Green Valley Aquariums

A while back I did a review on a pet store that generated some feedback. In fact, it is the ONLY review I have ever done that generated feedback. In part I think it was because my rating of the store was very low. However, I do believe it was warranted. The best thing that came out of the review was an email from a fish hobbyist who lived in the same area and recommended that I visit another aquarium store. So one weekend while visiting family in Southern Utah, I made the 5 hour round trip trek to Las Vegas to see what was so special about this store. It was well worth the visit.

In all my years of being in the aquarium hobby (18?), I’ve never seen so many arrowana in my life! If you are anywhere near this store and want an arrowana, this is the place to get it! Both Asian and American species were available. I believe there were 5 species, but I might have missed one. In any event, I don’t back hobbyists buying arrowanas as they are too large for almost any aquarium. However, it does give a good quick show of what the selection of fish was like. The store is very strong in African cichlids and tetras. The Gourami and American cichlid sections were on the poor side. As with most any aquarium store, it really depends on what you want, but no matter what you are looking for, they are a good place to shop. The range and variety of fish found will provide you with many curious fish to keep your interest high.

Not having bought any fish at the store, I base this number on what I saw. The tanks were very well taken care of and the fish were well fed. There was no noticeable sign of disease or parasites. The fish all appeared to be VERY healthy. The quality of some of the African cichlids was not the highest, but the fish were certainly healthy enough that I believe their colors would pick up if given a tank with more hiding spots. (something that pet stores really cannot do unless they want to spend hours trying to catch the fish)

I was at a disadvantage in this category because I have not lived in the Las Vegas Nevada area for many years and I was unable to visit another aquarium store during the trip to compare prices. My first impression was that the prices were high. I saw many fish I could purchase and drive personally to the store from my home in Salt Lake City and still be able to sell for about half of the price in the store. However, I didn’t knock the prices too much on 2 accounts. First as already mentioned, I wasn’t able to compare them with other stores. Second, the quality of the fish made up for a lot of the price.

One of the most fun things about rating a store is getting to know some of the staff. On the Friday I went in, one young lady was working. Unfortunately for the life of me I cannot remember her name. The owner also came in later, but seemed quite pre-occupied with someone else, so I let him go without any questions. I began by staying near the staff to hear what they were telling their customers. There were some things I would disagree with, but all-in-all the staff was knowledgeable of the fish they were selling. As in the case of anyone, each person has strengths in different types of fish. Since I only had opportunity to speak to one person, I believe that the entirety of the staff would be able to give solid information on just about any type of fish…but I’m forced to assume this to some degree.

Not having visited FISH for several years I would have to say it is a toss-up between that store and this one for the best of the Las Vegas area. However, I certainly can say that this store is worth your visit. Even if it takes 5 hours to get there…as it did in my case