Okay, here is one ....[url=http://jackspets.com]Jacks Pets[/url] They are a little chain in a few states including the 3 or 4 they have in Orlando.

Okay, forget Jacks, they closed a few weeks ago due to lack of business....So much for pretty much the only store so far in the Orlando area with nice goldies. I just have to keep looking.... <_<

Here is one in the Ft.Lauderdale/Hollywood (FL) area...
Its Fish Paradise, and thats exactly how it looks in there! The store is mostly dark, with brightly colored gravel and lit aquariums all over the place.
The phone # is (954)961-5050, and the owners name is Joe. He is the most helpful guy you can imagine, and maintains his store since 1979. Any imaginable medication or things for your fish, tanks, or pond, and if he does not have it in stock, he orders it for you asap.
He does not have a website, but its worth stepping into his store nonetheless. A huge selection of goldies, bettas, tropicals and saltwater fish, all kept in neatly cleaned tanks.
Just mention my name to Joe, and boy, can he tell you stories! Hopefully he keeps the embarrassing ones to himself!

MANHATTAN!
Pacific Aquarium - specializing in ornamental goldfish.
46 Delancy Street 212 995 5895

There are none around here worth mentioning! :angry:

same here lachfa.. we only have petsmart and petco//a few small places but I have never been to any of them

i recently found a new store in st. louis, hazelwood to be more specific, called beldtz aquarium and pet store. they specialize in fish, and the employees are extremely helpful and knowledgeable. they do still have a tank of sick fish here and there, nobody is perfect...but i've found more varieties of goldfish there than anywhere else. i have to give them a big thumbs up on effort though, they do their best, and it's the best store in my area that i've found.
there's also a place in st. charles, missouri, called pets plus...i wouldn't recommend them for regular goldfish, but they do specialize in koi and outdoor ponds, and have a really nice selection year round, but especially in the summer time.

hey opus you know the address to that store? i might have to check it out!

yeah, beldt's is at 7025 howdershell in hazelwood...
i thought it was cool because they were selling a very large ranchu for $50...he was BEAUTIFUL. they also had celestial eyes, which i've never seen at a store before. and then, pets plus, for koi, although he supposedly gets a decent selection of fancy goldfish throughout the winter too...is at 2130 first capital in st. charles.

cool thanx i might have to check them out this weekend

Here's one for Oxford in the United Kingdom..

The Goldfish Bowl
Tel: 01865 241825

or [url=http://www.thegoldfishbowl.co.uk]www.thegoldfishbowl.co.u
[/url]

In the Pittsburgh area, there is [url=http://www.elmersaquarium.com/index.htm]Elmers Aquarium[/url]. Their prices are a little higher than the local Petsmarts/Petco.... but man, they have a great selection of goldfish. I got my choco and panda orandas there. I just went this weekend and they have some nice blues and pandas as well (but I am overstocked as is). Check them out!

[b]SO CA sources[/b]
Thanks Matt, editor from GFSA, for this tremendous job!

1. Goldfish Plus, 1025-1027 N. Grand Ave., Covina, CA 91723, # (626)966-2308,
has usually a lot of breeds in the store, but also does special orders on a special
fish (just ask for Peter Pang, the owner)

2. Jims Exotic Fish, (310)322-3474 - The best kept store Matt went to. Not that
much goldies around this time, but an immaculate kept store, huge selection of
tropical and marine fish, as well as beautiful planted tanks.

3. Apex Aquariums (310)391-0305 - The store with the best goldfish selection
Matt found

4. Goldfish World, 3860 Convoy Street, San Diego (858)541-7878

5. Wong Gene Goldfish, El Segundo, CA, (310)322-3708

A great idea has been started! In future editions of the newsletters there will always be stores listed throughout the US that is worthwhile visiting. Its a also a great reason, among others, to go ahead and join the GFSA, and if anybody does not want to receive the newsletter via ordinary mail, there is always the option of the email version for a reduced membership.
And for everybody else, I will be more than happy to post any future mentioning of stores right here!

Lynchburg, VA

- Pet & Aquatic Warehouse


Charlottesville, VA

- Pet Forum

Just want to recommend the store I work for, Whities Pets. We have a great selection of fancy goldfish and can custom order fish. We get a lot of goldfish in that you dont find at other stores, like black ranchu, panda moors, celestials and bubble eyes, and very large orandas. We also have a lot of different foods and medications, as well as a great selection of tropical, different types of bettas, and saltwater fish. I would shop there regularly even if I didnt work there. Its a family owned and operated store, not a chain. Anyway theyre still working on the website but here it is:

[url=http://www.whitiespets.com/]http://www.whitiespets.com/[/url]

If anyones ever in Central California, come by and check us out.

5215 N. Blackstone
Fresno CA 93710
(559) 438-4343

I agree that Whitie's Pets is a great place! I live in that area and love to go there and look at the fish--great saltwater fish and stuff as well as tons of tropicals, birds, reptiles, cats and dogs.

I love Byerly's Aquarium in Columbus (Upper Arlington) Ohio. They have over 500 different types of fish! The people there are really knowledgable and helpful too!

I go to mermaid aquariums.

they have nice and huge goldfishes for sale.

its in Fremont, California

I reccomend:

Sam's Pets & Aquarium
United Square
Singapore

So next time your'e in singapore come check it out.

I have a couple. Something's Fishy in Clio, Michigan and Rift Lake's and Aquarums in Burch Run/ Frankenmuth area, Michigan. They are both family own and run LFs. Also the Flint, Michigan Pet's Mart has a nice slection of goldfish and fairly knowlageable workers.

Thanks Ranchugirl for the names of the lfs in
my area. I live in the same area code (310) as
Jim's, Apex, and Wong's and I've never heard of
any of them. I'll be checking them out real soon
and Ill let you know what I find out. Also, in
my area I have not been able to find any
ranchu's, could you post a picture of one of
your babies so I can see what they look like.
If I get lucky, I might be able to find some
at one of the places you mentioned.

My favorite is Arcade Center Farm, Arcade, NY. Great shop! I have become friends with the girl who owns it, and she really knows her fish. She has helped me start out in the goldfish hobby, and I will rarely buy fish from another source. All the fish I bought from there were healthy, and she even keeps her feeder goldfish in great conditions.
YAY for good pet shops that know their shiznit!

i like slipperylittlesucker in sydney
for namesake

high tech aquariums in australia yep thats me i live down under

they have everything even a massive tank that has some really exotic fish including a whole side of tnaks with gold fish in em

hey Tom
which part of australia are you from?
for a minute there i thought i was the only one

Whaaaa no-one lives in Australia?

Ballouville Pet and Fish Store in Ballouville, CT. Its near the Massachusetts border- exit 94 off I395. Its small, but is walll to wall fish tanks with a little bit of everything. Normally something like that would make me nervous, but the man that owns it cares about his fish and keeps a clean shop. All of his tanks are clearly labeled, and if one tank is having issues, the whole section (attatched to that filter) is not for sale. I've never seen a dead fish once in all the times I've been in there.
It definatly beats the pants off Petco!

My favorite is nnnnnn! Just kidding, I always feel bad for all the fish at nnnnnn and try to figure out a way to build a multiple acre indoor heated pond for them. At least the food chain would kill them then instead of the way they are treated!

Petsmart and Petco are the two main chains near me. There's a nice store called Lebanon Pet & Aquarium in West Lebanon, NH that has a lot of nice fish. They are rather expensive though. They had a tank full of sick feeder fish that they gave a friend of mine though. She had like 100 fish in every pot she could find around her apartment until she gave them away!

if your ever in northeast florida stop by and check out "Ocean Reef" in neptune beach fl. they have a great selection of: koi,celestials,moors,ranchus,fantails,commons,come
s,ryukins,etc,etc,etc.tetras,mollies,oscars,loache
,pipefish,whales,knives,eels,pleckys,etc,etc,etc.
not to mention the reef tanks: clowns,puffers,eels,lions,blennys,angels,shrimp,cl
ms,coral,seahorses,etc,etc,etc.
more meds,food(including med food),decor,additives, and such than you can imagine.
thats just the fish!
many parrots,reptiles and turtles as well!

be sure to say hi to boo boo.hes their cockatoo(house bird)

oops! sorry about not putting spaces on the list of fish

jsrtist you're in fresno? how long of a drive is that from sacramento? oo i wuld just LOVE to come visit your shop...

Shops in the SF Bay Area:

I bought my 37 gallon tank on sale at Mermaid Aquarium in Fremont.

46513 Mission Blvd.
Fremont CA 94539
(510) 498-8272

They are mainly a tropical/marine aquarium store, but they have a great set-up in their shop.

Family Pets in Fremont specializes in fresh water fish. Mom & Pop store that's been around for awhile.

40645 Fremont Blvd # 20
Fremont, CA 94538
(510) 979-1468

The other shop I frequent is Aquatic Variations in Mountain View.

1774 Miramonte Ave.
Mountain View, CA 94040
(650) 961-3474

They are freshwater specialist (mainly Cichlids), but are very knowledgable and helpful and will special order if needed.

One nice shop to visit when in the City is Nippon Goldfish Co. They have a very nice selection of GF. The bad thing is that there is very little parking (typical of SF).

3109 Geary Boulevard
San Francisco, CA 94118
415.668.2203

For more listing of SF Bay Area shops, check out Don's Aquaria

This is my favorite local store where I live.sailfin If any of you are ever in the area check it out! The staff is very helpful as well!

Hello to ranchugirl....

I thought that I'd let you know what my thought's
were regarding the lfs that you mentioned in my area.

<_< Apex Aquariums is a rather large store, located in
Culver City, CA, with many varieties of tropical,
goldfish and salt water fish.
I thought that the shop was not very well maintained
and it was very cluttered. They had many of the
tanks with medication in them (not Q tanks).
The water in the goldfish tanks seemed cloudy
and were way over stocked. The two people that
I spoke to were not very customer friendly. When I
asked questions they were answered with a yes, no or
I don't know.
Jim's Exotic Fish is another story, located in
El Segundo, CA, even though they didn't have a
large variety of goldfish their shop was very clean
and well maintained and the help went out of their
way to assist the customers.
I would go there again and I wouldn't worry about
getting a bad fish.
Wong Gene's shop in El Segundo did not answer their
telephone after numerous calls during different times
of the day and on different days.
The shop in San Diego is too far away from me, but
I will be in the Corona area in 2 weeks and I will
check out their shop.
These observations are not from, by any means, an
expert, rather from someone that would only buy from
a well maintained and clean store.

Runchugirl

Sorry That I forgot to thank you in the previous
post, so let me thank you now for your help in the lfs
locations.
If you happen to be in the Long Beach, CA
area you might want to stop by Simply Fish loacted on
the corner of Carson Blvd and Los Coyotes, now there
is a great fish store......

If you're in the Pittsburgh area. Check out Elmer's Aquarium & Pet Center, 4005 Wm. Penn Highway, Monroeville, PA 15146 (412) 373-6535. Their Web site address is: www.Elmersaquarium.com

Capitol Aquarium in Sacramento, CA is a pretty awesome place. They quarantine new fish and fish that appear sick. They have a big electric eel (NFS) as well as a 1000+ gallon tank with 3-4 foot arawanas, 15" clown loaches, huge catfish and other awe-inspiring specimins. They have an indoor koi pond at the entrance, a big selection of nicely displayed plants (none of that Petsmart-style cram-it-all-in-one-big-acrylic tub crud). The staff is pretty knowledgable (although they did get in an argument amongst themselves when I asked which plants were goldfish-friendly... "Goldfish eat all plants!" "No, you can put Hornwart in with them!" ) Oh, and they keep their bettas in partitioned, filtered tanks, not pathetic little cups. Oh, and they have these big, beautiful discus. Anyplace that can maintain such nice-looking discus gets my respect. I like going in there even when I'm not looking to buy. I've even seen school field trips in there. It's that cool.

Yamix and My Nemo, a big THANK YOU for the SF Bay suggestions. I just moved to Alameda county from Sac-Town, and it's so hard starting over finding stores, vendors and services that I like. *sigh* You've been a huge help! Maybe I'll be seeing you at Mermaid's!

There is a place in my home town of pleasanton in the east bay (california) and its called Wet Pets. This Store is by far the best Aquarium/Fish store ever, i got my tank there and filter and heater for about half the price of one from pet co petsmart and wall mart, it is a superb store ranging from Salt Water to Fresh Water, and they dabble in a little bit of pond work(nothing to brag about though) but if you are ever in the area, definutly check it out for good deals and excelent selection of just about anything you need... Hope to se e you around...

DPG

OMG how funny! I just left Wet Pets like two hours ago! Hello, neighbor!

Hey I never knew so many people from this board lived so close to me.

Hehe maybe we've already met each other but didn't know.

How weird

REALLY you just left wet pets, what you think, i really like it and the guy is really help full. where are you fcom dahnuh, Pleasanton is my home town and we have always gotten or family tank stuff there, have you been shopping there long? Is there any other Shops around bsides the biggies (petsmart, petco ect?)

Cheers cool to see neighbors

DPG

Lepperchan, I actually just moved to Livermore. My husband has been going to Wet Pets for a while, but since I'm from Sacramento, this was only my second visit.

Yes, Waldo is very knowledgable and helpful. He's kinda funny, too.

Aquapet here in Livermore is okay (helpful staff) but not a big store. I'd still go to Wet Pets if I were you since it's closer and has more stuff.

Today I'm going to visit Mermaid in Fremont. Will give you my thoughts later.

I like a shop near me ( i live in the uk )they sell tropical and cold water fish
All the fish are in gr8 condition.

http://www.oceancommotion.com/

Dahnuh last time I went to Mermaid aquarium they had a sale going on. Buy one fish get the second 1/2 off!!!!

There's this place right down the street (ok, that's a tad of an exaderation, it's about a mile) called Tropical Fish World. I love it. I shop there all the time and get most of my aquarium stuff and all my fishies there. I've only ever seen a sick fishie there once, maybe twice in the year I've been shopping there. The only thing that's too overpriced is their decorative rocks (not gravel, the big rocks, like the ones with built in fake rocks) and specialty items. There's a ship there that I'm going to save up and get for my 150 only because I've never seen it anywhere else. It's a 2 parter and each part is $50...... Everything else is well priced though. All the goldies are between $4 and $8. I love it.

For Ranchugirl
You listed several lfs in So. Calif. that included
Apex Aquarium in Culver City. If you've ever seen
the movie Bruce Bigalow, Male Gigolo, in the
opening scenes that would be Apex Aquarium.
It doesn't give you a good look at the shop, but
it does give you a sneak peek of the inside and
the outside. It is a rather big store.

I think petsmart is a great place. While I am there for my fish i can get stuff for my dogs, cats, birds, and for my brothers scorpions and tarantula.

My favorite fish store is Tropic Waters in Eau Claire, WI. The guy who owns the store is very knowledgable and helpful. There's a TruValue hardware store here in town that also sells alot of fish stuff, I like it, I just haven't gone to it much. Cindy

New to Golds, sorry for not replying to you earlier. Strangely enough, I never checked back the thread much...
Actually, I live on the other end of the US, in Florida, and only listed the stores in CA, which I found in an edition of the GFSA report, and thought its worth mentioning, since the editor drove around many hours to do this report. I just came back here to take down Jacks, the first one in this thread, since they went bankrupt.....Guess I didnt buy enough fish from them!