Any local updates?

KurtG · 12-12-2007, 01:57 PM

I went to House of Tropicals and Aquarium Depot this past weekend. I picked up a new tank at Aquarium Depot (75g) and between HD, Ace, and House of Tropicals some substrate material. Wasn't ready for plants when I hit the Depot (they had a fair selection). Not much on dry goods.

I hadn't been to House of Tropicals before and was surprised at the poor conditions. The plants were awful and the fish not much better. Aquarium Depot was in much better conditions. I did get a couple bags of substrate to mix with my HD & Ace Hardware purchases

Any other must go stores? We are relatively new to Annapolis, so don't know of other ones within the same drive time.

**dthb4438** · 12-12-2007, 06:02 PM

Hey there!!!

There are a few of us here in Maryland on this forum and I found some of them. http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/pr...pm&pmid=362510 If you look at the bottom of "bigstick120" post, they have a club, http://www.gwapa.org/ and ask any of them for some places to shop in Annapolis area. I live really far south in the St. Mary's county area of Maryland by the Navy base. There is absolutely NO place to shop down here unless you go to a mom and pop place or a Petco. They both suck bad. If I were to drive up to Annapolis and back with some fish, they would be in the bag for two hours. I don't want to do that. The club members are really nice and helpful. Good luck and let us know of any stores you find.

**AaronT** · 12-16-2007, 05:13 PM

A little farther north of Aquarium Depot is Exotic Aquatics. Their plants aren't the greatest, but their fish are always nice and healthy. Also, check out SCALES in Cloverly. They have nice healthy fish as well and their plant selection tends to be pretty good.

Of course, the best plant source is our local club GWAPA as someone already mentioned. Members bring their trimmings to out monthly meetings and auction them off. You can't find healthier plants in the store.

sharkscott2 · 01-07-2008, 01:17 AM

I'm in Calvert County and we do make trips to Aquarium Depot but the other two places we check is Scales (http://www.scales-tfw.com/index.html) near Silver Spring and Tropical Fish World Inc (http://www.tropicalfishworld.com/home.html) in Gaithersburg. Both are nice and have a good selection of plants. They aren't terribly far apart, so we often hit both in the same trip.

KurtG · 01-08-2008, 02:41 PM

I went to Scales and must say that I was impressed with the conditions of the tanks. I would rate them above the other two in terms of conditions, but not sure they have quite the same selection as if you still make a circuit and hit a couple stores.

I got a nice tank bred female German Ram at Scales. House of Tropicals only had hormone induced males and Aquarium Depots tank was sick and pulled.

My tank is now stocked so, the trips will be fewer.

We used to hit the Aquarium Depot as it is on the way to the Russian food stores in Baltimore that my wife likes to hit. Now that we moved, House of Tropicals is on the way too. Scales was a bit out of the way, but worth it.

12-12-2007, 01:57 PM	#1
KurtG Planted Tank Obsessed (View User Tanks) PTrader: (2/100%) Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Annapolis, MD Posts: 368	Any local updates? I went to House of Tropicals and Aquarium Depot this past weekend. I picked up a new tank at Aquarium Depot (75g) and between HD, Ace, and House of Tropicals some substrate material. Wasn't ready for plants when I hit the Depot (they had a fair selection). Not much on dry goods. I hadn't been to House of Tropicals before and was surprised at the poor conditions. The plants were awful and the fish not much better. Aquarium Depot was in much better conditions. I did get a couple bags of substrate to mix with my HD & Ace Hardware purchases Any other must go stores? We are relatively new to Annapolis, so don't know of other ones within the same drive time.

12-12-2007, 06:02 PM	#2
dthb4438 Shrimp fanatic (View User Tanks) PTrader: (63/100%) Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Southern Maryland Posts: 1,075	Maryland stores Hey there!!! There are a few of us here in Maryland on this forum and I found some of them. http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/pr...pm&pmid=362510 If you look at the bottom of "bigstick120" post, they have a club, http://www.gwapa.org/ and ask any of them for some places to shop in Annapolis area. I live really far south in the St. Mary's county area of Maryland by the Navy base. There is absolutely NO place to shop down here unless you go to a mom and pop place or a Petco. They both suck bad. If I were to drive up to Annapolis and back with some fish, they would be in the bag for two hours. I don't want to do that. The club members are really nice and helpful. Good luck and let us know of any stores you find.

12-16-2007, 05:13 PM	#3
AaronT Collectoritis Patient (View User Tanks) PTrader: (176/100%) Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: MD, USA Posts: 2,030	A little farther north of Aquarium Depot is Exotic Aquatics. Their plants aren't the greatest, but their fish are always nice and healthy. Also, check out SCALES in Cloverly. They have nice healthy fish as well and their plant selection tends to be pretty good. Of course, the best plant source is our local club GWAPA as someone already mentioned. Members bring their trimmings to out monthly meetings and auction them off. You can't find healthier plants in the store. __________________ In the D.C., Maryland, or NOVA area? Come check out The Greater Washington Aquatic Plants Association! www.gwapa.org

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01-07-2008, 01:17 AM	#4
sharkscott2 Newbie (View User Tanks) PTrader: (0/0%) Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Prince frederick, MD Posts: 1	I'm in Calvert County and we do make trips to Aquarium Depot but the other two places we check is Scales (http://www.scales-tfw.com/index.html) near Silver Spring and Tropical Fish World Inc (http://www.tropicalfishworld.com/home.html) in Gaithersburg. Both are nice and have a good selection of plants. They aren't terribly far apart, so we often hit both in the same trip.

01-08-2008, 02:41 PM	#5
KurtG Planted Tank Obsessed (View User Tanks) PTrader: (2/100%) Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Annapolis, MD Posts: 368	I went to Scales and must say that I was impressed with the conditions of the tanks. I would rate them above the other two in terms of conditions, but not sure they have quite the same selection as if you still make a circuit and hit a couple stores. I got a nice tank bred female German Ram at Scales. House of Tropicals only had hormone induced males and Aquarium Depots tank was sick and pulled. My tank is now stocked so, the trips will be fewer. We used to hit the Aquarium Depot as it is on the way to the Russian food stores in Baltimore that my wife likes to hit. Now that we moved, House of Tropicals is on the way too. Scales was a bit out of the way, but worth it.