Aquarium Center

[Apache]

Love the Aquarium Center in Baltimore. Lots of variety with fishes and plants ... I drive an hour to get there, because it's much better than the store closest to us.

[Georgiadawgger]

That's probably one of the best stores I've been to.

To rank the stores within an hour of us I'd say:

1. Aquarium Center (great fish and plant selection, people mostly know what they're talking about, great equipment selection, online coupons and bulk discounts).
2. Exotic Aquatics (ok..but more expensive and I wasn't that impressed...people there are as friendly as a brick wall)
3. Wally's (ok..since its the closest store near me...great equipment...overpriced, boring selection of fish...although they have congo tetras at $6.99 buy one get one free, terrarium plants underwater like petsmart!!)

[AaronT]

Hmmm...I'd say you hit a bad day at Exotic Aquatics because as of late I'd say their fish are healthier and the people know their stuff. Their drygood selection is also really good for the size store that it is.

I suppose I'm remembering the glory days of Aquarium Center when the shelves were ALWAYS stocked and the fish tanks looked a lot cleaner. There are still plenty of helpful people there. Don't go on a saturday though or forget good service.

[gnatster]

I suppose I'm remembering the glory days of Aquarium Center when the shelves were ALWAYS stocked and the fish tanks looked a lot cleaner

I know I miss those days too. Heck even the long term employees do too. The place is a now only a faded reflection of it's old former glory. Reminds me of an aged beauty queenm, ravaged by time and still clinging to past triumphs.

[BruteUA]

Maybe we should get part-time jobs there?

[AaronT]

No thanks, the source of the problem is the new owner, or rather the lack of one of the previous partners.

All the people still working there from 'the glory days' can't stand working for him. They only stay there because they truly love their hobby.

[BruteUA]

Originally Posted by grandmasterofpool

No thanks, the source of the problem is the new owner, or rather the lack of one of the previous partners.

All the people still working there from 'the glory days' can't stand working for him. They only stay there because they truly love their hobby.

Wonderful. How long until they end up like House of Tropicals?

[AZFIsh1]

Thats sad.... I had the pleasure of a browsing that store on a trip to B-more a few years back. At that time I thought it was in the top three stores I had ever seen.

[TheShrimp]

I've been there a couple of times It's true the have a lot of selection on everything plus is close to the Baltimore aquarium !

[elgecko]

I'm like you taking over an hour to get to the Aquarium Center. It is a very nice store.
I usually go to That Fish Place because it's closer. If You ever up in PA I suggest to check them out. They have great prices.

[gnatster]

While That Fish Place has a great selection and low prices for dry goods. Thier fish...ugh

Depending on my needs it sets my course as I am 30 min from either AC, TFP or EA

[londonloco]

proAnyone in Northern Virginia, Centreville Aquarium in Centreville is an excellent LFS....

[bredler]

I'm not sure what it looked like "back in the day," but right now it looks terrific. I was just there yesterday (1 hour drive from NOVA) and everything looked phenomenal. I only saw one dead fish, and it may have died while I was there. 450 freshwater fish tanks=VERY impressive, and the quality of fish is fantastic. Lots and lots and lots of tanks just sitting around. Every display tank I saw knocked me off my feet, and the staff was both knowledgeable and curtious. No high school kids, probably college and older I'd say. All the glass was clean in every tank, the plants looked very good including their 500 gal display. The one thing about it is that the saltwater is dept. is a little hum-drum. Nothing really fantastic or unusual, oh, except for an octopus.

Summarily,
Freshwater livestock and plants: 9.9 (nothing's perfect)
Dry goods:7-8
Tank availability and lighting/hoods to match: 9.9
Saltwater: 7
Displays: 9.99
Staff: 10 (okay, some things are perfect)
Selection of livestock/dry goods: 9.9
Prices: 7.5-8.6 (depending on what you want)

Afterthoughts-
1) lots of shrimp: Amano, Red Cherry,Tiger, Singapore wood, Vampire, Bumble bee, Honey bee, occasional Crystal Red, Rudolph, Green (amano var. I think), turquoise, and "assorted," plus feeder type grass shrimp.

2) Some true rarities: Indian Anglefish, Mudskippers, three different kinds of puffer (fresh and brackish), four color morphs of Crayfish, Sterbeii cories (wrong spelling I think).

3) Not really planted tank stuff, but lots of cool reptiles

4) The staff knows where EVERY fish and dry item you need are, so you'll have what you want in probably 45 sec (including fish-scooping time)

5) Staff doesn't hover like clerks in a clothing store (i.e. "I'm not going to steal anything and I don't need your help, piss off") they're constantly busy so they just ask "do you need any help?" when they pass by and if you say no, they just keep going and let you be until you ask for help, it's great.

So perhaps the glory days are back, or the new manager has wised up.

[vandyll]

I did a LOT of shopping at the Aquarium Center in the mid/late 90's when I had my 9 reef tanks up and running. There were a few people there I dealt with on a regular basis, and some of them would even swap pieces of coral for ones I was growing in my tanks.

My wife and I made a trip there last week, and I must say, it's not as well cared for as I remember. It's still a great place and I plan to visit there again soon.

That Fish Place (I live about 45 mins from there) is also pretty nice. Some of the prices on hardware are much better than some of the places I live near, so I'll be picking up some of that from them. They also have a couple species of fish that I was impressed with and need for my Cichlid tank.

[dmbProducts]

The store is dying a slow death. I have been around this area for 10 years and can say it has taken a dive.

It's just a big, nothing special store now. Sorry to say.