Iowa pets and seascapes

I was never trying to cause a big to do I was just trying to let people know that they have flat worms and yes the bad ones and yes you can buy fish that eat them.also I must say this is my last post on this. everything I said on here I have said to them in person offered to help offered to have the des moines area help they didn't want the help and yes I do still go in there from time to time I just had them get me in a shrimp I wanted but I will not buy coral from them. The end

 

I feel very lucky living 40 minutes from Omaha. They have an awesome store Nebraska Aquatics Supply. Fish are healthy and if not they do not sale them. You can walk into the store right now they have 2 Interruptus angels, Bandit angel, Crosshatch triggers, Lanceolautus wrasse, Genicanthus Semifasciatus angels, plus hundreds of other fish. With that being said 3 years ago Seascapes did have the coolest display with an amazing Fowleri Tang. Too bad it's not what it once was.

 

This is good to know. Thanks for sharing this info.

Bill

 

I go there regularly still. They're still the best option in town as far as brick and mortar shop. My post a couple months back about the 150+flatworms from a frag was from there. I didn't name the store in the post to avoid the debate here. As much as such incidents annoy me, I don't want to steer business away from the best shop in town, even if we all realize there could be improvements. I could make a list probably 8-10 lines of things I think could be done that would fix most of it, but it's not my business. Maybe we should start a reality show, Reef Shop Rescue. Until then, I think it's up to the owners of businesses to decide if they want to invest time and/or money into improvements based upon sales declines or a desire for increase. All we can do is decide whether to keep shopping there or move on. I'll keep shopping there because I know how to protect myself from the nuisances I may encounter with live purchases, it's still the best option. And that is capitalism I guess. Why get better if you're already the best game in town? Vote Sanders 2016, better fish stores for everyone.

 

I went there for the first time in a few years and while it was cool to see a frag tank, I was dissappointed in the contents. I am not trying to slam the place, and i don't think most others are either. Tim has always been awesome to work with, and you can see by the store's ray tank and large display tank their is a genuine love for the hobby and not just a petco type approach. I think they simply don't have the manpower or time to focus on the aquarium side of things with all the other products and animals they deal with. I try to support them as much as i can, but I often find myself unable to, other than dry goods. I think this thread is exposing is that what we want in Des Moines is a small dedicated saltwater store with high end livestock and dry goods at a "resonable " price point. I don't mind paying a little more, but I refuse to pay 3x the cost. I have not been to the store in Pleasant Hill, but I would like to check it out (hopeful). We have seen a few small store's come and go over the years. I think we sometimes forget how much time and effort it truely takes to acheive the type of store we want to see.

 

Here's another issue I have. Many on here hide behind screen names where no one knows there real names. I know guys by some of there real names and not screen names. Would people say this negative stuff with their real name by their screen name? The club should look into putting real names to the profile.

 

When I made the transition from fresh to salt a few years ago I went to IPaS, Petco and Adams, I saw a price difference but I also noticed, in my opinion, a difference in quality of livestock....personal preference, I would rather pay a higher price to get something I was more satisfied with, so I did and was not disappointed.
As I got more into this hobby, I bred and peddled of a few fish and had fun with it and really looked deep into diving into some coral farming....then I joined GIRS, read things and chatted a little here and then went to a couple meetings and a Fest. I found a bunch of great people that loved to help, teach and learn from others. I've seen more positive comments from people about other peoples tanks and experiences than I've seen people bragging up their own stuff....this is a rare bunch. Any other hobby I've been in was full of "mine's better that yours" or had more chiefs than Indians. I also saw a lot of awesome looking stock so I knew this area did not need more supply. With this club and all of the successful and friendly reefers I don't see a need for anywhere else to get coral, for Petes sake one of the healthiest looking frags I got came from the Des Moines holiday party.
....One opinion I will express, and please, no one be offended because I don't think there is really any one person here to point a finger at, If I were to stumble on this club site today and see this thread, I would probably have never joined this club. I have been in this club just long enough and met enough members to know that it is a good place to be and I am still happy to be a member.
...my $0.02 worth,
Bruce

 

I am happy to give my reviews without caring about sponsors and am happy to give my real name too!

I have spent thousand and thousand at seascapes over the years. Best place in DM (we need more!) - they get fantastic clams in. Actually the best clams I have had, however I still would not classify it as a "good" reef store overall despite being the best we have. They don't carry much in the way of modern equipment that most reefers use. I had to order almost all the parts for my 120 online, not for cost savings, but because there was no where to buy them around here. Nothing crazy, AI lights, ecotech pumps, vertex skimmer - stuff like that. Crazy because they are all the same price online or in person being manufactures restricted pricing. I guess that I could have asked about ordering, but Tim (manager) isn't always there. Even small parts like probe holders and such are not there. Contrast this with a shop I visited in Eastern Iowa (I forgot the name) that had all the top brands and modern equipment. I actually cancelled my mp40qd that I ordered online and bought it from that store in eastern Iowa that day I was so happy to see one stocked!

The livestock - if you talk with Tim you can get some good deals on coral, especially on the coral that is inevitably dying. Most the coral I have bought from seascapes I got for good deals because it was going downhill and I fragged it, but I did get some nice coral from there that was in good shape too. The shop has been better recently - for a while I was telling people Petco was the best DM shop - but seascapes is far from great. I used to go in every week and would watch the livestock slowly die if it wasn't sold. I don't go in as much now. I did trace back my bryopsis and bubble algae to coral I bought from their 120 along with aiptasia. Yes, should have QT, but saying that is ok for coral to have that is ridiculous to me and the same as saying selling sick fish is ok because we should know QT and treatment.

The crazy thing, and it makes me feel bad, is that the store's tanks and system should be top-notch. This year I went to Philly, stopping in Chicago and Pittsburgh along the way. Also hit Eastern Iowa stores on the drive home. I made my poor fiancee go to some of the best reef stores in those big cities like old town aquarium. What I noticed is that those stores didn't have much of the cool stuff that seascapes does! Like Seascapes overflow tank, huge display tank and ray pool, many didn't even have frag tanks like seascapes new ones. But what they did have were immaculate tanks. Very clean, healthy livestock. It made me really sad to think that seascapes could be world class. I counted a dozen dead/sick/dying fish in seascapes last time I was in. I often wish that seascapes could keep large colonies and sell frags for their own aquacultured coral, and maybe that is the idea in their huge display, but sadly that tank can't seem to keep coral alive.

I like Tim a lot, but his hands are tied on a lot of that stuff. I still go there, heck, I am going there tomorrow, but honest reviews are important IMO. Thankfully GIRS and fragfest are around and members have fantastic corals.

EDIT: I see that I missed some of the thread and greater debate was going on. Sorry if my post was off topic. To the OP, I agree that sometimes they have nice stuff in and it looks nice, my comments were more to going in every week.

 

Excellent review @hart

 

If only you guys knew what you were talking about. I work here, and I guarantee not a single one of you know what it takes to run a pet store, getting brand new fish and corals in 4 days a week. How do you expect us to keep every single little disease and all that out? Go to any pet store in all of Iowa, and find one who doesn't have those problems. You can't. So before you go whining about us on a stupid thread, maybe you could ask us about the issue. So yes, we have seen this post, and yes we know who is talking bad about us and coming back into the store all the time looking for discounts because you are an "entitled" member of girs.

 

I stopped by yesterday and talked to tim. Ive been into the store with my 4 year probably twice in the last 2 years. I've never met tim and it's pretty bad how some people have run him and the store into the ground. I've been to many stores throughout many states. By far is this store not near the bottom of those. They all seem to have some problems or someone has had a bad experience with someone. I'm gonna stop there again for sure. Many of you guys don't realize we have few to choose from in the area. Support them and if you see there is a problem why not help them to fix or correct it. I can only imagine what it takes to run a store like that. Now if you had that much invested are you really gonna intentionally kill stuff? If you don't like them don't by from them. You have the option as a consumer not to. But don't bad mouth them like a coward behind a screen name. Here's the real reason I haven't paid my membership as this club isn't what it used to be. 5 years ago this wouldn't have ever happened. I've been in reef for 8 years now and 7 on here. Go stop in and see for yourself. My wife 4 year old and 2 year old sure loved it. If you see something wrong tell them.

 

I stand by my review. I am Bret Hartman. I have never asked for a discount because of GIRS and have spend thousands at that store and I imagine that I will keeping spending a lot of money there. I tried to give my view as balanced as possible from looking not only over the state, but some large stores from the east coast. Tim is great and every issue I have seen he either agrees with or points out 1st. The store is always on the verge of really becoming magnificent - not only for Iowa but with any salt store you can find. I have no doubts it is extremely hard to do - I couldn't do it. I every single week go in hoping for the best. It's no secret coral has struggled there long term. I was thrilled to watch the big derasa clam grow over the past month or two!! Was great to see. It was gone last week, hope found a good home. The overflow tank in general was looking very nice last week. Honestly the issues with the big tank I have no idea how to fix or even what they are. Every coral I have seen in there dies - I was really sad as the huge brain was starting to show some skeleton, but last week it looked better thank goodness!

All that said it doesn't mean we shouldn't say what we see, I think honest reviews are what makes a club good! I was in last week and will probably swing in tomorrow. I wasn't trying to be harsh with my review - just my observations. I work in science, it's what I do...

 

$5000 rent, 1500/FT employee, $? Insurance, $300 water, electrical, heat. Add it all up. Lucky to sell an AI Hydra and make 5% the sale price let alone risk it setting on the shelf for version 8.1.4 to come out and then you have to mark it down 10% just to move it.

People demand that these fist stores stock all our fancy gadgets to a miniscule market scope. Yes, we reef keepers are a miniscule market scope. Tiny.

You want the fish, buy it and QT it. Don't blame other people for your f up. If you got flatworm from live aquaria what would you do? They told you on their website to QT. From many posts I've read those few would demand their money back. It's your due diligence in this hobby to QT and treat/prevent.

I've heard stupid **** like "I ordered an eel and it started to eat other fish. The store refused to refund it". Really? Eel... ate fish. Damn, would have never thought.

Half the posts on this thread is a barage of lazyness about avoiding the steps of quarantine. The only legitimate thing I've read is how they won't work with the customer on a product they sold.

 

People talk crap about petco all the time also should everyone stop doing that also.

I know what it takes to run a business I was a mgr at Sysco Foods a fortune 500 company. If something fell on the floor should we just let it sit there then brush it off and send it out?

I dont think what I said here is that bad I stand by what I said. My name is Donny Graves.

If it was dead or sick dogs in the cages there would be an uproar but since its fish its not a big deal just qt them

 

This is why we can't have nice things.

I like seascapes. They get a lot of my business. Tim has always been super helpful and I'm sure he has to deal with a lot. I still shop there for things and it's nice to be able to pick up some fish stuff in the same store as some dog treats.

There is a lot of support for the store on this thread, and that's great to see. There have just been some posts; whether in bad humor or just slander, that detract from some honest reviews. No one is perfect and managing a store with all animals (not just fish) takes time and money away from fish. It's been said all along, if you are aware of a potential issue, then QT the fish or dip the frag. Dipping the frag is just in general a good practice no matter where you buy it from.

I bought a Kole Tang from a Nebraska store, and it died a day later. I just went back a week later and bought another one. Not a huge issue, and I don't blame the store for it.

 

Donny fish are harder than cats or dogs. We are taking stuff from the ocean directly and putting it in man made environment. We have so many diseases we can't avoid but just contain. We can't treat our tanks like we can with other animals. I'll admit I loose a third of all my fish I buy in the first week. I've tried everything and it just happens. Now I might only buy 10 fish a year but compare it to thousands of fish. They die. For one we have no clue how old the fish are when we buy them. That's a risk we take. But the life span may not be long. Also the warehouses the Lfs get them from no one really knows what happens there and how many diseases they arrive with. Imo I don't consider petco a lfs. I'm not gonna bash anyone of them but think ,ore as corporate greed trying to run the local ma and pa places out of business. The best customer will be from the small lfs stores. We all can relate that corporations have screwed up the small people. Let's support and help locally.