Olympia/Lacey fish stores?

Anyone can give me an idea of some stores in that area other than Petco, Petsmart and The Pet Works? I'm hopefully heading that way this weekend and want to browse around. I did go through the rate fish stores section and found two listed that both are closed now.

I believe Wild World Aquarium and Reptile is still around:

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And there's Aquarium Paradise if you're willing to drive about 25 minutes north to Lakewood.

Also.... deja vu? [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

wild world is there but fresh water selection is kind of limited, we really don't have much down here wild world is leaps and bounds above the rest and in my opinion it is even lacking a bit.

discus_2013 wrote:wild world is there but fresh water selection is kind of limited, we really don't have much down here wild world is leaps and bounds above the rest and in my opinion it is even lacking a bit.

   That is an accurate assessment.

Aquarium Paradise is worth the extra drive.

I know its a big box store, but I like the Petsmart store in Lacey. They used to be one of the few Petsmart that carried larger fish tanks in stock. I purchased a 5ft, 120 gallon from there. I dont know if they still carry the big tanks but the fish section was also pretty big compared to some of the others.

pbmax wrote:I believe Wild World Aquarium and Reptile is still around:

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And there's Aquarium Paradise if you're willing to drive about 25 minutes north to Lakewood.

Also.... deja vu?  http://www.wafishbox.com/t4832-olympia-lacey-aquarium-stores?highlight=lacey

Lol That was a while ago I'm not surprised that I don't remember.

I am going with my parents so I'll see if I can talk them into the extra 25 mins drive. I went to Wild World Aquaria a long time ago and it was decent then but not too much brag about other than the big puffer tank.

How is Aquarium Paradise's prices?

I like Lacey Petsmart as well. They used to have a guy in there that was awesome to work with and I'd go when he was there, very knowledgeable. But he left the store I believe.

AP's prices for fish are a bit higher than the box stores I think, but their stock is in better shape. They may be a bit cheaper on equipment than the box stores, I'm not sure. I bought my 1st (and largest) aquarium, its filter, and substrate there nearly 5 years ago.

I think Lacey petsmart recently reduced the size of their fish department slightly, though they may have just been rearranging (they were tearing down a section of tanks when I was there a month or two ago). I do like their new(ish) line of tissue culture plants (bagged, not the cylinders). They're spendy, but if you're fortunate to catch a new batch they're quite robust and there's a good variety of them. Equipment prices are abysmal, but that seems to be the norm with box stores.

I found Wild World Aquarium and Reptiles on FB and there hasn't been anything done since 2012. I wonder if they did close? And last Yelp post was in 2013.

pbmax wrote:AP's prices for fish are a bit higher than the box stores I think, but their stock is in better shape.  They may be a bit cheaper on equipment than the box stores, I'm not sure.  I bought my 1st (and largest) aquarium, its filter, and substrate there nearly 5 years ago.

I think Lacey petsmart recently reduced the size of their fish department slightly, though they may have just been rearranging (they were tearing down a section of tanks when I was there a month or two ago).  I do like their new(ish) line of tissue culture plants (bagged, not the cylinders).  They're spendy, but if you're fortunate to catch a new batch they're quite robust and there's a good variety of them.  Equipment prices are abysmal, but that seems to be the norm with box stores.

I have contacted Aquarium paradise to see if they have a barb I have been looking for. Good to know about Petsmart's plants. Last I was there they still just had the cylinder ones. That would suck if they were reducing down their stock size though :/

ShortyKiloGyrl wrote:I found Wild World Aquarium and Reptiles on FB and there hasn't been anything done since 2012. I wonder if they did close? And last Yelp post was in 2013.

I wouldn't count them out... give them a call in the afternoon to be sure. They're still on google maps and dexonline. The owner doesn't seem to care much about online presence.

ShortyKiloGyrl wrote:
I have contacted Aquarium paradise to see if they have a barb I have been looking for. Good to know about Petsmart's plants. Last I was there they still just had the cylinder ones. That would suck if they were reducing down their stock size though :/

All of the plants in this tank came from Lacey Petsmart (except the floaters in the filled photos):

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They're not cheap though... $7 or $8 a bag, I think.   

I guess that it would depend on the size of the plant if that cost is worth it. I am thinking about converting over my 75 gallon to planted so I can add more stock.

Each bag of crypts had 4 separate small plants.  The bags are about 5" wide maybe, 1" deep, 4" tall or so.  They're not very big...

BUT, guaranteed no snails or algae or anything like that.

Oh so when you break it down per plant cost it's not that bad then. Compared to my old LFS atleast.

Yeah, it's not bad compared with local prices, but the individual plants are quite a bit smaller than you'd typically buy from say florida aquatic gardens resellers.

Oh I have never heard of them! Now I'm going to have to look into them.

er... Florida Aquatic Nurseries. Lots of folks online resell their plants.

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Most of their stuff is grown emersed, hydroponically, in little plastic-framed rock-wool pots.

Cool. I'll have to take a look at their site and do some window shopping

ShortyKiloGyrl wrote:I found Wild World Aquarium and Reptiles on FB and there hasn't been anything done since 2012. I wonder if they did close? And last Yelp post was in 2013.

they had closed and reopened I was there a couple weeks ago.

Oh okay, definitely good to know! Thanks!