Reef Coral

Hayden Michelli

2024-01

Warning: the owner offers zero warranty on his fish.On 12-21-24 I bought 40 cardinal tetra, and 15 rummynose tetra, 55 fish in total straight out of the bag as soon as they arived to the shop. I acclimated them to a quarantine tank, filled with remineralized RODI water, to monitor for external disease, by the first night I had lost about 7 fish. By day 2 another 7ish. After another 4 days I had lost about another 7 or so more but the remainder were eating. At this point, it had been 6 days, I saw zero signs of external disease and just assumed the deaths were caused by ammonia burn in shipping. I of course checked my quarantine tanks parameters daily and everything was perfect.I then proceeded to transfer the remaining fish, about 20 cardinal tetra and 7 rummynose, to my main tank; A 190 gallon south american biotope that is heavily planted. The tank has a 300 gallon total water volume with its sump, keeps a pH under 7.4, dkH of 2-3, a TDS of 70-120 ppm, and a wifi monitored temperature controller set to 80-80.5F dual heaters. All water changes and top offs are made via a RODI system connected to a solenoid and timer that runs when the lights are off and overflows the sump into a drain line for a multi hour continuous dilution based water change, that is manually remineralized when dkH drops below 2. The tank also has ground rods set up to eliminate voltage leaks from equipment.After adding the fish to my main display I monitored them for 3 days before heading out of town for the weekend. Within those 3 days I had lost another about 10 fish. I monitored pH, dkH, temp, ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate everyday since adding the fish. The day I had left on my trip I had noticed that all my previous fish were eating and acting normal with zero signs of external disease, but I had a dead blue ram and a dying apistogramma macmasteri. I had someone perform daily water tests on my tank while I was gone and parameters stayed perfect. But by the time I had gotten back on Monday 1-1-24 these are the fish that had died 5 days after adding the cardinals and rummynose purchased from reef coral:3 wild caught amapa angelfish4 wild caught blue ram4 columbian tetra6 otocinclus1 apistograma macmasteri12 cardinal tetra + (27 that died in QT)7 rummynose tetra + (8 that died in QT)Out of the 55 fish I purchased only 8 cardinal tetra survived, and whatever was wrong with them infected and quickly killed 18 of my fish. All remaining fish are still eating, have great color, and are acting completely normal. Even my 5 original rummynose in the tank all survived oddly enough.After 5 calls over the course of 4 different days (remember this takes place over Christmas and new years) I was finally able to speak with the owner to try to rectify this situation, his employee kept telling me to call back another time because only the owner would be able to deal with this. The owners response was what is you pH? Because they are usually kept in 7.4-7.6. I told him my pH is usually 6.8-7.4 depending on my dkH at the time. He then said his latest shipment only had a few die, obviously every shipment is different. He then offered to SELL me more of the cardinals 50% off, the same cardinals that just killed hundreds of dollars worth of my fish... Bruh, really?Below is a picture of my tank on 1-3-24, my filtration, and the fish I had in quarantine.

Noemi Lynch

2020-05

I have a 65 gallon tank and a toddler who decided to "help me feed the fish". To make a long story short, Madison has extremely helpful with my fish emergency. She checked my water, advised me in my next steps, housed my fish in what I fondly call their 'vacation condo' while I redid my tank, and gave plenty of advice on making sure my new set up is a success. Fish are home and happy, all survived the insanity, and my tank has never looked better!

Stevens Taylor Jr

2023-05

I would have probably given them a higher review but for the first year I was shopping there the obnoxious chick still worked there. Now that she's gone we started back shopping there again. The new girl is a lot nicer. She's learning and that's cool because I'd rather deal with someone who is learning than a know it all who doesn't know how to talk to people.

river kirby

2023-05

Way overpriced, employees are rude, and every coral/anemone I buy from them becomes injured because of how rough they were handled. I've bought two anemones that died shortly after they were carelessly ripped off of a rock and dropped into a specimen bucket. I've bought several corals that looked fine in their display tank, but once in the bag were broken or had squished polyps.I've had better luck buying a bleached anemone from petco and rehabbing it.

Daivon Mason

2022-05

It was my first time coming here and was not disappointed. I came in to get shrimp and plants for my new aquarium and had no idea where to start, I was on my way out the door when a guy asked if I needed any help I told him about my situation and he was very glad to help. He was very informative and polite I will definitely come back here when I start my first salt water tank. And the sharks where really cool to I might have to invest in them😅😅. I highly recommend thus place for any of your fish needs

Patricia Foraker

2023-07

Lucas at Reef Coral was very knowledgeable and took the time to explain everything to me. Gave me a lot of helpful tips and answered all my questions. 100% recommend using this store

Melissa Thomson

2023-05

Amazing store and VERY knowledgeable staff. Wish things weren't so pricey but I get it, being a specialty store. I do trust the fish health from here vs a pet store chain.

O O

2020-05

Was interested in buying a salt water set up at least 300 gallons, I asked a young lady with shoulder length dark hair what would it cost and how expensive are the fish .She had an attitude and was not helpful at all just kept tossing out prices but not saying for what. And she was acting quite strange with her mannerisms it made me feel very uncomfortable .. not a very welcoming individual.Thanks to her unfriendly personality I'll just purchase somewhere else like amazon or ebay..You can drive customers away there's always another company that will welcome them right on over .

Candy Borne

2018-05

Great place for the person who loves their aquarium. Its like a visit to a fish zoo put way better!!! We love our aquarium we purchased. Can't say enough of how sweet the owner is. He is highly educated a graduate of LSU. Super patient even if your a just beginning to Learn how to take care of your pets. Staff is very informative and have aquariums of their own which names them very educated.

Alex Garcia

2021-05

I’ve seen a lot of negative posts about Madison( dark hair girl) but not all of it is true. Yes she is a know it all and sometimes the things she say might sound rude but she will be 100% honest with you and what you need. But she really does go out of her way to help customers and their problems.They have a great selection of products from the dry goods to livestock. This is definitely my go-to store for all my needs.

Glenda Squyres

2016-05

What an amazing experience. My husband Ron and I have had our 144 gallon salt water tank for roughly 10 years. Until Ron with Reef Coral started doing our maintenance, it was a thorn in our side. Never looked clear, and fish we had purchased, at the direction of the person we had before, would die. Due to Ron's expertise in this area, we now have a tank we are proud of and quality guidance on what fish are best suited for our tank. We would highly recommend Reef Coral and Ron to anyone.

Erica Brown

2019-05

HORRIBLE customer service. Not sure if it was because of me and my family's skin color, but we were not greeted, when we asked questions the brown haired female had sarcastic responses, and the staff as a whole seemed uninterested in our presence. Went in with the intention of spending money, left with all of my money. I wouldn't recommend ANYONE there. The store stinks just as bad as their attitudes.

Sharon Bourque

2021-05

I’ve been here a few times, I have to say they do have a very good selection of saltwater fish/supplies. BUT the young lady is very unprofessional almost rude to be honest. I mention I have mushrooms growing in my tank and she is VERY adamant that I do not and wants me to prove it. She stated There live rock is stripped of high jackers and there is no way I have mushrooms growing. (Live rock purchased from another LF store)Asked for water conditioner and she states “YOU don’t NEED THAT” because I get RO water from the store. I had to ask her 3 times for a bottle. I think I should be the one to buy what I want not what she thinks I need. She expressed in a rude way loudly that I thought online is cheaper to embarrass me in front of the other customers but it’s not and I should of bought my pumps from her. (3.00 less) Well I purchased online FOR THE CONVINCES while I was at work. Then she stated I should feed a pinch of food a day when I purchase 2 ocellaris clowns which she states 1 was 4 years old and the other a year old AND then Charged me 50.00 dollars for the 2. Everywhere else is 19.99 each now she stated she never said feed a pinch a day.I know not every place is for every customer so I found another LF store to do business with but I did love the selection just not the customer service.

D'Shai Bruce

2018-05

We went for the convenience of the store. There’s a lot of options as far as the fish and selection go. However, the manager was awful. She only answered questions for people that were obvious regular customers. When my boyfriend tried to ask questions, she acted like she didn’t have time to deal with him. She talked so fast we couldn’t even understand what she was talking about. Then we waited like an hour for her to answer a few more questions and make a purchase, and she interrupts my boyfriend in the middle of his sentence, pulls out some dead corals, and then walks away - totally left us when she hadn’t even answered our questions and went about her business. She advised us against anything we asked about - “those aren’t doing well”, “I hate those so I don’t know”, “well that one is dead so”. Overall an awful experience. Don’t go there. Go to the Louisiana Fish Store down the street by Cracker Barrel, Aquahut, or even Petco - just don’t go to this store.

Jeremy Beech

2018-05

Staff is super friendly and helpful. They have some beautiful fish. I only wish they put prices on tanks so you don't have to ask how much everything is. I love to come here and just look around because its a nice place.

Nathan Holley

2017-05

If you are a beginner this is not the store for you. The "manager"(the middle aged female worker) is an extremely arrogant know it all that if you do anything to your tank that's not her way. You will be greeted by A scoff and stink eye. She claims to be studying for marine biology degree but all I see her doing is working in the store. Regardless me and my buddy were trying to get into the hobby and she almost completely ruined the whole thing for us. As someone who had cared for and bread fresh water fish in the past I thought we would have some repour to go upon.First visit :On the first visit we bought about 10 pounds of live rock after some scrutiny about our tank. We left with rock in hand and live bacteria to set up our tank.Second visit:We came back the following day because she said she would check our water levels whenever we wanted. She stared us in the face and said your water is no good to me I can't even check your levels anyways come back another day. Our purpose that day was to make sure nitrate nitrite and ammonia levels were going down after we placed the live rock and bacteria in the tank. We had no intention of stocking our tank that day we just wanted to make sure we were doing the correct thing.Final visit:On our final visit that we will ever take to the reef coral. We were helped by a young gentleman who had a beard he was very helpful and tested our water and recommended stuff for a tank. However we were not spared the stink guy and the scoff as the manager came from the back room and stared at my friend and I.Form my takeA: the fish and livestock are overpricedB: The manager has some of the worst customer service I have ever dealt withC: for all you salt water people I would go to Petco and buy saltwater fish before I would go to the store.

Derek Hord

2017-05

The dark haired girl that works there is a complete b!t@h. She doesn't Want to deal with you. She treats you like your a complete moron that has no business trying to buy fish. I spent close 900.00 on a beginner saltwater set up for my son. My wife went back to pick up the fish and the same girl didn't want to answer questions she asked her so she could make an informed purchase. When pressed further with questions her replies were condescending and short. Just drive about 4 miles past this store and go to their competition.

Stephen Schexnayder

2021-05

This place and the staff r awesome and knowledgeable!! I was losing fish in my tank but my water was perfect and couldn’t figure out why and the girl told me I had a bad bacteria in the tank and showed me what I needed and cleared it right up and all my fish r healthy now thanks reef coral!! Now my go too store

Brooke Barnett

2020-05

Simply the best hands down. Ron the owner is very knowledgeable and a die hard LSU fan. Locally owned and operated with mobile service to care for your tank at home or in the office. No tank to large or small for the team at reef coral. The owner being a jeeper is just that much better.

Scott Bozzell

2016-05

I have always been treated with the utmost respect when I have visited the Reef Coral store. Ron Sumer goes beyond my customer service expectations and I feel he truly values my business. The store has every supply and maintenance item that any reefing hobbyist would need at competitive prices. Reef Coral has never given me any reason to shop anywhere else.

Elijah Jenkins

2019-05

The dark haired girl that everyone is talking about is named Madison. She is an idiot. She attempted to convince me, an aquarium hobbyist of over 20 years, that Oscars, Red Devils, etc, don't eat fish. She stated that they only eat them when they are forced to, which is bull**** made up in her head. I have read multiple books about all of the fish that I own and all of those books, written by people with way more experience than her, state that Predator Cichlids, like Oscars, eat fish. The issue with the girl is that she is an animal lover. So if you state anything along the lines of owning aggressive fish or feeding live shrimp, snails, fish, etc she will attempt to convince you from getting the fish that you want. First she will lie to you by telling you that only fish with teeth eat fish, even though Oscars grow teeth. Then she will attempt to tell you what type of fish you should put in your aquarium, which will be a setup that she believes will cause the least amount of confrontation between fish. If she fails at her attempt she will then resort to being rude to get you out of the store. Madison cannot even watch the owner feed live food to the fish that they have in the store. She will even tell you to go to the supermarket to buy fish, shrimp, rather then spend your money in the store to but live feed. I ended up going to 50 Fathoms in Metarie to get the fish that I wanted. No one should want to go to a store with a Manager that is rude to every customer that does not agree her own personal ideology. Most of which appears to be made up in her own head.

Larry Musso

2016-05

I have been in the saltwater for about 35 years off and on, even when only 1 or 2 in Baton Rouge. I drove to New Orleans to purchase most of my live rock and coral. I started back with a small tank and since have purchased 2 tanks with Ron's help. Reef Coral his one of the best local places to purchase chemical and supplies for you tank. Ron's will not let you purchase the wrong fish or coral for you tank. I have had a problem with fish and Ron has taken care of it for me with no questions. Believe from a person who was in business for 35 years and knew how to take care of customers. Ron takes care of his customers.

Joe Calderone

2021-05

The employees here are passionate and honest. The selection of saltwater fish is quite impressive. The owner is passionate about his fish and products and your fish and products. They want you to be successful

Mark Devall

2016-05

Ron at Reef Coral has always provided me with sound and accurate advice over the years. Ron's suggestions to correct problematic situations always seem to clear up the situation. Their selection is always top quality and their display tanks are highly maintained. I have been a customer of Reef Coral for many years and only have positive things to say about Ron, his store and staff.

Ryder Wells

2021-05

We bought a 80$ Pleco and a 15 blue cichlid i put the fish in the tank about 20 min of being in the water the cichlid died we took it back the next day with a water sample and he gave us a new one it died also about 1 day later my tank had ICH as soon as we saw it we treated it and we kept treating it and by the end we lost a clown knife fish, a red tail shark, 1 convict cichlid and the $80 Pleco. as i remember i saw 1 fish in that tank that had bubbles on it but i was not informed that it was ICH. so this has cost us over 150$ in fish and treatment. because he sold us a sick fish.

Christie Lane

2018-05

The staff are really nice. The selection of fish can vary widely but they're usually willing to order whatever you're looking for. The owner can be difficult to deal with.

Sandwich Girl

2019-05

This place is pretty cool, and the store is nice. However, there was a lack of variety in freshwater fish here, although they had a nice saltwater section. I found the staff to be pretty rude, but at the same time knowledgeable.

Donnie Gillman

2023-07

I had some fish and they took them in on a trade. I am very pleased with the fish I got from them.

Brad Chance

2016-05

I have been in the hobby for 8 years in the Baton Rouge area and doing business with Reef Coral the whole time. Been to and seen all the reef shops in the Baton Rouge and New Orleans area. From day one, Ron Summer has provided expert guidance and advice that has not only contributed to my success in the hobby but also allowed me to enjoy the hobby at the most economical investment. He experiments with new products and advises customers what works and doesn't work and looks for ways to save the customer money wherever possible. His extensive experience in both store front and external residential and commercial aquarium services is the most comprehensive in the region. There is no question that this is the "top shelf" saltwater and freshwater store in the area.

Brittany Williams

2022-05

First time visiting and they have a very wide variety of fish fresh and saltwater, the staff are very knowledgeable about fish pairing and tank upkeep I’ll definitely make this my go to place as I was disappointed in the quality of fish I received from petsmart