2009 3rd Anniversary Sale!

[jhampton_wsu]

Next time need better weather, waiting inside, or some umbrellas :>)

Was a real fun event to attend, well done again for all you do!!!

Speaking of...I left my brown, white and blue umbrella there on Saturday. I guess I'll see if it's still there on my next trip.

 

[barrierreefcf]

Speaking of...I left my brown, white and blue umbrella there on Saturday. I guess I'll see if it's still there on my next trip.

Yes its here! We were wondering and I as going to post if nobody called.

 

[doublenut]

Cy, When you give out umbrellas how about a barbaque too! Just kidding on all. I just wanted to thank you and your staff for your many hours of preperation and the 2 long days to put on an awsome sale. Thanks for hitting up the vendors for great door prizes too. By the way thanks for the food package and the marineland package. It was the first time I have ever won a raffle and not from the lack of trying. Thanks. The fish and corals seem to love thier new home... Caleb said he cant wait 4 more years to be 16 and work for you guys. Thanks again, Jim and Caleb.

 

[apollothesun]

yeah, i won some food to feed my addictions. i want to give you guys a big thank you for fueling my joy for this hobby. i was there friday buying some fish thinking i wasnt gonna be there over the weekend. ended up going saturday and sunday too buying something each day. big props to andrew and chris for the euthusiasm(sp)to help me in the afternoon after the big rush.

 

[declivis]

yeah, i won some food to feed my addictions. i want to give you guys a big thank you for fueling my joy for this hobby. i was there friday buying some fish thinking i wasnt gonna be there over the weekend. ended up going saturday and sunday too buying something each day. big props to andrew and chris for the euthusiasm(sp)to help me in the afternoon after the big rush.

yeah.....luckily by then my meds had kicked in

 

[skinz78]

hey skinz....keep us posted on the "emerald blenny"...i'm keen to know what its habits are. with the ramp up this week to the sale i didn't have a chance to look 'em up to see EXACTLY what "he" was(which is a huge pet-peeve of mine). he seemed awfully cool "walking" along with his pectoral fins.

He is doing great, shows behavior of a Dragonette.

I have a ID thread going on him and havn't come up with anything yet.

You can check it out here.

 

[davidr2340]

Just want to give the crew at BRA another thank-you! I picked up my raffle prize this afternoon... The Mille frag pack! :shock: Four beautiful pieces that I would hardly call "frags"!!!

Sorry I took so long dragging my butt down that way to pick it up... :razz:

"Daniel"
AKA David

 

[skinz78]

Where did the emerald blennie come from? Geographic region might help with the ID?

 

[Ellylove]

I'm pretty disappointed. I had heard how wonderful your store is so I went to the sale. While I was there I bought a tiny yellow tang and a 7.8 lb premium (9.99 per lb) piece of live rock (as well as a few other things) from you. I had to wait over about an hour in line (which I can understand because there were so many people) but why didn't you just borrow or rent an extra register just for that day? Aside from that (I was willing to wait and did patiently although I rather would not have to wait like that) the tang I bought was really skinny (I bought the nicest one in the tank) and after having him for a week and a half, he died. The other fish in my tank are VERY happy so I know it isn't my tank that was the problem. I understand that wild caught fish don't have that high of a survival rate when they are that small, but it was still disappointing and sad. The main thing that I am upset about is that the really nice and really expensive piece of rock I got from you is COVERED in aptasia, green hair algae, and vermetid snails. NONE of my other live rock (that I got from other people's tanks) had any of those pests and now I have to spend more money to try to get rid of them in my tank. Luckily my turbo snails have mowed the hair algae (as you can see in the pic they have pretty much cleaned it in a week and a half) , and the vermetid snails don't cause any harm (except being an eyesore), but the main problem are the 40 or so large aptasia and the new 10 or so that have popped up in my tank. You were so highly talked about and it makes me so sad to see a store with such a high reputation falling so short. Here is a picture to show you what I'm talking about. GORGEOUS rock, horrible pests. Next time, can you hand out bottles of Joe's Juice to people who buy your rock, please?

 

[cptbjorn]

The only thing I can say for sure is that there is no such thing as an extra register for the day, banks don't work that way. Even BECU that is huge in this area and a friend to small businesses would laugh at that. BR needs two registers like .1% of the time; I had no problem waiting 1.5 hours at their sale because I knew that that kind of waiting never normally happens at BRA. Live rock comes with aiptasia and vermatids and GHA is a symptom of excess nutrients and not the rock it comes on.

It is possible that you were screwed by BRA, but my experience with them as well as what I have heard from others says otherwise. Also I am cheap and feel that Joe's Juice is one of the biggest ripoffs ever; burying under sand or boiling water from a syringe has killed every aiptasia I have encountered. And tangs had no place in your 36" long tank. Even as juveniles.

 

[BCT182]

The only thing I can say is I must be a fish geek. I usually spend a full hour at any fish store I go to. Just to look around. I think there was plenty to look at while waiting in line. Not to mention the BRA sales are also a social event. Quite a few customers are also PSAS or RF members. Finally, when chromis are on sale for .99 cents and everything in the store is 30% off it's gonna be busy, and there is gonna be a wait.

As for the live rock, I'm not sure how they sell their live rock but the hobby wide rule is with LFS LR you have to expect some hitch hikers and also die off due to all that the rock goes through. From on established tank to another is a different story.

I for one wouldn't add uncured live rock to my system from ANY fish store BRA included. Usually flthe die off causes a huge ammonia spike. That's nothing against BRA either. That's the nature of the beast.

As for the tang, if you say the tang looked sickly, I have no reason not to believe you, but you didn't have to buy it if you new alot of the yllow tangs looked not-so-good.

BRA does try to only offer healthy specimens as does Les at wet pets Hawaii. The stress to any fish is inevitable when you've got a net thrashing around inside the holding tank every 5 minutes. Some fish fair better, and BRA does their best but a sick fish can be at any fish store. Good or bad reputation. If a bad fish ends up at a good store like BRA and you can tell it's very small and thin, pass.

Lastly, to "bury the live rock under sand to kill aptasia" guy, that's nuts. You must have a pretty damn deep sand bed. You'd probably have to bury the live rock a foot deep to smother aptasia. Pest anemones will have no problem poking through 2" of sand bed. If you have never seen it before, come on over to my place.

 

[mfinn]

I'm pretty disappointed. I had heard how wonderful your store is so I went to the sale. While I was there I bought a tiny yellow tang and a 7.8 lb premium (9.99 per lb) piece of live rock (as well as a few other things) from you. I had to wait over about an hour in line (which I can understand because there were so many people) but why didn't you just borrow or rent an extra register just for that day? Aside from that (I was willing to wait and did patiently although I rather would not have to wait like that) the tang I bought was really skinny (I bought the nicest one in the tank) and after having him for a week and a half, he died. The other fish in my tank are VERY happy so I know it isn't my tank that was the problem. I understand that wild caught fish don't have that high of a survival rate when they are that small, but it was still disappointing and sad. The main thing that I am upset about is that the really nice and really expensive piece of rock I got from you is COVERED in aptasia, green hair algae, and vermetid snails. NONE of my other live rock (that I got from other people's tanks) had any of those pests and now I have to spend more money to try to get rid of them in my tank. Luckily my turbo snails have mowed the hair algae (as you can see in the pic they have pretty much cleaned it in a week and a half) , and the vermetid snails don't cause any harm (except being an eyesore), but the main problem are the 40 or so large aptasia and the new 10 or so that have popped up in my tank. You were so highly talked about and it makes me so sad to see a store with such a high reputation falling so short. Here is a picture to show you what I'm talking about. GORGEOUS rock, horrible pests. Next time, can you hand out bottles of Joe's Juice to people who buy your rock, please?

Fish die, it's a fact.
Fish also die in new tanks which yours is, that's also a fact.
Fish get stressed very easly and that will kill them.
I'll bet a phone call to them would have gone a long way.
As far as the live rock, nobody forced you to buy that piece. I'm pretty sure you picked it out.
Live rock usually has many pests on it, aptasia and algae's of different types are very common.
Unless you buy completely cooked rock you are going to have some pests.
Buy your own Joes Juice and deal with it.
Perhaps you should avoid these sales if you don't like crowds and waiting in line.
Barrier Reef is one of the best stores around and they didn't fall short by any means.
Quit whinning.

 

[BCT182]

Elly: if I were you I'd remove the LR and cook it. You could literally boil it if you have a large enough pot, or let it sit in a tub of SW and cure.

BRA: As your defense lawyer I'm here for you. My normal rate is $200 per hour but I am willing to accept payment in the form of frags. LOL.

 

[Chichas01]

I'm pretty disappointed.

Poor form. You need to take this offline and deal directly with Barrier. Also, your tank is too small for a tang of any sort whether it's a baby or not. Always buy fish with the understanding that you need to have what they require at their adult size. Everyone plans an 'upgrade' in the future and then things change.
Also, why didn't you take the time to get to know some people while standing in line? I met a couple people from the boards here at the sale just by striking up a conversation and enjoying that instead of getting irritated. But that's just me

 

[Myteemouse]

BRA: As your defense lawyer I'm here for you. My normal rate is $200 per hour but I am willing to accept payment in the form of frags. LOL.

LOL
Are you only a defense lawyer or do you venture into divorce and criminal law also?

 

[NC2WA]

Elly,

IMO, Joe Juices is not worth the money.

If you really want to kill the aptasia, then place the live rock in boiling water and put a tight lid (no light enters) on it on 1-2 weeks. Otherwise, you will try this and that for weeks and still have aptasisa (and prolly still frustrated).

I hate crowds so I avoid big anniversary sales like this, but I can tell you that I've purchased a majestic and blue face angelfish from BRA and both are doing great and eating like pigs. I will continue my fish purchases with BRA in the future. I believe a call to Cy (the owner) could have done your more good than a negative post on a big forum such as this.

I wish you luck
Kirk

 

[Scooterman]

I hate doing this but we're going to put a temporary hold in this thread until we can determine what is best for the forum.

 

[barrierreefcf]

All,

I have already discussed Elly's experience at our store with her privately through PM. Issue resolved in a positive manner

We try very hard to sell quality livestock and provide excellent service. On the whole we are very good at this but sometimes issues arise. We feel that the way these infrequent issues are dealt with is what sets the good stores apart from the rest. If anyone ever has a problem with their experiece at Barrier Reef please come straight to me rather than posting in a public forum. At least give us a chance to rectify the issue before posting something that could damage the reputation we work so hard to maintain. I believe you will find we go the extra mile to make our customers happy.

Our sales are very busy. It is hard to take the usual precautions we take when selling livestock. Normally we inspect every piece of rock and either point out any pests (part of selling fresh rock) or refuse the sale until we can clean the rock up. At the same time the customer has an equal responsibilty to examine what they are purchasing. You have to understand, some customers don't care about algae or aiptasia. If they find a nice shape they take the rock home and remove the pests with a toothbrush, kalkwasser, boiling water etc. We can't always know whether the hobbyist falls into this category or needs us to point out the pests. This is why we usually ask. In this case we failed to do so and I'm guessing the crowd and the particular employee (who was a one day volunteer) had something to do with this oversight.

Please remember that these sales happen only two times per year and even though we are very busy they do not generate a lot of profit. They are more of a goodwill generator and hopefully they create some loyalty. The small profiit made does not justify us renting tents or umbrellas. We also cannot give customers the level of attention we would normally. I understand an extra register would be nice but this was the first time the checkout line was THIS long. We could not have predicted this. We are in the process of securing a second machine and hope to have it ready by the time the next sale comes around. We have also discussed borrowing pop-up tents in case of bad weather.

Hopefully, with each sale that passes we learn from the positives and negatives and keep improving how they are run. We already have a great company onboard to come support our next sale. Combined with a second register, some weather barriers, and a new lottery time slot reservation for friday, I think our Spring Sale will be the best yet!

Scooterman and I have agreed that the best thing for this thread is to close it now. Thanks again to everyone for coming out and supporting us

 

[Myteemouse]

I have nothing but good things to say about BR
They replaced a fish for me with no questions asked..
(rare for saltwater)...