LFS in Tennessee (middle -western)

[Master Photographer]

I live near Jackson, Tennessee, and there are no LFS. The Petco and Petsmart are jokes, when it comes to fish. 

So … I’m looking for recommendations. Anything from Nashville to Memphis.

TIA

David

[Fish Folk]

There’s a small start-up called “Aquatics of Jackson” you could check out. I’m not local, but just looking through postings on Facebook.

My suggestion: Call first. Be sure of their schedule. Ask about shat they feature. If it sounds Ok, then go visit. Buy something you know you need … like water treatment, fish food, etc. Be a buying customer up front. Check everything they’ve got, and inquire about what their fish-order rhythm is like. Looks like a small start up. Typically they do some stuff well, but have lots to learn as well. 

There’s also a store called “Fishy Business” over in Lexington, TN. But that might be a haul for you to travel.

Edited April 28, 2022 by Fish Folk

[Tazalanche]

I like Aquatic Critter in Nashville, off Nolensville Road. They've been in business for many, many decades. We used to supply them with locally bred & raised endlers, ancistrus, discus, angelfish & assassin snails. When we shut down our breeding hobby (only paid for itself, never a profit), I think they started their own ancistrus breeding from the pairs we sold them. The pairs had marbled, longfin & albino traits.
We still go there often to check out their selection of driftwood, unusual plants & uncommon fish. They usually post their new arrivals on their website, but only do sales at the store.

[Master Photographer]

On 4/28/2022 at 12:20 PM, Fish Folk said:

There’s a small start-up called “Aquatics of Jackson” you could check out. I’m not local, but just looking through postings on Facebook.

My suggestion: Call first. Be sure of their schedule. Ask about shat they feature. If it sounds Ok, then go visit. Buy something you know you need … like water treatment, fish food, etc. Be a buying customer up front. Check everything they’ve got, and inquire about what their fish-order rhythm is like. Looks like a small start up. Typically they do some stuff well, but have lots to learn as well. 

There’s also a store called “Fishy Business” over in Lexington, TN. But that might be a haul for you to travel.

I went to Fishy Business, about a year ago, and unless they’ve made a huge change, it’s a dump. Cracked and broken tanks, dirt, cobwebs, the kind of place you feel the need to take a shower after leaving.

As for a Jackson LFS, there was one that closed a couple of years ago, but nothing new, that I’m aware of.

David

[Master Photographer]

On 4/28/2022 at 2:09 PM, Tazalanche said:

I like Aquatic Critter in Nashville, off Nolensville Road. They've been in business for many, many decades. We used to supply them with locally bred & raised endlers, ancistrus, discus, angelfish & assassin snails. When we shut down our breeding hobby (only paid for itself, never a profit), I think they started their own ancistrus breeding from the pairs we sold them. The pairs had marbled, longfin & albino traits.
We still go there often to check out their selection of driftwood, unusual plants & uncommon fish. They usually post their new arrivals on their website, but only do sales at the store.

I visited Aquatic Critters, and all I can say is WOW!!

They have a huge selection of freshwater, marine, and pond fish. As well as reptiles. When you walk in it doesn’t “smell” like a pet shop. Everything is neatly organized, and the staff is extremely knowledgeable, friendly, and helpful.

it’s over a two hour drive to get there, but I’ll gladly go back. 

It would be a great place for Cory to do a meet up, if he ever gets out this way.

Thanks for the tip.

David

[Tazalanche]

Excellent! I'm glad you liked it @Master Photographer !
It's 90 minutes each way for us, so we usually make a day of it.

Edited May 8, 2022 by Tazalanche

[DaveO]

Nashville traffic has gotten so bad I almost never go to Aquatic Critter any more. You can almost count on a traffic jam and stop and go traffic for an extra hour travel time any time you go. 

Before all this boom happened I would go there all the time. It is a great lfs.

[Master Photographer]

On 5/8/2022 at 2:51 PM, DaveO said:

Nashville traffic has gotten so bad I almost never go to Aquatic Critter any more. You can almost count on a traffic jam and stop and go traffic for an extra hour travel time any time you go. 

Before all this boom happened I would go there all the time. It is a great lfs.

I’ve found, mostly because the time coincided with my appointments with my surgeon, that mid-day, between 1:30 - 3:30, the traffic is bearable. 

I don’t know if that will help you DaveO, but thought I’d mention it.

David

[DaveO]

Thank you for that @Master Photographer. I'm always on the road earlier than that. Perhaps that's my problem. 

[Master Photographer]

I’m always willing to help, or at least try and help. 🙃

[anewbie]

I'm mixed on aquatic critter - don't get me wrong - it is probably the best lfs in middle tn -but they don't carry many of the less common fishes that interest me these days and they don't qt their fishes before selling them and that is a bit of an issue for myself given my mature aquariums. 

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As for getting to aq - i find traffic isn't bad at all if you go around 10:30 - 11:30 - 65s to harding and harding down to Nolensville Pike; takes about 15 min on a good day and 25 on a bad day. Now traffic anywhere on hillsboro road is a nightmare - i have to zip down it on sundays to friend house and it is bumper to bumper traffic from 9am till 4+pm.

 

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The petco in brentwood (off of franklin road by the intersection of 95/old hickory) is ok - or it was before the pandemic. I haven't been there in a year since i'm not buying fishes - but just before the pandemic i picked up my flash pleco for $10 and they had some well seasons oto i picked up - also some pygmy cory. Don't get me wrong - their fish section is small and they don't qt fishes - but they did keep the tanks clean and had someone there who knew what she was doing and would order interesting fishes (they also had elephant fishes for $20). Things might have changed - i  know during the pandemic they couldn't get a lot of things in stock and i stopped going. I would say that in terms of size - it is 1/10 or 1/20 the number of tanks as aquatic critter - so it is very small selection but what they had was cheap - yoyo were like $3 at the time (though some of them ended up being gold zebra - which turns out to be a common problem with petco - as they sell both fishes under the same name).

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Anyway kind of hoping someone would mention another decent store in middle tn area - i hear there is a decent store near knoxville but that is bit too far of a drive unless  it is really good (8 hour round trip; tn is a LONG state).

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Also i heard there was something down by chat near their aquarium but maybe that was just a myth.

Edited May 9, 2022 by anewbie

[Tazalanche]

On 5/9/2022 at 2:36 PM, anewbie said:

i hear there is a decent store near knoxville but that is bit too far of a drive unless  it is really good (8 hour round trip; tn is a LONG state).

Aquarium Knoxville is a terrible name for a fish store, but it is really nice & clean every time I've been there over the past decade. However, I won't drive the 3 hours each way that it takes me to go there. If you're into outdoor ponds, I feel they're the best in the state for their variety of pond plants and "outdoor fish" at a LFS.

When we go to Aquatic Critter, we are coming from the east, so we take I-40 to I-24 to Haywood, to Nolensville. Traffic is usually not an issue, as long as it's not weekday rush hour. They no longer do special orders, but they will keep an eye out for uncommon stuff you mention & post it on their website when they get it in. That's my only disappointment with them, because I used to special order almost everything I got from them. Since I QT everything I get, no matter the source, the store's QT policy did not bother me, because they had a good live guarantee. That being said their QT policy seems to have gone back & forth over the past few decades. For example, a couple months ago, my wife took the day off and drove the 90 minutes each way to pick up some stuff their website showed as a new arrival, but they would not sell to her because everything that arrived that day was in QT.

Exotic Tropicals in Cookeville is small, but pretty good too. The best thing about them is that they do their own QT before putting anything on the sales floor. They post their "just released from QT" list on FB.

Edited May 17, 2022 by Tazalanche