jadams7 Posted August 19, 2011 Share Posted August 19, 2011 So for the past month and a half, I have been in Columbus Ohio for a job training. Sitting in a hotel without being able to see or mess with my tank (wife is at home adding water and feeding the fish) has been terrible, and I have been jonesin' for my reef fix. (scary) So today I got off work early in the morning, and decided to explore a couple shops in the area... The first shop completely blew me away. It is called reefsystems. They grow nearly every coral they sell, and everything you buy there has been grown on site from original colonies from years back (except just a couple LPS). The store itself on the inside is pretty much your regular sized store, solid selection, good prices, dry goods, no fish for sale, just corals (which is a nice change of pace). Then you walk out the back door, and you find a MASSIVE 12,000 gallons of coral growing! They have 6 separate systems out back, each one is a 2000 gallon tub. They work hand in hand with Ohio State University (booo) testing and doing various different experiments on corals too, which is very cool. The staff there was VERY friendly and nice, and told me all about the systems they run there. They only run a skimmer on one of the tubs, get great coral growth, and they said the only issues they ever really encounter are algae from time to time, which comes in on corals they are rescuing or holding for customers. Also they have a ton of live rock, for cheap too! They have been around a good while, and run a great shop. Prices were all very reasonable, and the tanks they had inside the store were beautiful as well! So I just went nuts taking pictures with my phone, some (likely most) of these will not be great pictures, but I was in NO WAY expecting to find all of this when I walked into this store... And the testing area... And a massive pond out back too... After that store, I went to one more called Aquarium Adventure. It was pretty much the size of a Petco, with only fish stuff. They had both salt and fresh water stuff...a good split, pretty much 50/50 I would say. Tons of equipment, and a bunch of fish, and a decent selection of basic corals (mostly starter corals, softies, etc.). Prices were pretty high, but they were having a 40% off sale, so they could have just been inflated for the sale...who knows. Anyway, great selection of tanks I wanted to buy...some awesome nanos, led lights, and rimless cubes galore! (naughty) They had some big fish only tanks, and some cool freshwater tanks (if there is such a thing...kidding) with some rays in there. Also they had a 'touch tank' for the kiddos (very educational, and mean at the same time, must be 'time out' for the bad critters there). Overall a nice shop, I would compare it to the newer shop in albany, just about 2x the size. Anyway, seeing as I will be moving back to this area here soon (Columbus Ohio) for a few years, I should be content knowing these stores are fairly close by(clap)...and I still have a few more I want to check out this weekend too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mohaynow Posted August 19, 2011 Share Posted August 19, 2011 Jase, I hate to see ya go but its nice to know that you will be well taken care of lol. Those giant coral tubs are insane! Its cool that they are using sunlight to propegate corals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael7979 Posted August 19, 2011 Share Posted August 19, 2011 Lots of good pictures!!! Looks like you have found a "new home" out in Ohio, (puke) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kilmca Posted August 20, 2011 Share Posted August 20, 2011 That first store looked great. I used to live in PA and had relatives in MI so we would drive thru OH to visit them. We would stop at Aquatic Technology in Columbia Station, OH. It was a nice place and had a large amount of corals, not as big as reefsystems. I recommend checking out that store but I think it's a couple hours from Columbus, OH. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stylaster Posted August 20, 2011 Share Posted August 20, 2011 wow they got some nice stores for being in the middle of nowhere Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tanktop74 Posted August 20, 2011 Share Posted August 20, 2011 Very cool! Pretty good pics from your cell phone! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jadams7 Posted August 21, 2011 Author Share Posted August 21, 2011 Thanks everyone. Yea as long as I know I have a couple places within an hour from where I live, I should be alright. The odd thing is noticing some of the stocking options the shops have here...very few zoas and higher end SPS, and fish prices are REALLY high...like the average 2" hippo tang is in the $80-90 range. Yikes! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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