Best LFS in Raleigh, NC???

ecugman

New member
I'll be flying into RDU next Wednesday @ 5:30 and driving to Greenville from there. What LFS would be convenient (and worth it) to visit along this route?

TIA
 
Hey, I'm from Greenville and now live outside of Chapel Hill, so I visit Raleigh/Durham frequently to check out the LFS. My favorite by far is a little place called Pet Paradise on Leesville Rd. Brad is great and he usually has a good selection and really clean, well-kept systems. It's a little out of the way for me, but VERY close to the airport. If you take 40 west slightly from RDU to the new 540 loop, then take the Leesville Rd. exit, turn right off exit. Go around a sharp left curve, then turn right at light. Pet Paradise is about a mile up in shopping center on right.
There are some others, including Fish World in Raleigh, off Capital Blvd. I can give you some better directions, and even some Phone #s if you need 'em.

HTH :rollface:
 
In raleigh there are 3 stores.

Fish world on Capital blvd 872-1228
Fish Pros on hillsbrough st. near the fair grounds.....###
Pet Paradise mentioned above 848-8881

as far as size and selection go with fish world. They are a good size store but i was there last friday and not to many things that caught my eye.

fish pros I really dont like

pet paradise is nice, Brad the owner is always there so you deal with him not some guy that doesnt know anything. He has some nice sps if you get get there before Eddie:p Eddie normally buys a lot of stuff from him.

Where are you going in raleigh and I can help you out more to save you some time.
Mike
 
I'll be returning from a business trip and driving back to Greenville from the Airport. I usually take the inner beltline around the north side of Raleigh.

I haven't been on the new 540 loop, where does that begin / end?

I've been to Fish Pros before but it was a LONG time ago.

Any reefers along this route with softy frags for sale???

Thanks
 
ok you can do this if you want. From the air port take 540 to leesville rd. Pet Paradise is right there.

Then hope back on 540 and take that to capital blvd right off the exit and go up capital till you hit old buffalo rd. Make a right and you will see fish world on your left.

come out of fish world and make a right onto capital take that up a few miles and you will see signs for 440 or to 264 or 64. Thats they way i use to go back to school when i lived in greenville

hth
 
ecugman,

540 is only slightly WEST of the airport off of 40. Just go the opposite direction you would go if you were heading home, and it's literally only a few miles, maybe less. I've only taken 540 as far as Leesville Rd, which is about 5-6 miles; there are lots of signs for the exit. Then just follow the directions in my earlier post and you can't miss it. You can always then backtrack to 40, then go 440, 64, 264, etc. as you normally do. This trip to Pet Paradise will only be 15 min or so out of your way roundtrip. BTW, I think Brad is open from 11am to 8pm.
If you want to check out Fish World, I am not familiar with lilbuddy's route, but it's probably closer than what I would do. If you would feel more comfortable going the route that you already know, you can always go back toward G'ville as normal, and hop off 440 on the Capital Blvd. exit, which is a couple of exits before the 64east exit. They have a much larger store, but I was not impressed with their quality, knowledge, or helpfulness.

HTH :rollface:
 
I'll also recommend going to Pet Paradise. I've been going there since the first day he opened and have no complaints. He has a good fish and coral selection as well as many other things. You should check it out. The phone number for the store is:
(919)848-8881. The owner (Brad) should be able to give you really easy directions from the airport.
 
Thanks for the directions and advice. I'll definately hit Pet Paradise and hopefully all three!
 
dont waste your time with fish pros. its on the other side of town from where you will be. Just hit pet paradise first, the hope back on 540 go to capital hit fish world then you can go back up capital to 440 and take that to 64 or 264.

HTH and good luck.
If you need any more help PM me and i will give you my cell # incase you get lost and need directions.
Mike
 
I agree w/ lilbuddy...I drove around Raleigh to find Fish Pros and when I found it, it wasn't worth it...there are several in Greenville that easily compare to it...stick to his plan and you should really enjoy yourself...

lilbuddy...do you frequent Triangle Tropical Fish in Durham? If so, what do you think?
 
reelheel said:
I agree w/ lilbuddy...I drove around Raleigh to find Fish Pros and when I found it, it wasn't worth it...there are several in Greenville that easily compare to it...stick to his plan and you should really enjoy yourself...

lilbuddy...do you frequent Triangle Tropical Fish in Durham? If so, what do you think?

yes i go there and get food and stuff but never really buy much of anything. The guy Eric there is really nice and i try to deal with him but the dude lou or what ever his name is hes a jerk hes a full time grease monkey part time lfs worker and an attitude me and him dont get along too well. Jane the owner is nice her daughter doent know anything about sw and her son is ok. I went there the other day and talked to eric he told me that her son left the di whose running in the tank over night and killed about 6 tanks worth of corals..........shiza...

I got most of my stuff from a guy in durham that has a lot of softie frags and now he has a lot of sps frags too. His frags have grown really good in my tank.

sorry to rant and rave but I had to put my .02 in about triangle tropical fish. I really try to stick with eric if i go there but i dont buy much at all from them. Appearence is everything to me and dirty tanks dont go over too well in my book.


shhhhhhhuuuuuuuuuu......deep breath now:lol:

so what do you think about that place?
 
It's funny...if you would have asked me to describe TTT, I would have said EXACTLY the same thing...Eric is cool, and knowledgeable, and was keeping some pretty neat reef setups before Jane's son RUINED them. I hate when I go in there and Eric is off...then you get someone who has very little idea what the H-E-double hockey sticks they're talking about. Jane is nice, though, and their size and selection makes the trip worthwhile for me every now and then...

Happy reefin'

BTW....I heard about the guy in Durham and got his email from someone here on RC, so I'm going to email him today and see if he will let me come by this weekend. This stuff's at his house?
 
reelheel said:
It's funny...if you would have asked me to describe TTT, I would have said EXACTLY the same thing...Eric is cool, and knowledgeable, and was keeping some pretty neat reef setups before Jane's son RUINED them. I hate when I go in there and Eric is off...then you get someone who has very little idea what the H-E-double hockey sticks they're talking about. Jane is nice, though, and their size and selection makes the trip worthwhile for me every now and then...

Happy reefin'

BTW....I heard about the guy in Durham and got his email from someone here on RC, so I'm going to email him today and see if he will let me come by this weekend. This stuff's at his house?

I probably told you about him. Yep hes in durham off 98. yes its at his house. Actually Im going to be there saturday hanging out starting to build my canopy. Bluecheese (rc member) will be there too. PM his email address to make sure we are talking about the same guy.
 
theres a new joint open on millbrook road. it's called The Fish Room The kid that runs it is really smart and the owner is a trip. The guy Nelson who runs the retail part can be a little sharp sometimes but he is a pretty good guy and he really knows his stuff. They have a really nice shop and their prices are crazy low sometimes. They usually have weekly specials and seriously must be loosing money on some of the deals they got. the only drawback is that it is members only (***?) so you have to pay to join.
 
what does dirty tanks in a fish store mean??? dead stock, algae, pests or what (film algae seems to come up in two to three days and we have a reeflo orca skimmer and our tanks still look dirty to me)... do you just want to see the fish better or just want healthy stock- just wandering bc i work in an lfs and want to know what people are looking for.
 
I live in Sanford, but travel up to Garner alot to hit up Down Under. That place is really nice and the people are very cool, worth checkin out. And in Fayetteville, there is a place called Grahams Reef, John the owner is awesome and has helped me get my new 125g for dirt cheap.
 
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