LFS - How Many Tanks with African Cichlids

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I only wish i lived the other side of the pond, Here in the UK the LFS either have one tank labelled as mixed africans:irked: or a couple of tanks with yellow labs which are too small to sex:wall: . Also finding a LFS that sells american cichlids other than fire mouths and severums is like finding a needle in a haystack:mad: .

Steve
 
I live in Philly also. This is great to hear. I have recently switched my 180 gallon from CA/SA cichlids to African Mbuna/Hap. I was in Big Al's on Tuesday, which is a real good place with good prices on African's, but most of their African's are on the small side, with only two tanks with larger fish. I have always went to WW-UD since around 1970, but have not been their recently. I will have to stop by and check it out. I have been looking for larger hap's. Did you see any in stock? How are the prices?
 
Sledge760,
Stop by on a Sunday when Jim Hall is there. He's the guy with the ponytail. He has traveled to Africa and South America and is considered one of the most knowledgeable on cichlids in the US.

Regarding Hap selection and price. The typical 3-4" African Cichlid goes for $40-$45. The most expensive AC I purchased was a 4" albino P. Steveni Taiwan Reef for $80. He is my favorite. My other gems are a 4" Placidochromis Phenochilus that I bought there for $45, a 3" Otopharynx Lithobates for $40, and a 3.5" regular P. Steveni Taiwan Reef for $40. I just went back last week and bought three 1.5" baby P. Phenochilus for $8 each and two 1.5" O. Lithobates for $6 each.

Occasionally people bring in larger cichlids. It's hit or miss. Jim knows so many people, if you are looking for a particular species this is very large, he may be able to hook you up with the supplier.

If you don't see what you want, Jim will order it for you. The guy with the dreadlocks used to work at the fish warehouse that supplies many of the LFS's on the East Coast. Ask him what he likes better, dealing with fish in the warehouse or customers in Upper Darby.


Don't forget we also have TNT Cichlids near Fort Washington.
 
World Wide does have a really impressive African collection - mainly because of Jim. He's so full of himself that he can be a little annoying to talk to, though I have to grudgingly admit me may be justified - the man really knows his stuff. It's a shame the rest of the store, besides Africans, has really gone downhill. I used to go there quite often but they seem to stock fewer and fewer oddballs and charge ridiculously high prices for them.
 
Yes I do remember Jim from a couple of years ago. He special ordered a male n.venustus for me. I asked him for a large male, 6" or better. When the fish came in, he was only around 5". He knocked money off the price, and I think I bought him for around $30. I will try to stop over this weekend. I just searched on TNT Cichlids and found their site. Are they a retail store also? How I missed this lfs, I have no idea. I live in Roxborough. I looked at the map they have on their site. The store looks like it is about 10 minutes from my house, though I do not see a address?
 
Sledge760,
Just give Tyrone at TNT a call and make an appointment to shop by his home/business. Saves you the shipping cost.
 
I live in Des Moines Ia and we only have one store in the metro that has a decent selection, the other two stores only have a very limited selection. Anyone in Ia know of another store in the state that keeps a vast amount of africans in stock??
 
Honestly if you are looking for a large selection, and want say 4 or more fish it really is just smarter to buy them online.

Anyways here the petsmarts have say ~6 tanks. There are a few fish stores that have I would guess ~10-15 tanks of Africans that are actually for sale. (At very high prices, and not that nice compared to what you find by shipping to you.)

All in all there are more here then when I was in MN (though that was only near Buffalo, and Northfield so I never really went to any big fish store.)
 
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