Re: Local Pet stores(was:Stores in San Jose area)

[Zack J Wilson <aquamaniac@juno.com>]

There are about 3 or 4 pet shops within a distance I am willing to drive
to in my area which carry apistos. Only one, A World Of Fish, really has
any regular variety. AWOF may have panduro, agassizi, gibbiceps, hoignei,
trifasciata, and cacatuoides at any given time. The others, when they do
have some, have only one or two species. Unfortunately, they are all
outrageously priced. AWOF charges a pretty standard price of $20 and up
per fish, not pair, for any apisto they sell, and they're not always the
greatest quality I've seen. If I wanted a pair of something as common as
cacatuoides, I'd have to pay $40. I could just as easily order a pair
over the internet, pay the shipping, and still come out ahead. 

The problem here is that all of the wholesalers(pretty much the whole
fish industry here) are stuck in a rut. All they ever get are the old
stand-bys, the mom and pop platies etc. If a retail establishment wants
to get anything terribly unusual(which consequently most don't), they
have to order from outside sources. In the case of AWOF, they order many
of their Apistos direct from Europe, thus making their cost high, and
ours even higher.  Thus, I just don't touch the retailers around here
when it comes to fish.

Zack Wilson
St. Paul, MN
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