United States Fish Store Directory

[ImperfectFaerie]

State: Michigan
City: Lansing
Store: Preuss Animal House http/preusspets.com/

Variety/ Selection: 10
Cleanliness and Quality: 10
Staff Friendlyness and Knowledge: 10
Smiley Rating:
Comments: This is the Disneyland of LFS. The owner is on-site 90% of the time, and all the staff are extremely educated. They are an exotic specialty store- not really dog/cat stuff, and all staff are specialized so that they only work in thier area. I have never seen another store like this, it really is something you have to experience. They do a lot of community education as well, which is awesome.

 

[nukeonekitty]

State: Michigan
City: White lake
Store: Highland Tropical

Variety/ Selection: 7
Cleanliness and quality: 10
Staff friendlyness and Knowledge: 8

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State: Michigan
City: Waterford
Store: Moby Dick

Variety/ Selection: 10
Cleanliness and Quality: 5
Staff Friendlyness and Knowledge: 9

 

[campbellmay]

State: Georgia
City: Marietta
Store: Marine Fish & Reef Store

Variety/Selection: 9
Cleanliness and Quality: 10...every single tank in their store is beautiful...not just clean, but tastefully planted/otherwise decorated.
Staff friendlyness and Knowledge: 10...they have a Marine Biologist on staff...how can you beat that?
Smiley Rating:

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State: Georgia
City: Marietta
Store: Atlantis Aquarium

Variety/Selection: 9
Cleanliness and Quality: 8
Staff Friendliness and Knowledge: 9 or even 10...the owner has over 35 years of experience and all employees come across as hobbyists themselves.
Smiley Rating:

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State: Georgia
City: Marietta
Store: Pets Unlimited

Variety/Selection: 7
Cleanliness and Quality: 8...not the most attractive store I've seen, but tanks are clean and fish are healthy.
Staff Friendliness and Knowledge: 8
Smiley Rating:

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State: Georgia
City: Atlanta
Store:The Fish Store & More

Variety/Selection: 9
Cleanliness and Quality: 9
Staff friendlyness and Knowledge: 9
Smiley Rating:

 

[Gazoo]

State: Michigan
City: Livonia
Store: Fantastic Fins

Variety/ Selection: 8
Cleanliness and quality: 9
Staff friendlyness and Knowledge: 10
Smiley rating:

Comments: Dale and Chris run a friendly shop with good variety and are passionate about what they do. It's the kind of place that welcomes you even if you are just stopping by to chat and window shop.

 

[brandonsmommy]

More MA I saw some but not these store

Southwick MA
The Coral Reef
An absolute 10 in all categories!

Really nice family owned business who really know what they are doing, they buy locally and get more fish every Monday! Prices can be a little higher on some things though...

Agawam MA
Daves Soda and Pet food city
Variety 10
Cleanliness and Quality 5.5
Knowledge 7.5

Almost a last resort around here (besides Walmart) I always see dead or dieing fish in their tanks and the fish I have bought from them always seem to need a little extra time in the quarentine tank...

State Ct
Town Simmsbury
Emmons Tropical Fish and Pond Supply
Variety 9
Cleanliness and quality 10
Staff friendliness and knowledge 9

Individual sponge filters in each tank very clean great selection of plants but much higher prices than other Lfs around here

 

[iroc]

State: California
City: Albany
Store: Albany Aquarium

Variety/ Selection: 10 (best live plant selection around )
Cleanliness and quality: 9
Staff friendlyness and Knowledge: 10
Smiley rating:

 

[karin15]

hiden reef aquatics.

provice: qubec
City: montriel
Store: crap

Variety/ Selection: 10
Cleanliness and quality: 4
Staff friendlyness: 10, there nice to me at least but ive heard other wise
and Knowledge: lol... 2 maby, they like to make stuff up to sound smart, the manager knows what hes doing though.
Smiley rating:

 

[White Whale]

Can I request we stop naming Walmarts, Petsmarts, Petcos, etc. in lists? I don't consider them fish stores. They're more like "retail chain mass-appeal" stores.

You just saved me a lot of typing. However, I will add one non-chain store.

State: New York
City: New York (Chinatown)
Store: Tropical Wins Aquarium

Variety/ Selection: 9 (this is where I get HM, CT, and plakats for $6; cardinal tetras are $1/per)
Cleanliness and quality: 6
Staff friendlyness and Knowledge: 7
Smiley rating:

 

[lljdma06]

Can I request we stop naming Walmarts, Petsmarts, Petcos, etc. in lists? I don't consider them fish stores. They're more like "retail chain mass-appeal" stores.

While I agree that they are not LFS, there are places in the US where these stores are literally the only option available for those who enjoy the hobby. It is therefore, beneficial to know the quality of the chainstore they are going to. An educated consumer and a knowledgable fishkeeper can find excellent deals in such stores, if they know where to go, when to go, and what do look for once there.

Cases in point.

State: FL
City: Miami
Store: Petsmart on US1 and SW 136ST

Variety/Selection: 6
Cleanliness/Quality: 8
Knowledge of Staff: 5
Smilie rating:

Typical Petsmart regarding selection. Have "dwarf" platies and some unusual tetras once in a while. Cleaner than most. Avoid purchasing fish on Thursdays. That is their stock day. Wednesdays are much better, most fish will have been there for at least 1-2 weeks, depending on the species, since corporate is now ordering for the stores. All the stock purchased from this store are doing great and still in my tanks, including infamous breeding cherry barbs. Otos are in particularly good condition. For plants, come on Thursdays and take advantage of new arrivals. Limited selection, but they have given me freebies especially with crypts. They're usually unpacked by early afternoon, sometimes mid-morning if the shipment is small. Ignore staff, though there is a sweet girl there who is knowledgable, but research before you buy. Some very good deals to be had.

State: FL
City: Miami
Store: Pet Supermarket on SW117th Avenue and Kendall Dr (SW 88th Street)

Variety/Selection: 6
Cleanliness/Quality: 8
Knowledge of Staff: 4
Smilie rating:

The fish selection is alright. Have seen some lovely Blue rams, guppies, and rummy-nose tetras. Do not buy fish on Tuesdays, that is their stock day. Buy fish either on the weekend or on Monday. Selection is more limited but, they would have been properly acclimated. My serpaes, and C. anaeus are from this store. If I get Rummy-nose, it'll possibly be from here. Buy plants on Tuesdays, especially every other week in the afternoons. Have come away with some lovely plants (Glossostigma, Pennywort, Marsilea quadrifolia, A. reineckii, various cryptocorynes, water sprite, egeria densa, bacopa, etc). It's a crapshoot, but diligence pays off. Staff not brightest. Didn't know that albino corys and bronse corys were both C. aneaus. Notorious for trying to sell Non-aquatic plants. Have a lovely selection of Aluminum plant, very cheap, buy for a nice North window and keep it in a pot! Bought one a while back and gave to a friend, a nice gift. Again, know before you buy.

The LFS near me mostly deal with marine, so I have to rely on chain stores. Not everybody can be as lucky as you are, so it is helpful to know which stores from that chain will offer the best products.

That being said, I have to look through this thread, but I'll try and add some more FL LFS that are not chain stores.

llj

EDIT: Non chain LFSs (Will add more as I continue to visit more stores on a regular basis)

State: FL
City: Miami
Store: Exotic Aquariums (SW 40th St and around 70-somthing Avenue)

Variety/Selection: 6
Cleanliness/Quality: 6
Staff Friendliness/Knowledge: SW 9/FW 6
Smilie rating: It's gone downhill. Used to be such a fine store 10years ago.

If you are a SW hobbiest then Miami, FL is your city. Most Miami LFS deal almost exclusively with SW. Those who enjoy FW and planted tanks, have more of a challenge ahead of them. This store is not bad. They get their stock, I believe either Thursday or Friday. I have seen some beautiful bettas, including a 50% giant once, but they are really over-priced and their quality is not higher than the chain stores above. A $1.29 serpae beats a $2.99 serpae any day. SW staff is knowledgable, FW staff is more difficult. Again, knowing what you want will put you at an advantage. They have a great selection of wood, and about 10 years ago, I used to buy a lot of plants from there, but their selection is not as extensive as it used to be.

 

[krustykrab]

State: New Jersey
City: Bound Brook
Store: Garden Oaks Aquariums (On the property)
*Awesome Prices on some things*

Variety/ Selection: 8
Cleanliness and Quality: 9
Staff Friendliness and Knowledge: 9
Smiley Rating:

 

[PoPoV]

State: The sunshine state! California

City: Sacramento

Store: Capitol City Aquarium.

Variety/Selection:10

Cleanliness/quality:8

Staff:4, Not very helpfull at all but very knowlegable.



This store is probably one of the best aquariums iv been to by far. If you want it they have it. If they dont have it, they can get it quik. I was not to happy with their staff as they were kinda rude. most of them were kids working their. The store itself was very clean. tthe only reason i gave them an 8 was becouse of their cichlid tanks. Their was alot of killings going on from fish that SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN TOGETHER!! Other than that the store was nice.


State: The Golden State, California

City: FairField

Store: Sea Splendor Aquarium.

Variety/Selection: 7

Cleanliness: 10

staff:10

All around This is the best fish store i have been to. Their kinda limited by space so naturally their selection is limited but none the less Diverse and well thought out. Their staff is awsome. Very knowlegable and freindly. Thanks Luke!


State: Thizz Nation, California

City: Sacramento

Store: O street aquarium.

Variety: 8

Cleanliness:8

staff:7

Very nice store indeed. They have a giant red tail cat in their thats pretty cool to look at. Very nice variety of fish. Pretty clean store as well. I didnt exactly like the staff couse they were looking at me like I was shop lifting? But over all nice little store.

 

[Amunet]

State: South Carolina
City: Columbia
Store: Petsmart (Two Notch Road)

Variety/ Selection: 8
Cleanliness and quality: 3
Staff friendlyness and Knowledge: 5 (staff is friendly, but they don't know much)
Smiley rating:

This particular one used to be half way decent, but every single time we've gone in there now, their fish just seem to be getting in worse and worse condition. Half of their fish are dead, the other half are picking at them already. Their tanks are just filthy.. and just.. yeck.
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State: South Carolina
City: Columbia
Store: Petsmart (Harbison Blvd)

Variety/ Selection: 8
Cleanliness and quality: 8
Staff friendlyness and Knowledge: n/a
Smiley rating:

Surprising all of their tanks were VERY clean and had absolutely no dead fish in any of them. If it weren't so far away, I'd love to make it store we go to. Only complaint I have about it though.. same with every other petstore... they kept their bettas in those aweful cups.
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State: South Carolina
City: Columbia
Store: Superpets (Decker Blvd)

Variety/ Selection: 7
Cleanliness and quality: 5
Staff friendlyness and Knowledge: 4
Smiley rating:

They've gotten a bit better with keeping their fish. A few dead ones floating around, but not too many. Their employees don't know anything, but they are friendly. They also have a really good decor section. Not the castle etc type stuff, but rocks and driftwood type of things.
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State: South Carolina
City: Columbia
Store: Pet Store...not sure of exact name.... (Forest Drive)

Variety/ Selection: 5
Cleanliness and quality: 5
Staff friendlyness and Knowledge: 4
Smiley rating:

All of their tanks seemed to be clean, but the quality just didn't seem all too great. Plus their plants section, if you even want to call it that, is just absolutely pathetic. It's just this big seperated display filled to the rim with green algae and a dead banana plant at the bottom of one of the sections. Staff aren't really all that helpful or friendly either.
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State: South Carolina
City: Columbia
Store: Fishy Business (Bush River Road)

Variety/ Selection: 10
Cleanliness and quality: 6
Staff friendlyness and Knowledge: 5
Smiley rating:

A decent fish shop, but could use ALOT of work. They have a really large selection, however! They do have alot of dead/dying fish in their tanks. Staff just doesn't look like they care any. I will give them one major plus. Their plants are totally snail free. Plants might be in the best condition sometimes, but b/c they keep fish with them that will eat snails... those plant tanks have absolutely no snails anywhere to be seen. And a very bad negative about this place besides the dead/dying fish... the 2nd time we've gone in there, they were selling dyed glass fish. *sigh* Really wish places would just stop accepting those fish from their suppliers.

 

[tophat665]

For the northern Virginia Area:

State: Virginia

PetCo - Greenbriar (Rte 50 Just west of Fairfax Co Pkwy, Fairfax)
Variety/ Selection: 5
Cleanliness and quality: 5-
Staff friendliness and Knowledge: 6-8
Smiley rating:

As a PetCo, they have their issues with limited and substandard stock, bettas in cups, and non-aquatic aquarium plants. That said, those of the staff that know their fish really do know their fish (and those who don't don't pretend to.) Prices are OK. I've seen some ick in their tanks, but they jump on it when it's there. All in all, and above average Petco - one I don't mind shopping at, and super convenient to me.

PetSmart - Sulley Plaza (Metrotech Drive, Chantilly)
Variety/ Selection: 6
Cleanliness and quality: 6+
Staff friendliness and Knowledge: 5 - 8
Smiley rating: -

Brand new store. Manager is super nice (Got to shop before they officially opened) - some of the staff is nice & know what they're about - some not so much. 2 week guarantee. Same problems as any other petsmart vis selection, but they do keep some interesting critters (Leopard Ctenos, Dwarf Puffers, Violet Gobies, Botia Kubotai). Minimal number of deaders for a chain store. Excellent solution to housing bettas - long tanks, 6x6" cross section, with slotted dividers, hooked into the general filtration system.

Centreville Aquarium - Rte 29, North of 28, Centreville
Variety/ Selection: 7+
Cleanliness and quality: 8+
Staff friendliness and Knowledge: 8-9
Smiley Rating:

I really like this store. The prices are reasonable for stock (sometimes excellent), not outrageous for equipment. Good selection of live and frozen foods. Number of tanks on par with a Petco, but the stock is turned over relatively quickly, and is often interesting. Some of the more interesting ones: Panda & Pygmy Cories, true SAEs, Sparkling Gouramis, Marine Bettas, Halfmoon and Delta Bettas (in cups, more's the pity). Fair plant selection - frequently changing. MTS $1 for 10. The Manager and Owner is a really good guy. The only points against: 2 day guarantee on fish only and I have gotten neons with NTD there. They have a second storefront just for tanks, stands, and driftwood.

SuperPets Annandale (236 & John Marr Dr. Sign says SuperPetz)
Variety/ Selection: 9
Cleanliness and quality: 8
Staff friendliness and Knowledge: 2-8
Smiley Rating:

Gigantic store, an old supermarket, with half given over to aisles of tanks. Huge selection of fish, tanks, decor, chemicals, equipment, the whole shebang. Saltwater selection is much smaller. Cleanliness is generally good, but they do get some algae problems from time to time. Excellent plant selection (if sometimes not in great shape). Staff is either friendly OR knowledgeable, rarely both, and it varies a lot. Prices are neither more nor less than what the market will bear, with occasional bargains.

PetLand Fairfax (236 & Pickett, near Trader Joes)
Variety/ Selection: 6
Cleanliness and quality: 6
Staff friendliness and Knowledge: 8
Smiley Rating:

I wouldn't shop here as a matter of principle if I had principles. They carry injection dyed fish, and sell dogs. That said, they have an astounding selection for the small number of tanks they have (arowana, motoro, whiptail plecos), and the best driftwood prices this side of the beach. Also a heck of a plant selection, given the the number of tanks. Because of the small number of tanks, though, there is a lot of crowding, and inappropriate cohabitation (puffers w/ long finned tetras). I wouldn't be tempted to Quarantine less than a month. My estimate of the guy who runs the fish section is that he really knows his stuff, and does his best with the space he has and the dictata of a small chain pushing to be large.

Vienna Aquarium (Mill St. Vienna)
Variety/ Selection: 7+
Cleanliness and quality: 9
Staff friendliness and Knowledge: 5
Smiley Rating:

To the plus - this store has some of the healthiest, best looking fish out there. Good selection of tropical freshwater, equally large selection of saltwater and coolwater/pond fish. OK plant & equipment selection. To the minus - you pay for it. Everything costs more here. Staff is knowlegeable but not particularly friendly (not unfriendly either, though.)

State: Maryland

Tropical Fish World (Gaithersburgh)
Variety/ Selection: 9
Cleanliness and quality: 9+
Staff friendliness and Knowledge: 9+
Smiley Rating:

Big store, great fish selection (OK equipment selection), good plant selection. Nearly ideal staff - patient, knowledgeable, and friendly - with both plant and pleco experts. 500 gallon display tank with an Arapima. Prices are good, and sales are better. Highly recommended. Wish it weren't such a pain in the butt for me to get to.

 

[mnbyiuopre]

State: NJ
City: Lawrenceville
Store: Petco

Variety/ Selection: 7
Cleanliness and quality: 6
Staff friendlyness and Knowledge:9
Smiley rating:
Comments: Average Petco. Has small selection of fish. Mostly Livebearers and a lot of them. No tatooed fish though! Ok live plant and fake selection. Very good knowledge of fish but not always around. The occasional dead fish in tank

City:Lawrenceville
StoreetsPlus
Cleanliness and Quality:8
Staff friendlyness and Knowledge:9
Smiley rating:
Comments: Very good selection of fish. Tanks aren't decorated but no dead fish-usually. Medicine is iffy and service is kinda hard to find but no mistaking the fish!

 

[iairj84]

State: California
City: Chico
Store: Reef Connection

Variety/ Selection: 8
Cleanliness and quality: 8
Staff friendlyness and Knowledge: Friendliness 9. Knowledge is a 8 only because they have one kid their that doesnt know his fish very well.
Smiley rating:


They are the only store in the area to carry some of the oddballs as well as many of the common fish. Not really the cheapest but if you go to chico state and pick up a coupon book you can get buy one get one free freshwater fish which is a STEAL!