Pure Reef

I find the staff friendly and knowledgeable. Purchased several fish from this store and never had any problems. Recently a blue faced angle for 250 $. Knock on wood. Been at this for about twenty years and find this group on there game. Wouldn t go anywhere else.

The best fish store in Atlanta for saltwater and reef aquariums hands down. Amazing store with large inventory of large tanks and custom stands. Huge selection of grade A colonies and frags. Healthiest fish in the cleanest tanks. To top it off, it’s a locally owned family business and both owners are amazingly nice and personable. She even remembers my name every time I come in. They’ve earned a long term customer in me.

I use to visit this store all the time and spend so much money at Pure Reef. The owner constantly watched me as if I was stealing or trying to ask for favors when asking questions to his employees. The employee completely changed the last time I visited the store so I decided not to EVER go there again!!! Mr. Owner, please know that I can purchase anything I want and never have to result to taking anything or asking for any FAVORS!!! Such a JERK!

Let me start by saying the staff at Pure Reef are very knowledgable, and their store is extremely clean. Having come from the local store in Athens, where the knowledge base is more dispersed across the staff (rather than all staff members knowing most stuff) and the store is set up in more of a messy garage style, I enjoyed my initial experience at Pure Reef. They were able to get me set up with my live rock and water, as well as a cleaning crew. That said, I have several issues with the store.
What you should first know is that I have spent somewhere around $ 700+ in their store on various live rock, water, supplies, corals, invertebrates, and fish. I am well-​invested in the hobby, as well as very interested in doing it properly. I will also note that I have been off and on in the hobby for about a decade now. I have also had a well-​established 36-​gallon freshwater tank (essentially no deaths) for over a year now. The saltwater tank I discuss here is a separate 36-​gallon tank.
Beginning with the positive, let’s talk about what I have from their store that’s living. I have 1 or 2 blue crabs (only ever see 1 at a time), several tiny hermit crabs, 1 Astraea snail (the other is from Athens), a serpent starfish, a tuxedo sea urchin, a cleaner shrimp, a brown gorgonian coral frag, a daisy polyp coral frag, a meteor shower (Cyphastrea) coral frag, a medium/​large Wellsophyllia brain coral, a zooanthid coral frag, and, most recently, 2 False Percula Clownfish. Needless to say, I have confidence in Pure Reef’s coral and invertebrate stock.
Now let’s talk about what has died. I had 2 incidents of snail death, which I eventually diagnosed on my own as a food resource issue; after my mentioning it, the staff agreed that I need not buy any more snails unless I develop an algae problem. Regarding my fish stock, I had already bought an Orchid Dottyback and a Blue-​Spotted Jawfish at the Athens store (both of which are doing great). I went to Pure Reef looking for something that would bring more life/​movement to the middle of my tank, and they suggested a Midas Blenny. Like all good fish hobbyists do, I went home and did research on the Midas Blenny and was satisfied enough to go back to Pure Reef the next day and fork over the $ 90 for one. (I’ll take a pause and say that I’m not afraid to spend money on a nice fish, as my Blue-​Spotted Jawfish was $ 105 in Athens.) I brought the Midas Blenny home and drip-​acclimated it as instructed and then poured it all into my tank, as they had always had me do with the corals. What I learned the following week, when I got my 2 False Percula Clownfish, was that they had failed to tell me that they use copper-​based medications in their fish water and not to add the Midas Blenny water to my tank. However, nothing seemed to have come of it, so I at least followed the newly given instructions with my 2 False Percula Clownfish. Now I will take a second to mention that, over the course of the single week that I owned the Midas Blenny, it was not overly active and sometimes appeared to breathe heavily while resting on its side on a flat rock; however, it was eating, so I dismissed its behavior as first week jitters. The day after I got my clownfish and added another piece of live rock, I found my Midas Blenny dead and being eaten by my clean-​up crew. I called Pure Reef immediately, and Matt said I would be eligible for a replacement if my levels were relatively normal. Upon arriving at the store, Matt said I actually was not eligible for a replacement because it had been a week, not 24 hours, even though my levels were (while admittedly not perfect) nowhere near high enough to kill the Midas Blenny (which I also knew from my own research). This made sense, since everything else in my tank was doing perfectly dandy. As you might imagine, this irked me, given that the Midas Blenny was a $ 90 fish that they recommended I purchase from them. They eventually settled on giving me a test tube of treatment solution (to fight ammonia) and some bacterial solution for free, while I purchased more buckets and saltwater for a regular water change. Since then, I have seen Midas Blennies for sale online for anywhere between $ 25 and $ 70, but never $ 90; thus, I feel this fish was rather highly priced at Pure Reef.
I have since been turned off of Pure Reef. For me, it is more reliable, more cost-​efficient, and less risky (death-​wise) to order from certain websites or drive to the Athens store for my livestock needs. I have also bought my own test kit and refractometer so I can do my own testing at home (instead of going to Pure Reef weekly). Now I only require RO water from an outside source.
All in all, Pure Reef is impressive from the outside, but give me that garage-​style, lower-​priced, true LFS customer experience from Athens over the Pure Reef experience every time. It might mean more research for me to do, but my tank (and my wallet) will be happier and healthier. To each his own, I suppose; you decide.

I recently restarted my tank after moving back to Georgia. The second or third fish I bought was a blue tang from Pure Reef. I saw white spots on another one in a different tank in the store and should have known better but I brought one that looked healthy home. Long story short it developed full blown Ich in about a week and despite treating it and the tank with several remedies eventually died but not before giving it to every other fish in the tank resulting in a total die-​off. When I complained they just said that they were «sorry» but that they had many other happy customers.
I won’t be back… I’ve been told that the copper that they put in their water suppresses disease while the fish are there but can leave them susceptible once they are in copper free water. No other store in the area that I am aware of does this. It seems to me that this just passes on the problem to the customer and is a poor business practice. Again, I won’t spend another dime there and I don’t encourage anyone else to either.

Angela helped me put together a 90 gal tank with a beautiful cherrywood cabinet and canopy, as well as all of the equipment and substrate. I live in the Metro Atlanta area and they delivered everything to me and brought all of it up my spiral staircase. I wish they sold freshwater fish and plants. Their prices were very reasonable. Just let me know what your budget is and they will work with you. Very accommodating.

In this area there is no better place for a reefer than Pure Reef. The store is clean and well organized, most of the staff are knowledgable and give good advice. They have a good selection of fish/​corals/​inverts too. Their prices are not the cheapest around but much like this hobby I find if you take the cheap route you’ll likely end up spending more in the long run. They have everything I need and I truly enjoy every trip! Happy reefing:)

Place is great and loaded with anything you want or need to fill your tanks! Read Matt C. review and had to come on and give my thoughts. Been back as an enthusiast for 8 years now after a 20 year lay off and always get what I need from Pure Reef and its Staff. Started using someone else when I got back into hobby but Pure won me over with their quality of products and friendliness. I also give the store Hi makes for backing up their products and taking care of any issues that may arise. As for the staff, they may be younger than me but I find most to have knowledge that others do not have in this industry. I’ve tried all the shops and always come back to Pure Reef.

I just moved to the Roswell/​Alpharetta area in the past month. I had to give up my 65 gallon reef tank due to the move. I just have a Nano tank for now, but am planning on getting a much larger system (100+ gallon) in the next year or so. So, I have started to search the area for a good aquarium store where I could purchase everything I will need. This store is NOT it.
The Good — They have a great selection of aquariums and equipment. They could use a better selection of LED lighting systems. I was able to get a better LED system for my Nano tank, just down the road from this store at Petco. Their tanks all look in good condition and most fish, corals, invertebrates, etc. look great. Good selection of frozen aquatic foods.
The BAD — The staff are mostly young guys with a condescending attitude. I have successfully kept many types of marine fish and corals for over twenty years. But, when I asked these guys a question all I got was the attitude that I did not know what I was doing, or dumbed down answers. I was not taken seriously. What a shame for them as I make six figures a year and could have spent many thousands of dollars at their store. I used to live in the Marietta area 6 years ago. I will probably visit a few good aquarium stores that I know there.

Pretty amazing coral and fish store, The people in here def know what they are doing, almost an art and science to maintain a saltwater tank, and theirs are crystal clear and beautiful. The fish and eel and shrimp are all happy and healthy. This is the place to go if you have a salt water tank, it is expensive, but thats part of what comes with the territory of a salt tank.
we ran across the street when we were getting the cars washed to kill some time and it was like we were walking through the finding Nemo movie. the colors of the fish were brilliant and bold. the coral was just incredible. They have the largest selection of shrimp I have ever seen. One of the gentleman took the time to explain which shrimp would be best suited for my tank at home without all my fishies going in their bellies. .For the numerous years they have been here, I dont know how i had never been in there before, but i haope to one day have a tank more suited for shopping in the store :)

The store is always clean, bright, and well staffed. We call first if we are looking for something specific to make sure then have it but typically when we go they have what we need it stock. Their selection of tanks is like a visual wish list when we go in. Great store!

Great marine fish and coral selection. Very knowledgable and helpful staff. They have great specials on equipment and livestock! The store is very clean with several coral display tanks.