online sellers for LPS corals

[hemicuda]

i'm looking for online sellers of premium LPS coral.

i've seen live aquaria, vivid, and zoanuts. what are some other sites that sell nice pieces?

[roblack]

World Wide Corals is currently the best IMO, especially for LPS. So many new LEs and funky chalices, favias, acans, etc. Call them to get a better idea of selection as their site does not do them justice. Alot of other sites are like that too, such as Vivid. Talk with them on the phone and you will realize they have way more stuff than they show on their website. Jendub and Ultimate Frags have really nice lps from time to time also. RC selling forum can be good too.

[chrissreef]

blueplanet corals, blue grass, austin aquafarms, ultimate frags, areefcreation, ebay, phishybusiness, oceaninabox, cherrycorals, atlantisaquarium (aquatics?).net, extremecorals, reef fanatic, reefhotspot and those what you mentioned (LA, zoanuts, vivid)... i visit probably 10x this number of sites weekly. Updates are different at different sites and they all get. World Wide is good too... hardly the "best" imo

[roblack]

chrissreef, you obviously haven't ordered from WWC or been to their facility. You've listed some good vendors and importers, but of the ones listed only Atlantis comes close to WWC in terms of variety of LE and rare "premium" lps, and maybe Cherry Corals. I've ordered from and/or am familiar with all of the ones mentioned. Atlantis is my best pic for SPS. One of the problems with alot of sites is that they list a few great pieces, but they are not available and no one ever gets back to you. Or you get put on a never-ending waiting list. Communication and trust are key to me, and I have found a few vendors that I have been able to build relationships with and my tank has flourished as a result. Chris Turnier from the Old Reefermadness was the first vendor to earn my trust, but he is off in Fiji living The Life. Victor and Lou at WWC have been the first to impress me like that since Chris left the business. Many vendors have provided me great corals, very few follow-up with you to see how they are doing, hunt down that elusive new chalice for you, pm you with pics and frags for sale of the next LE wannabe, and stuff like that. Much thanks to all the vendors and reefers who have added to the diversity of my tanks!

[chrissreef]

Roblack... first of all this isn't the place to "argue" about who's #1 as it's completely subjective and based on opinion. I'm glad they work for you but they aren't my best cup of tea. yes I have ordered for WWC (twice) and from each of the others I listed. (zoanuts, phishybusiness, and austinaquafarms have each hunted down exotic special orders for me from fish to corals. If the OP specifically wants Tyree frags, then I don't know what to suggest since I don't collect his frags, I collect primarily Scoly's, fungias, brains and a few other unfragable lps... like 2 unusual hammers I have)

Yes WWC is a good supplier, I'm not argueing that... are they the "best".... haaaardly. I've ordered from each of the other people I listed and have been extremely happy. In fact, one of the times I ordered from WWC I was quite dissapointed. The lobo came in smaller than described and a different color than the pic, oh well, that's what happens with online purchases sometimes.

Do all provide the same level of service? nope but each get nice corals now and then. To say WWC is "the" place is quite unfair, biased, miopic and dumb.

Chris Turnier - it's true what you said... reefermadness is probably the only one I listed I would hesitate on now since they're not quite the same as they used to be. I also know 2 of the sites have reduced sales due to babies.

oh, other nice suppliers I've ordered from; exoticassiecorals and diamondsinthereef, LOVE both of their service! some other ok guys are **********, fraglereef, cultivatedcoral. hmm, there's more but they're all bookmarked on my other pc.

edit: regarding trust and relationships since that's important to you and might give me some credibility... I'm quite close to zoanuts, austinaqua, exoticaussie, reefspecialty (drygoods) and diamonds (used to be w/ phishybusiness & ultimatefrags but haven't kept up w/ them). The others I've just ordered from, I'm not on a first name basis w/ them.

[roblack]

chrisreef, I am not into hammers, fungias, scolys, and "unfragable lps" as you put it, and don't really consider them to be "premium" lps, as the threadstarter was inquiring about. Appreciate your statement regarding my intelligence. ;) lol!

[chrissreef]

hehe, you're cool and you didn't fall for my bait =(

Cheers! =)

(yea, the word "premium" can mean a lot of things in this hobby. Aussie scolys, red fungia, rainbow brains/acans, aussie lobos are considered "premium" to me... various collectible Tyree SPS/Chalices are boring to me (think mushrooms or brown zoa's) but are considered premium to other people, go figure!)

[Znut Reefer]

Not to get in the middle here. But wanted to say Chris from the old reefermadness is already back. He has an online site now. Not much on there yet. I got an email from him letting me know. :)

He is located in Cali again.

[chrissreef]

What's his new site called?

interesting... =)

[Znut Reefer]

We are not allowed to post it on RC. Drop me a PM and I'll send it to you.

[hemicuda]

thanks for the info.

[roblack]

Znut, you are referring to the illustrious Kris Wray, who was the store manager for Reefermadness and Turnier's right-hand man. Great guy, met him in person while out in LA. He was a huge part of RM being so awesome then. He left RM and is now starting up his own business. Chris T started RM, sold it, and is now living in Fiji running their Walt Smith International operation.

[ejocam]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13844115#post13844115 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by roblack
Znut, you are referring to the illustrious Kris Wray, who was the store manager for Reefermadness and Turnier's right-hand man. Great guy, met him in person while out in LA. He was a huge part of RM being so awesome then. He left RM and is now starting up his own business. Chris T started RM, sold it, and is now living in Fiji running their Walt Smith International operation.


Rob, you have a very accurate source of information;) Chris is enjoying the Fijian lief these days while Kris is starting up in Fresno/Bakersfield (one of our Desert's) somewhere.

[Walt Smith]

Hi All,
Although I might feel out of place here I can tell you that I was able to get a job for my nephew Kris Wray working with Chris T. at Reffer Madness. Since Kris was living with me at the time I was able to watch his progress and passion develop for corals under the direct supervision of Chris Turnier who owned RM.
I needed a good Aquaculture manager in Fiji and Chris jumped on the chance to follow his dream and sold RM in order to join me in Fiji.
Since Chris and Kristien sold the company to new owners it was faced with many problems mostly releated to inexperience in the hobby. Kris could not take the new direction of the company and they parted ways shortly after the take over.
He has since moved back to Fresno and has aquired some funds to start his own company and his passion lives on. I do know he visits the LA wholesalers twice a week and is now on line. I am not sure of his web address but perhaps someone here can fill you in. I can not think of anyone that would deserve your support more even though there are many good on-line companies out there.
I hope this puts the questions about "what happened to Kris" into the right light.
enjoy your hobby with passion,
Walt

[roblack]

Thanks for the added info Walt. I have been in contact with Kris aka Stingwray Corals. Encouraged him to leave RM when things started looking bad, and knew he would be better off on his own now. Please say Hello to Chris T for all of us, he is missed. Do you need any divers in Fiji? :) Who are ya'll sending your corals to nowadays?