Fish Store in Sacramento

[dewcew]

Hi,

We took a short trip to Sacramento this weekend and saw one of the best fish stores I have ever seen. The store is called Capitol aquarium and is on the corner of 29th and T street.

This place is amazing. They have well over 200 fresh water tanks. This is the first place I have seen that has about 12 different tanks filled with Discus. They also have an excellent selection of salt water fish. They also have about 12 tanks devoted just to plants.

They also have several display tanks. In one of these tanks, they have a Clown Loach that has been there since 1955. This loach is in a 1000 gallon tank and it was about 15 inches long!

This place is well worth the trip if you are ever in Sacramento.

Dan

[dennx]

That is exactly the kind of store I wish for in my area... Southern California.

[Ibn]

Yup, great place to go just to check it out. They have quite a large facility there, but the fish aren't always in the best of shape or price. That 1000 gallon is the showcase of the store and the primary reasons I visit that place (there's a 1000 gallon shark tank further north in the roseville area also).

Next time you're in the Sacramento area, you should check out Exotic Aquarium on Florin Rd. also (right off the freeway). They don't have a 1000 gallon tank, but they do have some large ones. The plant selection isn't great, but the fish are healthy and priced accordingly. If you're really interested in discus, ask one of the staff there to show you those blue diamonds (2 large breeding pairs, last time I checked, they were for sale) they have in the backroom right behind the counter.

[John P.]

Originally Posted by dennx

That is exactly the kind of store I wish for in my area... Southern California.

I know what you mean! It's too bad we have so few choices with such a large population.

[bigpow]

How about Aquatic outlet (LA)?

I saw their website (http://www.aquaticoutlet.com) and it looks amazing!

20,000 sq. ft. warehouse facility
6,000 gallon shark tank

Man... make me want to plan a trip again

[accordztech]

hello im from sacramento and i always go to capital

usually the days they get their shipment their fish look like crap! but alot of times when i go there the fish are fine and really good quality, lol i never buy from a tank that has 2 or more dead fish in it.

they have a nice planted tank section too...and that 1000 gallon tank is sweet, i always imagined if i can get like 900 tetras in there...wont htat be amazing!

exotic aquarium is a nice plac,e but every fish i get there dies in my house...dont know why...some hasnt had issues...sometimes their java ferns are cheap, like 2.25 thats when i go there and grab 2 or 3 =)

its ALOT smaller than capital though. but they have cheaper driftwood!

[dewcew]

I was there a couple of weeks ago and they have a frequent buyer program also. I don't know if this is new or if they just didn't mention it before. If you buy $100 in fish products (I am assuming it is for fish, plants, or dry goods), they will give you $15 in store credit. The $100 worth of product does not have to be bought all at one time.

[Ibn]

They offer you the deal due to the high prices that they charge you.

I wouldn't be surprised that Exotic is cheaper than Capitol (even O St. Aquarium is). Keeping a place that size running isn't inexpensive, which is reflected in the price.

[dewcew]

I completely agree with you Eric about the prices. That is one of the reasons that I don't go there too often. I haven't been to the other stores you mentioned, but might check them out the next time I am in Sacramento.

One good thing about Capitol is that they seem to either hire knowledgeable sales people or at least train them. This the first store that I have been in where they tried to talk someone out of buying a large number of fish at one time.

Dan

[Ibn]

That's cool. Let me know what Exotic Aquarium and O. St. are like next time that you visit them. I used to work at one of them.

[accordztech]

Originally Posted by Ibn

That's cool. Let me know what Exotic Aquarium and O. St. are like next time that you visit them. I used to work at one of them.

where is that o street aquarium! i been looking for it for the longest time, yahoo maps pointed me to a building and thats it...

as for exotic they have their UPs for prices but dont carry the selection that capital has IMO but capital is a bit more in price

oh and that buy 100 get 15 free i have that lol...my dad had it 11 years ago too!!! but then he went salt water and never finished.

i am surprised aat the knowledgable people there though, people at exotic dont know too much..i hate them when they handle my fish. i wanted tetras right, so i asked for 3, so he gets them with the net then sticks his hand inside the net and grabs the fish with his hands

by the time i left exotic those guys died...i went back and told them how that guy handled the fish, and they were like thats water conditions. lol but anyways there is a select few guys that work there who do know what they are doing too!

i went there last week to exotic, they cleaned the tanks up...capital got a new shipment monday and their tanks didnt look too good...but im going today cause usually at the end of the week they are fine.

[Ibn]

O. St. is located on O. St. It's on the corner there; one of those houses.

Interesting observation about Exotic there. Hard to believe that the selection and quality are worse than Capitol's. FYI, most of the freshwater fish that are stocked at both places are from the same supplier (River City). Water is changed quite often there. Both freshwater and saltwater tanks are changed at least once a week, especially the saltwater side (I should know, I did them ). The saltwater side of the store is on a centralized system, which I usually don't like, but there are multiple industrial grade UVs on them.

As for marine fish, unless Capitol has changed their supplier, then I guarantee that they're higher quality at Exotic (I know where both of them get their stocks from ). For African cichlids though, if you're having problems finding anything, talk to Mike (assuming that he still works there). If there's something that you're looking for and isn't regularly stocked, they can get it for you. He's a member of the PCCA and has direct connection to some of the breeders up there (e.g. Neil).

[accordztech]

do you have the exact location of the o-street?

basically i got 0 street 3000...i went right to the sign, just to see a semi government building fenced in....

http://yp.yahoo.com/py/ypResults.py?...aquarium&stp=a

http://imgi.maps.yahoo.com/overviewm...LGy0B70f1K31IN

is that where you went, cause if so and its still there imma drive door to door...is it a small or big place?


hehe maybe i go to the fish stores when you dont, lol and we see differnt inventory...too bad exotic doesnt have any bottom feeders...

[Ahkuma]

O Street Aquarium has the healthiest looking fish bar none out of every place I have been to in the Sac Area.

O Street Aquarium is very close to capitol aquarium. If your leaving Capitol you exit out the far end of the parking lot on U street I guess it is and head head to 30th wich is just one street over since capitol is on 29th. You make a left on 30th and head down to O street. It's one street past where you would get on to the freeway. Its a blue building right on the corner at O. You can see it from the freeway.

I have been going to Capitol since I was a little kid and its cool seeing many of the same fish in there today. They still have the electric eel named SMUD. Although the big gourami named Moby Dick died so they have Moby Dick 2 now. The 2 largest clown loaches are not the oldest ones at capitol, 2 of the smaller ones are the group from the 1950's.

[accordztech]

damnit...i found it, lol, i thought "Q" street 3000 was "o" street lol

i was just bored and crusin down the road and i saw "o-street aquraium"!

haha i was happy...i missed it by like 4 blocks

so i bought some drift wood today there, 4 bucks a lb. but they do have good quality fish there...there tanks are wayy cleaner than capitols....plus they have a "ok" planted tank setup...more plants just less maintanence...

oh the lady said that they dont sell java moss cause the state outlawed it...but they said there are a few stores selling it but wont be for long in california....capital has a few so im going to get some