How many LFS (Local Fish Stores) are in your area?

[fishguy1978]

I'm in Wyoming, population of under 60k so petco and petsmart for me. All my shopping is online or 5 hours one way to go to Colorado. When I lived in bigger cities, there was usually 1 or 2 good ones within an hour drive.

Fish and exotics are just a small segment of the pet industry. Even places with a large population can have trouble supporting quality stores. People can easily buy everyday items like food or chemicals online or at a closer chain store rather than supporting a quality store if they have to drive that far

You have Dan’s Fish in Casper. I have received a couple orders from him that were mislabeled both times but good stock.
I have 2 that I regularly visit and 3-4 more in the Seattle limits I could. Aquarium Coop is about an hour away. The Wet Spot is 2.5hrs.

 

[Onerka]

You have Dan’s Fish in Casper. I have received a couple orders from him that were mislabeled both times but good stock.

Dan's Fish is in Sheridan. He's still fairly small and that'll be a 3 hour round trip. I'll probably give him some business when he does get a few things in stock. I've ordered from Wet Spot many times

 

[Omrit]

I live in South Carolina, and I have visited every fish store in the columbia, charleston, and myrtle beach areas which means I have been to most SC stores.

In my current area we have 3 within 30 minutes of my home, if you want to drive an hour we have 4(not counting petco/petsmart).

We don't really have that many great stores. They mostly sell the standard tetras and angelfish type stuff, and most of the owners I have met are not that passionate about fish for whatever reason.


When I was in Florida I was floored by how amazing the fish stores I visited were. Haven't visited the fish stores anywhere else though.

 

[jjohnwm]

My closest LFS is still over 100km away from my house; fortunately, it is in the only major city which I visit semi-regularly, and also happens to be a fantastic shop that imports, does lots of mail order (both retail and wholesale) and gets a lot of really great fish. They take fish in on trade also, which is a big plus for me.

Aside from that there are a couple much smaller and more expensive shops in the same city, which I stop into a couple times yearly if I happen to be nearby. The only other store which I would go out of my way to visit has sadly closed up this past year; very sorry to see them go.

The other source for interesting fish is the local aquarium club, which is resuming regular meetings in February after a couple years of Covid-inspired inactivity. Looking forward to this in a big way; I never go to a meeting without having at least one cycled tank filled and ready to go at home, because you never know when something amazing will crop up at the monthly end-of-meeting auction.