Local Fish Stores

[Lightsluvr]

Everyone has a favorite local fish store - someone who helped you when you were starting, someone who has done a favor when you needed it, someone you can rely upon for good advice and customer service. :fish1:

I'd like to hear from members who are happy with their LFS. Examples of good service you have received. Maybe comment on what brands and inventory of dry goods they stock; how many salt water tanks they have, do they keep fish and CUC in stock, do they special order live goods?

So when you have a moment, give us a summary of your favorite store and why you enjoy shopping or just hanging out there. Be sure to give your contact name, the store location, phone #, etc. If the owner would allow you to take a snapshot or two of their store, that would be awesome...

Please no bashing. I would like to hear good things about our local merchants, based on the experience of our members. Let's keep the thread on topic please...

So who will go first?

LL

 

[cody6766]

Wet Pets - Steve has always been willing to talk with me at length about tank plans and give advice one way or the other. I've picked up some nice coral there for a good price, my freshwater fish were always in great health, and the staff always seems to have their stuff together.

Aquariums - I've been given great deals on livestock and equipment, solid advice on livestock and she's always been more than willing to give good advice along the way. Basically, I can say all the same I said about Wet Pets, just a little close to home.

 

[cjilge]

Crystal Clear helped me years ago when I set up my first Sw tank. They wouldn't sell me a fish that would eat anything they had already sold me. They also did'nt push tons of additives on me, they provided good solid advice and STRESSED how important good maintence was!

Wet pets has pretty good stock and easy to deal with.

I like Aquariums, but I don't get to Edmond very often.

I do know that Aquarium Concepts is changing thier store around and looking for advise on what people want stocked, ie bulbs, brands food etc. They are very willing to order and stock just about anything and are fairly competitve with the online vendors. So I have to have them on my list as well!

I guesse I like just about everyone! LOL

 

[skiformance]

nothing is local for us, but oddballs has always been good to us. scott go's out of his way to inform and help.

 

[OkR33Fer]

Reef Shop - After being a regular customer in there from getting my water for changes and such, I went in one day with an emergency situation needing 50G of water for a quick change, I was loaned the extra jugs I needs without having to pay a deposit. They didnt have too, but I was in a bind and they went the extra mile to help me out.

Aquariums - When I got my TEK fixture, I had a bulb go out within a couple of weeks and I went to LeighAnn to order my new lamps, I was given a loaner for a week till my lamps came in so I could continue to keep my tank lit.

Untold amouts of informations and questions answered from both as well as Zoanuts.

 

[chaderic26]

Aquariums -LeighAnn let me borrow a ballast while mine was getting worked on by Icecap. She even shipped it for me.

Definitely won me over when I was first getting in to the hobby.

Aquarium Concepts and Crystal Clear are very good stores also.

 

[Lightsluvr]

Good posts

Good posts

Thanks for the posts and positive comments about these stores.

I live in Edmond, so ditto the comments about Leigh Anne and Aquariums. It's great to hear positive comments about these other stores...

I plan to make a point to visit all the stores mentioned, plus some others that haven't been discussed yet. Can anybody say "road trip" ?? What a great way to spend a Saturday (when there's no football game) :wavehand:

LL

 

[sharky's machin]

Leigh Anne is probably the reason I didn't give up on this hobby after a few months. She's been great and gives me excellent advice. I try to buy everything from her and have ordered fish and equipment even though I could probably buy online cheaper.

Steve at Wet Pets seems like a great guy and I've shopped there too.

PS-- Lightsluvr, I heard that football season in Oklahoma was already over????

 

[Lightsluvr]

I started to drift off topic...but I caught myself!

I hope OU and OSU have great wins tomorrow... I'll be watching my Gators tomorrow night...

LL

 

[FragStealerOK]

I have had good experience with Tanks Alot in yukon. All fish were healthy, and you can get a good deal on frags every now and then.

I have had some issues with sales people, but other than that fish/coral are all still healthy. Definitely worth stopping by to check it out.

 

[Lightsluvr]

I have had good experience with Tanks Alot in yukon. All fish were healthy, and you can get a good deal on frags every now and then.

I have had some issues with sales people, but other than that fish/coral are all still healthy. Definitely worth stopping by to check it out.

I stopped by there once and had a long conversation with the owner... nice guy.

LL

 

[Lightsluvr]

These are good reports that are encouraging - and a reason we need to really support our local merchants whenever we can...

Ms. Lightsluvr decided in 2007 that we needed a "Nemo" and a "Dory" for our grandkids who simply loved that movie... We were clueless about saltwater, so went to Pets Mart to look at tanks. Thank goodness we bumped into an honest sales person who admitted he knew nothing about marine tanks and directed us to Aquariums. I lived two blocks from Aquariums and didn't even know it existed!

I'm sure if we had tried to get into the hobby without the expert advice of a local fish store, we would have failed miserably...

Anybody else?

LL

 

[eddybabyhd]

Kathy at ReefShop got me into the hobby years ago. I worked at petsmart whilst in high school and began to get curious about other "Fish" stores. I drove down there one saturday (this was when she was in the other smaller unit), and found myself aw-struck.

Believe it or not, I started in the hobby with a fish only tank because she had a tank full of huma huma triggers, small ones. I was just blown away at the colors of marine fish.

And so it began. a 29 gallon, a 55, a 75, a 92 corner, a 120, a 155, now 340....whats next? (dont ask, I have already begun planning)

BTW, I blame you Kathy for my addiction...and by my calculations, you owe me 1000's!

 

[jksteele010]

Leigh Anne also got me hooked. Went in there to buy freshwater and saw the display she had in the back and was hooked. Probably spent about an hour talking with her about keeping marine tanks. Next day I was on here and the addiction began. I've also had her give me supplies if I needed them immediately.

Wetpets is the other store I visit once in a while, wish I was closer but oh well. I've never been there when Steve was in, but pretty much everyone in there is great to deal with.

And lastly I've visited oddballs twice and both times where excellent. I bought some great coral, another one that I wish was closer.

We have got some great LFS around OKC and Tulsa and people who run them genuinely want to help. I try to buy local whenever possible, even it means spending a few extra dollars.

 

[VitalApparatus]

I live right down the street from MemFish here in town so Ive already begun driving them nuts with questions (but also dropping a decent amount of $$ too!) They've been real helpful as I am a pure SW noob.

 

[magellan007]

I guess I would have to thank Emily from ART...Originally I inherited my dad's steel-bracketed, slate bottom 22g tank with the intention to do a freshwater setup with some nice broken slate in the back and some real plants, etc. I went in there to check out some german blue rams and while waiting for someone to free up I was oogling over the saltwater tanks when Emily popped up and inquired what I was setting up and one thing leading to another, I returned home with a bag of salt and some LR to get my first tank going. After that, the trips to nearly all of Oklahoma's LFS never ended.

 

[Lightsluvr]

I guess I would have to thank Emily from ART...Originally I inherited my dad's steel-bracketed, slate bottom 22g tank with the intention to do a freshwater setup with some nice broken slate in the back and some real plants, etc. I went in there to check out some german blue rams and while waiting for someone to free up I was oogling over the saltwater tanks when Emily popped up and inquired what I was setting up and one thing leading to another, I returned home with a bag of salt and some LR to get my first tank going. After that, the trips to nearly all of Oklahoma's LFS never ended.

Hi Kaitlyn - is ART still open? I have heard about them but don't know their current status. Ditto on the never-ending trips to LFS.

LL

 

[cjilge]

LL

Thaey are open but not to the public per say. They are doing lease tanks. Gary is still in the phone book and around.

 

[peaceinusa]

Aquariums: Leigh Ann and other staff have always given proper advice. I got back in marine about 4 years ago and I have used this store pretty much exclusively. After I set my new 75ga bowfront reef tank up, I bought a red BTA and Maroon clown. After about 1 year the BTA and Maroon had overgrown the tank. Leigh Ann agreed to take the BTA-Maroon pair in on trade. She assured me that they would only be sold as a pair and this was the case as she knew the BTA and Maroon was effectively a "mated pair". I also had a recent bout of nasty algae and Leigh Ann bought 2-3 Blonde Naso Tangs so that I could pick one to take care of the problem. One arrived at the shop DOA and I was not able to get to the shop for several days and by the time I got there, the other 2 died. She went out of her way to get me options from a wholesale company that she really did not trust just to get me what I needed. When I got to the shop to pick one up, I found that the 2 remaining tangs had died. I really felt bad as I could not get there within a day or 2 of them arriving at the store and she said, don't worry about it. ....This is customer service.
I can go on and on about other issues...The staff and management will do anything to help with the hobby as they are truly concerned with your tank, conditions and husbandry habbits.

 

[peaceinusa]

Aquariums: Leigh Ann and other staff have always given proper advice. I got back in marine about 4 years ago and I have used this store pretty much exclusively. After I set my new 75ga bowfront reef tank up, I bought a red BTA and Maroon clown. After about 1 year the BTA and Maroon had overgrown the tank. Leigh Ann agreed to take the BTA-Maroon pair in on trade. She assured me that they would only be sold as a pair and this was the case as she knew the BTA and Maroon was effectively a "mated pair". I also had a recent bout of nasty algae and Leigh Ann bought 2-3 Blonde Naso Tangs so that I could pick one to take care of the problem. One arrived at the shop DOA and I was not able to get to the shop for several days and by the time I got there, the other 2 died. She went out of her way to get me options from a wholesale company that she really did not trust just to get me what I needed. When I got to the shop to pick one up, I found that the 2 remaining tangs had died. I really felt bad as I could not get there within a day or 2 of them arriving at the store and she said, don't worry about it. ....This is customer service.
I can go on and on about other issues...The staff and management will do anything to help with the hobby as they are truly concerned with your tank, conditions and husbandry habbits.