Hillstreams in Petland

[mikev]

This may be of interest for those in Petland dominated areas, like NY.

Petland seems to have a fixed list of "approved species", for loaches these are
Clowns
Kubotai's
Dojo's
Kuhli's (regular kind)
Horsefaces
Modesta's
(I think this is the complete list)
Never any hillstreams until today: but I just saw a tank full of "HK Plecos". Now, these were merely Beaufortia's, but even Beaufortia shipments have occasional interesting contaminants... So if you have any Petland's around, this may be worthwhile checking.

The animals, incidentally, were in great shape.

[Jim Powers]

I got my first hillstream (a beaufortia) in a Petland in Terre Haute, Indiana. I have seen H. smithi in the same store once or twice, but not for many years. I'll have to check it out next time I am in the area.

[Martin Thoene]

My local Big Als has "HK Plecos" in at present. Beaufortia with a few Sinogastromyzon wui mixed in. Very patchy looking shipment of fish unfortunately.

Martin.

[grizzlyone]

I just found an Aquarium Adventure which connects with Petland in one of the stores in the chicago area(schaumburg). They had hillstreams which I'm currently trying to identify as "Borneo Sucker Loaches". They are running $6.99. If you give them $19.95 a year or $49.95 lifetime to join their "fish club" then you get 25% off of regular livestock prices. This is different that the free Petland "Club Pet" card which gives you 10% off of all regularly priced fish.

The AA shop had clowns of course, horsefaces, the aforementioed Borneo suckers striata, and interestingly enough, sids. The sids were $14.95 each as opposed to $39 each at one of the other LFS specialty shops. Thats before the 25% off too. I also saw dojos, tiger,blue botias and others.

The AA was amazing. They had a grotto with a couple 500 gallon tanks that were decked out with interesting rocks and driftwood. They had a good number of "biotope" tanks including a tank of mostly rocks with holes.


The assortment of fish was amazing. They also had an amazing selection of live plants as well..

I could have moved in there.

I'm thinking the "borneo suckers" are either Gastromyzon ctenocephalus or Gastromyzon scitulus since I see the blue in the tail...we just haven't been secure enough to show Kevin the unfurled tail.


I also went to my regular Petland and they had a tank that said "Butterfly Plecos", but I don't think they are seweilla. This is where I got the Homaloptera zollingeri.


I guess I'm a sucker. I bought the lifetime fish club thing. LOL. anyone want to share? <G>


Kevin

[mikev]

Very interesting, Kevin, thanks for mentioning this.

Aquarium Adventure is the Petland's superstore project. It is supposed to have much better choices. There are only four of them:
Long Island, NY
Columbus, OH
Cleveland, OH
Hoffman Estates, IL
I've been intending for a while to check the one in NY (it is not all that close), you made it sound like it is worth doing. Neither Sids nor Striata were ever seen in many Petlands visited over the years, and in fact I asked a couple of stores to check Striata only to get the answer that it never appears on any Petland's lists... (I was hunting Striata for about a year).

Of course, it may be that Petlands in other areas have different lists....

[zmo63]

my understanding was that each petland is a privately owned franchise. We have three in Atlanta. One is terrible, one is ok, and the other serves as one of the best fish stores in Atl. I got my six sids there for $10 each. The manager gave them to me half price because he said they'd been there longer than he had, and he wasn't planning on ordering any more.

No other interesting loaches there, but he did have some celestial pearl danios that he was very excited about. Anyway, the way he talked indicated to me that individual stores have a lot of control as to what fish they stock.

[Jim Powers]

I was close to both of the Aquarium Adventure store locations in Ohio last weekend. I wish I had known about them then.

[adam]

Is the Petlands in other areas the same petland as in the ny area? The ones here are Petland Discounts so they may be different outfits. Ive been to the one on long island last year. I had seen in Newsday they were having a buy one get one free on all live stock so i went to check it out with daguar on a saturday morning. Big place and just like Grizz explained. I was really impressed with the Biotope tanks and made an offer of some Geos in one of them but they wouldent sell them. I dont really remember what Loaches they had. I do remember they had a nice variety of plants including some pretty big Aponogetans and not a word was said about bringing the dog in. Was a nice ride and half day for a saturday.

[mpeterb]

I actually just bought 5 hillstreams at my local petland yesterday for $3.99 each. Beaufortia's, yes, but I'm still excited whenever I see any hillstream loaches. These too were labeled HK pleco's.

[mikev]

I actually just bought 5 hillstreams at my local petland yesterday for $3.99 each. Beaufortia's, yes, but I'm still excited whenever I see any hillstream loaches. These too were labeled HK pleco's.

Same thing as I saw, also $3.99

Is the Petlands in other areas the same petland as in the ny area?

It appears, no. NY area stores are not privately owned, and they all work off the same internal supply list.

[Chia]

Jim Powers, are you a Hoosier too? Greetings, my brother! I graduated from Indiana State a couple of years ago, married an Englishman and moved straight out to the UK. We're looking to move back soonish, although I am not looking forward to giving up my sewellia tank!

I love how Petland in Terre Haute is open so late...here in England you're lucky to find a pet or fish shop open till 6pm.

[Jim Powers]

Yes, Chia, I am a native Hoosier and an ISU grad like yourself.
Its nice to see another person with Indiana connections on this site. There aren't too many of us.
If you do move back and have to give up the Sewellia, you can probably pick some up at my favorite fish store, Aquarium World in Lafayette. They have them quite often.

[Chia]

Yes, Chia, I am a native Hoosier and an ISU grad like yourself.
Its nice to see another person with Indiana connections on this site. There aren't too many of us.
If you do move back and have to give up the Sewellia, you can probably pick some up at my favorite fish store, Aquarium World in Lafayette. They have them quite often.

Thanks for the Aquarium World tip. I only got into fishkeeping after moving to England, so I know very little about where to look for fish in the Hoosierland (beyond the usual pet stores).

[mikev]

And now for the real aggravation time...

I was going to get a few of them myself today...there was a group in another store I've been watching for a while and it looked good. When I got to the store, there were many more Beaufortia's than last time...they got a new shipment and put it into the same tank. With massive patchy disease......and I'm pretty sure it is infectious, not the other forms seen.

Darrrrn.

When the fish was healthy, I did not have a qtank,...when I have a qtank, this had to happen.