Visiting Singapore

[jourdy]

Good day all,

I will be visiting your awesome country this coming October, and I am wondering if you guys could tell me where to buy equipment and some corals in Singapore. I will be in staying for 4 days but I think I only have a day to satisfy my fishy needs. I have been to SG before but have not seen any LFS, or any pet shop for that matter, so any help on location and directions would be a big help. I am looking for a Koralia Nano and a Koralia 1, as well as some blastos, micromussa, doughnut corals, zoas and other LPS. I am of Chinese descent, but I can only understand the simplest of Chinese. I am more fluent in English.

If I may add, I am looking for great deals as the conversion rate from our money (Philippine peso) to Singapore dollar is brutal, and the recent typhoon in our country has hit really hard. I have donated half of my livestock to fellow reefers who lost their entire tanks as the flood reached the second storeys of their houses.

Here are some corals I want to buy in SG as well (taken from your Aquarama 2009 thread)

Blastomussa are my favorites, and have been craving for these. I really hope to be able to buy in Singapore.

Doughnut/Scolymia? I don't think I have ever seen corals here with this much color. This and the blasto are my top priorities.

Here is a type of polyps I like as well. I personally took this picture in a restaurant in Vivo City back then.

The reason I plan on getting these in Singapore is because we don't have any of these sold back in the Philippines. The corals sold are not aquacultured, just taken from the sea. Most of the good livestock in Philippine waters are exported to the US/Canada/Singapore/etc because of better prices, and so we are left with the very common fish and corals.

Hope people could help me find great deals, thank you very much in advance.

[RockyBoy]

You can try Irwana, Aquamarin, Reborn, Reefdepot.....etc..etc

[teebs]

The addresses can be found in the sponsers forum.

[Solo77]

For koralia equipment, think the best place is aquamarin but you can email or call them before hand to understand the stock and their location. For corals you mentioned, i think you can go to Golden Octupus and Reef Depot. They are quite near one another. Hence, you can take cab from one place to another or MRT(Look out for circle line and North East Line. Think for AM, the nearest MRT is tai seng(not sure open already), for golden octupus, the nearest is serangoon and for reefdepot, nearest will be marymount). For other further LFSes that carry the corals you intended to get, will be pasir ris farm and Lim chu Kang farm. I suggest you go Pasir Ris farm as there are easily 3 to 4 LFSes carrying them.

Hence, you may wish to visit Reefdepot at ShunFu estate area, then walk to marymount MRT and alight at serangoon MRT(To Golden octupus) and then to tai seng(Aquamarin). Thereafter, take a cab to pasir farmway 2 & 3 to visit the farms.

Maybe you can advice your stay in singapore so bros and sis here can give better advice. Welcome to Singapore.

[jourdy]

Thanks for the help, guys.

AquarMarin seems like a complete store, but the Koaralia prices are more expensive than if I get from the US. If I have no choice I would probably have to buy there since I am really desperate for Koralias. Would have to look at the For Sale section here too as well.

Big help, Solo77. Thanks so much.

My flight is still on the 21st, so there's still a lot of time for me to prepare. I'm not accustomed to the buses of Singapore, but I love how organized it is. I have to ration my food allowance since I want to get more corals hehe. The food there is the best, but I have to say quite expensive in some venues, compounded by the fact that the exchange rate of our money is terrible.

Anyway, I would be staying near the airport, so I am quite far from everything. Not to worry though as I would be spending probably a lot of time in Vivo City, Sentosa, Clarke Quay and locations near the zoo.

I am more interested in small coral frags as my tank is just a nano and it would be easier to bring home. Just curious, how much is the normal price of blastos and doughnut corals in Singapore? Corals here in the Philippines are very cheap (SGD2-3) but the choices are very limited. Most corals are BROWN.

[Solo77]

if you staying near airport, then pasir farm nearest to you. If you going zoo, then Lim Chu Kang farm will be near to you. For AM pricing, no comment. Hehe. Fusion food in singapore...hehe....mixture of everything....if you go to tourist attraction to eat, it will be more expensive if you compared to those local venue.....hehehe. What you miss in singapore, maybe we can recommend venue for you to visit and eat...hehe.

For coral, blasto easily $35 to $40....for doughnut corals, we think you are referring to prata? Price should be close to $100 to more.....can reach $200 plus.....hope i am not scaring you.....sighz.....understand they are rather cheap in indonesia, etc. ......

[raydiative]

just a quick thought.. Do check if the customs are fine with you to bring out any corals..

staying near the airport means you will be near to pasir ris farms.. over here there are 3 LFS which brings in corals mentioned by you frequently..

[yikai]

golden octopus high end corals that command more than average price. but the corals are fantastic.

[jourdy]

Customs? I'm planning to just sneak it out LPS corals can handle no water for a day if it is covered in wet newspaper. I'll have to ask people how they managed to bring home corals. Thanks for the concern.

Thanks guys. With your help, I have been able to make a mini itinerary. First is to check the For Sale section here for better deals. Then Pasir Ris, then Golden Octopus, then AquaMarin (if needed). Place I'm staying at is along East Coast Road, near East Coast Park. The person I'm staying with knows the Pasir Ris Farms so that's one less of a problem. I will be happy if I get home with blastos and pratas.

Solo77, my favorite food during my stay was the Hainanese chickens in the Food Republic.

I am hoping to find some great deals on the For Sale section to bring home as presents for fellow reefers. I have been feeling guilty. Have you guys seen the floods here? hundreds of thousands of families in the capital have lost everything as their houses were flooded. Floods swallowed cars, furniture, ANYTHING up to 12 feet high. People were stuck in their rooftops for days as Ketsene brought down 400+mm of rain in 12 hours. In comparison, Hurricane Katrina showered down 200+mm of rain.

Anyway, just want to share my tank. You can see all my corals are the common ones. That's why I am really looking forward to this trip.

[ReDDeviLs]

Do remember to check with the LFS that you will be going to get your stuffs from if they have stock in what you have.

Some LFS often have no stock. since you are only coming for short stay, plan your time properly and dont make empty trips!

Reef Depot have a walk in customer price of 10% discount of their website.

enjoy

[raydiative]

if there's shipment on that weekend at pasir ris farm, you would be able to go home happy with your corals as there's at least 4 shops there... =]

however as noted by some bros here, the corals may be nicer then the brown ones you have back home but it can easily cost much more then SGD2 - 3...

another thing is to check out the average price here before purchasing corals so that you get a good guage if the price you may is reasonable.. =]

[jourdy]

Thanks for the info reddevil. I have emailed some stores now and will email again when October 21 looms near.

ray: I don't mind spending a more, as long as they are very colorful.

I've checked the livestock of Golden Octopus and some of their corals are faint-worthy! Jesus Christ I think my head will explode when I go there. Ridiculous colors.. but I'm sure the price would be ridiculous as well. I'll make it my last stop.

No reefer get together? Hope to meet some of you guys. Haha.

[raydiative]

haha.. GOs corals are strikingly amazing... its always hard not to part with your $$ when u are there...

[jourdy]

Just want to bump this topic.

I was able to buy $550 worth of corals during my stay in Singapore, and I would like to sincerely thank raydiative. Ray took me on my first day to GO, AquaMarin, and showed us his tank. On my last day, he took me to LCK, CoralFarm, and Henry's. My trip was very complete thanks to him. Amazing hospitality!

Of all the corals I bought, I had 1 casualty - the single alveopora I bought

[yikai]

Am glad you enjoyed your stay here! next time do visit again and maybe when some of us are more free, we can go on an outing together

really glad to hear from you and glad its only 1 casualty

[Harlequinmania]

Just want to bump this topic.

I was able to buy $550 worth of corals during my stay in Singapore, and I would like to sincerely thank raydiative. Ray took me on my first day to GO, AquaMarin, and showed us his tank. On my last day, he took me to LCK, CoralFarm, and Henry's. My trip was very complete thanks to him. Amazing hospitality!

Of all the corals I bought, I had 1 casualty - the single alveopora I bought

Wow.. Just wondering how did you pass through the custom in philippine..

[comycus]

Hope to see pics of the gems you picked up!

[raydiative]

Just want to bump this topic.

I was able to buy $550 worth of corals during my stay in Singapore, and I would like to sincerely thank raydiative. Ray took me on my first day to GO, AquaMarin, and showed us his tank. On my last day, he took me to LCK, CoralFarm, and Henry's. My trip was very complete thanks to him. Amazing hospitality!

Of all the corals I bought, I had 1 casualty - the single alveopora I bought

No worries bro.. post a pic of ur corals! =]

[jourdy]

LemonLemon: thanks!

Might be a long time before I come back though. But I really did enjoy my trip last week. The people are so friendly (except the bus drivers).

HarlequinMania: I don't know.. they didn't check?

To get out of Singapore you need a CITES permit though. $12 per coral for the permit. 5 maximum corals per person for us non-residents.

Comycus and Ray: Will do, tomorrow when the lights are on. By the way ray, good thing I bought the Supersun. Only 2 polyps left half-closed. The others are already open without feeding!

[reefer guy]

LemonLemon: thanks!

Might be a long time before I come back though. But I really did enjoy my trip last week. The people are so friendly (except the bus drivers).

HarlequinMania: I don't know.. they didn't check?

To get out of Singapore you need a CITES permit though. $12 per coral for the permit. 5 maximum corals per person for us non-residents.

Comycus and Ray: Will do, tomorrow when the lights are on. By the way ray, good thing I bought the Supersun. Only 2 polyps left half-closed. The others are already open without feeding!

Pare! didnt know you are a member here as well....... happy reefing....

jon v of RP

[raydiative]

Comycus and Ray: Will do, tomorrow when the lights are on. By the way ray, good thing I bought the Supersun. Only 2 polyps left half-closed. The others are already open without feeding!

just feed them like crazy! =]

[jourdy]

Here's a few pics of the corals I got from Singapore.

Most of you might not find these amusing, but these are the ones I like because we will never see these in my native country.

Here's my new favorite coral. Thanks to Ray for convincing me. It's so awesome.

[jourdy]

Pare! didnt know you are a member here as well....... happy reefing....

jon v of RP

Hey! Haha.

I joined this site a month ago when I was planning my trip to SG.

It was a very good decision to sign up since I got to meet very kind people who toured me.

If not for Ray and Don, I would most probably have gone only to iwarna.

[jourdy]

Hey guys, I will be visiting Singapore again.

Is there any place selling a lot of Aussie Acans?

[teebs]

Hey guys, I will be visiting Singapore again.

Is there any place selling a lot of Aussie Acans?

Probably Iwarna, Golden Octopus, Reborn. You will need to check whether they have any Aussie shipments coming in around the period you will be in Singapore.