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Goldfish Stores on the East Coast


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Oh, I'm going to follow this. I'm also in search of quality goldfish sellers.

Here are ones I know of, but I can't vouch for quality or service:

East Coast Ranchus
Goldfish Island
Zhao's Fancies

Not sure if you want to groom them up or purchase mostly grown. I kinda love the idea of getting juveniles and watching them grow, though I definitely won't be using traditional grooming techniques and would just give them a healthy, happy home.

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I live in South Jersey and recently purchased three ranchus from King Koi and Goldfish all the way in California.  All the fish I received were very happy and healthy for me. Many of their fish ship free two day shipping and they get new fish 2 xs per week.  While it’s not east coast, it may be a place to consider.  Before purchasing I researched a bunch of places and felt for the price point and quality this was a good option for me.  Reading their website it seems like they do a good job of quarantining any fish they receive and they have a huge selection. I’m not a goldfish aficionado, I purchased some as a hobbyist for me and my wife to enjoy, so the quality was great for me.  I can’t say one way or the other if their fish are high show quality or good breeding stock, but with a trained eye you may be able to determine that after looking at their website.  You can also request swim videos of fish you like before purchasing. 

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I live in New Jersey, and I have purchased from King Koi and had very positive/good results, excellent fish. I have been meaning to order from east coast ranchu also, but do not have the personal experience there. Luckily here in NJ my LFS carries a lot of beautiful fancy goldfish so normally I get them from him. 

But Zhoas Fancies is pretty close to you, I think he's located in georgia. He has stunningly beautiful and high quality and rare goldfish, however its pricy, but your getting show quality fish from Zhoas. I want to order from him once I decide what I want to commit to breed long term. 

TLDR, I recommend King Koi Goldfish even though its from the west cost. They ship quickly and appropriately and fish are totally healthy, and they have great customer service if there is a problem, but luckily that hasn't happened to me. 

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2 hours ago, Nick Y said:

I live in South Jersey and recently purchased three ranchus from King Koi and Goldfish all the way in California.  All the fish I received were very happy and healthy for me. Many of their fish ship free two day shipping and they get new fish 2 xs per week.  While it’s not east coast, it may be a place to consider.  Before purchasing I researched a bunch of places and felt for the price point and quality this was a good option for me.  Reading their website it seems like they do a good job of quarantining any fish they receive and they have a huge selection. I’m not a goldfish aficionado, I purchased some as a hobbyist for me and my wife to enjoy, so the quality was great for me.  I can’t say one way or the other if their fish are high show quality or good breeding stock, but with a trained eye you may be able to determine that after looking at their website.  You can also request swim videos of fish you like before purchasing. 

You and @GardenStateGoldfish both recommend King Koi and Goldfish, so I'll likely be looking to them for ordering my juvenile goldfish when the time comes. Also, Hi, Neighbor! Also South Jersey here!

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That Pet Place/That Fish Place Lancaster Pennsylvania also part of the Lancaster aquarium club has had them in the past. I don’t know goldfish but I have purchase amphibian reptile aquatic plants and fish from them without issues. They do ship My neighbor gets his koi and pond supplies there. 

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22 hours ago, laritheloud said:

Oh, I'm going to follow this. I'm also in search of quality goldfish sellers.

Here are ones I know of, but I can't vouch for quality or service:

East Coast Ranchus
Goldfish Island
Zhao's Fancies

Not sure if you want to groom them up or purchase mostly grown. I kinda love the idea of getting juveniles and watching them grow, though I definitely won't be using traditional grooming techniques and would just give them a healthy, happy home.

My personal experience with juvenile fancy goldfish is that the majority develop swim bladder issues as they mature, so buying already adult fish is a safer option. If they were to develop swim bladder issues they'd have likely already done so.

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1 minute ago, gardenman said:

My personal experience with juvenile fancy goldfish is that the majority develop swim bladder issues as they mature, so buying already adult fish is a safer option. If they were to develop swim bladder issues they'd have likely already done so.

oh, that's really good to know. Thank you for the advice!

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23 hours ago, laritheloud said:

You and @GardenStateGoldfish both recommend King Koi and Goldfish, so I'll likely be looking to them for ordering my juvenile goldfish when the time comes. Also, Hi, Neighbor! Also South Jersey here!

Wow that’s awesome there’s that many south Jersey goldfish keepers on this thread.  That’s crazy!   Hello @GardenStateGoldfish!  My suggestion would be don’t even start to look at any goldfish on King Koi until you’re ready to get one, it’s just like going to look at puppies.   
 

@gardenman that’s probably really good advice  I just wanted the challenge of raising the goldfish up.  I’ve gotten my goldfish to eat duckweed regularly to decrease the chance of bloat and I’m following the suggestions in corys videos and talks regarding keeping goldfish.   In Coop we trust! Hopefully that will enable me to raise them to full growth. 

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There was a pet shop in Pennsauken on route 38 (on the way to Cherry Hill) called Tisa's back in the day that had a massive show tank at the front of the store with calico fantails/orandas in it that I always loved. It was just an amazing tank. I always vowed that some day I'd have a tank like that. About ten years ago I had an empty big tank and decided to replicate it. I bought eight baby calico orandas that appeared to be in perfect health. I fed them Repashy Soilent Green, they had duckweed, not that they were overly fond of it, assorted flake foods, and frozen foods. They grew rapidly and then six of the eight developed swim bladder issues. It kind of broke my heart. A few were nearly always floating upside down while others were always lying on the bottom of the tank. Two of the eight were great however. That dream tank idea died. Lots of people have had similar experiences with fancy goldfish. They look great when small, but as they develop bad things happen. YouTuber Jennifer Lynx (Solid Gold Aquatics) has stopped keeping goldfish due to their health issues. Philly Goldies (who's a vet by the way) also had lots of health issues with her goldfish. A quick note about Tisa's pet shop. It was owned by John Tisa, who was the brother-in-law to Antoinette Tisa a New Jersey opera singer. It was a great little pet shop. I used to love shopping there. I bought many a fish there over the years. My copy of Sterba's Freshwater Fishes of the World came from there.  

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2 hours ago, Fish Folk said:

I’d check out Mt Parnell Fisheries in south central PA. Being a huge goldfish farm, going for almost a century (since 1923), they should be able to at least advise you how to meet all your goldfish goals. 

One of the first fish wholesaler scenes I ever saw was shot at that fishery. It was a local PBS program on businesses in Pennsylvania and they were focused on the goldfish farm in the episode I watched. (This was many, many years ago.) They had sorting tables where five gallon buckets of fish were dumped as people sat around the sorting table sliding them around to the appropriate new bucket for bagging and distribution. I was used to fish being handled gently and gingerly and these large expensive goldfish were not being handled in that manner. When they brought them in from the ponds, the fish were in no water. The buckets were just literally filled with fish. They were dumped out on this big table and then just slid around to be sorted into new buckets that were set on the floor and they plopped down into those new buckets (also empty of water but full of fish.) When a bucket of sorted fish was full it was hauled off to a bagging station where a bag would be filled with fresh water, the appropriate number of sorted fish pulled from the bucket and dumped into the bag. The bag would then be filled with oxygen and sealed and set aside. It was eye-opening to see how fish were handled on the wholesale level. I marveled at the time that any lived through that kind of handling. Goldfish are tough little critters though. I wouldn't necessarily recommend a hobbyist do what they do on the wholesale level though. 

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6 minutes ago, gardenman said:

One of the first fish wholesaler scenes I ever saw was shot at that fishery. It was a local PBS program on businesses in Pennsylvania and they were focused on the goldfish farm in the episode I watched. (This was many, many years ago.) They had sorting tables where five gallon buckets of fish were dumped as people sat around the sorting table sliding them around to the appropriate new bucket for bagging and distribution. I was used to fish being handled gently and gingerly and these large expensive goldfish were not being handled in that manner. When they brought them in from the ponds, the fish were in no water. The buckets were just literally filled with fish. They were dumped out on this big table and then just slid around to be sorted into new buckets that were set on the floor and they plopped down into those new buckets (also empty of water but full of fish.) When a bucket of sorted fish was full it was hauled off to a bagging station where a bag would be filled with fresh water, the appropriate number of sorted fish pulled from the bucket and dumped into the bag. The bag would then be filled with oxygen and sealed and set aside. It was eye-opening to see how fish were handled on the wholesale level. I marveled at the time that any lived through that kind of handling. Goldfish are tough little critters though. I wouldn't necessarily recommend a hobbyist do what they do on the wholesale level though. 

Ditto for virtually everything hauled out of the Amazon.

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