. Over all it was a better experience then any of the other times I have been there.

Will I go there again? Not for water as they charge $1.50 a gallon for salt and .50 cents for RO. In the future I will drive to Elite or Keys to get water, but I might go there for fish in the future.

 

[Cherub]

Went to aquamart today with Virgil and I have to admit I'm starting to like them. Had terrible past experiences but lately they have their stuff together. Picked up a pair of bartletts too woohoo! They gave me a multifish discount which is always appreciated. Anyway the guy there was telling Virgil that they have been waiting a couple of weeks to be sponsors. Said they messaged and spoke to someone at Reefstock and yet haven't heard a word. Hopefullt it all gets squared away. Can't have too many sponsors lol

 

[dv3]

Went to aquamart today with Virgil and I have to admit I'm starting to like them. Had terrible past experiences but lately they have their stuff together. Picked up a pair of bartletts too woohoo! They gave me a multifish discount which is always appreciated. Anyway the guy there was telling Virgil that they have been waiting a couple of weeks to be sponsors. Said they messaged and spoke to someone at Reefstock and yet haven't heard a word. Hopefullt it all gets squared away. Can't have too many sponsors lol

have also heard grat things abou them lately

they should be sponsors soon Gabe ....thanks for passing on the "kind words" about the BOD on the forum ...members dont always know full details even e=when they hear 1/2 the story

 

[KhensuRa]

I would like to add, that Dave at Aquamart sure is a stand up guy. During their remodel and house cleaning of poor staff, this place has gotten 100% better. They have been getting great coral of all types in and have a ton of fish.

Good job Aquamart!

And keep getting in the sick zoas.

All I would add is to make a 5 or 10 dollar frag area.

 

[Zoalander]

I second that! Dave is great and their livestock was real nice.

 

[djkms]

Fantastic job on the shop! I was in there a few weeks ago and they were about halfway done painting the backs black. Looked really nice. Livestock was real nice as well! I have been meaning to stop back in again. Dave is the man!!

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