Where is best aquarium store in Brisbane? Cheap and Stocked

[kzdanze]

Where is the best aquarium store in Brisbane? I have been doing most of my purchases from Exotic Connections Rocklea near the Brisbane Markets.

But I find that store to be small and does not have any variety. Its stock is alright, but the variety is limited to the basic freshwater fish, and even lacks some of those. I live in the south west suburbs (Indooroopilly, Toowong) etc. I don't want to travel to the outer rural regions. Whilst on a holiday to melbourne, I visited the LFS, it was 80m long, underground store with so many tanks, so many varieties of fish, aswell as supplies etc. They even sold rare bettas for $25. The type you get imported for $40+. And it made me sad because I have never seen any shops like those in brisbane that I know of.

Also would like some cherry shrimp... any sellers close to those suburbs mentioned? reply below

Edited January 21, 2013 by kzdanze

[Matmatmat]

Pet city at mt gravatte isn't too far away and has bazillions of tanks, lots of dry goods also lots of marine stuff to drool at while your there.

[pk333]

Depends what you are after. Some stores specialize in different areas.

Let us know what you're after, and we'd have a better idea where to send you.

For dry goods, you can't beat forum sponsors Redlands Pet Center and Age of Aquariums.

The two stores I really like aren't forum sponsors unfortunately.

Also, get used to travelling. Some of the best stores aren't that central.

As for good quality fancy bettas at cheaper prices. Well my guess is they were possibly bred locally from good Thai stock, and a local hobbyist then sold them to (and possibly works for) the LFS.

[Supercobwe]

Depend what you want to buy.

For Live stocks/dry goods:

1. Red Land Pet Center (Redland)

2. Pet City (Upper Mt Gravatt)

3 Exotic Connection (Rocklea)

4. Smiths Aquariums (Deagon)

5. Aquarama (Stafford)

Aquarium products/dry goods:

1. Redland Pet Center

2. Age of Aquariums

3. Pet city

4. Exotic Connection

5. Smiths Aquarium

[Michael_M]

I wouldn't call Exotic Fish Connections freshwater fish "basic" by any means. I purchased Africans I had been searching for over a year there recently, and they had quite a few species I had not seen in any other pet store in the last 2 years.

All depends on what sort of fish you are searching for; Annerley, Smiths and Exotic for Malawians. Smiths always impresses me with their Tangs.

Pet City has a good variety of marine if that is your sort of thing, as well as good looking discus, L numbers ect.

[african-cichlids]

Well I reckon for service and products I'd go to Brian at clayfield aquariums. As soon as you walk in he's wanting to help out in every way possible. He doesn't have a great deal of cichlids but holds a fair few other freshwater species. He specialises in marine, has a great selection of marine products and live stuff but also has a great deal of knowledge all round. I live in Alexandra hills (bayside-southeast brisbane) and I don't mind travelling 30mins to him because I no il get the help I need.

[african-cichlids]

It's always a bonus talking to an owner operated shop thay help you out a lot. I found at pet city I had a guy come up and ask if I needed help. I said yer mate I'm needing to no some stuff about marine fish. I asked the question and he answered it. After he gave me the anwer I said do u have marine tanks yourself which he said no. Now how can someone give information on marine stuff if that've never had a marine setup just worked in a pet shop that sells marine. That's my opinion if you ask information about marine or cichlids or whatever you don't expect someone to feed you information that's never delt with that specific aquarium type. It's just like me telling you how to fix your car but iv never done it before I was just told that's the way and hope to god it's right.

[aquaaddict]

Where is the best aquarium store in Brisbane? I have been doing most of my purchases from Exotic Connections Rocklea near the Brisbane Markets.

But I find that store to be small and does not have any variety. Its stock is alright, but the variety is limited to the basic freshwater fish, and even lacks some of those. I live in the south west suburbs (Indooroopilly, Toowong) etc. I don't want to travel to the outer rural regions. Whilst on a holiday to melbourne, I visited the LFS, it was 80m long, underground store with so many tanks, so many varieties of fish, aswell as supplies etc. They even sold rare bettas for $25. The type you get imported for $40+. And it made me sad because I have never seen any shops like those in brisbane that I know of.

Also would like some cherry shrimp... any sellers close to those suburbs mentioned? reply below

it simply blows me away the attitude and mindset of some people. you want a shop that is extremely well stocked but you want it cheap too? do you think they buy and stock fish out of the kindness of their hearts? its a business venture and they have overheads and costs to cover, ...im sure likewise they wouldnt mind uprooting a complete store and relocate to your back door step for your convienience, nothing would be further from their minds. your a consumer, you know what you want...heres the secret, make the effort and get out there and find what your looking for...life isn't served on a platter as much as you might wish.

[mq_camo]

There's heaps around in brissy, I regularly do the drive from the coast and do the rounds. In terms of stock, well it all depends on what you are after, in terms of cheap, well I'm a firm believer in "you get what you pay for". Smiths and exotics' at rocklea are always going to be winners. Decent quality at smiths and exotics and the people in the shop are full of info. If there is something specific you are after you can't beat good old qldaf. Heaps of people on here with an incredible amount of knowledge also

[tutters187]

Haven't been into Aquarama for awhile but they did have a good variety when I was last there.

The only LFS I frequent is AWESOME, just ask me

[Sacrilicious]

It's always a bonus talking to an owner operated shop thay help you out a lot. I found at pet city I had a guy come up and ask if I needed help. I said yer mate I'm needing to no some stuff about marine fish. I asked the question and he answered it. After he gave me the anwer I said do u have marine tanks yourself which he said no. Now how can someone give information on marine stuff if that've never had a marine setup just worked in a pet shop that sells marine. That's my opinion if you ask information about marine or cichlids or whatever you don't expect someone to feed you information that's never delt with that specific aquarium type. It's just like me telling you how to fix your car but iv never done it before I was just told that's the way and hope to god it's right.

I think I sort of get your point - its MUCH better to go somewhere that has a person who is informed and can answer your questions, and hell driving to get that information is definitely worth it.

However, that being said I think how informed someone is on a subject depends on the amount of training you have, rather than just owning that particular object, and it could also be very specific to the type of question you were asking. For example... if a guy was a mechanic and all he did all day was repair peoples cars, and he had read many books, taken automotive courses and had 25 years experience fixing cars, but did not own a car or drive, then I'd be happy to ask him what might be wrong with my car, and how to go about repairing it.... but I wouldn't really care for his opinion on what driving was like.

I'll agree with you fully (because I've been to that store and some of the staff seem totally confused even about freshwater setups) the guy you asked didn't own a marine tank, and its pretty likely he didn't know anything about the subject - but you have to admit with the right training it could be possible to know about marine tanks and not actually own one. What if that guy had set up all the store's tanks, maintained them all on a daily basis and worked at the marina for 35 years... but couldn't have a fish tank in his current home because he was recovering from his affliction with MTS? (LOL, very unlikely.. but you get the idea).

I'll also add it is pet peeve of mine when a store person or someone PRETENDS to know an answer to a question I'm asking, or makes something up, when a simple, "im not sure" or "i dont know" or "ive never done that before" or "lets go and ask my co-worker who might have some idea" would be MUCH better. I'd rather have someone tell me they aren't sure, than feed me the wrong information!

I also dislike when store people look at whatever im buying and say that they "just brought that one" and they "really like it" or "it works so well" as if them having brought the same thing will make me want to purchase it more?? Really?? You just happened to have purchased this exact filter wool this week? What are the odds? pffft!

Edited January 23, 2013 by Sacrilicious

[africanman79]

You sound like a very difficult customer.

Personally I like atlas, pet city & smiths, but frequent alot more.

Pete.

[Betta]

Every LFS has its good & bad points, some have better this & others have better that, you've just got to do the leg work & go & see for yourself, also some people might think this shop is good & you think it's cr@p. Everybody has there own opinion & it will always differ to yours in some way, even this post, you may or may not agree with what I'm saying, your choice

[Lippa]

I buy all my livestock from Hung, at Red Dragon Aquatic, ashridge rd Darra. He stocks most of your common species as well as hybrids natives ect. Most importantly, his no bull**** advice is valuable. For dry Hung has a good range, but most of the forum sponsors have more variety and better prices on some items. Pet city is my fav of the Big stores, followed closely by smiths.

[DeadFishFloating]

It's always a bonus talking to an owner operated shop thay help you out a lot. I found at pet city I had a guy come up and ask if I needed help. I said yer mate I'm needing to no some stuff about marine fish. I asked the question and he answered it. After he gave me the anwer I said do u have marine tanks yourself which he said no. Now how can someone give information on marine stuff if that've never had a marine setup just worked in a pet shop that sells marine. That's my opinion if you ask information about marine or cichlids or whatever you don't expect someone to feed you information that's never delt with that specific aquarium type. It's just like me telling you how to fix your car but iv never done it before I was just told that's the way and hope to god it's right.

lol

looking after that many marine tanks EVERY DAY and being exposed to constantly changing species = knowing a heck of a lot more about marine than those who are constrained to a single tank and the same stock.

The advantage of going to a pet shop that has a TEAM of staff, is that they all have a specialty area. Come into Age of Aquariums and talk to Tim about plants and you will get answers that I simply cannot give. But ask me about Peacocks and the boss usually has to come down and taze me to shut me up.

The only fish nerd on the planet that knows everything about fish is named GOOGLE and they work for themselves.

If a good LFS worker does not know the answer to your question, then they will try find it out, so NEXT TIME they sound like a guru.

For marine at pet city I like Brett.

Because he looks like that guy out of the IT CROWD

and he likes game of thrones.

but then again I am the sort of person that takes books into a lfs

so I can check what julian has to say about the coral before I buy it.

[drarcon]

There is only two stores in brisbane for live stock exotic fish connections ....ray and kev know lots and will help you make the right decision..and pet city with a gang of staff with something like 30 yrs experience they won't sell you anything unless you need it...if you make a wrong decision ..Matt will talk you outta a whole lot of pain keep up the great work at pet city and exotic fish cons....ps welcome aboard Gavin back to where he began

[Saffa]

I just looked at this thread ...... it was kzdanze's first post onto the forum and is a junior member ,,,,,, hope his questions were answered and he has been enlightened.

I recently also sat down with the yellow pages and mapped out Pet shops in Brisbane and surrounding areas, found some very disappointing, and some amazing.

Couple that were left off the list worth visiting on Brisbane south side were City Farmers (esp Capalaba store and Beenleigh), Nielsons Aquarium (Native plant nursery) Loganholm, Aquarium Warehouse (Compton rd Underwood), Fishchicks (Annerley) for imported Betta, Guppies, Angles,etc, Annerley aquarium (old cleaveland rd Coorparoo) and don't know the name of it but 240 Montegue Rd Westend for Aust Natives.

The big ones such as Redlands Pet Centre, Pet City, Smith's Aquarium, Aquarama, Exotic fish Connections and Age of Aquariums (for dry goods) worth a visit as well.

BTW welcome to kzdanze and well done for his first post ....... Always good to see ,,,,, honesty

Enjoy

[african-cichlids]

That's just my experience with pet city I mean I still go there thay have great dry goods. It just annoys me like sacrilicious said that some people try to answer a question thay don't fully understand which has given me that feeling about the pet shops advice in the first place. Anyway just own opinions like anything

[Gringox]

Redlands Pet Centre is great. Good range and they always have helpful advice and talk you out of buying un-needed items. Not to mention great prices for a LFS. City Farmers Capalaba is pretty big and has a good range but prices aren't crash hot. It all depends on what you are looking for really.

[mickjohnson86]

Just went to exotic fish connections at Rocklea today for the first time and holy s*^t it is unreal. It is by far the best aquarium for live stock I myself have ever been to. The range and price were both sensational. Some awesome display tanks. Lucky I don't live near it or I would be broke with the best tanks ever

[chazycraig]

I just looked at this thread ...... it was kzdanze's first post onto the forum and is a junior member ,,,,,, hope his questions were answered and he has been enlightened.

I recently also sat down with the yellow pages and mapped out Pet shops in Brisbane and surrounding areas, found some very disappointing, and some amazing.

Couple that were left off the list worth visiting on Brisbane south side were City Farmers (esp Capalaba store and Beenleigh), Nielsons Aquarium (Native plant nursery) Loganholm, Aquarium Warehouse (Compton rd Underwood), Fishchicks (Annerley) for imported Betta, Guppies, Angles,etc, Annerley aquarium (old cleaveland rd Coorparoo) and don't know the name of it but 240 Montegue Rd Westend for Aust Natives.

The big ones such as Redlands Pet Centre, Pet City, Smith's Aquarium, Aquarama, Exotic fish Connections and Age of Aquariums (for dry goods) worth a visit as well.

BTW welcome to kzdanze and well done for his first post ....... Always good to see ,,,,, honesty

Enjoy

i believe the one on montague rd is mappins nursery, great place in my opinion.

[Mitch86]

Just went to exotic fish connections at Rocklea today for the first time and holy s*^t it is unreal. It is by far the best aquarium for live stock I myself have ever been to. The range and price were both sensational. Some awesome display tanks. Lucky I don't live near it or I would be broke with the best tanks ever [/

What are you buying now mate? We will have to Go into partnership and set one up in toowoomba

[JayPee]

Just went to exotic fish connections at Rocklea today for the first time and holy s*^t it is unreal. It is by far the best aquarium for live stock I myself have ever been to. The range and price were both sensational. Some awesome display tanks. Lucky I don't live near it or I would be broke with the best tanks ever

We love going there to see Kev and Ray the absolutley crack us up.

But I do like going to Smiths and Pet city too.

JP

[mickjohnson86]

Haven't been to Smiths yet JP but will definitely check it out next time I'm in Brissy. Pet city is always good for a look. I was just blown away with both range and price of livestock at Exotic.

[grubby]

i believe the one on montague rd is mappins nursery, great place in my opinion.

I am a big fan of Mappins you can't beat them for Rainbows and price, I love exotic for dry goods and catfish and a laugh. Other than that, Fishchicks have really interesting stuff, except for Rainbows, but I find them really pricey . Annerley Aquarium is ok too. I wish I could get to Smiths more often. I don't bother with the big chains as they are always way over priced on everything and the Rainbows are poor quality. Out of curiosity I went to one of the Orange ones on the Southside the other week and walked out after 2 minutes. I think we have a shortage of quality aquarium shops here in Brisbane compared to Sydney and Melbourne. We need a few more shops like Smiths to lift the standard if you ask me. It would be great if Smith had a southside branch !!! Oh and Nielsens are amazing for Marines.