Best fish seller (local)

[FishingandReefing]

Aquatics creations has fiish that are in his system for some time so if its a tang
and you dump and prey thats a good choice....also
Ilike cheaper fish that why i like trop lagoon.

Didn’t know they’re still in business. Drove by a few times and appeared to be closed and no cars parked outside.


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[ReeferMan]

I visited Tropical Exotics yesterday and picked up a nice Wyoming White Clownfish. They had some nice tangs and triggers. Nice pink tail and blue throat. The coral tanks looked to still be cycling. Lots of fresh water and supplies available. They even had jelly fish. Shane is a good guy and always willing to help. 

[Djplus1]

On 5/3/2025 at 12:31 AM, FishingandReefing said:

Wonder if tropical exotic carry live brine shrimps as I might visit them this Sunday.


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I was just in Frederick and I'm 90% sure I saw that Rick's had a tank full of live brine shrimp. You might want to call them first though.

[Djplus1]

On 5/3/2025 at 3:39 PM, FishingandReefing said:

Didn’t know they’re still in business. Drove by a few times and appeared to be closed and no cars parked outside.


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I actually stopped by there after swapping skimmers with you last month. . I did end up buying a chromis and yellow watchman goby from him as I've bought many fish from him previously with pretty good results. His selection isn't the best, but I do agree that those fish are pretty healthy as they don't have a very rapid turnover and he told me he generally sticks to the same general species in his store as they tend to have the highest success rates.

[Djplus1]

On 4/30/2025 at 4:30 PM, cpeguero said:

I know the original thread was looking for local, but since someone posted about online orders and fully QT’s fish, TSM Aquatics (up in New Jersey) does a full QT of fish. I’ve ordered from them and been happy with the service. If you live (or ship to a FedEx pickup) in MD, you get cheaper shipping, or at least used to be that way. 
 

I’ve bought several fish from Reef Escape as well and been happy too. 

I just looked at their stock list and looks like they have a decent selection, though nothing I'm currently interested in. Do you know if they switch up their stock variety pretty frequently? I'd be looking in the next 30-45 days or so, but if it's the same, I don't think I'd go with TSM.

[cpeguero]

3 hours ago, Djplus1 said:

I just looked at their stock list and looks like they have a decent selection, though nothing I'm currently interested in. Do you know if they switch up their stock variety pretty frequently? I'd be looking in the next 30-45 days or so, but if it's the same, I don't think I'd go with TSM.

not sure how often they get in new shipments, but it may be weekly. I think they’ll also do special orders. 

[Djplus1]

12 minutes ago, cpeguero said:

not sure how often they get in new shipments, but it may be weekly. I think they’ll also do special orders. 

OK, I'll reach out to them and see if I can get pricing on a couple different fish and see what they say. I suppose I should ask Reef Escape the same. Thanks for the tip.

[YHSublime]

I think you'll find that any store (if you want to do local) should be able to do an order for you. 

 

I know you want to see them, and you're disappointed with what's in stock, but I think that model is gone the way of the Dodo. I'm sure that sitting on inventory/livestock and hoping it moves doesn't produce a decent enough amount of money to make it worth having a large livestock selection on hand.

 

4 hours ago, Djplus1 said:

I actually stopped by there after swapping skimmers with you last month. . I did end up buying a chromis and yellow watchman goby from him as I've bought many fish from him previously with pretty good results. 

 

Are you QT'ing at home? I only ask because you said that's what you were interested in (buying QT'd) 

 

If you didn't, then I don't think it matters much who gets them for you. YMMV. 

[Djplus1]

38 minutes ago, YHSublime said:

I think you'll find that any store (if you want to do local) should be able to do an order for you. 

 

I know you want to see them, and you're disappointed with what's in stock, but I think that model is gone the way of the Dodo. I'm sure that sitting on inventory/livestock and hoping it moves doesn't produce a decent enough amount of money to make it worth having a large livestock selection on hand.

 

 

Are you QT'ing at home? I only ask because you said that's what you were interested in (buying QT'd) 

 

If you didn't, then I don't think it matters much who gets them for you. YMMV. 

I know this sounds bad, but I never quarantine the first couple fish. If they have issues, I'll just go fishless for a while. If they're fine, (and they appear to be) and when looking to add more expensive fish, I'd prefer either A. Pre Quarantined or B. fish that I know have been in a store for a while in a cleaner environment (like a display) vs just sitting in racks of sale tanks or someone's personal fish that I know.

[YHSublime]

3 hours ago, Djplus1 said:

I know this sounds bad, but I never quarantine the first couple fish. If they have issues, I'll just go fishless for a while. If they're fine, (and they appear to be) and when looking to add more expensive fish, I'd prefer either A. Pre Quarantined or B. fish that I know have been in a store for a while in a cleaner environment (like a display) vs just sitting in racks of sale tanks or someone's personal fish that I know.

doesn’t sound bad, your risk tolerance is whatever you set it at.

[WheresTheReef]

The biggest issue with your strategy is that you can have something in the tank from a previous fish. Introducing an expensive fish, regardless of source, would make it susceptible to whatever is in the tank. The new fish can bring in something too. Ideally we would quarantine everything that goes into the tank. However, it is very tedious and not feasible for everyone. It’s about minimizing your chances of introducing something. A QT can help significantly. Dump and pray works for a while, but the odds eventually catch up and it can be game over.

Edited Tuesday at 01:15 AM by WheresTheReef

[ranger]

AC always looks closed i wish he would put a sign out in the lot.....

His fish always seem heathy.

Steve at go fish has been around forever and has heathy fish 2.

Tropical lagoon has some large tangs and the best prices to me

 and its my go to store for fish.

[Djplus1]

11 hours ago, WheresTheReef said:

The biggest issue with your strategy is that you can have something in the tank from a previous fish. Introducing an expensive fish, regardless of source, would make it susceptible to whatever is in the tank. The new fish can bring in something too. Ideally we would quarantine everything that goes into the tank. However, it is very tedious and not feasible for everyone. It’s about minimizing your chances of introducing something. A QT can help significantly. Dump and pray works for a while, but the odds eventually catch up and it can be game over.

I appreciate that this is clearly a risky way of operating. And yes, odds are at some point, I'll lose a tank full of fish to ich or whatever. I do have a small biocube that I can set up as a SMALL QT if I can't find any "suitable to me" additions however so I'm not completely disregarding any and all risk. I mountain bike and wear a helmet on the trails, but not cruising around the hood too, lol. Would dosing full tank Prazipro a week before adding any new fish potentially do anything to reduce some risks?

[cpeguero]

Just food for thought - I QT everything, and I know I’m lucky to have space to do this.

 

Even without that, if you set something temporary up so you could go fallow for 76 days, then follow the Hybrid TTM that humblefish put together:

https://humble.fish/community/threads/hybrid-ttm-to-treat-more-parasites.87/

 

you get after most of the things you would come across without needing that much space. I use 5 gallon buckets with a piece of PVC for shelter, InkBird with swappable probes, heater, and air stone. Doesn’t take up much space at all. 

 

[WheresTheReef]

12 hours ago, Djplus1 said:

I appreciate that this is clearly a risky way of operating. And yes, odds are at some point, I'll lose a tank full of fish to ich or whatever. I do have a small biocube that I can set up as a SMALL QT if I can't find any "suitable to me" additions however so I'm not completely disregarding any and all risk. I mountain bike and wear a helmet on the trails, but not cruising around the hood too, lol. Would dosing full tank Prazipro a week before adding any new fish potentially do anything to reduce some risks?

Praziquantel only works on flukes, worms etc (https://humble.fish/community/threads/praziquantel.25). I’m more scared of other diseases/parasites such as velvet, brook and uronema. Btw, you can go fallow with many parasites, but something nasty like uronema can survive in your tank without fish. To answer your question, I wouldn’t treat my DT. Many “reef safe” options can prove to be far from that. 
 

At the end, it’s about risk management. However, it’s our fish that suffer the consequences. Not trying to be preaching. Believe me, I’ve made my share of mistakes. That includes losing the dump and pray approach on two occasions early on. On the flip side, I’ve lost fish in QT too but in those cases the fish were in bad shape to begin with. Just from experience, my fish keeping became much more successful and the fish that made it into the DT were healthier after they went through my QT. I’m just getting back into the hobby and have a few fish being treated in my QT.

 

https://photos.app.goo.gl/FtbsjkmD37diFKXw9

 

Edited Wednesday at 01:30 AM by WheresTheReef

[Squishie89]

The thing about either getting quarantined fish or doing it yourself, or even doing both is it is not just about diseases or parasites. It gives the fish a chance to settle, potentially even by itself, it gives time to see how the fish is personality wise, time to get it eating, and maybe even eating a more easily accessible food like frozen vs live. A lot easier to help, catch, etc a fish in QT vs your display.