Do you buy your food and fish supplies at pet chain stores or your local fish store?
- Thread starter watermelon
- Start date
Champaign has the best lfs I have ever been to, so when I lived there I went there almost exclusively. A good selection of livestock, excellent quality, and knowledgeable salespeople. I would only stop by the PetSmart occasionally just to see what they had.
Now, all the lfs around me stink, and I have had bad experiences at the chain stores. So, I drive an hour (or more, depending on traffic0 to a lfs in Milwaukee for livestock and I will now be buying all my supplies online.
Now, all the lfs around me stink, and I have had bad experiences at the chain stores. So, I drive an hour (or more, depending on traffic0 to a lfs in Milwaukee for livestock and I will now be buying all my supplies online.
I've been to Sailfin in Champaign and it is awesome!!!
In Peoria we are not so fortunate. We have Petsmart, Petco, Walmart and some local lfs called Superpets that is terrible. Pekin has Charlies, which has been really good, but the last time I was there I was appaled at the condition of the stock.
I usually shop Petsmarts here in town.
In Peoria we are not so fortunate. We have Petsmart, Petco, Walmart and some local lfs called Superpets that is terrible. Pekin has Charlies, which has been really good, but the last time I was there I was appaled at the condition of the stock.
I usually shop Petsmarts here in town.
With the price of gasolene these days, I try to do all my shopping on one trip to town a week, and Walmart is the most convenient place to pick up the regular stuff, like shrimp pellets, flake food, algae wafers, cuttlebones, and AquaTech filter media. But for aquatic plants, fish, and specialty stuff (like liquid calcium, fry food, and water test supplies), I go to the LFS. More and more, though, I am ordering online: I've been very pleased with the service and quality of stuff (plants, fish food, glass canopies, liquid carbon, etc.) and it beats the heck out of driving around town trying to find what I need.
It's a toss up. I usually go to large retailers for buying my fish (usually petsmart and sometimes a wal-mart with good selection.) These fish usually end up being very inbred and always have some sort of deformity. They live long though, because they're young.
The fish I buy from mom 'n pop fish stores tend to be of better stock but dont last as long, most likely because they have to wait in their tanks longer for somebody to purchase them. Last time I bought from an independant pet store, it was a male betta who was probably by my estimates a year old.
The fish I buy from mom 'n pop fish stores tend to be of better stock but dont last as long, most likely because they have to wait in their tanks longer for somebody to purchase them. Last time I bought from an independant pet store, it was a male betta who was probably by my estimates a year old.
When I first set up my 20g I bought all my fish from petsmart/petco. It seemed like all these fish would last only a few weeks, and I felt like I was doing something wrong, but my water was fine. It was all diseased fish. All the swordtails I bought had a lip fungus and I was too new to know better, we went through 5. My Angel ate all my neon tetras so I wanted another small schooling fish so they suggested Zebra Danios. I actually made the mistake of dumping the water into my tank with the new fish and a few days later my Angel fish was dead due to a virus in the water. This was my last straw and I will never get another fish from Petco/Petsmart/wal-mart or anyone with large connecting tank systems that spred fish disease to all the other fish.
I found a local guy here in Houston that runs the local tropical fish club too. He has a GREAT selection of fish that the other places don't even carry and so far not one of the fish that I have bought from him have died. He even traded my large red tailed shark that was beating up my other fish for a clown loach ( and now we are hooked on clowns). This guy now has my business for good and I'm buying a whole new larger set up from him very soon!! Support the little guys!!!! :bowing:
I found a local guy here in Houston that runs the local tropical fish club too. He has a GREAT selection of fish that the other places don't even carry and so far not one of the fish that I have bought from him have died. He even traded my large red tailed shark that was beating up my other fish for a clown loach ( and now we are hooked on clowns). This guy now has my business for good and I'm buying a whole new larger set up from him very soon!! Support the little guys!!!! :bowing:
