We took a trip to North Carolina over Memorial Day weekend to visit my sister who is also a reefer. Naturally, we had to stop at Fintastic, the local aquarium shop. This saltwater aquarium store opened just a little over a year ago, in March 2016, so this was my first time in Fintastic. The owner, David Jones, opened the store in his hometown of Cary, NC, to serve the Raleigh/Durham area and Wake Forest county. This moderately-sized store is clean and has a modern design. The aquariums are sectioned into separate systems so fish with parasites or diseases can be quarantined (but that doesn’t mean you can skip home quarantine!) They conveniently sell fresh, salt water, and live foods like phytoplankton and copepods. Their livestock is hand selected and shipped from a partner store in South Florida; Jones says this is the reason he can offer inexpensive, quality livestock.

The show tank is well done. It’s only a year old but full of small Acropora colonies and uncommon corals, and the fish look like they are well-fed and healthy.

There was a big sale going on while we were there, so the employees were busy bagging corals and fish for other customers. They were polite and friendly, answering questions while they bagged livestock. I was pleased to overhear employees giving good advice to a new customer about a non-photosynthetic coral. In my opinion, their prices were very fair, especially for a metropolitan area. I’d say frag prices are great; I even bought a few. If you ever visit the Raleigh/Durham area, I recommend visiting Fintastic. Bring a cooler!