Well I went today. I got up at 6:45 and drove 2hrs 20 mins and got there at 9:20am. By 9:45 all the 120g and 150g Perfecto tanks for $1 per gallon were sold.
Outside under the tent they had many used, slightly damaged, etc tanks and stands and the were mostly spoken for by 10am. Under the tent was a madhouse of people grabbing all sorts of things in damaged boxes, containers, and a whole lot of other stuff that looked like junk to me.
Inside was pretty crazy as well, tons of carts and things and people grabbing buy 3 get one free of the salt. The layout of the store is a little confusing because there were vendors that were not always in the section that had most of their products. For example the lady representing Two Little Fishies (40% off) was in a section that only had a couple of their products and their PhosBan stuff was in a whole different aisle.
I was slightly disappointed in terms of light bulbs with the store. I could only find a UV Super Actinic and no sight of any GE 6500k, or ATI bulbs I was looking for.
I went in the Fish Room and people were buying stuff like crazy, but I didn't feel like the stuff looked that great and I definitely wouldn't take the risk of buying fish or a coral in the overstocked tanks and expecting it to last a 2+ hr drive in 88 degree heat.
All in all it was a fun experience, I got a couple freebies in terms of a Aqueon 20g filter for my freshwater tank that the rep wanted me to use when he noticed I bought Whisper (Tetra) filter pads. I also got some kind of Essentials suppliment from the Kent Marine guy. There seemed to be a lot of that where the Reps would look in your cart and then ask you a question. They did it politely enough that it wasn't bothersome at all. They do a fairly nice job of restocking things that sell out fast, but I was waiting around for at least 45 mins for a PhosBan Reactor and finally after asking a 2nd person she stopped what she was doing and went back and found one in a box they were just about to bring out.
I will most likely try to make the anniversary trip from now on. I doubt I could do the trip without a big event unless it is to spend my 30% off on Wednesdays coupon on something major.
Trip totals were $13.90 on tolls, about a half tank of gas so lets say $25 bucks, and I spent $199 on odds and ends.
Matt
Outside under the tent they had many used, slightly damaged, etc tanks and stands and the were mostly spoken for by 10am. Under the tent was a madhouse of people grabbing all sorts of things in damaged boxes, containers, and a whole lot of other stuff that looked like junk to me.
Inside was pretty crazy as well, tons of carts and things and people grabbing buy 3 get one free of the salt. The layout of the store is a little confusing because there were vendors that were not always in the section that had most of their products. For example the lady representing Two Little Fishies (40% off) was in a section that only had a couple of their products and their PhosBan stuff was in a whole different aisle.
I was slightly disappointed in terms of light bulbs with the store. I could only find a UV Super Actinic and no sight of any GE 6500k, or ATI bulbs I was looking for.
I went in the Fish Room and people were buying stuff like crazy, but I didn't feel like the stuff looked that great and I definitely wouldn't take the risk of buying fish or a coral in the overstocked tanks and expecting it to last a 2+ hr drive in 88 degree heat.
All in all it was a fun experience, I got a couple freebies in terms of a Aqueon 20g filter for my freshwater tank that the rep wanted me to use when he noticed I bought Whisper (Tetra) filter pads. I also got some kind of Essentials suppliment from the Kent Marine guy. There seemed to be a lot of that where the Reps would look in your cart and then ask you a question. They did it politely enough that it wasn't bothersome at all. They do a fairly nice job of restocking things that sell out fast, but I was waiting around for at least 45 mins for a PhosBan Reactor and finally after asking a 2nd person she stopped what she was doing and went back and found one in a box they were just about to bring out.
I will most likely try to make the anniversary trip from now on. I doubt I could do the trip without a big event unless it is to spend my 30% off on Wednesdays coupon on something major.
Trip totals were $13.90 on tolls, about a half tank of gas so lets say $25 bucks, and I spent $199 on odds and ends.
Matt