Ive been a fish nut for over 35 years. What can I say...I like fish keeping (and collecting). I remember when Malawi cichlids were the newest thing, and auratus cichlids were 75 each (now theyre 4 each, or less!). Back then (starting in 1970, when I got my first official petshop job, working for Discount Pets and Supplies in West Babylon, NY (when it closed, a beauty salon moved in. It recently closed, and now its a pet grooming parlor)) being in the hobby was Very exciting. Almost every week there was some new import. Always a new challenge. Then, the hobby slowly but surely began to change. New imports were pushed to the side in favor of painted monstrosities, man-made color variations, and malformed hybrids. Fishes that were once common in the trade simply dropped off the radar, which was a great loss to the hobby as a whole. The hobby was dumbed down. In came the chain stores that further dumbed down the hobby by helping to drive the Mom and Pop stores, often the last bastion of the rare and unusual, out of business. I started Franks Aquarium simply because I was tired with the state of the aquarium hobby in the United States. Simply put...its Boring! As a hobbyist, Im tired of the same old same old I see in every shop and wholesale establishment I visit. Its just so difficult to get wholesalers and retailers to carry new items (except for those hideous parrot cichlids, painted glassfish, and a host of other man-made monstrosities). So say goodbye to anything new and unusual (in terms of real species). And New York used to be The place to go if you wanted to see new and exciting creatures! Its a real shame what has been done to the hobby, not only here, but in other areas of the USA. While I am a firm believer that a hobbyist should support their local fish store (providing its a good shop worthy of the support), more often than not the local LFS doesnt carry the selection of animals that keep the hobbyist interested. As one retailer and one wholesaler put it: I carry only fish that people buy, not anything I have to sell. It is this short-sighted attitude that has really hurt the hobby.

Website: http://www.franksaquarium.com/