Where are all the tanks?

I couldn't find another forum for this so I'm just posting it here.

Does anyone know why there's such a shortage on tanks in America? I'm trying to build a fish room and decided to look up tanks online, but I can only find them very rarely. When I called my local petco, they said that they had, in the entire store, one tank for sale, and that they only got three in last shipment when they were meant to get 40.

Does anyone know what happened to all the tanks?

 

At least in my town, it's been wiped out from stimulus spending. I had to go in for water treatment when the latest stimulus check came out and the store was more packed than I've ever seen it, people buying everything. There wasn't any stuff left for any kind of pet.

 

Considering Covid is still going on and keeping many factories closed or in partial production, it isn't too surprising that it's getting harder to find tanks (and other appliances). They simply aren't being made in the numbers they were before Covid.

 

I think demand is high cause people are stuck at home.

 

I couldn't find another forum for this so I'm just posting it here.

Does anyone know why there's such a shortage on tanks in America? I'm trying to build a fish room and decided to look up tanks online, but I can only find them very rarely. When I called my local petco, they said that they had, in the entire store, one tank for sale, and that they only got three in last shipment when they were meant to get 40.

Does anyone know what happened to all the tanks?

I'm guessing pandemic boredom. I ended up getting mine at petco.com as much as I hate that store. But they didn't have it one day and suddenly overnight they were available. What are you looking for?

 

I had to work with my local fish store to order the tank I wanted. He was able to order things specifically from the distributor for me. If possible, make some phone calls and see who can help you. Most local stores will give you a discount if you're going to be buying a large amount of hardware. Facebook Market place & Craiglist or similar sometimes have things available for pretty cheap but always ask to water test before making the purchase because sometimes things are free or cheap for a reason. Obviously there's many dangers with buying used so going with something new is definitely better but it depends how devoted you are. How large of tanks are you looking to get? I bought 5 g and 10 g on amazon (Waited for a sale) and it showed up next day.
Best of luck,
Emily

 

Same here my LFS is always packed and wiped out... I also agree with those above who think pandemic has led to an increase in the fish hobby!

 

Thanks for the replies everyone! Asking around local stores is a good idea, and I am planning on doing that. Actually needing the tanks is a good month or so out, but I thought I'd want to start with five. I'm getting into breeding, so just off the bat I want

1-2 large tanks (20-40 gal) for the breeding adults
2-3 medium tanks (10-15) for fry
1-2 medium tanks (10-20) for quarantine

There's also a spot that I think would look very nice with a 55 gal... but I don't need that /now/.

 

A little birdie told me the Asian fish farms are not keeping up also ..
Guess what will be short in supply and more expensive soon ???
Interest and money invested in fish last spring rose quite a bit due to lockdown boredom .
Also many factories are not working to capacity and neither are their suppliers .
Hard to make tanks when glass is in short supply ..
Is it possible the Dollar Per Gallon sale is a thing of the past ?
What happens when the Asian fish farms can't ship enough fish ??

 

I know in the past 6 months when I have been actively looking for fish that they have been in short supply and if I found what I was looking for they were small or in bad shape. And this is from visiting 4 major chain retailers and one local pet store within 20 minutes of where I live. I know today I paid close to $5 for a male guppy at Petco, which is an increase of $1.50 from the last time I looked.
And as of last night, Petco was still having a $1 per gallon sale as I bought a 20 gallon long for $20. These are definitely some interesting trends for the future of our hobby. Luckily I have always been into live-bearers, so if I can get my new stock settled, I can raise my own fish, haha.

 

Yes covid has brought interest into our hobby. I like acrylic tanks. Try and buy one now!! With acrylic being used everywhere. There’s a 6 month wait for tanks. I put up a used 75 and sold it. Picked up and gone in under an hour. The guy wanted to buy my running tanks . Now don’t tell anyone but I bet they’ll be some great prices on used tanks when covid over. .

 

My local lfs told me business had more than trippled. They used to get one delivery a week now they are getting 2 1/2 and still can't keep up.... business has been brisk.

 

My 33 gallon long aquarium has been on backorder through my LFS since before Christmas. They have orders in, but don't know when it will come in. I have had to wait weeks for sand, and other supplies are hard to get. I was shopping online for live plants today because I'm getting ready to start my 20 gallon rebuild, only to find most everyone is out of stock on the plants I want to buy.

 

I've been waiting on a Fluval Flex since December. If I wasn't set on it our LFS has a reasonable stock of "normal" tanks. Talking with the owner, spending is up a lot, just know that just about every time I go in for something he doesn't have it and when he puts it on his weekly order its a toss up if he gets it. Been waiting for CPDs and Hillstreams for a few weeks too.

 

Its not just the hobby industries, just heard someone talking about home renovations and how prices have jumped drastically, he said for example a bathroom vanity that was $1300 a year ago is now $3000

 

Its not just the hobby industries, just heard someone talking about home renovations and how prices have jumped drastically, he said for example a bathroom vanity that was $1300 a year ago is now $3000

No kidding. Went in to Home Depot to get some boards for a small project, they wanted $35 for 1/2" OSB sheet, paid $14 for the same thing last May.

 

I couldn't find another forum for this so I'm just posting it here.

Does anyone know why there's such a shortage on tanks in America? I'm trying to build a fish room and decided to look up tanks online, but I can only find them very rarely. When I called my local petco, they said that they had, in the entire store, one tank for sale, and that they only got three in last shipment when they were meant to get 40.

Does anyone know what happened to all the tanks?

We know exactly what you mean. Less supply and more demand. People spending their covid relief checks on fishkeeping. No judgement here

After things get back to normal, it's going to be great walking into a store and looking at 20 or 30 different tanks just because we can. That's half the fun of buying one.

 

A little birdie told me the Asian fish farms are not keeping up also ..
Guess what will be short in supply and more expensive soon ???
Interest and money invested in fish last spring rose quite a bit due to lockdown boredom .
Also many factories are not working to capacity and neither are their suppliers .
Hard to make tanks when glass is in short supply ..
Is it possible the Dollar Per Gallon sale is a thing of the past ?
What happens when the Asian fish farms can't ship enough fish ??

The situation in Europe is a bit different but there are similar things I observe. (Most observations are only of the last 3-4 months, that's what I mean when I say "lately". Before that there was not much change.)

- Plain glass tanks without any tech (filter, lights etc) are still available in all sizes. The "beginner"-size sets of 30, 54 and 60 liters are mostly sold out, though.
- Of many species or groups (I particularly saw this with dwarf cichlids lately) only domestic strains bred in Europe are readily available anymore. I haven't seen any wild type Apistogramma or Rams lately.
- Also, the size/age of most fish has gone down. Since July last year cardinals and other popular tetras are only available in fry-size, s and m at best. XLs and Jumbos are nowhere to be found.
- My LFS's manager told me in November, that since October they most often get approx. half of what they ordered. Either in number of individuals or species. The wholesaler seems to try to distribute the ordered species evenly, but can't uphold numbers much anymore.
- Ordering fish online seems to work still, as the online retailers buy in bulk from the wholesalers or directly from the breeders. Or they import themselves. Actually the only way to get wild caughts recently.

At least: Prices have not yet gone up. And all other things like tech gear, foods and dry goods are still available, no problem.