Valley Pets has not changed much since my last visit in 2023. The store is located at 6380 US-85, Fountain, CO 80817. Their hours are Monday thru Saturday 10-8 and Sunday 10-6. The door is still flanked on both sides by large tanks with plants and fish including Koi. The nice cichlid displays are still greeting you upon entry to the store and to the right are a bay of tanks with other cichlids. See my pics below for a current view. Going to the left takes you into the fish department with tanks for sale against the wall and tanks with fish around the rest of the room. Supplies and equipment are in the middle. I am struck with low stock and many empty tanks. What they do have is mostly cichlids and easy to breed fish. Even their feeder tanks only had minnows. The planted tank is still looking fantastic, and they do have nice plants for sale.
This store has been around a long time! They have been in business 40+ years. The other sections of the store are mainly focused on exotic pets, reptiles, amphibians, and mammals. The store shows its age. They have kewl snake skins on the ceiling, and other natural history things about which most of us can appreciate. The other thing they have of note is an impressive collection of fish posters. I only took a picture of the plants this time as I have photographed the others before. The posters where not well displayed though and need to be re-framed.
All in all, this is the kind of LFS I enjoy. I could have spent more time just hanging out and looking at every little thing. I wish their fish stock was better, but I understand this is the slow season. Not all stores feel as comfortable and welcoming as this one. I heard they are struggling to stay open, but things look pretty vibrant to me. Put Valley Pets on your LFS crawl list and if you live in the Springs or nearby, they still rank as one of the best LFS in Southern Colorado, esp. if you like cichlids though the next store on our visit is even better for cichlids.
Sequoia Elisabeth
Σχόλια