Well first unless you actually go to the petsmart (not the website to look at pics) that is in his area you can't really judge it. I know of 2 petsmart I went to in orlando that takes care of the fish and the fish look nice and healthy. Not all petmarts are good and not all are bad. I ve bought plenty of fish from petsmart and never had a problem with them color wise or health wise.. when I use to keep mbuna. Now if the fish at your personaly pet's mart do look bad and/or it looks like there is disease in the tanks then I would avoid buying them, this will go for any LFS.
On another note... Shipping is not some horrible thing to be afraid of but I do understand where you are coming from. I personally am not a big fan of overnight shipping or 2 day shipping and I to worry about the same things, but I have not had a problem thus far. I can say though I enjoy having my fish shipped air cargo (well except for the cost). I ve never had a problem with this shipping method and love picking large boxes of lots of fish up from the air port lmao.
As for set-up you can use sand, crushed coral either works... and will help as a buffer. LOTS of rock work is good .... more rocks, more hiding spots the better.
You can do an all male tank if you wanted to. I do agree that if you look online you will have more of a selection. I personally liked my m/f peacock set-up I used to have in my 55gal.
On another note... Shipping is not some horrible thing to be afraid of but I do understand where you are coming from. I personally am not a big fan of overnight shipping or 2 day shipping and I to worry about the same things, but I have not had a problem thus far. I can say though I enjoy having my fish shipped air cargo (well except for the cost). I ve never had a problem with this shipping method and love picking large boxes of lots of fish up from the air port lmao.
As for set-up you can use sand, crushed coral either works... and will help as a buffer. LOTS of rock work is good .... more rocks, more hiding spots the better.
You can do an all male tank if you wanted to. I do agree that if you look online you will have more of a selection. I personally liked my m/f peacock set-up I used to have in my 55gal.
