AQUARIA FAQ: Societies, Books and Mailorder

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This FAQ available on the WWW via http://www.cco.caltech.edu/~aquaria/Faq/

FAQ: Resources

This section contains references for more information. Specifically,
books (including good beginner books), magazines, addresses of some
organizations (useful for finding your local fish club), and
mail-order supply houses.

Resources for plants and plant-related equipment can be found in a
separate plant resources section within the plant FAQ.

Copyright

The FAQs owe their existence to the contributors of the net, and as
such it belongs to the readers of rec.aquaria and alt.aquaria.
Articles with attributions are copyrighted by their original authors.
Copies of the FAQs can be made freely, as long as it is distributed at
no charge, and the disclaimers and the copyright notice are included.


FAQ: Good Beginner Books

Contributed by Oleg Kiselev

Most aquarium books are reasonable in their advice. Do be careful of
older books which were written before some of the more recent advances
in the science of aquaria were made. Issues such as the nitrogen cycle
will probably not be covered well. Libraries are an excellent source
of books, and one should go the library first before spending any
money.

Sample of Popular Titles

* _Baensh's Aquarium Atlas_ (~$22-28)
* _Marine Aquarium Handbook_ by Martin Moe (~$10)
* _Vierke's Aquarium Book_ ($10-15)
* _Marine Aquarium Reference: Systems and Invertebrates_ by Moe
(~$22-25)
* _The Concise Encyclopedia of Aq. Fish_ by Dick Mills (~$10)

Many of the ``Fishkeeper's Guide'' Books by Tetra press are quite
good, and are available for around $6-$10. For plant books, Barron's
and Tetra's (~$5-6) are suggested.

Freshwater Books

A decent aquarium reference book need not be expensive or very
detailed. What it must have is:
* enough common species to make it usable (200-300 species is
sufficient for most purposes)
* recognizable pictures of fish to use as the identification guide
descriptions of the species including:
+ length the fish will attain
+ typical behavior (and community tank compatibility)
+ spawning requirements
+ dietary needs
+ minimal tank size
+ water quality and temperature
* some basic suggestions on how to set up an aquarium
* some minimal info on fish diseases

There are many books that satisfy these requirements. They are very
inexpensive and there is no excuse for someone to spend $20+ on the
fish that will die in 3-4 weeks instead of buying a book that would
prevent these losses for a lot less money.

For under $10:

Simon&Schuster's _Pocket Guide to Aquarium Fishes_ lists for $7 and
can be found for $4 in discount book shops. Not an ``end-all''
reference volume but at least it does not lie too much. I probably
like it because it has an excellent photo of Aphyosemion filamentosum
that looks just about like the A. filamentosum I have. (ISBN
0-671-25451-0)

At Crown Books and other ``remaindered'' book sellers, you will find a
book edited by Dick Mills that is called _The Concise Encyclopedia of
Tropical Aquarium Fishes_ if it's published by Crescent (and Tetra's
_Junior Atlas of Tropical Aquarium Fishes_ if it's published by
Tetra). It covers all the basic ideas about setting up an aquarium and
has descriptions and fair quality photos of over 300 species of fish
(the book is not in front of me so can't give you more detail). It's
published by Salamander Press in Europe and Tetra (Crescent) in US.
(Crescent edition ISBN 0-517-66776-2)

At Tower Books and other ``mainstream'' bookseller chains and larger
book stores, you will find Barron's series of translation of German
aquarium books, all between $5 and $8, concentrating on specific
categories of fish (Killifishes (ISBN 0-8120-4475-4), Cichlids (ISBN
0-8120-4597-1)), or breeding (Ines Scheurman's _Aquarium Fish Breeding_
(ISBN 0-8120-4474-6)), or general aquarium maintenance, or plants. All
of these books give a beginner a solid introduction to what and why of
the the filtration, water chemistry and so on. Any of these books make
an excellent starting point. They don't have very many color photos,
which probably contributed to the low price, but have a lot of
drawings.

Also near the $10 mark (and a lot less through mail-order), are the
Tetra/Salamander series of ``Fishkeeper's Guide To...'' books. They
are available at a number of ``normal'' book stores and I recommend
``... Healthy Aquarium'' and ``...Community Fishes'' as the better
beginner books. The rest of the series is quite good as well and any
one of these books should be a great start.

_``The Innes Book''_ -- First published in 1935, it is a thick volume
that has gone through a dozen publishers and something like 50
editions. The newer ones will probably be a bit more up to date, but
the older ones are not bad, either. They range from $2 to $15 and my
preference is for the oldest editions. Don't expect the fish names to
match the current nomenclature or in some case even the real species
-- for the last 40 years ``The Innes Book'' has had a picture of A.
filamentosum for their Aphyosemion gardneri.

These are the cheapest books. If you are willing to spend $15-20 (and
you better be willing to spend that much on the books if you are go to
spend that much on the fish!), the number of books is larger and the
amount of information increases.

Between $15 and $20

The books get larger, more colorful and complete:

van Ramshorst's Aquarium Encyclopedia published by HPBooks and sold by
Waldenbooks is a translation from Dutch and at $17.95 is among the
better ``shopping list'' aquarium books. It is full of very good
quality color photos, covers over 570 species of fish, 80 species of
plants, all aspects of aquarium design, building, set-up, decor, etc.
Not much on filtration, but that's all in the FAQ, so not a big flaw
for a USENET reader.

Crown Books used to sell _The Living Aquarium_, a translation from
Swedish published by Crescent Books. It's close to $20 and does not
have descriptions of too many species, but has a lot of detailed
diagrams, goes into the black arts of filtration and lighting and
attempts to cover cold water and tropical fresh water, cold water and
tropical marine and brackish aquaria, suggesting the species and decor
for them. It also has a section on building aquaria, as all European
books seem to.

More Expensive and/or Specialty Books

There are many other books that are not cheap even when you buy them
mail-order (a sure way to save 50% on the price). Many of these books
cost so much because of the large number of color photos in them and
because of the production values that went in. You will have to decide
for yourself if it's worth your money to buy these and if you will
find something really worth while in them (I have spent several
hundred $$$ on such books over the last few years and do not regret
buying any of them). If nothing else, these books make great coffee
table books that are bound to get all sorts of comments from house
guests.

Where to Find the Cheapest Books

Look through the used book stores. Books from 20-30 years ago may have
wrong Latin names for some of the fish, claim that certain species of
now-common fish are hard to breed, and may have less than adequate
coverage of filtration, but those books are still excellent general
references and (should) cost very little.

What Not to Buy

_AVOID_ any books by TFH that are less than 100 pages or have a word
``Beginner'' in the title. Leaf through the book: if you see lots of
photos of products placed so that brand names are obvious and easy to
read, or you find a bunch of photos of grinning gap-toothed kids
holding up various pieces of equipment or poking their hands into an
aquarium -- put this book away and never look at it again. These books
are (in my opinion) utter garbage.

There are a few exceptions to that rule in the TFH line: Dr. Jubb's
``Nothobranchius'', 2 volumes of Jocher's ``Spawning Problem Fishes''
and Windelow's ``Aquatic Plants'', but they fall into the
``specialty'' category).


FAQ: Magazines

Freshwater and Marine Aquarium (monthly)
P.O. Box 487,
Sierra Madre, CA 91024
Phone (818) 355-1476
http://www.animalnetwork.com/fish/index.htm
1yr/12 iss. $22.00
2yr/24 iss. $43.00

Outside US $27.50/yr (no 2 year subscr.)

Tropical Fish Hobbyist (monthly)
One TFH Plaza,
Neptune City, NJ 07753
Phone (908) 988-8400

1yr/12 iss. $40.00

Foreign - add $11.00/yr

**note: The edition found in retail stores often does NOT
have mail order ads; the home subscription edition
does. Do not buy one at the store for m/o
addresses without checking it out first.

Aquarium Fish Magazine (monthly)

The following special offer is made by _AFM_ for readers of
the *.aquaria newsgroups.

*****************************************************************************
Date: 12 Apr 95 09:26:26 EDT
From: Edward Bauman <edba...@pipeline.com>

As a special offer to members of the Internet *.aquaria newsgroups,
subscriptions to _Aquarium Fish Magazine_ are being made available at
a special price. You can receive a 2-year subscription for only
$24.97. This offer applies to both new subscriptions and renewals,
and represents a significant savings over the normal subscription cost
of 2 years for $38.00. In other words, you get 2 years for the price
of 1.

To take advantage of this offer, send a check or money order, or VISA
or Mastercard account number and expiration date to the address below.
You must include the subscription department in the address in order
to receive the special price.

Aquarium Fish Magazine
Subscription Dept. 3NET
P.O. Box 6040
Mission Viejo, CA 92690
USA

Canadian subscribers please add $10.50 and foreign subscribers please add $16
to
the subscription price. Please pay by international money order or with VISA
or Mastercard (Access).

******************************************************************************

Practical Fishkeeping (British mag)
MOTORSPORT
RR1 Box 200 D.
Jonesburg MO 63351-9616

US - $42.00 per year

KOI USA (bi-monthly)
KOI USA
P.O. Box 1
Midway City, CA 92665
U.S.A.

6 issues per year
$15 in U.S., US$ 19.50 in Canada

Marine Fish Monthly
Publishing Concepts Corp.
3243 Highway 61
East Luttrell, TN 37779

1yr/12 iss. $20.00
Canada $28.00/yr
Foreign $35.00/yr (US $ required)

1-800-937-3963 for subscription by phone


FAQ: Aquaria Organizations and Societies

Contributed by Rick Clark, Jim Lilly <73552...@compuserve.com>, FAAS, and a
bunch of other people

If you would like to have your society listed here (or an outdated
listing corrected), please contact us; we don't generally have time to
research this ourselves, so we rely on the societies to contact _us_
with corrections. Thank you!

National/International Aquarium Societies

American Cichlid Association
P.O. Box 5351, Naperville, IL 60567-5351

Aquatic Gardeners Asssociation
83 Cathcart St., London, Ontario, Canada N6L 3L9

Canadian Killifish Association

_International Betta Congress_
923 Wadsworth St., Syracuse, NY 13208-2419

_North American Discus Society_
6939 Justin Drive, Mississauga, Ont, Canada, L4T 1M4

Rainbowfish Study Group of North America
Gary Lange
2590 Cheshire, Florissant, MO 63033

American Livebearer Association
Timothy J. Brady, Membership Chairman
5 Zerbe Street, Cressona, PA 17929-1513
tjb...@fast.net

Federation of American Aquarium Societies (FAAS)
Hedy Padgett (Membership Chair) 4816 E. 64th. Street Indianapolis, IN
46220-4728

_Assocation of Aquarist_, Mr Chris Ralph (Chairman)
610 Abbey Rd, Popley 4, Basingstoke, Hants RG24 9ET, UK

_British Rainbowfish and Gobies Society_, Len Eldridge (Editor)
64 Molesham Way, East Molesey, Surrey KT8 1NX, UK Email:
10070...@compuservw.com

_TVCATS (Thames Valley Catfish Society)_, Tim Allen (Editor)
12 Sun Crescent, Oakley, Aylesbury, Bucks HP18 9RF, UK

Local Aquarium Societies - United States

_Atlanta Area Aquarium Association_
Mark Barnett, 130 Springbrook Lane, Stockbridge, GA 30281

_Air Capital A.S._
P.O. Box 3235, Wichita, KS 67201-3235

_Alamo A.S., Inc._
319 Byrnes, San Antonio, TX 78209

_Allegheny River Valley A.S._
P.O. Box 415, Olean, NY, 14760-0415

_Aquarium Club of Lancaster County_
218 E. Clay St., Lancaster, PA 17602

_Aquarium Hobbyists of Amarillo_
1009 S. Kentucky, Amarillo, TX 79012

_Aqua Land Aquatic Society_
Karl Chadbourne, 231 Bayberry Dr., Bristol, CT 06010

_Aquarium Society of Durham_
P.O. Box 25218, Durham, NC, 27702-2518

_Baltimore/Washington Area Aquaria Society_
3915 Blackburn Ln, #42, Burtonsville, MD 20866
email: bw...@hotmail.com

_Black River Aquarium Society, Inc._
Jack Adinolfi, P.O. BOX 92, Ludlow, VT 05149-0092

_Boston A.S._
255 Central St., Holliston, MA 01746-2011

_Brooklyn A.S._
P.O. Box 290610, Brooklyn, NY 11229-0011

_Bucks County A.S., Ltd._
Gary Jones, 237 Apple St., Levittown, PA 19057-1211

_California Organization of Aquatic Show Trop._
13581 Arizona St., #2, Westminster, CA 92683-2361

_Central Florida A.S._
1017 Alpug Ave., Oviedo, FL 32765

_Central Illinois Aquarist_
PO Box 225, Pekin, IL 61555-0225

_Central New York A.S., Inc._
P.O. Box 566, Syracuse, NY 13206

_Central Valley A.S._
1990 Rohrer Dr., Turlock, CA 95382-1945

_Central Wisconsin A.S._
5339 Hwy 54 E Plover, WI 54467

_Champaign Area Fish Exchange_
Greg Wooters, 1231 Joanne, Champaign, IL 61821

_Chautauqua County Aq. Assn., Inc._
Joe Rozen, 149 South Ocelot St., Dunkirk, NY 14048

_Circle City Aq. Club_
5332 Rockville Rd., Indianapolis, IN 46224-9112

_Cleveland A.S._
26011 Hendon Road, Beachwood, OH 44122

_Cleveland Saltwater Enthusiasts Assn._
20897 Fairpark Dr., Fairview Park, OH 44126

_Colorado A.S._
P.O. Box 1253, Arvada, CO 80005

_Columbus Area Fish Enthusiast_
3522 Rivercrest Dr., Columbus, OH 43223

_Danbury Area A.S._
PO Box 8017, New Fairfield, CT 06812

_Delaware County A.S._
P.O. Box 521, Ridley Park, PA 19078

_Diamond State A.S._
Richard Adler, 5420 Valley Green Dr., Apt. C-2, Wilmington, DE 19808

_Dry Wash Aquarium Society_
c/o Don Kinney II, 8245 N. 27th Ave. #1115, Phoenix, Az. 85051

_Eastern Iowa Aq. Society_
Buck Stark, P.O. BOX 2327, Cedar Rapids, IA 52406

_Elm City Aquarium Society_
86 Middle Road, Guilford, CT 06437

_Erie Aquarium Society_
4829 Leacock Rd., Edinboro, PA 16412

_Federation Of Texas A.S._
3502 Carter Creek Pkwy, Bryan, TX 77802

_Fort Wayne Cichlid_ 502 Park Ave. - Box 260, Antwerp, OH 45813

_Great Lakes Cichlid Society_
1113 Sunset Road, Mayfield Hts, OH 44124

_Greater Akron A.S._
P.O. Box 494, Akron, OH 44309-0494

_Greater Chicago Cichlid Assn_
241 Oxford Ct., Bloomingdale, IL 60108

_Greater Cincinnati A.S._
P.O. Box 46205, Cincinnati, OH 45246-0205

_Greater City A.S._
Berek Haus, 197-05 90th Ave., Hollis, NY 11423

_Greater Dayton A.S._
288 Virginia Ave., Centerville, OH 45458

_Greater Detroit A.S._
P.O. Box C, Royal Oak, MI 48068

_Greater Fairfield County A.S._
P.O. Box 141, Lancaster, OH 43130

_Greater Lafayette A.S._
516 N. 27th St., Lafayette, IN 47904

_Great Lakes Cichlid Society_
Butch Capaldi, 890 Orchard Road, Willoughby, OH 44094

_Greater Pittsburgh A.S._
P.O. Box 22452, Pittsburgh, PA 15122-0452

_Greater Portland A.S._
P.O. Box 6752, Portland, OR 97228-6752

_Greater Seattle A.S._
306 NW 82nd Street, Seattle WA 98117
E-mail er...@wrq.com

_Green Water A.S._
P.O. Box 611, Bedford Park, IL 60499-0611

_Heart of America A.S._
6712 Linden Road, Kansas City, MO 64112

_Houston Aq. Soc._
Michelle Sykes, 15926 Pfeiffer Dr. Houston, TX 77081
74543...@compuserve.com

_Indianapolis A.S., Inc._
Al Anderson, 6246 North Rural., Indianapolis IN 46220
kill...@indy.net 430 2nd Ave. N.E., Carmel, IN 46032

_Jacksonville A.S._
P.O. Box 156, Jacksonville, FL 32207

_Kitsap A.S., Inc._
P.O. Box 1145, Silverdale, WA 98383

_Lehigh Valley A.S._
116 Hazen Ave., E. Bangor, PA 18037

_Long Island A.S._
214 Holly Lane, Smithtown, NY 11787

_Lorain County A.S._
P.O. Box 185, Elyria, OH 44036-0185

_Louisville Trop. Fish Fanciers, Inc._
P.O. Box 6774, Louisville, KY 40207-6774

_Maine State Aquarium Society_
P.O. Box 487, N. Berwick, ME 03906

_Medina County A.S., Inc._
P.O. Box 1485, Medina, OH 44258

_Mid-Atlantic Cichlid Keepers (MACK)_
PO BOX 303, Drexel Hill, PA 19026

_Mid-South A.S., Inc._
P.O. Box 11744, Memphis, TN 38111

_Missouri A.S., Inc._
John Van Asch, 505 S. 20th St., Belleville, IL 62223

_Minnesota Aquarium Society_
P.O. Box 130483, Roseville, MN 55113
phone contact- Brad & Nancy Swanson 612-522-4399

_Missouri A.S., Inc._
36 Wagon Wheel, Fenton, MO 63026

_Mobile A.S._
11450 Boe Rd. Ext., Grand Bay, AL 36541

_Motor City A.S., Inc._
P.O. Box 60, Roseville, MI 48066

_Nassau County Aquarium Society_
P.O. Box 33, Oakdale, NY 11769

_New York-Penn Council_
3317 Asbury Rd., Erie, PA 16506

_North Country A.S._
PO Box 46, Potsdam, NY 13676

_North East Alabama A.S._
3524 Alexandria Rd., Anniston, AL 36201

_North Jersey A.S._
P.O. Box 591 Nutley, NJ 07110
e-mail: aja...@pica.army.mil, phone (908) 541-1392

_Norwalk A.S. of Fairfield County_
P.O. Box 84, South Norwalk CT 06852

_Ohio Cichlid Assn, Inc._
C/O Dan Woodland, 7330 Ames Road, Parma, Ohio 44129

_Pacific Coast Cichlid Association_
P.O. Box 28145, San Jose, CA 95128

_Penn. Fish Culturists Assn._
6804 No. 10th St., Philadelphia, PA 19126

_Potomac Valley A.S., Inc._
P.O. Box 664, Merrifield, VA 22116

_Rocky Mountain Cichlid Assn._
9242 E. Eastman Place, Denver, CO 80231

_Sacramento A.S._
P.O. Box 160545, Sacramento, CA 95816-0545

_San Diego Tropical Fish Soc., Inc._
P.O. Box 4156, N. Park Sta., San Diego, CA 92164

_San Fransisco A.S._
(415) 387-6626

_Sheboygan A.S._
P.O. Box 954, Sheboygan, WI 53082

_Singing Sands A.S._
P.O. Box 134, Michigan City, IN 46360

_Southeast Minnesota A.S._
Dan Andrews, 206 S. Main, Chatsfield, MN 55923

_Southern California Cichlid Association_
4195 Chino Hills Pkwy. #362, Chino Hills, CA 91709

_Southern Colorado A.S._
Dale Grover, 807 Fontmore Rd., Colorado Springs, CO 80904

_Southtowns Fish Fanciers, Inc._
John Burdick, 8639 S. Main St., Eden, NY 14057

_Southwestern Michigan Aq. Soc._
Scott Tetzlaff, 226 Burton SW, Grand Rapids MI 49507

_South Sound A.S._
948 Summit Lakeshore Rd., N.W., Olympia, WA 98502

_Southeast Minnesota A.S._
PO Box 9093, Rochester, MN 55903-9093

_Southern Colorado A.S._
P.O. Box 16078, Colorado Springs, CO 80935

_Southwestern Michigan A.S., Inc._
P.O. Box 3175, Kalamazoo, MI 49003-3175

_Stark County Aqua Life Enthusiasts, Inc._
P.O. Box 8384, Canton, OH 44711

_Story City A.S._
920 Fairview St., #8, Story City, IA 50248

_Tampa Bay Aquarium Society_
Al Knowles, 1101 West Kirby Lane, Tampa FL 33604
(813) 932-5447

_The Suburban A.S._
P.O. Box 101, Prospect Hts, IL 60070

_Tropical Aquarists Of Northern - Ohio Club_
Bonnie Tamura, 941 N. State St., Painesville, OH 44077

_Tri-County Tropical Fish Soc._
312 Oaklawn Terr., Creve Coeur, IL 61611

_Tropical Fish Club of Burlington_
RR #1, Box 1548, Huntington, VT 05462

_Tropical Fish Club of Erie County_
5725 Herman Hill Rd., Hamburg, NY 14075

_Tropical Fish Society Rhode Island_
44 Homecrest Ave. Slatersville, RI 02876

_Western New York A.S._
P.O. Box 472, Hiler Branch, Buffalo, NY 14223

_Worcester A.S._
P.O. Box 972, Worcester, MA 01613-0972

_Youngstown Area Tropical Fish_
P.O. Box 5190, Youngstown, OH 44514

Local Aquarium Societies - Canada

_Aquarium Society of Winnipeg_
P.O. Box 301, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada R3C 2H6

_Calgary A.S._ Dale Speirs, Box 6830, Station D, CALGARY, ALB, CANADA-
T2P 2E7

_Huronia and District A.S._
RR 3, 9th Con. W., Orillia, Ontario, Canada L3V 6H3

_Montreal A.S._
P.O. Box 653, Station B, Montreal, Que., Canada H3B 3K3

_Ottawa Valley Aquarium Society_
Box 31033, Nepean, Ontario, Canada K2B 8S8

_Regina A.S._
P.O. Box 3654, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada S4P 3N8

_Sarnia Aquarium Society_
P.O. Box 542, Sarnia Ontario Canada N7T 2M7
tsp...@sar-net.com

_Saskatoon A.S._
Box 371, Saskatoon Saskathewan, Canada S7K 3L3

_Societie D'aquariophilie De Montreal_
2450 Workman, Montreal, QUE, Canada H3J 1L8

Local Aquarium Societies - Other

_Asoc. Nacional Acuarofila Mexicana, AC_
APDO Postal 73-112, Santa Cruz Atoyac, Mexico, DF 03310

_Asoci. Acuaristas Aguadilla_
P.O. Box 102, Aguadilla, PR 00605

_Bermuda Fry-Angle Club_
P.O. Box WK272, Warwick, WKBX, Bermuda

_Grupo Mexicano De Ciclidofilos_
Cordillera Karakorum 223b, Lomas 3a. Seccion, San Luis Potosi, S.L.P.,
78216 Mexico
Tel/fax 052-48-253168
cm...@freenet.carleton.ca

_South London Aquarist Society_
How Pang (Chairman), 11 Ramsdale Rd, Tooting, London Sw17 9BP, UK
How...@demon.uk.com


FAQ: Mail-Order Houses

This section contains mailorder information for aquarium supply houses
and pond supplies.
_________________________________________________________________

Mail-Order Aquarium Supplies

Although prices are lower through mail order, one must consider the
cost of the shipping and handling, the delay time if product is not in
stock, and the fact that the mail order company will typically not
answer detailed questions. Your local retailer on the other hand must
pay for the overhead of inventory, and often times are willing to
answer questions. We need to collectively ensure the survival of good,
helpful stores with fair prices.

Service Comparisons

Here is a quick comparison of five of the most popular mail-order
houses, That Fish Place (TFP), Mail Order Pet Shop (MOPS), Pet
Warehouse (PW), Wet Thumb Aquatics, and Daleco. Addresses and phone
numbers are listed later in this section.

TFP MOP PW DLC WTA
Price 1.5 1.2 2.0 2.5 1.0
Selection 1.6 1.9 2.3 1.5 3.0
Service 1.7 2.3 1.0 2.0 1.0
Processing 2.1 2.0 1.0 1.5 1.0
Completeness 1.6 2.1 1.3 2.0 2.0
Correctness 1.1 1.4 1.0 1.5 1.0
Damage 1.0 1.2 1.0 1.0 1.0

Sum 10.6 12.1 9.6 12 10
# Responses 11 10 3 2 1
Avg 1.5 1.7 1.3 1.7 1.4

Criteria

Price
Total cost of an average order.
1 - excellent, 2 - good, 3 - fair, 4 - pet shop

Selection
Do they carry what you want?
1 - anything you could possibly want, 2 - good, 3 - fair, 4 -
poor.

Customer service
Are they pleasant on the phone? Do the sales people provide
accurate product information? Are printed materials helpful?
1 - excellent, 2 - good, 3 - fair, 4 - why are you calling and
bothering them?

Order processing
How fast is your order processed? (When does it leave the
warehouse? Not when do you actually receive it, as this varies
with your location!)
1 - same day, 2 - 1-3 days, 3- longer than three days.

Order completeness
Do they have what you ordered in stock?
1 - rarely a stock out, 2 - occasional, 3 - often items are out
of stock.

Order correctness
Did they send what you ordered?
1 - never a problem, 2 - minor problems, 3 - common problem.

Order damage
Do you ever receive broken items?
1 - never a problem, 2 - minor problems, 3 - common problem.

The Big Fish

_That Fish Place_
237 Centerville Rd.
Lancaster, PA 17603
800-733-3829

Clearly, a favored source for mail order. Best catalogue (very useful
for ordering from other places). I received no "horror" stories, only
one minor complaint.

Good Source for: Plants

Shipping: Actual Cost

_Mail Order Pet Shop_
250 W Executive Drive
Edgewood, NY 11717
800-366-7387 (ordering and product info)
800-326-6677 (customer service)

1338 North Market Blvd.
Sacramento, CA 95834

Probably the total lowest cost place for supplies. However, it seems
that people either love or hate them. I received several complaints
about service and bulk products being shorted etc. People like their
flat fee for shipping.

Shipping: $3.99 orders <= $45, $5.99 orders > $45 but < $100, $7.99
orders > $100. For $5 extra, they will 2-Day ship orders under 20
pounds.

_Pet Warehouse_
Dept. C45F
P.O. Box 310
Xenia, OH 45385
800-443-1160
FAX 800-513-1913

People like their quick service.

Shipping:
$35 or < $5.95
$35-50 6.95
$60-75 7.95
$75-100 9.95
$100-150 10.95
$150 or > 11.95
2-day UPS delivery for $3.50 extra for items < 23 pounds

The Small Fry

_Daleco_
3556 N 400 E
Warsaw, IN 46580
800-987-1120
FAX 219-268-6302

Has many unusual items. Shipping is included in prices for orders over
$50 but prices are sometimes higher than bigger places.

Good Source for: Live Food Cultures, Dupla Products, LaMotte Test Kits

Shipping: Free, orders under $50.00 require a $5.00 handling fee.

_Wet Thumb Aquatic_
52700 Base St.
New Baltimore, MI 48047
810-725-0960

Smaller outfit. Their selection is not great but prices are very good.
They are more breeder oriented. They ship same day. Also, they happen
to carry a great deal of merchandise, a lot that other companies do
not even think about. Also, they are very willing to answer your
questions.

Good Source for: Regenerative Blowers and Reverse Osmosis units.

Shipping:
$25 or < 2.50
$25-45 3.50
$45-60 4.50
$60-75 5.50
$75 or > Free

Others mentioned but not ranked

_Spectacular Sea System_: Specializing in marine lighting and
accessories ranked 3,3,1,1,1,1,1 305-941-3792
_________________________________________________________________

Pond Mail-Order

Contributed by Diane DeMers

These are from ads in Sunset, Horticulture, and Fine Gardening
magazines. I've tried my best to get all the info correct; I don't
have any first-hand knowledge (yet) with any except the catalogs from
Lilypons. Note: these were all "regular" ads; I didn't look through
the classified sections of these magazines.

_Dolphin Outdoors_
1808 W. Campbell Ave
Campbell, CA 95008
(408) 379-7600
Fiberglass Ponds for gardens and fish. Send SASE for brochure and
prices

_Hermitage Garden Pools_
PO Box 361, Dept. A
Canastoga, NY 13032
(315) 697-9093
Fiberglass garden pools, rock waterfalls, self-contained redwood
waterwheels; bubbling fantasias. Send $1.00 for color catalog.

_Lilypons Water Gardens_ 3 locations:
Dept. 1626
PO Box 10
Buckeystown, MD 21717-0010
(800) 723-7667

Dept. 1626
PO Box 188
Brookshire, TX 77423-0188
(800)766-5648

Dept. 1626
PO Box 1130
Thermal, CA 92274-1130
(800) 685-7667 or (800)365-5459 (different ads had different Ph #
here).

pond liners, accessories, plants (lilies, lotus, etc), fish, etc.
100-page Catalog subscription $5.00 [Personal note: I've never bought
anything from them yet, but I do like their catalog.]

_Paradise Water Gardens_
56 May St. FN06
Whitman, MA 02382
(617) 447-4711
(617) 447-4591 FAX
Great books on water gardening (too numerous to list here); water
lilies, fountains, pumps, Koi, goldfish, aquatic plants, tub gardens.
Send $3.00 for a 60-page full-color catalog.

_Pets Unlimited_
1888 Drew
Clearwater, FL 34625
(813) 442-2197
Featuring TetraPond products. Send $3.00 for color brochure, price
list, plus "Digest for a Successful Pond".

_Resource Conservation Technology, Inc._ 2633 N. Calvert St.
Baltimore, MD 21218
(301) 366-1146
Butyl Pond liners. 20-year warranty. Won't harm fish or plants, won't
stiffen in cold weather, resists sunlight better than plastics. Call
or write for literature and samples of the liner and Liner Protection
Fabric.

_Slocum Water Gardens_
Dept. FI592
1101 Cypress Gardens Rd.
Winter Haven, FL 33880
Water Lily Catalog: water lilies, lotus, fancy Goldfish Complete info
on tubs, concrete pools, and ponds Send $3.00.

_Tetra Sales USA_
Department P-9208
201 Tabor Road
Morris Plains, NJ 07950
32-mil, flexible PVC liners, 10-year guarantee; accessory products,
fish and plant foods, water treatments, etc. Write for free "how-to"
brochure.

_Van Ness Water Gardens_
Water lilies, bog plants, info, pumps, filters, maintenance 2460 N.
Euclid , Dept. 877
Upland, CA 91786-1199
(714) 982-2425
For 56-page color catalog, send $4.00

_Waterford Gardens_
74 East Allendale Road, Dept F
Saddle River, NJ 07458
(201) 327-0721
Water Lilies, bog plants, lotus, pools and accessories, ornamental
fish $5.00 for 1992 catalog.

_Waterland USA_
27071 Cabot Rd., Suite 116
Laguna Hills, CA 92653
(800) 321-6178
Fountains for your home, patio, or garden. Call for free brochure.

_William Tricker, Inc._
7125 Tanglewood Drive
Independence, OH 44131
(216) 524-3491
Rare and unusual varieties of water lilies, aquatic plants, fish, etc.
Send $3.00 for full-color catalog.

End of Resource FAQ.