Found my perfect LFS!!

[Fishalicious]

Im sooo excited. Today I decided to go into a LFS that I had driven by a few times about 45 mins from my house. I heard alot of great things but thought to myself "well how great could it REALLY be?!"
Well I went in and the first thing I noticed were the 150+ gallon display tanks. One SW and one FW. They were spotless and the fish were gleaming. Big whoopie right? Even the shaggiest LFS has a nice, clean display tank.. its not hard to tend one tank. It's just when you get into the dozens. So I walk back towards where the wall of tanks are and I see all of the fish look extremely active. I've never seen happier fish in a fish shop in my entire life! They were so lively, and I could not spot ONE dead or lethargic fish. NOT ONE!! The tanks were very, very clean and I guess they perform water changes on all of them twice a week and check every single tank for dead fish, signs of disease, etc twice a day. Now that's dedication.

To top it all off, these guys had types of fish that would normally be rare to see in my other LFS' and even ones that I would have to special order.
Just to name a few types they had Arowana's (sm and lg), german blue vail tail rams, red tail catfish, etc... The prices were out of control, too! (Especially since it's tax free New Hampshire!) I was so happy with this
shop that I decided to buy 3 clown loaches from them for $7.99 a piece.
I was going to go for 2 blue rams but I hadn't changed my water for about 5 days and I always told myself if I did buy blue rams I would change my water the day of.

Okay, Okay, I know I'm rambling here but I'm excited I found a worthy place to give my business to (and its nice that they're very cheap in $ too!)

If anyone lives anywhere near Salem, NH the place is called Sea World and its on RT 38 I believe.


-Dan

 

[lyquidphyre]

Its so amazing to find a store like that!! My perfect LFS is like 30min away =o(


Congrats on the new tank AND the cool fish store

 

[BrianNY]

I prefer to support the the specialty lfs too. My fear is that the Petcos and such are making good ones harder to find.

A word of caution........... No matter how pristine the aquariums look, it's still very important to QT new arrivals.

 

[rubysoho]

I don't want to rain on your parade, it sounds like a great place, but why are they selling red tailed catfish? Those things can get HUGE, and I'm not talking just 12 or 18 inches, I'm talking like a 4 or 5 feet. However, I'm really glad they are so clean. I found one like that down in Charlotte, it is called Fintastic. I was amazed at how big it was and all the many species it sold! Plus, the prices were pretty cheap and they had a lot of "buy one, get one free" for schooling fish like cories, loaches, etc...

 

[deli_conker]

There's a good one near me as well. Only like 5 minutes if it's not rush hour. They have a lot of cool tanks and it's very rare that I see any sick fish. They have some big floor tanks as well. Thier hap tank is around 400 gallons. They also have a stingray tank with a couple of dempseys and some other fish (not sure what they are); around 600 gallons. And of course they have a shark tank. It's about two feet long (the shark, that is). That tank is around 1200 gallons. There are several others as well, including a big pond setup. No idea how much water, it's an oval, about 2-3 feet deep, 3 feet in one direction around 6 feet the another.

They are a little pricey though. They have a membership thing that gives you a discount, and that help a little (especially during sales).

It's nice to have a good store around, even if you have to drive a while to find one...

 

[Fishalicious]

I don't want to rain on your parade, it sounds like a great place, but why are they selling red tailed catfish? Those things can get HUGE, and I'm not talking just 12 or 18 inches, I'm talking like a 4 or 5 feet.

I know they get that big, and there are people out there with 250+ gallon tanks in search of redtail cats. Well these cats are already about almost a foot in length and this place was so informative, I'm sure they'd at LEAST tell the customer how big they get.
The first thing the employee said when I told him that this place was much better than surrounding LFS' and Petco/Petsmart was he knocked on how they sell incompatible fish to people and how they sell people fish that get too big for their sized tanks. Also, he commented on their horrible netting strategies. He insured me that this place was different from the rest. He said one part of the training employees go through is learning about new fish owners and their ignorance.

Sounds like an excellent business strategy to me!
Don't worry. Parade wasn't rained on. I brought a huuuge umbrella

-Dan

 

[rubysoho]

"Well these cats are already about almost a foot in length and this place was so informative, I'm sure they'd at LEAST tell the customer how big they get."

awesome, it is one thing to be clean and have lots of variety, but it great that they are so informative. Wish I had one of those up where I live.

 

[Fishalicious]

Definitely! I was VERY fortunate to find this place!
I searched and searched and actually the other day
I went into my old LFS and when I left I vowed to never
step foot in there again!! For some reason that visit
seemed alot worse than all the others.
It was like I was walking into a funeral home.

-Dan

 

[Melody]

For some reason that visit
seemed alot worse than all the others.
It was like I was walking into a funeral home.

-Dan

Glad you found a cool store! lucky!

and hey Dead people are cool! They dont talk back and cant complain about your music!

now a fish store??? with dead fishes??? thats just cruel!!

 

[WhiteCloud]

Thanks for the info Fishalish...

I am about 1.5 hrs away from Salem, NH and get there once or twice a year. I will definately check them out! Do they have marine fish or do they have freshwater only?

Thanks

 

[Fishalicious]

both. and both are very well kept

no problem.
its my pleasure to support them
after the service I got.

-Dan

 

[WhiteCloud]

Fishalicious,

I got a chance to go to Sea World Pet Center in Salem, NH! I felt like a kid in a candy store!

I could not believe that HUGE Pool for the Live Rock...and it looked great!

There were RemoraC and CPR Skimmers on the shelf...I have only seen pictures on the Web and Magazine. They had the Aqualights I was looking for. Prices were a little more than online pricing...but not too bad.

They had everything I wanted...execpt for the Agaramax (which was my main reason for going). They had sold out and their new shipment had not come in.

I also did not see a dead nor a diseased fish in the place. All the fish were lively. My sons had a great time watching the crabs.

I will definately go back. I am not as impressed with how the other animals were kept...but they look like they do a great job with thier fish.

I also found a few others in the area:

www.aquaddicts.com
It is a small place, marine only, but prices seem good (they had refractometers for only $40)

http://www.newenglandreptile.com/petstore.html
Which is Zoo Creatures, it is about 15 min from Salem, NH. It was closed before I got there...but place looks huge and boast 10,000 gallon of livestock in the display designed by the New Engand Aquarium. Again...I did not get a chance to go in..but looks huge.

WC

 

[Fishalicious]

Im glad you had a chance to visit this place!
And also that you could back me up on what a great place Sea World Pet Center really is! Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to really look at their other pets; I got there 15 mins or so before they closed so I had to hurry up so I didnt get to look EVERYWHERE... But I did see the huge pool of live rock and you're correct, it did look VERY healthy. The price thing, yeah, a little bit higher than online but not nearly as CLOSE to bigger chains such as petco and petsmart.

If you haven't been there, and live in the area, give it a visit, its really worth the time!!!
Thanks!
-Dan

 

[smallfry]

Hi Dan,
Thanks for the info on this fish store. I live in Salem, MA....so it's not that far....I'll have to check it out!

 

[Fishalicious]

excellent!! 8)