Greenville, SC
The first is a potential caution. I haven't purchased any fish there, but the Petland at 1425 Woodruff Rd (about a mile off 385 - in "Shoppes on Woodruff") is a little, well, fishy. They have a very good selection and stock of freshwater fish. Most of their fish looked decent, but some looked a bit unhappy (especially their gouramis) and nipped at. In particular, they had an overcrowded tank of oscars that just broke my heart. There was no species or price information on this tank, so I wonder if it was just a "miscellany not sold" tank... it contained 3 very large oscars, 1 very large fish (maybe a pacu?), and 2 large cichlids, which was way too much for the tank size. And it showed, because two of the oscars had ich, and the third clearly has hole-in-head disease. I felt so bad for them. The entire time I was browsing fish (at least 10-15 min), no one came to ask if I needed help, and I couldn't find a free employee to inquire about the adult oscars. I should hope they aren't for sale. So, many of their fish looked good, and the prices were pretty decent, but the bleeding heart animal lover in me doesn't want to buy anything that lets its fish get in such bad shape.
If you want pond fish, Paxon's Pet Supply on White Horse Rd. (paxonspetsupply.com) claims to have a big selection of supplies, but I haven't checked it out (as I don't have a pond).
The new Pet Smart on Woodruff Rd is very nice. Good stock, all of the fish look happy and healthy. Staff, from my limited experience, are at least reasonably knowledgable and helpful and don't let people walk off making huge mistakes - at least, not without the person knowing they're making a mistake.
Saluda River pet stores (various locations -- Easley and Greer are two) have smaller but decent selection of tropical fish, with some marine. Fish are all happy and healthy. Staff are generally pretty helpful and knowledgable, and it's a locally owned business!
Sadly, I don't think there are any other mom and pop stores around for tropical and marine fish supplies. At least, I haven't discovered any.
The first is a potential caution. I haven't purchased any fish there, but the Petland at 1425 Woodruff Rd (about a mile off 385 - in "Shoppes on Woodruff") is a little, well, fishy. They have a very good selection and stock of freshwater fish. Most of their fish looked decent, but some looked a bit unhappy (especially their gouramis) and nipped at. In particular, they had an overcrowded tank of oscars that just broke my heart. There was no species or price information on this tank, so I wonder if it was just a "miscellany not sold" tank... it contained 3 very large oscars, 1 very large fish (maybe a pacu?), and 2 large cichlids, which was way too much for the tank size. And it showed, because two of the oscars had ich, and the third clearly has hole-in-head disease. I felt so bad for them. The entire time I was browsing fish (at least 10-15 min), no one came to ask if I needed help, and I couldn't find a free employee to inquire about the adult oscars. I should hope they aren't for sale. So, many of their fish looked good, and the prices were pretty decent, but the bleeding heart animal lover in me doesn't want to buy anything that lets its fish get in such bad shape.
If you want pond fish, Paxon's Pet Supply on White Horse Rd. (paxonspetsupply.com) claims to have a big selection of supplies, but I haven't checked it out (as I don't have a pond).
The new Pet Smart on Woodruff Rd is very nice. Good stock, all of the fish look happy and healthy. Staff, from my limited experience, are at least reasonably knowledgable and helpful and don't let people walk off making huge mistakes - at least, not without the person knowing they're making a mistake.
Saluda River pet stores (various locations -- Easley and Greer are two) have smaller but decent selection of tropical fish, with some marine. Fish are all happy and healthy. Staff are generally pretty helpful and knowledgable, and it's a locally owned business!
Sadly, I don't think there are any other mom and pop stores around for tropical and marine fish supplies. At least, I haven't discovered any.
