Ahh, family owned LFS :)

[wildmagic713]

I went into my LFS today, because they also sell crickets and things like that for reptiles, but it's mostly fish, because I wanted to see if they had any Bettas.

There was only one. In the entire store. In a mini-bow (One of the desktop ones, I think it's 2.5 gallons). With plants. And a filter. And he was a red super delta and looked gorgeous.

They have a couple hundred bays for fish, and we buy all our fish from them, and they always last for a really long time. They take such amazing care of every fish there.

God I love people who take care of fish.

I can't get any Bettas till next weekend at the earliest, but once I can I want to go back and check and see if he's still there.

And my PetCo had some beautiful butterfly halfmoons that were looking awesome, so I may go nab one of those too. The water was crystal clear in all the cups for them, and they didn't seem too uncomfortable. My local PetCo actually cares for their Bettas.

[Luimeril]

i adore smaller pet stores. that's about how my lps is. :3 not family-owned, but just about everyone who works there cares for the animals alot more than most chain stores. when i went back to get Theo his Replacement 2.5, i told the guy who sold him to me about his partial blindness, and the guy seemed a bit upset about it. he seemed to really care about the little guy! he tried to make the transfer from tank to cup as stress-free as possible on little Theo, too. :3

[Pekemom]

I've got to find a local LFS store here in Central Florida. I had two in SE Florida when I lived there. The fish were beautiful and well-cared for. Both shops took back fish when they outgrew your current tank and you could trade them in. I did that with my freshwater clown loaches. Over the years, they got HUGE!! They also had big koi and turtles, too.

[wildmagic713]

Awww :) I'm hoping the Betta will still be there in a week and a half when I can get my new ones, and if he's not I hope they have another one, cause I know a fish from them will live for a long time- every fish we've bought from them has. Our guppies from them are prolific breeders :P We've had them in the same tank for about 7 years and they just keep breeding, and the guys are so beautiful, they're practically neon because of all the inbreeding, but there are no genetic defects.

We have a clown loach. We've had him for like 4 years, I believe. He's only about 2.5 inches long.

[Luimeril]

so far, i've seen no genetic defects in any bettas i get from Pet Lover's. Theo's blindness is the worst i've come across, and it's not their fault, or the breeder's fault. they seem to get their bettas from a good breeder, too. :3

[wildmagic713]

Well the ones we have are like the 1029509392709263 generation since we bought the first few, and there's now like 40 in a 20 gallon (No worries, it's filtered and gets regular water changes as per usual, plus they tend to swing- there's population spikes then it drops then it spikes again as it has for forever :P).

They're gorgeous though. I love that store, so helpful!

[wallywestisthebest333]

That LFS sounds like A DREAM! <3 <3 <3 <3

I'd try to buy the tank and everything including the fish if I could! :'D That'd be AMAZING! <3

I've gotta find one in DC. :/ I found one in Alexandria online but I've never been to Alexandria before and I don't know if I could get anyone to go with me. :[

I wish I had a car! >n<

[wildmagic713]

http://www.elmersaquarium.com/

That would be the store :) They don't mention Bettas on their site, but that's because they don't have them consistently.