LFS MASTER LIST

[jread]

How about a master list of LFS's in our area? I think it would be a great way to keep track of them all, as well as let people know about places they may not have visited before. We could also comment on our experiences there, the selections (not just marine but everything else), etc. (I'm excluding the big ones like Petco and Petsmart... just the locally owned places)

I will start with the places I've been to in Austin:

- Amazonia Aquariums: Located on Airport. Very nice freshwater fish/plant selection as well as helpful employees.

- Aquatek Tropical Fish: Located on Burnet. Probably the largest store in Austin! Great selection of fresh and marine. Lots of neato equipment. Knowledgeable employees. Only complaint is that it's a little over-priced.

- Austin Aqua-Dome: Located on Fortview Rd. This place is like going back in time... very old-school. However, it is an extremely unique place and they have a very wide selection of fishies :) If you haven't been there, you should check it out. It's a little hard to find but well worth it.

- Austin Aquariums: Located on Northcross. All I can say is, "WOW!" This place is very modern, clean, full of knowledgeable employees, has an excellent selection of marine (and now freshwater) critters, as well as equipment. I can't say enough great things about this place!

- Gallery of Pets: Located at 183 and Duval. This is a nice little store and a little more "modern". They used to have a great marine selection but I haven't seen too much in their salt tanks in quite awhile.

- Pet Corrall and Fish Depot: Located at S. 1st. and William Cannon. Says they have marine fish there but I didn't see any. Mostly a small freshwater selection. Wasn't all that impressed to be honest.

- Rivers and Reefs Pet Center: Located on S. Congress. Neat, "old school" store. It's not very big but I really like going there.


These are the only ones I know of in Austin. If there are more, PLEASE let me know! I also haven't been to any in Cedar Park or Round Rock, so if there are some there I would like to hear about them.

Also, I've heard people mention a store in San Marcos and multiple ones in San Antonio. Share your area stores and your experiences everyone! Let's make this list as comprehensive as possible :)

[witecap4u]

Look to the left of your avatar pic.....

[jread]

Look to the left of your avatar pic.....

Oops! Didn't know that was there. Well, I guess that we could still use this thread to give our personal experiences of the various stores. There is nothing on that list about who sells what, etc.

[Instar]

Although its not straight forward from the links on the left, under web links > commercial vendors, you can rate the stores and submit new ones. Also there are lists of manufacturers, etc. All can be rated with comments. Although you can't requalify your initial rating if things change, you can edit the comments. I wish more people would rate vendors there and make comments as that is the permanent record of their products and services. A message string like this will get buried in time.

[GaryP]

We could also include the internet vendors that the membership has used and their experience and rankings of them.

Gary

[jread]

Although its not straight forward from the links on the left, under web links > commercial vendors, you can rate the stores and submit new ones. Also there are lists of manufacturers, etc. All can be rated with comments. Although you can't requalify your initial rating if things change, you can edit the comments. I wish more people would rate vendors there and make comments as that is the permanent record of their products and services. A message string like this will get buried in time.

There are no local shops on that list, though, except for Austin Aquariums. I'm trying to find a way to make ratings/comments on local stores. Couldn't we just have a sticky thread at the top of the forum where we do this?