Best And Worst Lfs...

[keenonfish]

: PETS @ HOME!!!!!!!! doesn't matter which one!

what a sweeping statement!!

have you been to every single Pets at home in the country? no you havent, because if you had you would see that there are indeed some very good stores, especially the one at stockport, my local at giltbrook is also very good as are 3 others i have been to lately, dont judge a chain by its name, judge each individual shop by how it is run!

Truck I have lost count at the number of fish I have seen with white spot and Columnaris at Stockport since the refit. No excuse for it. They chuck a load of Neons in a tank in the morning, 6 hours later the lights are on and they are being sold to the public. Not even checked. I saw a guy net a Neon with saddleback recently Sorry mate, I just don't like the place, but that is me. I will travel up to an hour if I want some fish rather than go their. Actually I did today for some Hatchets (finally) they were over half the price than at P@H and looked nicer too!

There are plenty of perfectly decent stores other than P@H - Abyss in Stockport has first class stock only minor gripe is that the prices are a bit high. If I ever went Marine or Discus I would only go their and Oasis for marine in Manchester. That would be it for me!

Also regarding your attitude toward helping the economy why should any of us be responsible for helping the economy? (from my POV the government (Gordon Brown) and reckless individuals who borrowed too much every bit as much as banks). At the end of the day Capitalism has cycles and the sooner we let this crazy boom go bust (admittedly leaving badly run companies up sh!t creak) then the sooner we can get back to normal. Fingers in ears and spend spend spend attitude are not going to get us any closer to a recovery I am afraid. Also I think times are going to get worse in the medium term before they get better so where ever I can find a fish shop with better service and stock and a little bit of extra reassurance from recommendations chucked in then that is great. Maybe any shops who find their reputation dented should look at improving things, although I suspect few of them would care!

Anyway not having a go as I do respect your contributions here but just felt the need to add some balance to the debate I think the bottle of wine is doing some talking too

 

[J.H]

whats wrong with selling bat fish? marine your refering to?

are you joking?
I can't think of anything which is right about selling bat fish for aquarium use

right just to clarify, when i say bat fish, im on about a marine fish, what are you on about?

yes the marine family Platax theres no place for them in the aquarium trade. There are very few if any home aqauriums in england which are large enough to keep one.

 

[hodgeheg]

Hey hodgeheg, I know the store near Filey you are talking about - looks just like a garage convenience store from the outside. They sell some good supplies although a little pricey, but the fish tanks are not well looked after in my opinion (always dirty) and the fish selection is not great.

There is a chap who works there who breeds his own little Bristlenoses for sale in the very same store.

Yeah, that's the one. It doesn't seem like the staff take the greatest care but *touch wood, repeatedly* I haven't had any sickly fish from there yet. There were 2 female platy's that I felt I had to "rescue" because they were gasping at the surface and looking in pretty bad shape but a month on and they're happy and healthy in my community tank *touch wood, again*

I purchased 2 cherry shrimps, 3 corydora julii (although the jury's out as to whether they really are julii or not) and 1 corydora sterbai from there today and so far, so good

 

[MewMew42]

: PETS @ HOME!!!!!!!! doesn't matter which one!

what a sweeping statement!!

have you been to every single Pets at home in the country? no you havent, because if you had you would see that there are indeed some very good stores, especially the one at stockport, my local at giltbrook is also very good as are 3 others i have been to lately, dont judge a chain by its name, judge each individual shop by how it is run!

: PETS @ HOME!!!!!!!! doesn't matter which one!

what a sweeping statement!!

have you been to every single Pets at home in the country? no you havent, because if you had you would see that there are indeed some very good stores, especially the one at stockport, my local at giltbrook is also very good as are 3 others i have been to lately, dont judge a chain by its name, judge each individual shop by how it is run!

Truck I have lost count at the number of fish I have seen with white spot and Columnaris at Stockport since the refit. No excuse for it. They chuck a load of Neons in a tank in the morning, 6 hours later the lights are on and they are being sold to the public. Not even checked. I saw a guy net a Neon with saddleback recently Sorry mate, I just don't like the place, but that is me. I will travel up to an hour if I want some fish rather than go their. Actually I did today for some Hatchets (finally) they were over half the price than at P@H and looked nicer too!

stockport P@H does have its off days, I'm totally against their quarantining too, Im not sure why they cant stay late to take fish in and do it properly! I'm gonna go next week and see how it is, thank heavens for working at MH!

 

[drobbyb]

Worst: I won't name names, but one of the large chain stores here in the US. Every time I go in I ask to see their water tests for the week, and usually there is 1.0 ppm ammonia or better and dead fish in almost every tank.

Best: A hard one, Scales and Tails here in Easley, SC is a small petshop without a large selection, but they custom order whatever you want. The owner is savvy and I frequently go in to pick his brain or to bounce an idea off of him. I would recommend this store to anyone as the advice is good and the custom order is painless.

 

[Haych]

worst vary; our pets at home is PANTS. they usually have dead fish EVERYWHERE, they use the same water cycling for all of the fish, so if ones ill, theyre all ill.

i used to swear by A5 aquatics, on the A5 road (i think its classed as nuneaton/hinckley) but on our last trip there, we bought a betta, and half way home we had to do a U-turn and return him as he was covered in white spot!

the best one I ever had was a little family owned business, called Gilways, and he was FANTASTIC but had to close down

Ripples are pants too; always got dead fish, green water and generally upset fish. they recently put in a marine section. when i asked if they had to "wait 6 weeks" they replied "nah we have big enough pumps to cope MAJOR contradiction.

So now I tend to use Shirley Aquatics, not the best, but definately not the worst!

 

[Floyds mum]

: PETS @ HOME!!!!!!!! doesn't matter which one!

what a sweeping statement!!

have you been to every single Pets at home in the country? no you havent, because if you had you would see that there are indeed some very good stores, especially the one at stockport, my local at giltbrook is also very good as are 3 others i have been to lately, dont judge a chain by its name, judge each individual shop by how it is run!

Seconded,Abingdon and Lincoln pets at home are both good (Abingdon has an awesome team of fish staff,wheras linclons a bit dodgier as they'll let you put several goldfish in a 10 gal)

Ive never had much to do with goldies but when i bought my rasboras i was going to get mollies to and they told me to leave it a week before getting the mollies to give the rasboras time to grow abit. As ive said both p@h in lincoln have always impressed me, ive never been dissapointed

: PETS @ HOME!!!!!!!! doesn't matter which one!

what a sweeping statement!!

have you been to every single Pets at home in the country? no you havent, because if you had you would see that there are indeed some very good stores, especially the one at stockport, my local at giltbrook is also very good as are 3 others i have been to lately, dont judge a chain by its name, judge each individual shop by how it is run!

: PETS @ HOME!!!!!!!! doesn't matter which one!

what a sweeping statement!!

have you been to every single Pets at home in the country? no you havent, because if you had you would see that there are indeed some very good stores, especially the one at stockport, my local at giltbrook is also very good as are 3 others i have been to lately, dont judge a chain by its name, judge each individual shop by how it is run!

Truck I have lost count at the number of fish I have seen with white spot and Columnaris at Stockport since the refit. No excuse for it. They chuck a load of Neons in a tank in the morning, 6 hours later the lights are on and they are being sold to the public. Not even checked. I saw a guy net a Neon with saddleback recently Sorry mate, I just don't like the place, but that is me. I will travel up to an hour if I want some fish rather than go their. Actually I did today for some Hatchets (finally) they were over half the price than at P@H and looked nicer too!

stockport P@H does have its off days, I'm totally against their quarantining too, Im not sure why they cant stay late to take fish in and do it properly! I'm gonna go next week and see how it is, thank heavens for working at MH!

When you say MH i assume you mean maidenhead?
Ive never been impressed with the one near me, they sell loads of fish at once and the fish we have had from them have died through no fault of mine and some of the staff have no idea what they are on about, despite them saying they only employ people who own fish but in saying that im sure not all mh are that bad.

 

[Katlee]

i have used several shops over the months. world of water in bicester has to be one of the worse conditon places, dead fish everywhere and illness, crammed in tanks, staff arent knowledgable and last time i went there two staff were messing around with a small HARD rubber BOUNCY BALL inside the TANK AREA (dangerous enough) and it hit me in the head. the guy laughed said sorry and walked away. appaling really not to mention the damage he could have done to the tanks.

ive also visited several pets at home stores namely Milton Keynes and Bicester. Bicester is ok but Milton Keynes has a better selection but both have very knowledgable staff and they are eager to help. although once an inexperienced staff member at bicester sold us fish with white spot (so in regards to my other post about my ill fish even then it wasnt my fault i got ill fish with white spot) but the management were very good about the situation, gave us all the advice we needed, relevant meds FOC and even replaced the fish we lost and promised to replace anymore there after.

buckingham garden centre which is a mile up the road from me also have a very good fish section. the three guys that work up there (one being a friend) are very knowledgable, they always have everything we need (apart from plant weights. were discontinued-not their fault) and the fish are all in very good condition and kept in suitable tanks. they have a nice selection and i have never seen any illness's on any of their tanks. prices are reasonable and we always get the best care = ]

one more from me - HOBBY FISH of the A5 at towecester near milton keynes. I have mixed feelings about this place. 50% our deaths from our recent epidemic were the fish bought from this shop. they were all platties and supposedly supposed to be hardy fish. we'd lost two in the first 3 days so im guessing the fish were weak when we bought them. HOWEVER they do stock a very good selection of fish with not much illness and only a few deaths spotted there, but a lot of the fish are inappopriate tanks, labelled wrong, and lots of species mixed together. as for their betta section, the male's are in small hanging tanks that could literally be no bigger than the mug you drink your tea from. very bad conditions and it made me very sad to witness although there are a few bettas dotted around in other tanks. and a females tank elsewhere in the shop. i did also notice some kind of black catfish about 18inch long in a tank about 3 foot long = [ it was sat quietly in the tank not moving much and i very much doubt it would have been able to turn round if it wanted to.

so guys there's my verdict on all the shops i've visited. i shall be going on the weekend to pic up some clown loach from the buckingham garden centre. this is where we got all our very first fish from and i have to say this place has supplied us with some of the best quality healthiest fish we've owned. i just wish i'd done more business there = [ i ventured out to other shops to find a wider selection of breeds and have no lost them all = [

 

[Bluetooth]

Best: Wharf Aquatics, Pinxton. I have only been once but that shop has left a lasting impression on me, if you ever want to see some amazing fish, head there, even if you dont buy anything you WILL be amazed by what they have in their tanks.

Swish Fish, Scholes. Since i got back into fishkeeping Simon (the owner) has gone out of his way to make sure i have been looked after, full of information, helpfulness and just generally a nice guy, if you need help then head on down, or even drop him a line.

Worst: Pets at home Dewsbury. Dont seem to have a clue about fishkeeping and they even ask you to fill out a form on how many fish you have and even when you blatently answer the questions wrong, they dont bother looking AT the form to give advice... only thing they are good for is certain parts and spares and food.

 

[ellena]

I agree Bluetooth, Wharf is an impressive shop. They seem to have a better grasp than most places, although some of the advice is a bit sketchy. All the staff seem regular full time too, no spotty teenager saturday types with no interest in the job.
I also rate MH@Trowell. In the 4 times I've been I've only seen a handful of dead fish, and considering the number of tanks they have, that's impressive. They know about fishless cycling, although I don't know whether they recommend it.
Our local p@h is OK, for them.
Almost everywhere seems to have a lot of dead fish though I've been to a few this w'end and I'm a bit tired of seeing it, especially when the staff are almost invariably doing nothing.
There was a guppy whose back end was completely immobile and looked like columnaris to me. Goldfish in an outside pond with slimy white spots and warty growths A betta with very bad popeye and almost no fins in a tank of tetras and too many bettas to count sitting in the bottom of tiny tanks, all listless.
There are only 2 I've been to that I thought 'I am never buying a fish from here' though.
Wards in Dronfield-very ramshackle setup with overcrowded tanks and dead fish.
Matlock aquatics-I went there for the 1st time yesterday-what a mess. Young lad sat doing nothing while dozens of fish rotted away in the tanks. One tank was riddled with ich too. They had marine which looked in OK condition, but the tropicals and coldwater were a sorry sight

 

[rabbut]

worst vary; our pets at home is PANTS. they usually have dead fish EVERYWHERE, they use the same water cycling for all of the fish, so if ones ill, theyre all ill.

Warning, miss-information may be contained in the above quote

Actually, a centralised system as described above is the best method of filtering a commercial fish system when set-up correctly. The latter bit is the important bit though...

A centralised system running the correct amount of UV sterilisation for the system it's being ran on, with the correct flow into each tank, and all the flow returning to the display tanks passing though the UV unit, will effectively control disease within the system, limiting it to one tank and reducing the speed of spread within the effected tank until the illness is noticed and dealt with with treatment of that one system Correctly applied UV will kill Bacteria, Cartesian Parasites, Protozoan Parasites and Internal Parasites at most stages of their free-from-host life cycle. About the only thing that UV does not kill is Viruses. If you get a Virus in a fish room, you'd be stuffed even with individual tanks, as most transmit quickly from tank to tank, even with good husbandry, and there are no known cures for most occuring Viral issues in fish. Basically, anything that would stay localised to one tank with good husbandry will be killed by the UV and hence stop it spreading tank-to-tank. On top of this, the UV keeps parasites in individual tanks at lower levels than with separate tanks not running UV.

Centralised systems also have most maintenance done in one place, i.e. the centralised sump area where the filtering goes on. You remove the media in one place for cleaning, rather than going round al xty/xhundered tanks cleaning the media in each separately. A constant water change system can also be done with an overflow hole in the sump and tap water going strait in there, keeping the water overall cleaner than with separate tanks with individual maintenance.

Overall, centralised systems make good husbandry and commercial sense Less staff time is needed to keep the system in better nick, and disease issues are kept lower than with individual tanks

The issue is when the system isn't implemented correctly, i.e. not enough UV, flow, no water changes, some water by-passing the UV en-route to the display tanks e.t.c.

All the best
Rabbut

 

[Inchyally]

Here are two more...

BEST - Beital's Aquarium - Pearl River, NY - They advertise this a lot in the US fish magazines so I had top check it out. AMAZING selection. VERY rare fish, HUGE tanks for sale (they had a 1000 gal tank for sale right there! And other big tanks) healthy and happy live stock. I loved the display tanks. They would never trick customers into buying tank busters, the display tanks had full grown Clown Knifes, Arowanas, Plecos, Oscars, etc. so people would know what they were buying. More saltwater than freshwater, I looked at the saltwater and saw fish I had never seen before, including a display with something that looked like a small great white shark! May be my first stop when I go to the salty side! The only thing is, it is located in the middle of nowhere and it was hard to find.

WORST - Petco, Hampton Bays, NY - Just checked this one out while at my other house in the Hamptons, not intent on buying since this is far from my main house. The fish selection was... sad. There was salt and freshwater. You could barely see into the tanks due to algae. In all the tanks they had, there may have been 7-8 freshwater fish in total, and I think I only saw one fish in the salt water section! It looked like they hadn't cleaned the tanks in YEARS.