Best And Worst Lfs...

[Truck]

whats wrong with selling bat fish? marine your refering to?

every shop has a member of staff which wont know anything, or knows something differently to whats actually true.

also, whats a few dead fish? its expected! fish can die when stressed from shipping!

this isnt a personal attack on the OP, but i dont think you should be naming and shaming the bad shop, youre damaging a business and your also damaging the economy, at the worst time possible!!

No excuse for dead fish, they should be in quarantine if newly shipped.How many shops do you go in where staff are talking among themselves or doing nothing? nearly all of them so no excuse for dead fish or dirty tanks.It's not like that in my house so I don't expect it where someone wants me to spend money.

most LFS's do quarantine fish, but in front of the public eye...plus the fact that fish arent very hardy anymore and will die if the slightest thing wrong.

go in any LFS and i guarantee youll find a dead fish!

 

[Mr._Fishy]

Best: Neptune's Tropical Fish - Great people and service, very knowledgeable, won't try to sell you stuff you don't need or shouldn't have, their qt "policy" is great, almost no sick/dead fish. Good selection of basic fw stuff, not much in the way of oddballs however. Good sw selection, occasionally get something rarer in.

Mike's Killer Fish used to be a really good place for oddballs, piranhas, and larger/rare cichlids (pretty much the only place in all of Colorado). But mike closed the store down and said he was going to internet only sales for mostly cichlids. Asfaik, he seems to have pretty much fallen off the map. If anybody knows what happened or if he's still around let me know.

Worst: I've yet to find a truly terrible lfs around here aside from the chain stuff.

 

[boost]

best : ely aquatics, very small local fish shop very helpful and staff know there stuff

Worst huntingdon garden center

 

[matchstickman47]

Maidenhead Aquatics @ St Albans (One of the largest fish shops i've been to, great choise of everything!)

I love this place ... they have good fish but sell many hybrids ... imo the bst is wildwoods.... high price but pure fish .... and no parrots

 

[lordofthesea]

best store.... Maidenhead aquatics @ cross hands, cardiff, and swansea, Mill Aquatics, Creamston Aquatics

Worst..... leekes @ cross hands (before it became maidenhead aquatics), and the VERY VERY WORST..... | PETS @ HOME!!!!!!!! doesn't matter which one!

 

[Truck]

: PETS @ HOME!!!!!!!! doesn't matter which one!

what a sweeping statement!!

have you been to every single Pets at home in the country? no you havent, because if you had you would see that there are indeed some very good stores, especially the one at stockport, my local at giltbrook is also very good as are 3 others i have been to lately, dont judge a chain by its name, judge each individual shop by how it is run!

 

[Attilauk]

Best: Parkers Aquatics in Yate near Bristol. the fish are in great condition and the staff are very knowledgable.

Worst: a Garden Centre near to Lyon, France. dead fish in nearly every tank, 3 Red Bellied Piranha in a tiny tank with some very battered looking corys, Discus sharing a tank with Goldfish! not good at all...

 

[craig855s]

: PETS @ HOME!!!!!!!! doesn't matter which one!

what a sweeping statement!!

have you been to every single Pets at home in the country? no you havent, because if you had you would see that there are indeed some very good stores, especially the one at stockport, my local at giltbrook is also very good as are 3 others i have been to lately, dont judge a chain by its name, judge each individual shop by how it is run!

Seconded,Abingdon and Lincoln pets at home are both good (Abingdon has an awesome team of fish staff,wheras linclons a bit dodgier as they'll let you put several goldfish in a 10 gal)

 

[J.H]

whats wrong with selling bat fish? marine your refering to?

are you joking?
I can't think of anything which is right about selling bat fish for aquarium use

 

[jonp]

I have to say I do find the P@H in Abingdon is the best LFS, going slightly further afield the MA's stores tend to have a good range but some questionable advise(last weekend I was recommended a BN for a 2' tank - "they dont swim, they kind of crag themselves across the bottom so dont need a big tank???).

The Goldfish Bowl is fair as are the two local independent garden centres that sell fish

Some of the local pet stores that also have fish really dont seem to have a clue.

 

[totally tropical]

: PETS @ HOME!!!!!!!! doesn't matter which one!

what a sweeping statement!!

have you been to every single Pets at home in the country? no you havent, because if you had you would see that there are indeed some very good stores, especially the one at stockport, my local at giltbrook is also very good as are 3 others i have been to lately, dont judge a chain by its name, judge each individual shop by how it is run!

Agree with truckasaurus - my local Pets at home is very poor in my opinion, but that does not mean to say that they are all as equally poor. It is like saying that my local Asda store is terrible i.e. Portrack Lane so the other few hundred stores must be equally as bad. Infact there is an Asda store that is only a few miles from Portrack Lane, which is the Thornaby store and I think it is superb. The same chain of stores, but better staff and premises from one to another.

I bet there are some superb Pets at home stores. Never tar every chain with the same brush - thay all have diffeent staff and differnent care levels and expertise, both good and bad.

: PETS @ HOME!!!!!!!! doesn't matter which one!

what a sweeping statement!!

have you been to every single Pets at home in the country? no you havent, because if you had you would see that there are indeed some very good stores, especially the one at stockport, my local at giltbrook is also very good as are 3 others i have been to lately, dont judge a chain by its name, judge each individual shop by how it is run!

Agree with truckasaurus - my local Pets at home is very poor in my opinion, but that does not mean to say that they are all as equally poor. It is like saying that my local Asda store is terrible i.e. Portrack Lane so the other few hundred stores must be equally as bad. Infact there is an Asda store that is only a few miles from Portrack Lane, which is the Thornaby store and I think it is superb. The same chain of stores, but better staff and premises from one to another.

I bet there are some superb Pets at home stores. Never tar every chain with the same brush - thay all have diffeent staff and differnent care levels and expertise, both good and bad.

Apologies for my spelling of they and different (last paragraph) - no I have not been drinking tank water, just being lazy!

 

[hodgeheg]

My local Pets @ Home has lovely, well cared for fish. They always look healthy, hardly ever any dead fish, and I've had some reasonable advice from there. But, it depends who you talk to, some of the staff are knowledgable others are just saying what management told them to.

The receipt they give which says "Water tested?" and "Care sheet given" (or something like that) makes me laugh though because they always tick these boxes but I've never actually been given any care sheet or had my water tested there. But at least they try

There's a fish shop near Filey (North Yorks) which I'm still trying to figure out.

 

[Jonty]

best : ely aquatics, very small local fish shop very helpful and staff know there stuff

Worst huntingdon garden center

Have you tried Amwell Aquatics near Soham? My favourite LFS

 

[Truck]

whats wrong with selling bat fish? marine your refering to?

are you joking?
I can't think of anything which is right about selling bat fish for aquarium use

right just to clarify, when i say bat fish, im on about a marine fish, what are you on about?

 

[totally tropical]

whats wrong with selling bat fish? marine your refering to?

are you joking?
I can't think of anything which is right about selling bat fish for aquarium use

right just to clarify, when i say bat fish, im on about a marine fish, what are you on about?

Hey hodgeheg, I know the store near Filey you are talking about - looks just like a garage convenience store from the outside. They sell some good supplies although a little pricey, but the fish tanks are not well looked after in my opinion (always dirty) and the fish selection is not great.

There is a chap who works there who breeds his own little Bristlenoses for sale in the very same store.