Clown Loaches in New York???

[WhitneyGail]

Hi,

I just moved to New York (just outside NYC) from Chicago and I have yet to find a good local Aquarium store.

I'm planning out a 110 gallon aquarium and I want to include 5 clown loaches. Does anyone know of a great store or breeder in the tri-state area where I can find really good fish?

Thanks!!!

[hemi]

as far as pet stores
the one i like the most is http://www.pets-warehouse.com/
there located on sunrise highway
clowns are easy to get from then
and there not terribly expensive
this is also one of the best places to get stuff from
there usually cheaper then normal

and this guy is right near them off sunrise highway
hes a nice guy and will let you go to his home to purchase fish if your local
http://www.franksaquarium.com/

i live in franklin square
its a little bit of a ride to get to in traffic
but its so worth it in the long run

directions to the warehouse
take southern state prkwy to exit 32 south(rt110)
take that to sunrise highway East (rt24)
follow that for a few miles
and it is on your left
theres a BIG LOTS at the intersection you make the U turn at to go back to the warehouse

the other guy frank is just passed them on sunrise hwy
send him an email for directions
hes a really nice guy

other then that if you lemmie know what area you live in i can prolly help you better
theres some store to just stay away from
like pets of new hyde park
there service sucks
and there fish arent all that great
but there prices are cheap sorta
you need a quarenten tank to buy from them

anyways good luck
and if ya need anymore info
just gimmie a shout

[mikev]

Frank is of course the choice for loaches, but not specifically clowns.

A store that usually does have clowns and generally healthy fish is http://www.fishtown-usa.com/index2.php
this one is on the border of Queens and LI.

hth

[worldrallynut]

might be a little bit of a hike, but check out absolutely fish in clifton. They are on the expensive side, but are the best lfs i have found in the area.
www.absolutelyfish.com

[cybermeez]

House of Fins in Greenwhich, CT is a really good store. They take very good care of their fish and usually have 4 or 5 different loach species on hand at any one time. They also sell tanks and have a very nice showroom full of them across the street from their fish store. If you're interested, I suggest you talk with the owner Rob Bray. He's always happy to give hardcore fishkeepers a discount. I just bought a 120g Oceanic Tech tank from him as an upgrade to for my reef set-up and last year he sold me my 150g Loach tank, both for very good prices.

Robin

[mistergreen]

i used to live in nyc.. there's not much in the city itself but great stuff around it.. as you can see from the links above.

[alphaneko]

Welcome to NYC! Depending on which borough you live in, there's different options for you. Frank is great, I just bought several rosy loaches from him and he's very helpful. If I'm not mistaken, most of his inventory is of the rarer/hard to find variety.

Fishtown is pretty good if you live around the Bayside, Queens area.

If you're like me and live close to Manhattan however, there's Pacific Aquarium in Chinatown and Animal and things in Woodbridge NJ.

Pacific has an old established plant tank that's just amazing. It's worth checking out.

Animal and things has about 35000 gallons of fish on display.

[WhitneyGail]

Thanks everyone!!!

You were all really helpful, I'm going to take a couple of days next week and try to hit all these stores.

[CKfish]

I'll second the vote for House of Fins. Their livestock is usually absolutely top quality. Sal Silvestro there is a longtime member and ex-president of our local aquarium society. He raised some very big clowns.

[mistergreen]

if you don't have a car to go up to greenwich, CT, go to penn station and you can take a train up there.
It might be faster considering the traffic in nyc/manhattan especially.

[botiaboy]

I second the suggestion for house of fins.AWsome store,amazing quality,service,and variety...Only place I could find yoyos

[mikev]

the one i like the most is http://www.pets-warehouse.com/

Given that the place also sells online and the prices are good, I tried it.

Due to a missing item in a package that arrived today (actually nothing major), I tried to contact them and was unable to: the posted email addresses do not work, I could reach no live person on the phone either. Just in case, I googled for "pets warehouse order problems " and discovered this very interesting document:

http://www.dynamoo.com/diary/pets_warehouse.htm

Now, I'm not making any recommendation here other than read the above (you may guess why after seeing the above article.)....

[hemi]

ive never had a problem with pets-warehouse
there fish selection is really good compaired to the prices
i didnt not know about all that legal stuff
robert (bob) is a crazy old man
he fired my buddy who worked there for 2 years
cuz he said he couldnt multitask
wich is bullshit
but anyways
i really like there store
and still go there after they fired my buddy
but thats just me

[mikev]

Quite possible that the store is run well, I'm still going to visit it one day. But the internet operation seems to be problematic....quite unfortunately, since they do have the best prices listed.

[mikev]

Hemi,

I saw the actual store today.

Loachwise:
Dojo's (Labelled "Golden Kuhlis"), seemingly healthy.
Clowns 1": grasping for air at the surface in a tall tank, never saw clowns doing this before...
Clowns 1.5": possibly healthy, but very passive and not a bit of yellow or orange color on them.
No air source in either of the clown tanks, and the water from the system does not disturb the surface. No good.

That's it.
Clown-wise, I think Petland stores are a better option...