Elegant Reef - Tropical Fish Studio — Local services in San Antonio

My wife and I have been to Elegant Reef a few times now. Our first impressions were great. The store seemed to have a wide arrange of fish and items to assist with the hobby and we we met with employees who seemed to be knowledgeable and nice. Honestly if it weren't for these factors we likely would not have kept coming back to the store.

The problems occurred with the fish. Having had grown up with fish tanks in our homes, we were eager to get back into the hobby and worked to establish a tank with live plants and all the correct parameters for a community tank. Once the tank was established, we spoke with an employee at Elegant Reef and purchased multiple fish including a small school of guppies, cherry barbs, and panda corys. Unfortunately 2 of the guppies and 2 of the cherry barbs died within 2 days of us bringing them home. Because we were uncertain of the cause of death, we chalked it up to bad luck and performed all the following precautions to help ensure the life of the other fish. After ensuring that the tank was health and once again well established, we went back to elegant reef to purchase more guppies and cherry barbs to make up for the ones we lost. However, similar to the last purchase, multiple fish died within a day or two with little signs of disease. We assumed this was due to something on our part and chose to focus on making our tank thrive rather than purchasing more. Fast forward a bit and all the fish seemed to be doing so well that we had 2 baby panda corys and one baby cherry barb, however because we only had male guppies we wanted to ensure they had a large enough school to not cause a problem and we found that we were in need of some algea eaters. Because we have a large tank we did the math on how many adult fish would thrive in out tank and once again we returned to elegant reef to purchase some snails, amano shrimp, otocinclus, and guppies. When we got home (30 minute drive) we noticed one of the snails were dead. This worried us but we figured it was likely an honest mistake. Unfortunately, due to our oversight fin rot into our tank and tried to do our best to save any fish we could. In the end we were able to save most of the panda fish, the living snails, and two shrimp. Again, believing this was bad luck and 100% our fault we chose to work on the tank. Noticing there was a sale this past weekend, we decided to give up on guppies and cherry barbs and try the cheaper tetras. At this point the panda fish were once again breading and the tank seemed happy and healthy. We went back and picked out 6 black tetras as well as 3 amano shrimp and a hillstream loach to help with the algea in the large tank. We placed the fish in a quarantine tank, not wanting to make the same mistake as last time, and within 24 hours all 6 tetras have died. At this point we've been 0/4 and it seems each visit gets worse. Meanwhile we've setup a smaller tank with fish from a local petsmart that we've placed in our guest room and have had 0 problems with the fish or the tank in general. We knew Elegant Reef had no warranties on their fish but we would not have suspected it to have been a problem. We understand a new fish may die every now and then due to bad luck and high levels of stress but it seems to be a trend at this point. We are deeply sadden by the loss of life and money and we don't plan to return in the future unless we need supplies we cant...

I just discovered this as a possible source for my freshwater tank supplies. I prefer to support local shops, so I was excited about the possibilities. On my first visit last week, I was pleased with the cleanliness of the store, and even though it was obvious that saltwater ranks are their niche, they seemed to have a good knowledge about freshwater fish. I purchased four dwarf shrimp (neocaridini). Two of the four died within a day after their acclimation and addition to my well established nano tank which has only snails and live plants.

I went back to the store within two days of my purchase for advice as to a possible cause and was basically told that they do not offer any kind of warranty on their stock (as it says on the receipt). I decided this was acceptable in the situation as I might have done something to harm the shrimp in my acclimation process.

I purchased three more shrimp and five endler guppies (for a different nano tank). As the employee was bagging the fish and shrimp for me, I noticed that she was using her hand in addition to the net. At one point, I even saw her trap one of the tiny shrimp between her hand and the tank glass! When I asked about the process, she very shortly told me that the fish and shrimp were fine!

When I got home, I immediately initiated the acclimation process. When it was time for the transfer, two of the endlers were dead in the bag, one did not look too good, and one of the shrimp seemed to be limping along. As I write this review, it is the next morning. Both the shrimp and the endler who seemed to be struggling in the bag are now dead. At this point, half of the stock I purchased this week at Elegant Reef are dead and as I was told by their employees, they do not warranty their stock. I am left holding the proverbial bag!

There is nothing elegant about dead fish ... I will not be returning to what I sadly thought was going to be my...

I went in and I ordered a Bubble-eye goldfish, they said it would be there next week. I came back in a week and bought the Bubble-eye, a Ryukin and a Black Moor. I was so excited to have a fish store so close to home and was talking to my fiancè about having three huge custom tanks built, but it wasn't long lived. I bring the fish home and within a week they die of illness. I clear out the tank and treat it for a month to insure that the tank is free of illness for my next fish purchase. I went to Elegant Reef and ordered another Bubble-eye. They said it'll be there in a week.

I came back in a week and the fish wasn't there. It's understandable that I was forgotten. So I put my name on a list and they said it'll take about a month for the next freshwater order. I wait and come back in a month, the fish isn't there. I put my name on the list again because they said the employee that orders the freshwater fish was having issues outside of work, which is understandable, and bought a Bristlenose. Within the week, my tank is filled with illness again. I treat the tank and I come back about two weeks later and ask when the fish will be ordered, because it still hasn't come in. They said they had already made their order and that they won't make another on until the next month.

Long story short, I waited four months for a fish they never intended to order in the first place. I called Elegant Reef today (8/19) and asked if the fish had come in yet. They said that if I had been waiting that long that I should go somewhere else because they don't specialize in goldfish. Well, then why on earth did you KEEP telling me that you were going to order them, IF YOU DON'T SPECIALIZE IN THEM? I waited four months to be told that I wasn't a valued customer. I'm glad that this happened sooner than later, however. I was going to have three custom tanks built, but now who knows if they'd ever...