AJE Posted June 7, 2021 Share Posted June 7, 2021 What are the most popular states for the freshwater aquarium hobby? If I were to guess I’d say Ohio Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lefty o Posted June 7, 2021 Share Posted June 7, 2021 i wouldnt even venture a guess, other than to say fishkeeping is likely more common in urban/suburban areas than rural. mainly due to the availability of fish stores. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GameCzar Posted June 7, 2021 Share Posted June 7, 2021 Seems like saltwater is King in my area (Texas near Gulf Coast). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Goatee Posted June 7, 2021 Share Posted June 7, 2021 Florida, at least central Florida, is dominated by salt water as best I can tell. At least on Google search results around Orlando as I’ve looked, there is only one dedicated freshwater mom and pop in like 30 miles for me. Another is half fresh and half salt, but they rarely have anything different than a Petsmart or Petco on freshwater. They are also a bit cichlid heavy. Many salt water only stores in same radius. Which stinks to me. I don’t care for the beach or beach culture and I don’t want to keep salt water fish. At least the dedicated store has just about any community tank fish you’d want, in addition to the bigger fellas. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Posted June 9, 2021 Share Posted June 9, 2021 By my count of forum members who have stated where they live: Ohio - 16 Texas - 18 Florida - 21 Washington -37 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steph’s Fish and Plants Posted June 9, 2021 Share Posted June 9, 2021 I used to live in Texas and I didn’t know much about the hobby, but now that I’ve moved to Michigan and gotten really deep into, there’s 4 LFS within an hour of my house in Texas, lots of both freshwater and saltwater fish keepers from Texas that I’ve come across on Tiktok and Instagram. I currently live in Michigan and I work at my LFS, and I’d say there’s a pretty strong presence of the hobby in Michigan. My LFS is fresh and salt, but each side is the same size and has its own staff, and the store itself is pretty huge, with a reptile/small animals section and a bird section, each with their own staff as well. There’s also several fish stores in other bigger cities in other parts of the state that I’m going to try and visit this summer. I will say though that the upper peninsula of Michigan is a much different story and pretty desolate of any pet stores, much less local fish stores. I think @lefty o made a pretty good guess on it being relatively more popular in more populated areas than in rural ones, likely because of availability and closeness, as well as building stability. I think ponds might skew that a bit though since rural areas are more likely to have enough land for bigger ponds. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Posted June 9, 2021 Share Posted June 9, 2021 1 minute ago, Steph’s Fish and Plants said: I currently live in Michigan and I work at my LFS, and I’d say there’s a pretty strong presence of the hobby in Michigan. Michigan - 14 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DSH OUTDOORS Posted June 9, 2021 Share Posted June 9, 2021 Don't forget about us Minnesotan's!!!! We have quiet a few great options within an hour of the metro area. I think options are pretty limited outstate though besides the big box pet stores. The long cold snowy winters and the COVID lockdowns are what got me back into the hobby. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardenman Posted June 9, 2021 Share Posted June 9, 2021 New Jersey has some pretty good representation here and we had a gazillion good local and not so local fish stores in my younger days, but the Petsmarts and Petcos have killed most of them. New people entering the hobby have much less choice these days. There was a good fish store in most small to medium sized towns and multiple ones in the bigger cities. You'd learn a lot from those running the stores. They were good people who truly cared about the fish and didn't just view them as stock they had to move. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Betsy Posted June 9, 2021 Share Posted June 9, 2021 I am always delighted when I find a fellow North Carolinian on the forum! 😜👍 It would be fun to have a counter on a world map to know where people on the forum live! 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CosmicAshhole Posted June 9, 2021 Share Posted June 9, 2021 I cannot be the only one from California... We have a pretty big local pet store... They do more than fish but their fish selection is HUGE. Other than that the only LFS I've found is mostly just bettas and the others are salt water. Womp womp for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sudofish Posted June 10, 2021 Share Posted June 10, 2021 Representing West Virginia. There might be 1 or 2 more people in the whole state that have heard of the co-op. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Posted June 10, 2021 Share Posted June 10, 2021 North Carolina - 15 New Jersey - 6 California - 30 West Virginia - 2 (including @sudofish) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJE Posted June 10, 2021 Author Share Posted June 10, 2021 I am in Kentucky I know of a couple fish stores and a few mom and pop pet stores. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Posted June 10, 2021 Share Posted June 10, 2021 8 hours ago, AJE said: I am in Kentucky I know of a couple fish stores and a few mom and pop pet stores. Kentucky - 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Streetwise Posted June 10, 2021 Share Posted June 10, 2021 I think we have six members from Vermont that I know of. Not bad, per capita! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChemBob Posted June 10, 2021 Share Posted June 10, 2021 Louisiana. I know the LFS I am aware of tend to have a mix of fresh and salt, so I'd say it's a mix here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandra the fish rookie Posted June 10, 2021 Share Posted June 10, 2021 12 hours ago, Betsy said: fellow North Carolinian @Betsy I am in Wilmington NC. We have 2 LFS that have some freshwater fish but a lot of salt water. Where in NC are you? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Posted June 10, 2021 Share Posted June 10, 2021 11 minutes ago, ChemBob said: Louisiana. I know the LFS I am aware of tend to have a mix of fresh and salt, so I'd say it's a mix here. Louisiana - 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H.K.Luterman Posted June 10, 2021 Share Posted June 10, 2021 There's a handful of us Alabamians I see pop up now and then. Basements are rare here, and that's the theory I hear most often as as to why the hobby isn't as popular here as other states. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Posted June 10, 2021 Share Posted June 10, 2021 3 minutes ago, H.K.Luterman said: There's a handful of us Alabamians I see pop up now and then. Basements are rare here, and that's the theory I hear most often as as to why the hobby isn't as popular here as other states. Alabama - 10 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lefty o Posted June 10, 2021 Share Posted June 10, 2021 state of confusion is the hands down winner! 😎 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Betsy Posted June 10, 2021 Share Posted June 10, 2021 8 hours ago, Sandra the fish rookie said: @Betsy I am in Wilmington NC. We have 2 LFS that have some freshwater fish but a lot of salt water. Where in NC are you? Nice!!! I have family in Brunswick County! I live in Charlotte! There are two LFS close to where I live that carry both fresh and salt water fish. I'd really like to go visit the new one out in Belmont - I just haven't made it out there yet! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dwayne Brown Posted June 10, 2021 Share Posted June 10, 2021 In western washington there are so many petcos and petsmart that are relatively well managed. As well as an abundance of lfs including the aquarium coop Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goosedub Posted June 10, 2021 Share Posted June 10, 2021 (edited) I live In Chicago. It’s hard to get a sense of the popularity here. There aren’t as many LFSs as I would expect. They also seem to be Cichlids or saltwater heavy. I have one that does a really good job with plants and community fish that I like to go to. That being said I don’t venture to the suburbs much so there may be more out there. Edited June 10, 2021 by Goosedub Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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