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FW Stores in Illinois

2K views 7 replies 8 participants last post by  Kstawski 
#1 ·
Hey Everyone-

I'm new to IL and to Freshwater. I had a reef tank in the past, but am setting up a planted tank at my desk. I picked up an Aqueon Evolve 4.

I was looking for a list of local stores in the Chicagoland area, but haven't had any luck. Is there a list anywhere?

Thanks!
 
#3 ·
The 3 ive been to have been the Tropi-Quatics in Lombard, Aquarium Adventure Boilingbrook, and Aquarium Adventure in Hoffman Estates.

Tropiquatics is a smaller store. Nice staff. But higher priced equipment. They have been out of stock of a lot of plants last couple times Ive gone, but the ones they had looked good (got some Water Sprite thats still doing good).

Aquarium Adventure in Boilingbrook, unless you really have no other option i would try to avoid it. Shelfwise, lots of empty space. Tons of left over Aquaclear filters in older boxes. Some staff..... tend to avoid you. Others hound you like they are on commission (very overly passionate too). Plants never look healthy. Most of the tanks are overly crowded. They do have a decent selection of driftwood and stones, but compared to http://www.drsfostersmith.com/ , way overpriced (I bought some Malaysian driftwood cause I like to see it first, xtra Small = 11.99, small = 15.99 each, compared to FosterSmith of 6.99 for a small)

Aquarium Adventure Hoffman Estates, a complete 180 from the boilingbrook location. If you dont mind the trip, this would be the one I would go to. Friendly knowledgeable staff thats not over-the-top-in-your-face. Large plant selection, looked good and well cared for. Mostly good looking stock in the tanks. Shelves were full and well stocked.
And they even have a sale going on till the 24th I think, 50% off plants and fish.

Thats all the places I have checked out so far. I tend to avoid the city and stick to the suburbs.
 
#4 ·
Fish stores

Over the past month I have been to 5 to 6 different fish stores in the Chicagoland area. Aquarium adventure may not always have the best quality or service, but they hands down (usually) have the most diverse selection of fish.

Oak park natural pet and fish and Dave's Pets N Stuff in Oak park both have very knowledgeable owners, but their selection is very limited. Good quality, but mostly run of the mill hobby fish are sold here.

Tropi-Quatics in Lombard is a nice mix of good quality and selection.

I ended up buying most of my fish from Aquarium adventure because they were having a sale, and they stocked fish no other pet store had (sparkling gouramis, galaxy rasboras, threadfin rainbows, etc)

Plants: Again AA had the most varying selection of plants. Other stores had very limited supplies of aquatic plants.

I do have a secret source for big healthy plants though. Check your local Meijer store. Most larger Meijer's have a selection of FW fish and also sell the live plants in their tanks. The secret here is nobody ever buys aquarium plants at meijer, so their plants are mature, big beautiful bunches of plants that can be bought for very cheap ($2-4 a bunch) I bought enormous potted crypt, Water Sprite, Wisteria, and Hygro. All cost under $20 and the bunches were able to be split into more than enough to have a very well planted 20 gallon tank. Don't expect their staff to know anything about the fish or plants though :p
 
#5 ·
Don't Laugh

I get all my fish and recent plants from PetSmart in Bolingbrook. Not a huge selection of plants but a whole wall of fish and the only issue I've had were the Otos. Out of ten I have 1 left. Ghost shrimp are 37 cents a piece and roughly 14 plants to choose from. Very friendly staff and fairly knowledgeable.
 
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