What happened to reefwise!

Kamreef1987

Kamreef1987

Member
I went to visit reef wise over the weekend. I walk in to all the coral tanks looking empty. I remember when that place was overflowing with corals. It was very sad to see all the bare tanks. Very little livestock also. What in the world happened!?


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I loved the location; everything else ... not so much. I thought Brian needed to be more personable. I remember the two sales people there were annoying. One had the "used car" approach and the other guy had no idea what was going on with prices or promos.
 
From what I was told by I think his name was Mike, Brian is a contractor. When the housing market collapsed, he started Reefwise and it grew exponentially. Once the recession ended, he went back to his primary job and Reefwise fell to the wayside. It's one of the reasons I didn't include them on the recent local fish store master list, they aren't what they used to be, as well as aren't active in social media anymore.

It's such a shame, because Reefwise in their prime was probably one of the top fish stores in the area. Once you got to know Brian a little more he was very personable, but I do see where people come from with his personality.
 
For me, Reefwise's coral part of the business was just "decent", but they have been (by far) the best fish store around.

Unique selection (they had relationships with small diver/collectors in multple parts of the world), tank cleanliness (the other stores should aspire to) , reliable quarantine process, fair pricing, and helpful knowledge about fish (growth rate, compatibility, coloration change, food needs, etc).

All but one of the fish in my tank were purchased there...

Hopefully they are not "done"...would be a notable loss.
 
This was one of my favorite shops back in the days. Over time I did see it decline in fish and coral. Kinda wish I had saved the snapchats I had from back then. Full of fish and coral. Maybe online shopping has taken over. Not gonna lie, I have become part of that.

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Bommie said:
This was one of my favorite shops back in the days. Over time I did see it decline in fish and coral. Kinda wish I had saved the snapchats I had from back then. Full of fish and coral. Maybe online shopping has taken over. Not gonna lie, I have become part of that.

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Online shopping and all the Corals for sale on Chicag@ reef JARC, and reef central
 
carpetreef75 said:
Online shopping and all the Corals for sale on Chicag@ reef JARC, and reef central
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I still shop around just not like I used to. I live in dekalb. For me to meet up anyone and bring the coral back home was like an all day event, the time,gas and traffic got to me. I decided to shop online and at the swap meets instead.

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eyspago said:
no people's skills
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never had that problem any of the times I've gone there , even bought a 5" Regal that wasn't eating at the store and I took it home hoping it would pic at some algae and start eating with some tank mates (fast forward ) Regal made it almost a month I mentioned to brian the next time was in the store and he offered my money back as I grabbed some corals and a majestic . my .02 not so bad a guy your painting a pic as . some guys get upset if they cant have a 80.00 piece of coral and 15.00 and then sales tax on the $15.00 OMG
 
carpetreef75 said:
never had that problem any of the times I've gone there , even bought a 5" Regal that wasn't eating at the store and I took it home hoping it would pic at some algae and start eating with some tank mates (fast forward ) Regal made it almost a month I mentioned to brian the next time was in the store and he offered my money back as I grabbed some corals and a majestic . my .02 not so bad a guy your painting a pic as . some guys get upset if they cant have a 80.00 piece of coral and 15.00 and then sales tax on the $15.00 OMG
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I also have to say he does take the time to talk to you which is great. As far as coral sales I have received great deals and seen other people get good deals from them. People seem to forget it’s still their business and these corals aren’t cheap to ship in. Also if they can’t pay the bills it will lead to us fellow reefers not having a store to shop at. I also understand that good prices also lead to better business .


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carpetreef75 said:
never had that problem any of the times I've gone there , even bought a 5" Regal that wasn't eating at the store and I took it home hoping it would pic at some algae and start eating with some tank mates (fast forward ) Regal made it almost a month I mentioned to brian the next time was in the store and he offered my money back as I grabbed some corals and a majestic . my .02 not so bad a guy your painting a pic as . some guys get upset if they cant have a 80.00 piece of coral and 15.00 and then sales tax on the $15.00 OMG
Click to expand...


I also have to say he does take the time to talk to you which is great. As far as coral sales I have received great deals and seen other people get good deals from them. People seem to forget it’s still their business and these corals aren’t cheap to ship in. Also if they can’t pay the bills it will lead to us fellow reefers not having a store to shop at. I also understand that good prices also lead to better business .


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Kamreef1987 said:
I also have to say he does take the time to talk to you which is great. As far as coral sales I have received great deals and seen other people get good deals from them. People seem to forget it’s still their business and these corals aren’t cheap to ship in. Also if they can’t pay the bills it will lead to us fellow reefers not having a store to shop at. I also understand that good prices also lead to better business .


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Click to expand...
Kamreef1987 said:
I also have to say he does take the time to talk to you which is great. As far as coral sales I have received great deals and seen other people get good deals from them. People seem to forget it’s still their business and these corals aren’t cheap to ship in. Also if they can’t pay the bills it will lead to us fellow reefers not having a store to shop at. I also understand that good prices also lead to better business .


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I do believe that's what Brians thoughts were when he was auctioning Corals on ebay that when guys came in to pick up there winning pieces they purchased more .
 
Any updates on the rumored ownership change? Has anyone stopped in lately?


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