I don't think that the existing stores are doing a good enough job of explaining WHERE their items come from and HOW they are obtained. I suspect that they aren't proud of it, or don't know for sure and therefore don't talk about it much.

To me it seems that there just isn't enough of a supply of bright and exotic corals. Anything really nice that comes in will be bought relatively quickly regardless of price or source.

Well most of what I see are aquacultured corals. Fish on the other hand is a different story.

You can ask and LFS They know where they get them. It kinda easy to tell the aquacultures corals because of the plugs.

J

This is a good point...Why is there not one store that you can go to for both supplies and livestock. Im not sure which two stores you mean for sure but I would agree that NO store in vancouver is GREAT. Just a few good ones. I lived in Florida for a while and I think I got spoiled! If someone opened a store in Vancouver based on how a few of the great shops down there are, it would be amazing! And Im not talking about the "big" chain stores in Florida, I shopped at a smaller one that would blow any shop in Vancouver out of the water.

To say that opening a reef shop in Vancouver would be a failure is a joke. You can ALWAYS do things better than the competition. I think thats one problem with shops in Vancouver, not enough competition...

But owning and running a store in Florida, with its coral reefs, Gulf of Mexico, etc., would have its obvious advantages. That's like comparing the skiing in North Carolina with Whistler and Fernie.

I think the GVRD is spoiled rotten when it comes to good LFS we don't know how good we have it.
Now I'm only comparing stores in Canada and not in the southern US. But Really Give me a break even stores I would consider crappy are good when compared to stores outside the GVRD. Plus look at the prices some are paying for salt in TO

J

I second that , IF we would be friendly to our planet we would not have captive animals who are on leash and or kept in confined environment living in their own urine and feces mix

Yes, we are seriously spoiled with decent to good LFS that stock sw livestock in the GVRD. There are at least 4 fairly major coral/marine fish stores & five small ones that do most if not all their biz in sw. Compared to Calgary or Edmonton or anywhere else, we have a lot of choice & decent prices. If I didn't live around here, I doubt I would have gotten into this addiction due to the high cost.

Anthony

so just outta curiosity, if you feel so strongly about this, i gotta ask why is it that you choose such a morally despicable hobby?

that would be great... but do it in williams lake so i dont have to go to Van once a month to stock up!!!!