Maryland fish stores?

[wrkalot]

I think this is the right place to post this. I live in Maryland and am looking for lfs recommendations. A store and/or sw guru etc. As close to the Annapolis area would be best but am willing to travel to Baltimore or DC to find the best qualified sw lfs.

TIA

[shawmutt]

If you are willing to travel to Glen Burnie the best place, by far, for sw is House of Tropicals, located at 7389 Baltimore Annapolis Boulevard Suite F, Glen Burnie. The place is awesome! Here is a review I did on the place. I'm coming from Hagerstown, so it's about an hour away from me, according to mapquest it's about a half-hour away from you. BTW, I got directions to the place from mapquest, and they were pretty accurate. Let me know what you think of the place.

Happy hunting!

[wrkalot]

I have been to House of Tropicals and it's only about 30 minutes from the house. It's the only place we've been actually and have been impressed so far.

Wow. Based on your review and the comments from the others, it sounds like we are pretty darn lucky to have them! Thank you!

House of Tropicals is very, very good. As a life-long Marylander, it's one of the best around. Aquarium Center in Reisterstown is my other favorite, but not close to Annapolis.

[gnatster]

In the Baltimore area to the south is House of Tropicals, haven't been there in years so can't say much about it. Northwest in Randallstown is The Aquarium Center, huge place, lots of livestock, big selection of tanks and drygoods, BUT, they have gone downhill. The place looks dingy, lots of empty shelf space in dry goods and tanks were as bright and clean as they were in the not to distant past. Clockwise round the beltway in Cockeysville is 2001 A Fish Odessey , another store past it's prime. Tanks that were running looked poor, Little selection of dry goods, not many tanks around. Northeast where Perring Pkwy and Joppa meet is Exotic Aquatics. IMHO they have the best livestock around these days. A few tanks and a meduim amount of drygoods. Futher north in Belair is Neptune's Den. In deference to being polite, this place is not up to snuff. Livestock looked very poor, staff was horrible, Drygoods selection poor. Petsmart in Belair, the aquatics "manager" when quiered if a reef ready tank was available said they carry no SW supplies. When explained that was a drilled tank sutable for FW or SW "manager" excalimed that she thought reef ready tanks were for SW only.

Disclaimer, I have worked at a few different LFS in the area. I buy mostly locally from Exotic Aquatics, mailorder some and run up to That Fish Place when consumables stock runs low.

[wrkalot]

Thanks for all of the info. We also talked to a guy in Annapolis that gets most of his stuff from Roozens in Ft. Washington, MD http://www.roozens.com It looks like a huge operation. We are going to go there tomorrow and I'll let you know how it is. They say they have 200 50 gal SW tanks... Wow!

Well, I stopped in at House of Tropicals today. The place is kinda cluttered, but the tanks were in really great shape. FW, SW, Reef stuff all looked very heathy.Bought a few fish, Angels and Rams, average prices.

Then I was going to buy some EcoComplete substrate, $39.98 a 20 lb bag!!! Holy Timoly, what a rip-off! on line its $17.95 at drfoster, and even adding on the $4.50 a bag for shipping it's still way cheaper. Didn't buy any, of course, and didn't have time to price the other dry goods, but I'm still in shock over that one! Just watch out for the dry goods prices if you go there. Would still recommend them for fish and corals. FW plants were healthy, but poor to fair selection.

[wrkalot]

I just wanted to give 2 thumbs up to Roozens (see link above). We have been there twice now and there live stock seems to be A1. BTW (for you reef guys) one half of the their tanks are devoted to corals, inverts, clams etc. Thats about 25 or so 50gal tanks. They also have 3 large LR pools and one large LS pool.

[Devilishturtles]

I know I'm joining the conversation late, but The Aquarium Center in Reisterstown is the best place that deals with fish and such that I have ever been too. All of their things are healty, beautiful plants, not bad prices, and a huge selection when I was there. It's a while away from me, but definitley worth the drive every so often....

[Ayesha97]

I went to the Aquarium Center with high expectations and was very much disappointed! I saw one too many fish swimming on their sides, they didn't have that much of a selection of SW fish and inverts. They did have a HUGE selection of aquarium supplies!

I live not far from Exotic Aquatics. I fell in love with the store instantly! There tanks are gorgeous! The fish are healthy! They are the reason that I decided to change my tank from FW to SW. I can't say enough good things about them!

[Ayesha97]

I forgot to mention Aquatic Creations Ltd in Ijamsville MD (a little down the road from Frederick off of 355). They have beautiful tanks and the guy who works there treats ALL of the fish like they are his babies! I was very impressed! They also had a great selection of both SW (a few more corals and such would be nice to see) and FW (they had HUGE tanks full of koi- $500 a pair! and HUGE!). They also stock some dry goods and tanks, but their fish are healthy and well taken care of!

[wrkalot]

Has anyone ever heard of Dr. Mac and Sons in Maryland? My wife just found the web site... I think it's time for a road trip!

http://www.drmaccorals.com/sys-tmpl/door/

[Ayesha97]

OMG!!! When is their grand opening!!! I NEED to go! Even if its just to drool over their tanks!!!!

And why hasn't anyone started a MD forum???

[wrkalot]

hehe... does that place look incredible or what! I can't believe we'll have a set up like that right in our back yard

[Devilishturtles]

Has anyone ever heard of Dr. Mac and Sons in Maryland? My wife just found the web site... I think it's time for a road trip!

Wow...Very impressive place there. I've been looking to start a salt tank here recently...so it is definitley a place to keep in mind. On the Eastern Shore, which is a nice 3-4 hour drive for me though...

And why hasn't anyone started a MD forum???

And yes, why hasn't one been started?! LOL. How do we go about getting a forum started? I would definitley be interested in it, as I think others would as well.

[shawmutt]

And why hasn't anyone started a MD forum???

Don't regional forums tend to die after the initial few weeks? Maybe a mid-atlantic states forum, to keep interest up. Or at least Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Virginia ( I'm pretty sure I just listed all the mid-atlantic states). Not only to prevent die-out, but I know where I live WV and PA are only 15 minutes away, and Virginia only an hour away.

JMHO

[Cienfuegos]

Just wanted to comment on my impressions of House of Tropicals in Glen Burnie. They're one of the better stores around here, however I've noticed lately that there are alot of tanks with sick fish and floaters. Some of the staff seem completely inept and ignorant, as well.

There's a newer store next to the Fort Meade main gate called All About Pets. It's one of the most disgusting pet stores I've been in. Many of the tanks had 50% of the fish dead. Not dead today dead either, more like dead from a week or more ago, yuck! I can't believe that for a new store that their tanks could be in such miserable conditions. All of their other pets(dogs, birds, rodents) seem to be in equally horrible conditions.

[liquidelusion]

i go out to Tropical Fish World in gaithersburg MD. they have a nice selection of fresh water and some salt. the staff that i have had experience with is very knowledgable and helpful.

[the21kid]

So 6 months or so after the last post I am here to comment on a MD LFS. Tropical Fish World (as mentioned above) is the best store in my location (and my opinion as well). The entire staff is extremely knowledgable. No BS....they give it to you straight. Can diagnose most problems..tanks are well kept..freshwater stocking is very high. SW is high depending on when their last order came in. Many people special order and the SW fly out of the tanks when they come in. They have been the brains behind my 180 set up in progress and no complaints from me.

[wrkalot]

Dr. Mac and Sons in Maryland is open!!! Any one been there yet? There are tons of new photos on their site. Looks like an amazing place.

http://www.drmaccorals.com/sys-tmpl/door/