This could be one of the most important decisions you will make. Pick the wrong store and you could have nothing but problems, such as dying fish and disease. When choosing a store it’s best to pick a small store that deals in nothing but fish. If this is not an option in your area then try to find a mom and pop store. Stores like these will most likely give the right advice and take better care of their stock since they can’t afford to lose customers to the larger chain stores. If at all possible stay away from the large chain stores. The majority of them care nothing for the fish they sell or the customers buying from them. Also carefully check out the fish and tanks, and make sure you don’t see any visible signs of disease and that the tanks are fairly clean. It may take a while before you can spot disease so here are a couple of pointers:

• Fish with raised white spots that look like grains of salt have a disease.
• Fish that are not active could have disease.
• Fish that have reddened raw spots most likely have disease.
• Fish that don’t swim lateral, and point almost vertical or tilt sideways, could have disease.
• Fish with fins that are torn or shredded could have a disease.
• Fish that stay at the surface and breath heavily could have a disease.
• Fish with fins that lay flat close to their bodies could have a disease.
• Fish that don’t eat could have disease. (Note: This is only possible to observe if you are lucky enough to be in the store at feeding time.)

Find out if they have quarantine tanks for fish that have just arrived or for sick fish and ask to see them, check to make sure that the tanks are well taken care of. Another thing to look for is how well they take care of their feeder fish and if they do so in a humane way. Before you make a final decision ask plenty of questions, and observe how the employees handle the customers. If an employee tries to tell you that you can put 20 goldfish in a 20-gallon tank then obviously he or she knows nothing about fish. If you find an employee that is clueless, then talk to the others. If at least one person appears to be knowledgeable and you choose that particular store, then you can always buy from that person. Make several trips at different times of the day to the store you think you might like to buy from and check to make sure that the conditions of their tanks don’t vary too much from visit to visit. Last of all don’t pick the first store you come across, check out several different stores and pick the best one.