Being way out in the woods, the 'local' in LFS is a bit of a stretch...
There's a shop about 40 minutes away run by a guy who's primary business is maintaining tanks for people. It's not bad, but kinda pricey, the owner is seldom there, and stock is _very_ limited. There's aptasia... I wouldn't buy coral from him anyway, and have never had any luck with fish from there. I bought some rigid air line tubing from him a few weeks ago... I think that's about all I've bought from him in the last couple of years.
There's a petco about the same distance, new store... guy they hired to run it is a hobbiest. No corals, but their fish seem OK. Tanks are clean, but as I said, it's a new store. A friend bought a purple tang from them for $60. That was a couple months back, tang is doing nicely, thanks.
A very small shop a 20 minutes further out is only open on Saturday... the owner is a hobbiest. Does the best he can with it. I doubt he's making much of anything on it. Still, his selection is decent, better on corals than fish, and he's always willing to order something in for you. I try and buy from him when I can. Like everyone else, he struggles to keep the systems clean... you can usually find _something_ that you'd call a pest, if you look hard enough, but it's pretty clean.
A very local friend opened a shop in my home town a couple years back. Was open for 6 months, moved to the nearest 'big' city, open for another 6 months, and closed. He lost his shirt on the deal. Opening your own LFS is a chancy proposition. Look back over the last decade or so... how many LFS's in your area have made it that long?
With online sales being as good as they are these days, the risk in opening a LFS is even worse. BRS, Marine Depot, not to mention Amazon, are impossible to beat on selection and price. Convenience is about all a LFS can offer that you can't beat online.
You want nice, healthy animals from a well stocked LFS? PAY THE PRICE! You wouldn't believe how many times I hear people at the LFS saying 'I can order that online for cheaper'. Yeah, you probably can. Go ahead... but don't complain when that LFS closes their doors, or lowers their costs by eliminating maintenance, display tanks, etc. Me? I _know_ I'm going to have to pay a bit more for a fish at the LFS. That's OK. Being able to SEE the animal before I buy it, keeping the option to NOT purchase something, even if I'm the one that asked for it, is worth that added expense. If I order a fish at the LFS, I expect that he's going to keep it for a couple weeks, make sure it's eating, see that it's not obviously infected with something... BEFORE I buy it. That is a service they are providing, and it is worth the added cost... to me, at least.
There's a shop about 40 minutes away run by a guy who's primary business is maintaining tanks for people. It's not bad, but kinda pricey, the owner is seldom there, and stock is _very_ limited. There's aptasia... I wouldn't buy coral from him anyway, and have never had any luck with fish from there. I bought some rigid air line tubing from him a few weeks ago... I think that's about all I've bought from him in the last couple of years.
There's a petco about the same distance, new store... guy they hired to run it is a hobbiest. No corals, but their fish seem OK. Tanks are clean, but as I said, it's a new store. A friend bought a purple tang from them for $60. That was a couple months back, tang is doing nicely, thanks.
A very small shop a 20 minutes further out is only open on Saturday... the owner is a hobbiest. Does the best he can with it. I doubt he's making much of anything on it. Still, his selection is decent, better on corals than fish, and he's always willing to order something in for you. I try and buy from him when I can. Like everyone else, he struggles to keep the systems clean... you can usually find _something_ that you'd call a pest, if you look hard enough, but it's pretty clean.
A very local friend opened a shop in my home town a couple years back. Was open for 6 months, moved to the nearest 'big' city, open for another 6 months, and closed. He lost his shirt on the deal. Opening your own LFS is a chancy proposition. Look back over the last decade or so... how many LFS's in your area have made it that long?
With online sales being as good as they are these days, the risk in opening a LFS is even worse. BRS, Marine Depot, not to mention Amazon, are impossible to beat on selection and price. Convenience is about all a LFS can offer that you can't beat online.
You want nice, healthy animals from a well stocked LFS? PAY THE PRICE! You wouldn't believe how many times I hear people at the LFS saying 'I can order that online for cheaper'. Yeah, you probably can. Go ahead... but don't complain when that LFS closes their doors, or lowers their costs by eliminating maintenance, display tanks, etc. Me? I _know_ I'm going to have to pay a bit more for a fish at the LFS. That's OK. Being able to SEE the animal before I buy it, keeping the option to NOT purchase something, even if I'm the one that asked for it, is worth that added expense. If I order a fish at the LFS, I expect that he's going to keep it for a couple weeks, make sure it's eating, see that it's not obviously infected with something... BEFORE I buy it. That is a service they are providing, and it is worth the added cost... to me, at least.