Hi Momo,
Both my LFS suck too. It's Walmart & Petsmart, neither is a safe place to get stock. I have to drive 3 towns over, a 40 minute drive, to get to a great FS.
It's worth going the extra mile (s). They have great healthy stock in the store and if they don't have what I want they order it for me.
Since it comes with their weekly order I don't get stuck paying those ridiculous shipping charges. And they hold onto my fish for a while to make sure they are healthy and disease free.
I don't know where you live or your transportation situation, but look around at FS that aren't so local. You may get lucky like I did. Critter Cabana, the only place I get my fish, is family owned. They all love animals and they work with the local shelters to adopted their dogs and cats.
They are the only place around that has an Exotic animal license.
They even have local elementary schools do tours with the kids, so they can learn to care for all kinds of animals the right way.
They have even taken a couple of fish back for me. I had a killer Red Zebra male Cichlid. He had grown into a beautiful adult fish . But I started loosing the rest of the tank. Everyday I'd find 1-2 fish floating or just parts of them when I'd do a PWC. I didn't know what was happening, until I caught him in the act. In one swift move, he took out one of the female cichlids. I was devastated, and didn't know what to do. If I kept him he'd kill the entire tank. But I didn't want to knowingly pass a killer onto a friend. So I called my not so LFS and they took him the next morning.
It pays to look around, see who may be just one town away or two.
Your best bet is to stay away from any and all chain stores. They don't usually take very good care of their live stock.
Best of luck to you, I hope you can find a FS that works for you.
