COBettaCouple

We get the majority of our stuff from the DFS website. Lower prices and more selection and our local petco makes us happy to go elsewhere.

atmmachine816

I put other store because I go to multiple stores. I get some at my local pet store, some at petco since we have a good one, some at a SW store, and others at pet supplies plus (excellent prices), and some at another fish store. I don't get stuff online except what I can't find here, support local stores because that's where I get livestock and once I get shipping it's not that much cheaper.

Neville

we have 5 fish stores in our city (Chittagong), i get all fish supplies from these stores.

Tom

I get my stuff from a local Mom & Pop type of store.
Tom

Sabi

I get all my fish supplies from the local fish shop.

Muffymouse

I also picked other cause I pretty much end up spending an even amount in several places. I wish we had a local FW fish store, but its a SW town and I have to make do with Petsmart who has the best looking fish and the best selection of types.

Gargoyle

I buy from who has what I want... Basically 3 main stores and my LFS has left me disappointed a few times...

1) Told me horn wort was a high light plant...
2) Told me male betta's are not aggressive... It's the other fish in the tank that are...
3) Told me that C02 was a waste of time and money...

So I basically only go there if I have to now.. I don't ask questions anymore unless it is here or plant geek either... I am just sick of getting bad information from people that are supposedly in the know..

Also shop online at 2 stores and have had good luck with that as well.. Pet Smart and Drs Foster and Smith.

jlhetrick

Like most of the others, I go to more than one place. I picked PetSmart because I have spent nearly $1,00.00 there in the past few weeks and only a couple hundred if that at Petco. PetSmart staff are far more knowledgeable than the Petco staff here in Las Cruces, NM. Being an avid reader, I am able to establish (or not) what the guys/gals at the stores tell me.

COBettaCouple

Yea, i've found that pretty much, petsmart employees are better than petco in the aquatics section - perhaps petsmart has better policies/training or less of the "who cares" attitude that our petco has.

if we had a petsmart, i'd be putting them and DFS, but i'm sick of petco after them ripping me off with double charging, the endless bad advice their 'expert' gave us when we were starting out and the terrible way they run the fish department with the smallest effort possible, even the time we wanted to take home a nearly-dead betta to try to help him at least have some comfort before dying and the manager said "no discount, pick another fish". Since they're the only game in our town, DFS gets ALL of our business now other than 'need it today' emergency supplies and we really try to plan better now so that doesn't happen.. and it doesn't hurt that DFS is so much cheaper either.

Sabi

I agree whole heartedly! But as i live in a small city, there's only 1-2 petstores near me, so i've got to buy from them. Yeah... and i do NoT ask them any questions.

jlhetrick

PetSmart requires their employees to attend classes/training. Here in LAS Cruces, NM they are very helpful and actually seem concerned for the fish, that i am doing the right things. The other day I asked a question of one of the girls and she didn't know that answer. She went and retrieved someone else who didn't know the answer. He went and retrieved someone else who arrived with literature in hand and explained the answer. At the Petco store I have on more than one occassion been responded to with a shrug and a "I'm not sure" while they stood there most politely waiting for the next question. There is one employee at our Petco in the fish dept. who is a hard worker, hands always on something busy and seems enthusiatic about his job. Doesn't know his fish though- he told me my Tiger Oscar was an African Cichlid.

PetSmart gets first crack at my money!

Muffymouse

I choose PetSmart over Petco any day they treat me better, know more, and definitely care more about their fish.

Dino

I use

http://www.kensfish.com/ .

They have supplies you usually cannot get from shops, such as shipping bags.

COBettaCouple

cool, bookmarked it & will check it out.

sgould

I buy from 2 different local stores, as well as from Big Al's online. I have not yet ordered from DFS, but am looking at them for some live rock for a SW setup I am working on.

Luniyn

I've gone to PetCo (they have the best combo tanks with All Glass aquariums, Whisper Filter, Florescent light in hood (not a fan of incandescent), etc. for a good price when talking about 10 or 20 gal tanks) but pretty much everything else about them is pretty mediocre. Also they don't usually have a good selection of stands (if any at all). So for those I've been going to PetSupermarket, however, for everything else they are either way too expensive (things like Prime they sell at 2x the price of everywhere else) or just have a lame selection. So nothing else from them. For my fish and general supplies so far I've been going to PetSmart. They take the best care of their tanks (usually no dead fish) and they are the only one's that sell Omega One food which is one of the brands I've been considering for my food. They also sell parts that no one else stocks regularly, for example, my 20 Gal kit didn't come with the extension tube for the Whisper filter so it could reach far enough down in my tank. Went to 4 specialty stores and all were out of stock. On a whim I tried PetSmart and they had 10 in stock. Unfortunately their combo tanks leave a bit to be desired with incandescent hoods and TopFin (their own brand I think) filters. So it's a combo of the 3 that I normally visit. I have ordered from Drs. Foster and Smith, but unless I have a large order, it's usually cheaper to get it from PetSmart considering a $3 bottle of prime becomes $13 when you tack on $9.99 in shipping. But with tax it is only $7 from (it's a little more expensive then $3 also) PetSmart. So it just doesn't pay for the here and there items.