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What is the best freshwater LFS in the Philly area? Like within a 90 minute drive from Philly? I've been doing some research and it looks like Aquarium Center in NJ might be the best for freshwater.
Best freshwater LFS in Philly area
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Sometimes I wish that would stop me. The worst is when I convince myself to make the drive down there and not buy anything.
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This. Admittedly I haven't been to Aquarium Center. But That Fish Place/That Pet Place is a sight to behold. Not only do they have a HUGE selection of live fish and plants, their prices on dry goods are unbeatable.
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I've heard good things about The Hidden Reef but never been there myself (too far for me).
I made the drive this past February, and I was underwhelmed. Plant selection was very good, but livestock didn't seem anything special. Good store overall, and would definitely go if local, but definitely not worth that long of a drive unless you know they have something you absolutely must have and can't get elsewhere. Yes it's big but that isn't impressive if it's mostly the same stuff as everywhere else. A lot of the livestock didn't look especially well taken care of either when I was there.
Hidden reef is hit or miss. Half the staff is clueless while there are a few people there I would trust for advice. For example I was there last night to get a couple of cory cats and the guy that helped me had to re-bag them three times before he got it right and even then the girl at the counter ended up re-bagging them. Prices are all over the place, some stuff is good, some ridiculously high. Livestock prices, at least on the fw side, seem to be very good and are typically cheaper than what I see at other stores.
Bottom line they are a 15 minute drive from me and for most things I'll drive an hour past them to get to Aquarium Center. Then again I've dealt with the owner a few times and he's the type that only cares about making the sale, whether it is the right thing or not, so how much should you really expect from them?
As people are saying, there is Hidden Reef in Levittown and right down the street from Hidden Reef is The Fish Factory. Hidden reef has a better selection of plants and has a larger selection of both FW and SW livestock, though the Fish Factory will typically have some more uncommon varieties. For instance the last couple of times that I went (i go to both whenever I go just because they are literally 2 minutes from each other, so why not) FF had at least 4 varieties of FW fish that the Hidden Reef did not.
Fish Factory tends to have less in the way of natural hard scaping elements and in general has less to offer since they are a smaller store. Their prices are also marginally higher than over at Hidden Reef.
All in all, I usually stop at Hidden Reef first and on my way back to 95 I stop into Fish Factory just to see what they've got in stock.
Fish Factory tends to have less in the way of natural hard scaping elements and in general has less to offer since they are a smaller store. Their prices are also marginally higher than over at Hidden Reef.
All in all, I usually stop at Hidden Reef first and on my way back to 95 I stop into Fish Factory just to see what they've got in stock.
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I actually stopped by a place called Aquarium World yesterday on my way back from work. The store is not new, but there are a lot of new-ish tanks in there, and some MONSTER fish. The one guy I talked to is pretty knowledgeable and we had a good discussion about the two tanks he is trying to set up as planted. I will help with any trimmings I have since I literally pass right by it on my way to/from work. Seems like a promising place to check out in the near future.
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