Visited some LFS in Knoxville, TN today

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gnashty

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had to go up to Knoxville, TN for business and hit a couple on the way out of town. I could not believe my eyes.....

$12.99 for live rock!!!! everywhere, not just one place!

Tailspot Goby - $39!
1.5" Regal Tang - $89!!!
Ricordia - $29!

and the list goes on.....everything was crazy priced and most of the livestock looked starved and unhealthy.

man we have it good!
 
Did you make it to "Aquarium" off Papermill Rd. I stop there every time I go thru Knoxville. Seems to be the only decent one around there now.

John Tullock had a store there back in the mid-late 1990s. It was cutting edge back then. He had a 3-4 gallon PICO next to the register run by a Skilter filter.
 
The big one with the clown trigger as their logo? thats one i went to, its big but very expensive...thats where those prices came from. lots of potential and really cool set up, tanks were priced pretty well, just not the rock and livestock

Acroholic;494938 wrote: Did you make it to "Aquarium" off Papermill Rd. I stop there every time I go thru Knoxville. Seems to be the only decent one around there now.

John Tullock had a store there back in the mid-late 1990s. It was cutting edge back then. He had a 3-4 gallon PICO next to the register run by a Skilter filter.
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gnashty;494942 wrote: The big one with the clown trigger as their logo? thats one i went to, its big but very expensive...thats where those prices came from. lots of potential and really cool set up, tanks were priced pretty well, just not the rock and livestock
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Yea that's the one. I have done primarily freshwater buisness with them over the years.
 
Yes, you are all spoiled here.

20-something years ago when I started in the hobby, live rock was a "new idea" where I lived. I was earning about $4/hour. Live rock was $18.99/lb for Walt Smith Fiji. When I met Walt at the first SWU we talked about that - he was landing in LAX for 90 cents/lb. Granted, I was in Canada so there was bound to be duty or something on it but it seems to me that somebody was making a killing...

Plenty of other urban markets have higher prices. They might also have higher overhead. Usually prices level out with what the market will bear.

Jenn
 
Acroholic;494962 wrote: Yea that's the one. I have done primarily freshwater buisness with them over the years.
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the freshwater set up looked really cool, more than 60% of their set up was fresh, i didnt look at thier prices on fresh though. all the fresh looked good and healthy, this is probably their stongpoint
 
JennM;494963 wrote: Yes, you are all spoiled here.

20-something years ago when I started in the hobby, live rock was a "new idea" where I lived. I was earning about $4/hour. Live rock was $18.99/lb for Walt Smith Fiji. When I met Walt at the first SWU we talked about that - he was landing in LAX for 90 cents/lb. Granted, I was in Canada so there was bound to be duty or something on it but it seems to me that somebody was making a killing...

Plenty of other urban markets have higher prices. They might also have higher overhead. Usually prices level out with what the market will bear.

Jenn
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Gotta agree here. In the 20 years I have lived in Atlanta, and I have been active in the hobby the entire time (fresh and/or salt, depending on the year), I have never seen more reef related stores or a better coral/fish selection and lower pricing available to the hobbyist than in the last couple years.
Dave
 
Dave is exactly right....I knew John Tullock back in the 80's and went to his stores fairly frequently. My mom lived nearby. He was on top and back then his fish prices seemed very reasonable (I was doing FO then). I bought several things from him. The last couple of times I've been there, I only made it to Aquarium and they were OK. The Cincinnati market is very similar. Not quite as high as Knoxville. Now the cheapest places I've ever seen were in NJ but the health of the stock was very debateable. The LFS's here can keep the pricing just as it is and I'll be happy!!
 
porpoiseaquatics;494972 wrote: Dave is exactly right....I knew John Tullock back in the 80's and went to his stores fairly frequently. My mom lived nearby. He was on top and back then his fish prices seemed very reasonable (I was doing FO then). I bought several things from him. The last couple of times I've been there, I only made it to Aquarium and they were OK. The Cincinnati market is very similar. Not quite as high as Knoxville. Now the cheapest places I've ever seen were in NJ but the health of the stock was very debateable. The LFS's here can keep the pricing just as it is and I'll be happy!!
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Referring to Cincinnati, do you remember House of Tropicals off River Road just west of downtown Cincy?
 
Acroholic;494976 wrote: Referring to Cincinnati, do you remember House of Tropicals off River Road just west of downtown Cincy?
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Do I ever! Went there about once every other week. Oddly, I could never afford their fish/coral prices :sad: but I did purchase quite a few equipment parts from them. Gosh...that was YEARS ago!!! Are they even still there? I'll be in Erlanger in 2 weeks..maybe I'll drive over and find out.
 
I was spoiled in Miami. Prices were super low there compared to here. Snails 4/$1 a baseball size rock covered in purple and blue shrooms $15 (my first coral ever). Live rock (figi) was $4.99/lb and I didn't even pay that much, I bought from a local man tearing down his tank. My first yellow tang was $20 for about 3". and the list goes on.
I was also super spoiled because I lived on the bay and NEVER had to mix salt :D
 
Must say, I owe my obsession to cleaning out my bank account for fish to Aquarium in Knoxville. Started with a few neons, and a few longing looks at their SW setups.....:fish:
 
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