Poll: Distance to Your Favorite LFS?

dbl · Nov 3, 2017

Since we are going in to a weekend and stopping by your favorite LFS to check out what's new is so irresistible, thought it might be fun to see just how far you are willing to travel to get to your favorite LFS. Also curious if you pass by others to get to the store of your choice.

jboone82590 · Nov 3, 2017

dbl said:
Since we are going in to a weekend and stopping by your favorite LFS to check out what's new is so irresistible, thought it might be fun to see just how far you are willing to travel to get to your favorite LFS. Also curious if you pass by others to get to the store of your choice.

I have 3 LFSs close by within 20 or 30 min. I drive over an hour to STL MO to go to the LFSs there.

DSC reef · Nov 3, 2017

World wide corals! We leave Brevard county just to go visit Josh and the crew. Always great and friendly service as well.

Labridaedicted · Nov 3, 2017

I've got 2 faves, one for prices and one for quality. The cheaper one is like 45 or 50 miles. The high quality one is about 10-15 miles. I pass a handful of stores to get to either of these.

jbow50 · Nov 3, 2017

1 lfs 30 minutes away. Not really worth the trip unless im in that area.

b3ja · Nov 3, 2017

Have about 6 nearby over here.. the closest took me about 10 minutes driving. Lol

Krzydmnd · Nov 3, 2017

I drive an hour and a half to go to my favorite here in PA, passing by one that has gone down hill drastically in the past 10 years.

I don't mind one bit. It's a fun day trip and there is a bottle shop in the same strip so I load up on beer too.

It's always hard not to keep peeking in the box on my way home!

andrewkw · Nov 3, 2017

All my favorite Lfs are 400+ miles away. The closest one is about half that distance. Depressing just typing that. I used to live within 20 mins of 6 or so reef shops and within an hour of 12+. Now I only get to go shopping a couple of times a year. If you ever think about moving somewhere that doesn't have any reef shops I'd advise against it!

Mr. Bill · Nov 3, 2017

I have one favorite because they QT everything and treat as needed. They're approximately 16 miles away. I pass 3 others, including one that's directly across the highway from my house.

jd371 · Nov 3, 2017

I'm fortunate to have a really good shop just 10 minutes from my work. It's one of three shops I go to on a regular basis, all of them are within 20-30 minutes from my house. There are a few other shops worth going to but are a little bit further away so those I save for weekend trips or if I'm in the area.

want2bsleepy · Nov 3, 2017

We have to drive to another state to reach any. Thankfully, the closest one, which happens to be our favorite, is only an hour away. There are about 5 others within another 30 minutes of that.

Crabs McJones · Nov 3, 2017

My favorite one closes to me is about 68 miles away. I have to go from Fond du Lac, down to Milwaukee

Amps Reef Life · Nov 3, 2017

My favorite store is 52 or so miles away I pass by multiple other fish stores. It's my go-to place for fish If I need something quick I'll stop by the store that's only a few miles away.

twistedfinn967 · Nov 3, 2017

No poll option for "Don't have one"? Mine went out of business. Any at least decent stores are well over an hour away.

Fin · Nov 3, 2017

Wait, are we counting PetCo? If so, I will have to change my vote.

HippieSmell · Nov 3, 2017

I think maybe anything over 30 miles away qualifies as a remote fish store, not local.

Labridaedicted · Nov 3, 2017

HippieSmell said:
I think maybe anything over 30 miles away qualifies as a remote fish store, not local.

I think it's relative. My commute is over 50 miles each way, so I consider anything under 50 local, haha

Caseyoidae · Nov 3, 2017

I don't really have one either, I'd say craigslist and the sales threads on here are my favorite

S-t-r-e-t-c-h · Nov 3, 2017

The closest LFS here in town has a decent selection of tanks & dry goods but I don't think I'd ever buy a fish there. It's sad really, the fish look terrible. There's another smaller store a little farther out (maybe 5 miles from here) that I'd buy corals from, for sure. They just moved their location and their fish still looked questionable, but I'll hold final judgement until the store is resettled. I still stop in both regularly though, just to peruse what's new.

For me though, my best LFS options are to stop in the Orlando stores (~2 hours away) on my monthly trips down to Miami for work...

Beardo · Nov 3, 2017

I have a favorite for fish at 49 miles and a favorite for corals at 61 miles. There are closer stores but worth the drive for me. The distance wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't for Bay Area traffic.