Aquarium Pets in Oshkosh

[gumbyri]

I'm new to the hobby, and have been searching the valley for a decent alternative to Petco. I visitied Aquarium Pets in Oshkosh a few weeks ago, and they seem to be the best in the area.

I'm surprised I haven't seen any postings here regarding this store. Any comments?

So far, I've purchased a carpet anemone and it seems to be doing well.

[Stigmatic]

I go there very often and spend way too much damn money there. But Jane and Jim are very nice people and offer lots of help! They also will try to get any coral for me that i want.

[z28cam]

live in appleton and would like to check this store out....do they have alot of livestock?

[gumbyri]

They seem to have a lot more to choose from than Petco...lots of inverts and live rock.

I'd guess around 50 aquariums, 1/2 saltwater and 1/2 freshwater

I think they get new fish in twice a week

[z28cam]

Cool, thanks. Im going to Oshkosh today so if they are open im gonna swing in.

[Stigmatic]

yeah they have a lot of livestock and some corals. they are open tues-fri 11-7 and sat 11-5 i think lol

[FlipFlops24/7]

ive only had 2 saltwater fish from them live more than 2 weeks. But they are the best in the area. Green Bay has some stores you might wanna check out

[aberg12012]

Every time I go into Aquarium Pets LLC, I walk out shaking my head from the state of health their animals are in. Nothing against them, they are nice... but they are a major scam. They won't even "disclose" who their suppliers are. They preach like they wrote the bible on reef keeping, and yet I'm disgusted by the advice I hear them give out.

Debaser... you are a prime example, being told you need a UGF. They'll do anything to make a sale.

[z28cam]

What.... people are still trying to sell undergravel filters :lol:

[aberg12012]

well no... just the Fish Bowl and Aquarium Pets LLC. lol

[aberg12012]

I dunno about you guys, but I NEVER buy livestock from anywhere in the valley anymore. The only place I ever used to was Ultimate Aquatics on Oneida in Appleton, just north of Menasha, but they closed down due to the owner's failing health. :( They might not have been the best, but they were the most honest I've ever come across. They didn't have alterior motives to sell things you didn't need... Which is why I'm less afriad of the Oshkosh Petco than I am of either the Fishbowl or Aquarium Pets. The Employee's at petco could care less if you don't buy it... Although they may be some what mis-guided, they arn't out to make a killing on you, like the owner's of Aquarium Pets. (I won't use names, cuz it's nothing personal.) I mean, come on... just look at the price tags on their dry goods! UNREAL! I'll stick to Fosters and Smith, and pay for shipping. And I won't even mention what a rip off the Fishbowl is... Their prices are so bad, they probably have expired freeze dried fish food on their shelves! :lol:

[z28cam]

Im kinda lucky cause my partner works in chicago and brings goodies home all the time for the tank. Otherwise i try to patron the local stores. Otherwise to the net i go for the other things that i cant get around here.

[Stigmatic]

I agree with you aberg on some of the advice they give out. I learned my lesson there as for buying dry goods, its unreal what they are asking for some of there stuff. I like that they will order my list of corals for me though, thats always a plus. But most of the time i order all livestock off a a few select websites. Ive had very good luck with farms-of-thesea.org and saltwaterfish.com

Farms has an AWESOME selection and a great variety in the selection of corals and colors ive ever seen.

BTW... How many of you are actually from oshkosh? I know Debaser is but who else?
(i know debaser has a UGF for sale for a reef tank if anyone needs.... lol)

[FlipFlops24/7]

[i]
(i know debaser has a UGF for sale for a reef tank if anyone needs.... lol) [/B]

Actually the witch at The Fish Bowl sold me the undergravel filter now that I think about it. But the sad thing is is that Aquarium Pets asked me if I had a UG filter a few months ago when I had a problem with nitrates and I said "yeah I do" and they said thats great because you need one. FREAKS.

My Undergravel filter is for sale. Asking price? FREE. Otherwise The Fish Bowl can shove it up their ***. :-)

[aberg12012]

Originally posted by Stigmatic
I like that they will order my list of corals for me though, thats always a plus.

Yea, your probably ok as long as what you order never hits their diseased tanks. :lol:

My Undergravel filter is for sale. Asking price? FREE. Otherwise The Fish Bowl can shove it up their ***. :-)

ROLF! I dare you to take it back to her, give it to her, and give her an ear full of how she seriously needs an education in her line of business.... LOL

[aberg12012]

Anyone ever notticed though... She has absolutely STUNNING gold fish!!!! :rolleye1:

:lol:

[Stigmatic]

lol, i usually pick the coral i ordered up the day it gets shipped in before it hits the tanks. Otherwise if it is in there tanks i wait a week and a half before i pick it up... :)

[aberg12012]

Personally, I think the less time in their disease infested tanks, the better. If it touches their water... let it die in their water. ;)

[mrpink44]

I've purchased 2 fish and one coral from the Pet Supplies Plus and both are doing great.

As for Aquarium Pets in Oshkosh, here is my experience.

I bought a flamhawk and a flameback angel. They special ordered the flameback for me because I couldn't find it anywhere online. Well, within 24 hours the flameback died. I called to see if they had any guarantee and he couldn't refund my cash, but offered to help if I wanted a replacment. The thing that got me was that he thought it was because I acclimated him to long. He told me they only acclimate there fish for 20-30 minutes and by doing it for 90 minutes that was to long. I explained to him that I've always read 1-2 hours of acclimation and that most places that ship online say the same thing. He claimed it was to much stress and not enough oxygen - I told him I thought the fish died of stress. Not enough oxygen? Then how come the two fish I've had shipped in overnight could survive in the same closed bag with the same dirty water???

Any way, to make a long story short I did have him order me another flameback and he is doing extremely well. He did cut me a deal on the new fish and it was a LOT more than I expected. He went out of his way to make it right for me. Would I have him special order something for me again? Yes. Do I take his advice on acclimation? No.

As for corals, everything I've purchased except for a bubble coral came from online.

[Stigmatic]

Keep in mind that he would NOT sell it to you without any profit. I have had them special order a lot of corals for me, but dont let it get in there tanks. As for fish, i dont trust any LFS for buying my fish from.

[mrpink44]

Originally posted by Stigmatic
Keep in mind that he would NOT sell it to you without any profit. I have had them special order a lot of corals for me, but dont let it get in there tanks. As for fish, i dont trust any LFS for buying my fish from.

I don't have a problem with him making a profit off me. If I order online, whoever I order from is going to make a profit. My two things were that 1. he tried to make it correct - and gave me a discount beyone what I thought and 2. I couldn't find the flameback anywhere online when I ordered it.

As for the corals, I pretty much go exclusively online. For the fish, it depends on what it is, how healthy/hardy it is, and how the store has them. I wouldn't order say a Banggai Cardinalfish online and pay overnight shipping when I could find one in town for $20. I've gotten 5 fish from the LFS in Appleton or Oshkosh and only lost the one flameback.

That's just my own personal experience. Now taking advice from the LFS is a whole different story!

[Stigmatic]

Well thats good, he did the same for me when my lionfish just happened to choke on a goldfish... what are the odds? They are very nice people.