Salty Fish Aquariums — Attraction in San Antonio

Came into the shop mid afternoon there was a younger gentleman sitting behind the counter. Just a little about me I've been in and around the saltwater industry since 2004. I've been to numerous LFS's in Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, Arkansas, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Texas I've been in good ones and bad ones. I've had at most 3 tanks setup at once and the most I've ever had invested in a tank was upwards of $30k. Now I asked the gentleman several questions about pricing on numerous soft, hard corals and ricordias and a couple tanks trying to get this guy off his phone and do his job was a task in it's own. I was legitimately going to drop some cash on a full setup but this dude couldn't even give me a price on a tank. The way this guy acted is why their tanks aren't getting the proper maintenance they should be getting, he didn't want to help a paying customer why would he take the time to maintain the system. The amounts of cyanobacteria in their for sale tanks is from not maintaining for long periods of time. Sure they'll tell ya it's from nursing the fish back to health. It's more over from overfeeding, too much phosphate and nitrate from high waste levels, too much light under the 6500 Kelvin range also extending lights out past the recommended time for instance if the manufacturer says the bulb should last 6 months and you use it for 1 year. And also the gentleman in the store that day said the fish they sell are captive bred locally. Not long long distance like the ower stated in the reply to my wife's post earlier. I could keep going on but we're just not going to come here ever again and I'm going to stop on this last statement you can go to 5 different LFS's ask the same ? At all 5 stores and get 5 different opinions. Make your own decisions if you want your tank to look like their tanks buy your water and fish here if you don't go elsewhere. I know there are a couple really great shops in Houston.

A note to the owner when you clean up your tanks and maybe hire some better help let me know and I'll come check you out and maybe...

So it's taken me some time to process an experience I had a few weeks ago in order to write this review. Upon visiting this location during the week, a young man is so amazing, knowledgeable, and attentive which is great so I returned 4 times in one week alone. On my fifth visit on a Saturday, I was assisted by a young lady that was extremely knowledgeable regarding freshwater but learning saltwater. On some of the questions she had to ask to confirm or inquire about our questions (coral/fish identification, location, parameter needs, feeding etc.). My poor review is regarding one older lady in particular; this woman was extremely rude, gave incorrect answers, and combative. While exploring your store, we overheard her talking down to one of your customers when she inquired about the cost of a tank. We were hoping we wouldn't have to deal with her during our visit because of her treatment but unfortunately, our helper needed assistance answering questions. Of course, she ended up being incredibly rude and incorrect when answering several questions. She was EXTREMELY combative... and incapable of answering questions regarding saltwater. Unfortunately, this treatment from one of your staff members makes us not want to return, although, when we were alone with our friendly helper, she apologized. It's a shame because we really want a business that we can have a lasting relationship with. Please, customer service alone can go so far. Additionally, there's nothing wrong with needing to look something up or needing assistance with questions; I believe, the depth of the questions we were needing answered made the rude staff member feel uncomfortable which made the situation worse. I just want to inform the owner of what happened at this location.

We hope you can make improvements for every staff member to treat your customers well and give correct...

I'm a bit torn, because my first several experiences at this place were terrific. I bought my tank here. Terry delivered it and provided a lot of good advice about setting it up. I was confident I had found my go to fish store. I'm not new to the fish keeping hobby. I had two saltwater tanks and three fw tanks going back 20 years. My most recent tank was a reef tank that I had running for 7 years before having to sell it prior to our move to TX. Setting up a new tank now, I had the tank sitting with a cocktail shrimp, live sand and dry rock for several weeks. I added live rock two weeks ago. Ammonia and nitrites spiked and then went to 0. Now, its been close to a decade since I've been through this process so I was skeptical that the tank could have cycled that quickly. Made the mistake of seeking advice on FB... yes, I know better. Fueled by some bad advice from FB and pressure from the family I found myself at my "go to store" to find a hardy fish. Long story short (too late?) the sales woman there stripped me down in front of my family stating "there is no way I'm selling you a fish knowing what I know" and when I mentioned that I had been cycling with shrimp I got a condescending "oh, you're doing it THAT way". I respect a fish store that takes a discerning approach to who they sell fish to. It's quite refreshing really. But a "you know, I don't think it would be wise to get fish just yet ... here are some steps you should take first before you consider adding fish" would have been a hell of a lot more appropriate than a "hell no, I'm not selling you any fish" response. Apparently good customer service and tact is not part of her lexicon. Not too anxious to go back...