So whats your favorite LFS?

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nejsux

Aquarium Advice Activist
Joined
Oct 15, 2002
Messages
156
Location
Long Island, NY
Anyone in Long Island, or wherever else near for that matter, where do you shop? How's the prices? the service?
 
Long Island Shops

Hello, I am still pretty new at this, but after going to about 12 stores on the Island, I have narrowed them done to three that I will buy from.
1st is Magic Isle in Centereach. They have the a pretty small selection, although it seems to be the healthist! Their prices are fair.

2nd is Country Critters in Patchouge... They have a great/BIG selection of SW Fish and corals. They are very knowledgable and helpful. There prices are slightly high, and sometimes I am not impressed with the quaility of fish.

The 3rd is in Hicksville( its on Old county rd, right before the wantagh parkway)... trying to remember the name.... They have a decent selection, decent prices and nice fish.
Enjoy, LA
 
I'm from Nassau, and I haven't been to the first two orion mentioned, but the third one is great. It looks sort of like a hole in the wall, but it's actually pretty big and I can't remember seeing a sick fish there. The owner is usually there and very knowledgeable. Godd FW plants, too. I think it's called Tropical Showcase, but I'm not sure. It's windows are painted with a mural of tropical fish, and its on the North side of the road if anyone wants to check it out.

Another decent place is Pets Warehouse in Copaigue on Sunrise Highway. Their selection is huge, but seasonal. They haven't had as much as usual in recent cold months. They also have a good selection of FW plants. They also sell some used equipment, for other cheapos like me. I got my hood for a 30L there for $10. :) You can check out their website and see what they have, although I've personally never ordered online from them.

I've also been to a lot of other Nassau/Suffolk stores, so if anyone has any ?s feel free to ask.
 
I'm in NJ... and I think that Absolutely Fish is the best in my area. They are knowledgable, the fish look healthy and the livestock prices are decent... equipment...I always shop online for that...
 
Also in NJ. The kid at Petco told me about a new store, The Reefs, on Rt. 22 in Greenbrook. They've been setting up for months and opened a month ago. Great selection of fish, corals, shrooms, etc. Knowledgeable staff. I got a beautiful Coral Angel there last week. The prices are higher than online, but not when you consider that there's no shipping charge. And you can see your fish in the tank and eating too!
 
How's it goin? Anyone in Manhattan know of any good LFS? I think Petco and Petland are ok, and there is ONE fishstore I have been going to(New World Aquarium), but I wanted to know if there are others. There must be! HOPEFULLY! ;)
This is my first post on the forum...lookin forward to gettin to know some other fish people...
Bondstreet
 
i love country critters on 112 in Patchogue - they seem to be the best in that area
huge selection of healthy fish
Magic Isle is ok, staff is not that knowledgable tho
Fill me in others
 
Ramrebel, are you on LI? Whereabout?
Here are my favorite lfs in Queens and Nassau Counties if they are not too far out of your way:

You should make a pilgrimage to this place if for any reason, but to drool in front of their tanks! Nicely laid-out store.
Fishtown U.S.A.
196-33 Northern Blvd.
Flushing, NY 11358
Phone: (718) 539-5396

Uncomfortably hot, cramped, somewhat disorganized store - but very healthy fish and lots of solid advice.
Tropical Showcase
372 West Old Country Road
Hicksville, NY 11801
(516) 433-0988

Another place worthy of a special trip - they sell all kinds of pets/supplies too and they have some very exotic not-for-sale animals on display. They recently expanded their huge aquarium area. A little lacking in the knowledgeable helpfulness dept, tho.
Pets
4080 HEMPSTEAD TPKE
BETHPAGE, NY, 11714
Phone: (516) 520-3038

A beautiful new lfs. Spacious and nicely laid out. Loads of fully stocked/planted community tanks on display. Huge selection of fish and supplies. Fish look healthy and there is lots of help.
Aquarium Adventure
177 Glen Cove Rd.
Carle Place, NY 11514
Phone (516) 294-9699
 
I haven't even heard of most of these cities.
In upstate NY, near Syracuse, there is Fairmount Aquarium and Water Gardens. Their set-up is pretty good and I have never seen any dead fish. Their display tanks are awesome and the employees are all knowledgeable, and the fish selection is pretty good...

However, they overcharge massively on drygoods. I saw an Eclipse 12 for $139! 8O

Here's the full address. Definitely a good place to go for fish:

Fairmount Aquarium & Water Gardens
3548 W. Genesee Street
Syracuse, NY 13219

If anybody knows of some other stores around upstate it would be really helpful.

Also, a great place for coral, but not for fish, is..

Pet Pals
4999 W Taft Rd
Liverpool, NY 13088
(315) 457-5011

Very varied selection and great-looking. They had a 2 for 1 sale a few months ago when they opened the new coral section. The coral tanks are on a separate filtration system from the fish tanks.
 
I already mentioned this in another thread, but I figured it's worth posting here since it's pertinent to the topic:

My fave LFS just recently found:
Pets Place II in Nanuet:
120 E Route 59
Nanuet, NY 10954-2910
Phone: (845) 623-5565

This is what really hooked me into using them despite driving 30 minutes south:
Has anyone found an LFS that quarantines their fish before selling them?? They DO!! I happened to notice how many of their bottom tanks on display had "NFS" written on 'em with a marker... so I asked about it and they told me about their 1 week quarantine!! WOW. Should I not be so amazed? This is the 1st fishstore I've found doing this. They claim the amount of dead fish their customers come back to them with has dropped something like 30% or so.

Qtoffter: If I was still living in Queens, I'd goto Fishtown USA too. I remember them to have great variety.
 
PrettyFishies said:
I'm in NJ... and I think that Absolutely Fish is the best in my area. They are knowledgable, the fish look healthy and the livestock prices are decent... equipment...I always shop online for that...

Great Recommendation! I just so happened to be in NJ today so I ventured out onto Route 46 and founf Absolutely Fish.... yes, a great place to find fish AND I finally got my Coralife 65 watt... couldn't find it any other LFS!! I know I paid more than going online, but I needed assistance on finding something that'd fit my tank.

Thanx NJFishman for the recommendation!! If I lived closer, I'd only goto them.
 
the best fish store ever

I found the BEST lfs around. It is in Flushing. Name is 'fishtown-usa'
www.fishtown-usa.com

Pices are SUPER SUPER SUPER cheap. (I am wondering how he can still stay in the businness). They have both SW and FW.

FIsh I bought recently:
panther grouper 7.99$
Copperband butterfly 2 inches 15$
Live rock 4$ pound
Perurcola Clown 6.99$
Blood fire shrimp 15$ (it is the only store I have seen at this price)
75 gallon Tank+metal stand 99$

Accessories are a little bit expensive but both SW and FW are damn cheap and healty.
 
Absolutely Fish is definitely a good place for selection including plants; they also recently redid their SW section and it looks so much nicer. Their only downside is relatively high prices.
 
I've been to many of the shops here in the NYC area. Here's my take on some of the stores I've visited this year:

Absolutely Fish - I was in North Jersey and made a special trip there after reading so many good things about it. I didn't leave there very impressed. In fact, it was a wasted trip.....but at least I know I won't have to go back there again. The store was clean and the livestock looked okay. Not the selection I expected and prices weren't very good at all.

Aquarium Adventure - I live in Queens and have been there quite a bit over the last few months. This is the only store I've found that stocks SAEs. I got mine there. This is easily the cleanest LFS I've been to. The selection of fish is amazing and all of the fish are healthy and active. The store is huge and layout is really nice. Livestock prices are decent, not the best but they aren't too bad. This is probably the best store I have visited thus far.

Fishtown U.S.A. - I work about a 15 minute drive from there. I have never bought anything from there and doubt that I ever will. It seems as if just about every freshwater tank is cloudy and there are dead fish all over the place. The fish do not look very lively either. They did have some realy nice Gold Nugget Plecos in there last weekend. I think the best bet to to buy fish when they first get there and the QT them yourself at home. A nice place to check out if you're bored, but that's about it.

Petco - I'll mention the good and bad stores I've visited:

Good: Valley Stream, Westbury, Howard Beach, 5 Towns, Deer Park
Bad: Levittown, Garden City Park

Petland Discounts - For the most part, all of these stores are horrible. I have found a few exceptions. The store in Valley Stream (next to Walmart) has a decent selection of fish and pretty healthy looking tanks. The other store I like is in Great Neck. Not the greatest selection of fish, but the tanks are clean and the fish I have bought there are healthy and still doing very well.

Pets of New Hyde Park - This is probably the #2 store behind Aquarium Adventure, but it is my favorite store to visit. I have probably bought more of my fish from here than anywhere else. They have a really good selection of fish and THE best selection of African Cichlids I've seen in ANY store. This is also the only shop I've been able to find Kuhli Loaches in. Tanks are well maintained, fish are lively and healthy, display tanks are pretty cool, and the pricing on their livestock is very good.....but don't even think about getting food or equipment there unless your last name is Trump!

Petsmart - I've been to stores in Levittown, Huntington, Paramus, and New Brunswick.....they are all about the same. Great for pricematching, okay for food selection, decent pricing. Buy livestock at your own risk.

Tropical Showcase - Similar to Fishtown but without the crappy tanks and dead fish. Tanks looked better but nothing that makes me want to go back there. I'll drop in if I'm in the area from time to time. I have yet to be impressed.

Walmart - Yes, I have bought fish here too. The Valley Stream store used to be really good. At one time, they had some pretty knowledgable people working the fish section and there was always someone there cleaning or changing water on the tanks. They have since moved the tanks during a rearrangement and I haven't seen the people who worked that section there anymore. As a result, the tanks have looked like crap lately. I have gotten some nice Otos and Cherry Barbs from there, but I will not be buying from them anymore. This was the only Wally World store in the area worth buying nything from.
 
OK, I know I recommended Absolutely Fish two posts above, but today I went to the Pet Shanty on route 22, and it blows Absolutely Fish out of the water. Their selection is a lot more varied than most places; they even had Galaxy Rasboras in stock.
 
Well, I have changed my opinion of Fishtown USA. I stopped by there a few weeks ago (browsing) and picked up some Zebra Danios and Cherry Barbs. The fish looked great and after a week of QT, they have been doing very well. Still a few dead fish in a lot of the tanks, but the tanks have looked a lot better than they did a few months ago.
 
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