the new xzotics

madjoe

madjoe

Premium member
well I went back to c what they had and check out new store. definitely lot smaller but that's what they were going for. definitely not the warehouse look any more . I did like the warehouse look btw I spent hours in there. they have three separate rooms of fish one is saltwater and then a coral room didn't go in but im there for fish don't really look at coral. they had bunch of tusks big and small some nice king angels beautiful but need big tanks they a holes. couple of nanacky wrasses and shark eggs horn sharks . not a overwhelming selection but enough to keep me there awhile. they had flame angels and man they were colorful had to have one and priced at 40$ I went home with one and its sexy. then I paid and omar came up to me and gave me the qt tour and showed me the meds they use to treat . they definitely trying to make sure the fish r healthy before selling . and what I see in qt 3 yellow belly regals and 2 queens . well there I was drooling again. chit I just bought flame. well I went back today since regals were ready to come out qt I found one eating pellets and took home . wanted queen too maybe next time lol. any way its definitely smaller then before same with selection but everything I seen on the floor looked healthy I do ask to see fish eat before I buy and flame is already eating pellets as of today and gobbles up Mysis colors r just sexy . regal is fat and healthy looking had a rough time my achillies beat him alittle so had to move. all in all nice store I always thought staff was friendly I have talked to one of the owners and he has always been nice to me all the staff has and all know me by name. I didn't check if they still had clean up crew selection I hope they do . I also hope the dry goods section gets little bigger but I will go back and c what they have time to time. also if u looking for something just ask I had no clue about the hidden fish in qt glad I found out though. heres a pic of my flame

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I've been there a few times since they moved. Tanks look much better but imo coral selection is horrible. I've been tempted to but a few fish but I'm not ready yet.

Last time I was there something nuked their turbo snail tank and the smell was horrid lol. I may be purchasing a fish from there when my qt is up and ready
 
Joe5688 said:
I've been there a few times since they moved. Tanks look much better but imo coral selection is horrible. I've been tempted to but a few fish but I'm not ready yet.

Last time I was there something nuked their turbo snail tank and the smell was horrid lol. I may be purchasing a fish from there when my qt is up and ready
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Yea havent really looked at their corals just the fish not many stores carry sps plus i have no room for more corals. Notreally fish either but eh i cant resist a nice fish
 
Nice flame, I bought mine from them as well. Actually, I bought the first one from their old location, but it died within 24 hours. The replacement (also from old location) developed a white film over his eyes after the 2nd day, lost both eyes, then died. He lasted about a week. And everyone had a different answer as to what it could be. :/ Finally the owner said he'd QT one for me and keep an eye on it for a few weeks. So now I've had that guy for over a month and is doing well, thankfully. I also bought a fuzzy dwarf lionfish from the new location and he only lasted about a week.. So 1 out of 4, I'm still a little skeptical about buying fish from them. Hopefully you have better luck than I have!
 
kaz2y5w said:
Nice flame, I bought mine from them as well. Actually, I bought the first one from their old location, but it died within 24 hours. The replacement (also from old location) developed a white film over his eyes after the 2nd day, lost both eyes, then died. He lasted about a week. And everyone had a different answer as to what it could be. :/ Finally the owner said he'd QT one for me and keep an eye on it for a few weeks. So now I've had that guy for over a month and is doing well, thankfully. I also bought a fuzzy dwarf lionfish from the new location and he only lasted about a week.. So 1 out of 4, I'm still a little skeptical about buying fish from them. Hopefully you have better luck than I have!
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Yea old shop they didnt qt as far as i know. Ive seen tge qt at new shop and seen the meds. I was told they were qt'd and so far so good ive actually gad the fkame few days bought in sat and very active and eats great. Looks like they r trying a new process and qt before selling hope it works. But its not always full proof as we all kniw it only takes in spot to infect whole tank . Hopefully im all good as i trusted them with the qt and the meds they use in qt enough to put directly in my display so fingers crossed
 
Yeah I had some hit n miss with these guys before....I may give them another shot. They seem to have good prices on saturdays.....a couple wrasses have caught my eye. But they don't seem to be serious into corals.
 
@Joe5688 & kdog23 I'm not sure when the last time you guys went in to check out their corals but they definitely stepped up their game. I was in Saturday and they got some bright green hammers and torches, along with tons if acan lords and favias, they have tons of fancy/exotic zoas, Sps colonies and frags. They post pics of them on their Facebook and Saw a Craigslist ad of all the corals they got with a couple pics. @kaz2y5w I would understand being skeptical of the old place but how come the new location? I have never heard of a store owner doing that for a customer in thechicagoland area by making sure you got a healthy fish by holding it for a month. But I'm always on the xzotic posts because I believe what they're doing a lot, they're trying to change the hobby. Hopefully everyone can eventually agree with me!
 
I was there 3 times since the move and each trip was a waste. I'm sorry but I can't and won't go back. I'm not in the market for starter coral so favias, torches, hammers and random acans don't interest me, since most of us give that sort of stuff away to noobs and people starting out in the hobby. Since they moved, I have walked out empty-handed and unimpressed and a little pissed.

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I've never been to the new, or old place. Ill probably stop in at some point and check it out.
 
Well sorry to hear that you feel that way because I think they're doing great things. I think they're doing great things because they treat to everyone from noobies to experienced members. Like I said I saw over 30 Sps colonies that a noob would ever even think about trying.
 
Well i got two nice fish from there so im happy. Im sure not every one will find something. Not easy to please every one but i got two super nice angels
 
I really wish those guys luck. They are both very nice-I have bought miscellaneous stuff from them including fish. Ironically enough a friend bought a Flame Angel and it bit the dust in a week in a half,,,,and my loss was a Tang. They gave credit it both cases. Next Saturday I will check it out-but this is sorta 'last chance with me' as well. I think if a very experienced reefer from this site opened a LFS they can do better than a lot of places in the Chicago land area....just my opinion.
 
Well I know that guy from sea schor had a store awhile ago for about2 years before closing it down and he knows more than anyone I know. Just because you know about the hobby doesn't mean you can stand a chance running a business behind it, at the end of the day it's not a hobby anymore for you.
 
I was just in there yesterday. While I didn't walk out with anything much, other than some CUC, I did notice their level of customer service had gone up. In the old location, at time I was left wandering around for almost 30 minutes without a single worker asking if I needed anything. Yesterday, I was approached countless times (in a courteous manner) if I had any questions about anything.
+1 for customer service
+1 for cheap CUC
+1 dry good (picked up Fuel and noticed they had Chemi-Pure Elite in stock)
-1 for not so great coral selection ($30 xenia, $30 kenya)
-1 for lots of dead/dying fish (reminded me of Aquarium Adventure)
-1 arbitrary pricing (stick on tank said $30 fuzzy dwarf lionfish but was told $42)

FWIW: This place may be worth your visit IF you are local and looking for fish not coral. Saw a few nice sharks, had an octopus, mantis shrimp, M.Idol, etc...
 
Well i went back again and got the queen . Got home put in tank and got phone call was xzotics they called to let me know i wont 25$ credit with raffle tic from my purchase. Soon as i get the queen to pose i will get good pic so far just pics of the tail lol she comes out eats but sees the phone and runs
 
Update all angels r doing great the flame and regal eat out my hand. Pellets frozen u name it . Queen eats like a pig . Went sat and picked up another white spot puffer. I grabbed it for a buddy that was looking for one. He cane got it today was healthy and eating pellets and frozen . They had a cool octo there abd bunch of potters wrasses. I looked at em but have no luck with leopard wrasses so just left with puffer my tanks r over full any way . One owners talkes to me long time watched him feed a baby corn snake. And checked out sime jackson chameleons they had . But my buddy omar was on vacation other then that was fun. From what i can tell fish looked healthy thing i seen one that i would if had in qt . Wasnt sick just had a cut on it that i would of treated so dont get infected thats all
 
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