# Privately owned fish stores



## Georgia Peach (Sep 23, 2005)

Are these becoming a thing of the past?? There is not one local fish store within 75 miles of my house - PetSmart and Walmart are the only choices. there used to be a few around but I checked this morning and they are all gone! This severly limits my choices now for my tank!


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## Osiris (Jan 18, 2005)

Hmm, online purchasing and private breeders is what it' smore turned into. Where are you located at?


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## Meeocky (Sep 7, 2005)

Same here. THe closest LFS in my area is about 45 minutes from my house.


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## Georgia Peach (Sep 23, 2005)

I am in MIddle Georgia


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## flynngriff (Jan 19, 2005)

There are a couple good ones in Marietta. Atlantis Aquarium and Petland in Kennesaw aren't bad.


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## Osiris (Jan 18, 2005)

If your into cichlids check out

www.cichlidforum.com they have a trading post has tons of for sale cichlids, all i sell right now are fry Eureka's & pleco's.


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## garfieldnfish (Jan 18, 2005)

I agree with Flynngriff, Petland in Marietta is pretty decent. I go there at least once a month and sometimes you get some really cool fish. 
I also go to the FishStore and More in Buckhead. Has got to be the best in Atlanta. They do special orders and usually have some hard to come by fish whenever I visit. A little more expensive, but if you figure in shipping costs when ordering online it's worth it unless you order a whole bunch of fish at the same time, then online may be cheaper. But I prefer to see the fish I buy. They also keep the tanks clean and take great care in safeguarding fry and smaller, vulnerable fish, by putting them in aqua pet carriers inside the tanks. I have not seen any other fish store do that in my neighborhood. All the fish I bought from them were healthy and have survived (with me as their guardian, no small task). If I was a fish caught and could choose which LFS I would like to go to it would be the FishStore and More. Nice set ups even in the sales tanks.


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## Sly Guy (Feb 15, 2005)

i guess i am lucky i have 3 lfs about 15mins away both offer plenty of decent advice along with free water testing and 1 with a great willingness to take fish trade ins asnd swapping


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## Georgia Peach (Sep 23, 2005)

Buckhead and Marietta are wayyy too far for me to drive too! Buckhead is a 2 hour drive one way!


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## Georgia Peach (Sep 23, 2005)

MalawianPro said:


> If your into cichlids check out
> 
> www.cichlidforum.com they have a trading post has tons of for sale cichlids, all i sell right now are fry Eureka's & pleco's.



thanks, I checked it out but there was nothing in my area.


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## Damon (Jan 18, 2005)

Why don't you join a local fish club? Even if they meet once a month and its a 2 hr drive, the fish you will get will be of better quality and usually cheaper. Fellow members may also ship to you and thats usually cheaper since they are closer that an on-line shop. You could always start a new club. Thats what we did. We started with 2 members and 4 months later we have over 20. You'd be surprised how many people in your area share the same concerns and hobbies.


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## fishboy (Feb 26, 2005)

i have one thats closer to me then my petsmart but i only ot there if i need something ordered. Really they don't know much and my mom gets mad at me for talking back like when i tried explain that DPs are FW but they said they were BW. I will go if i need shrimp though ghost shrimp there are 6 for $1. They also got some harder to find things on stock like female betta splendens and many kinds of eels. For most stuff though chainstores are just better for me and their equipment is cheap


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## Osiris (Jan 18, 2005)

I found these clubs in GA for you:
http://cichlid-forum.com/clubs/index.php?State=GA&USstate=GO


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## Georgia Peach (Sep 23, 2005)

thanks Malawian Pro - Ill check those out.. I dont know why they didnt come up for me.. lol

Simpte, a fish club sounds like a great idea but I wouldnt know the first thing about how to start one..


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## cucci67 (Aug 3, 2005)

I guess I am really lucky. I have one LFS about .5 miles from my house, another about 5 minutes away, and a small chain store called Zoos about 5 minutes away. I also have a petsmart and petco within 15 minutes from me, always took it for granted, but now I realize taht many people don't have a Local Fish Store.


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## Fishboy93 (Jun 11, 2005)

All i got is the big chains and one okay place(really expensive) but my local petco is really good with knowledgable staff(unlike petsmart) and actually realize that some fish are sick and medicate them. they dont have a terrible selection


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## cucci67 (Aug 3, 2005)

You have one of those "good" petcos, my petsmart is alright, but the I had to tell the lady that plecos like aheater, and are not only for cold water tanks, she sold a pleco to someone with a tropical tank about 10 minutes after. 

I really like the local stores, but if you don't have one of those, then you have to settle for online or chain stores, the online stores can get a bit pricey with shipping.


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## fishboy (Feb 26, 2005)

my petco has great selection including a sw and bw section but my petsmart's prices are so low so i'm caught between the best of to evils . luckly they're basicly right next to each other(with about a 1 minute walk between them)


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## Mr Aquarium (Jan 18, 2005)

You should feel so lucky to have a petsmart or Wal Mart to get your fish at, neither one here, the only LFS here sucks so bad and is so over priced, we don;t buy much from there, sick fish, dead fish "including oscars"
Now the he&& do you kill an oscars.....?
Emp 400s are 79.99, pungiun power heads double internet prices, 2.49 for dang zeba danio just to mention a few....
Then anoub 45min to an hour, there is two diff town that have Privit owned LFS, plus on has Earl May's Garden center n both have Wal marts, but then the fish choices suck as bad as here, fish hardly ever look good nuff to wanna buy anything at either of them.
Or a little under 2 hour drive "if i'm driving" to a real nice LFS that has lots of cool stuff you don;t normally see in the lfs around here, like about 12 diff plecos for one
OR.........drive 3 1/2 hours to couple of the nicest places that are Privit owned in the part of the country....plus petco, petsmart, few Walmarts to choice from..which they have better fish then these around here......
Which works out sometimes as my folks live in that area.......

You have think of the cost of living/renting n over head to have privit place open in the area your in......, then someone smart nuff to keep it running and make the bills to make it work, not like here where it;s a get rich quick semming thing and most o here fish stock they kill before they make any money if they do sell for reasons of lack of what they need to do with the tanks ever week to keep the fish happy........Like not even hearing someone out trying t tell them the heaters need to be up to 86* to kill the ick in the tank when it;s hot outside n in the store and tank temps are at 80*
But, was told "It;s So Hot In here, they don;t need turned up" n not even wait to here why they need to be........see what i mean......

Sorry, pretty dang windy for this early


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## mr.dark-saint (Aug 16, 2005)

LFS is or has been phased out by the larger Pet shops in a box. One they can't compete with the prices and the floor room (as in selection). 

Back when I worked at a Petco the fish orders were sent from one wholeseller that supplied us and they sucked (they said there was a person who dealt and was working for Petco but I'll tell you I got the Crips and the left overs). Since it was a corporate buy they got a huge discount (by volume) and that is another reason they can give you the buyer 2 weeks to kill your new buddies.

Now I worked a few "Mom and Pop" opperations and their usual fish mark ups were 2.5 - 3 times for fish (say a $1.00 WS for a koi and when you buy it, it'll be $2.50 or $3.00) and 48/72 hour tops on survival. But if you got to know them they will special order fish from different WS while places like Petco if it's not on the list you're SOL. Another thing about MAP if they have the tank space they'll quarantine your fish before you take it home (see if Petco will do that for you and not sell it under from you on the next shift). Now I had times I'd sell the fish still in WS bags at 50% mark up and no guarantee.

But with That Fish Place, Petco and such really hit the MAP places hard in the pocket. Can't exactly wander about looking in to tanks and find that odd ball that got mixed up with some S. American imports.


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## Sly Guy (Feb 15, 2005)

well in my area petco has a decent selection an ok prices but have the same thing basically all the time like i said i have 3 local fishstores but 1 really good see i cant buy ghost shrimp and good feeder guppies and rare fish at petco plus petco only beats his prices by like 10 and 15 cents usually thier are exceptions when petco has a sell or on zebra danios my petco sells them for 65 cents walmart has decent prices to but bottom line with walmart is most walmarts just arnt very good which is the case in my town i have 2 super walmarts 10 mins from each other and niether one are very good. So i actually believe my lfs well at least 1 will be around for some time to come he is always busy


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## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

It's a sad state of affairs, no doubt about it, and the blame rests solely on the hobbyists.


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## warren126 (Oct 8, 2005)

My lfs is about 15 min from me I used two 1 is located off Buford Highway Asian Tropic the store have a great collection of fish if u are into large fish thats the place to go the other one in located on Jonesboro road the name of the store is Paradise Tropical Fish this store has large fish too and also have fish that u dont see in your lfs great selection


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## amelia (Aug 11, 2005)

I know of four private owned aquaria stores in about a 50 mile radius. One is 20 minutes from me and has a newly upgraded aquarium section, but they do not specialize in fish. The goldfish are never in very good condition, and although they once kept their koi in large filtrated tubs, they've moved them to smaller divisions of the goldfish tanks. They always seem to have juvinile convicts and bright, colorful guppies, but the rest of their selection is very limited. They carry mostly cichlids, with a few livebearers and a tetra here and there. They've become more along the lines of a feed/hunting gear/saddle shop. 

Another choice that I loved for years is now going to the dumps. It's 45 miles away and used to be an almost weekly stop. I bought most of my rats there, when they would actually survive. Their rats are no longer healthy and they really barely carry them any more--They used to breed right there in the store, but they don't anymore. The mice are just as bad, and they no longer carry hamsters or gerbils. They're mostly aquatic and bird oriented... They have a huge bird selection, where parrots are their focus. The birds are allowed to fly freely around the store and aren't socialized as well as they are said to be.. They are loyal only to the owner of the store. I had the "most friendly bird in the store" try to peck my eyes out (literally) and pierce the cartilage in the top of my ear all the way through, twice, before they got that bird off of me. Their aquariums are suffering. They also carry mostly cichlids and gouramis, now have a horrible saltwater section, and have a few tetras, livebearers, and goldfish. They also carry reptiles that are pretty healthy from just looking, and friendly as they can be.. (I'm currently in love with a 10 foot red tailed boa they have... friendly as a puppy..) but the conditions they are kept in are less than suitable. Cracked aquariums, rocks on top of the lids, metal chickenwire laid on for a lid... not nice at all. They used to have an alligator pond where I got to play with the gators... which were actually pretty friendly fellows. Makes me wonder if they might have been sick..

Another pretty new shop is perhaps my favorite. They focus on EVERYTHING in the store, although they began as a gardening store. A man who worked in a large freshwater/saltwater aquarium store that shut down started focusing on saltwater fish. The selection is AMAZING. The fish are vibarant and healthy in tanks no less than 40 gallons---uncrowded too! He also has a freshwater section just as big as the saltwater but with not as much selection. Guppies, mollies, angelfish here and there.. goldfish... You can tell he really loves the saltwater most! They have a rabbit breeder working there in the store who is amazing with both the small mammals and the reptiles they have there. Each pet gets individual attention every day. The bird selection is mostly parakeets and finches, but they breed white doves there in the store with one pair.. I do plan to own one someday!  They have an amazing aquarium selection, too, with overly fair prices.

The last is a store that's been around for ages.. They have a massive aquarium section where they sell everything from platies to goldfish to discus and exotic freshwater fish and turtles! They sell aquarium plants that are grown under lighting in the store, and during the pond season have multiple tubs set up to choose koi and goldfish from. My first koi was from this store. The supplies they sell are a bit expensive, but you can get great deals on fish food and the fish prices are more than reasonable for the quality (if you don't want show quality, but want flashy, brilliant, healthy fish.)

The problem with starting up and maintaining any kind of fish or pet store is the costs and profits. The profit isn't near enough to keep you going very well unless you're located strategically to attract, and your advertisement and prices are enough to bring people to you rather than the nearest convienience petco or walmart. 

I really do appriciate local pet stores that are family or privately owned, as long as they have the animals' and the customers' intrest in mind rather than their own.. Shops that run merely for profit don't last long unless they're dang good at what they do.


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## Mr Aquarium (Jan 18, 2005)

Sly Guy said:


> well in my area petco has a decent selection an ok prices but have the same thing basically all the time like i said i have 3 local fishstores but 1 really good see i cant buy ghost shrimp and good feeder guppies and rare fish at petco plus petco only beats his prices by like 10 and 15 cents usually thier are exceptions when petco has a sell or on zebra danios my petco sells them for 65 cents walmart has decent prices to but bottom line with walmart is most walmarts just arnt very good which is the case in my town i have 2 super walmarts 10 mins from each other and niether one are very good. So i actually believe my lfs well at least 1 will be around for some time to come he is always busy


Not trying to be a nit picker, but you have any idea how hard it is to read your post with out any puncuations?


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## Z Man (Jan 18, 2005)

If anyone lives within 50 miles of the Buffalo, NY - Niagara Falls, NY area they have to visit the store I frequent. It's called The Fish Place (not THAT Fish Place) and has fish and related items only. Over 300 display tanks to pick out your fish. Plan on spending a few hours here. E-mail me at [email protected] if you are interested or if enough ask, I'll post it here. NO!! I don't work here or am getting compensated for saying this.


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