The Fish Room
1920 Fayetteville Rd.
Van Buren, AR 72956
The first stop was Bill McQuade's store. Of the three stores, this one was the largest and had the best selection. The livestock was in great shape. The store was a bit larger than our local shops. We had a good time chatting with Bill and bought a few things. I picked up a pair of kribs and a plant yet to be identified (probably a Najas spp.). Michael bought a few things, too, including some black ruby barbs. They had some combtails (Belontia hasselti), which is something you don't see often. I found several fish species to photograph. Bill is mulling over the idea of putting a "big" store in Fayetteville. So we can only hope that we might have even more places to shop in the future.
World Wide Pets
1307 Fayetteville Rd.
Van Buren, AR 72956
Our second stop was at a pet shop just down the street. World Wide Pets' fish room was sized similarly to those of our local shops, but they had additional space devoted to pets and dog grooming. They had some really nice American flagfish. Michael snagged a pair after I snagged photos of them. Flounders were in stock. Don Jones, the owner, was very friendly. We chatted with him for a bit and he showed us a deer fawn they had in the store. (They do wild animal rehab for the state, along with their pet business.) Very cute! Michael was surprised to see prairie dogs for sale. I clued him in on how much fun they are and what cool pets they make. I took a few more photos.
Just Fish Aquatics
7320 Rogers Ave, #29
Fort Smith, AR 72903
Our third stop was at another store devoted strictly to aquariums and fish. It was a bit smaller than our local shops, but we again found interesting fish. There were some really unusual fancy guppies that were solid bright yellow on the rear half and powder blue on the front half. The poor males had no females to hound, so were hornily chasing each other.
Michael and I drooled over the bright red serpae tetras that were in stock. They were of an especially deeply colored strain that you don't see a lot. It's a good thing that I had no where to put them or I would have spent more money and bought them all. I bought a few unusual sea shells for my collection and, of course, found a few things to photograph.All in all, we had a good time and it was well worth the trip. Each of the stores had something to offer-- and we ended up spending some money at each. We also dropped off posters for our upcoming meeting, so maybe we'll get some new members out of the trip!