[Gump]

This is the bigest fish store ive been to in northern california and they have a large selection of freshwater fish. Being so large they have room to take bigger fish from people that bring them in, so sometimes you can get lucky and find a nice fish. Those are about the only pluses to the store.

There tanks and dry goods are very over priced, and most of there fish are as well. There live food is okay priced but not great. as a whole id say over priced.

There one of the few fish stores that has a lot of desplay fish that are there to show what certain fish look like when full size or how big they can get. most are in tanks half the size they should be in which bugs me everytime i go in there. They had a 12-14" fahaka puffer for sale and he was in a 20gal and they wanted 150 and were ferm, it was sad everytime someone walked by it got off the bottom and tryed to get there attention then just layed back down till someone else came by. quite depressing.

Most of there workers dont know much about fish and are a petco or petsmart level (1 of 6 knew what they were talking about). There customer service is pretty weak as well. The last time I was there I spent about 20-25 min trying to get a price on a tiger shovel nose that someone brought in and it took them about 10 min to figure out what it was and i had already told them what it was numerous times but they didnt beleve me. they just kept comparing it to the lima shovel noses that they have. so after about 20-25min of a wait they finaly got back to me with a number that actually made me laugh at them. They lady i tryed to get to help me was rude when i was trying to ask her a question.

There salt water selection is the cleanest part of the store and have something different every once in a while.

Id like to hear what others in the area think of this store...

[idealconcepts]

Selection is great, customer service is limited but great if you talk to right few people, and some of them do come off rude. Prices are very high there and most of the time most people are clueless on the fish there, but not all. If you want to see some clean tanks try O Street on the other side of the free way.

[Gump]

I agree 100% with idealconcepts. O street is very clean but they never have impressed me with any fish they have... all very run of the mill selection but super clean. and since they have never had anything i would want to buy i dont know about there customer service.... and the last time i was there they had people following me around the store... thats not cool so they lost a few pts in my book for that one.

[slingjaw]

Capitol is big, but kindof grungy. Even so, there are losts of fish to choose from and look at. The saltwater guy there is the one to talk to, and he has a great knowledge of freshwater fish as well, especially african cichlids and discus. He's hella busy though and is only there part time. He can seem rude at first, until you realize that he's just very busy and trying to cut the small talk to get to answering your questions or solving your problems. I've followed this guy from store to store in the sacramento area. He should open his own. Anyway, this store is old school, still run like they did before the big box stores came and drove the prices down with their corporate buying clout. So they seem clueless on pricing. Why anyone would pay nearly twice as much for a tank or supplies is beyond this fishkeeper... maybe convenience is a factor. Expect to take a number and wait 20 minutes on weekends. It's worth the visit just to see the humongous 4' african lungfish in a 200 gallon tank suspended by guywires and angled supports!

[sactojesse]

I concur with the above comments. Capitol is big and has a good selection but is very expensive on tanks, equipment, and fish other than trade-ins. I usually go there every two weeks just to see if any bargain trade-ins show up.

The "saltwater guy" slingjaw refers to is probably Shane. He's worked at Exotic, O Street, and Capitol over the years. He also operates an aquarium maintenance business out of his home in Marysville and purportedly helped design the CPR Aquatics Continuous Siphon Overflows.

Oh yeah, the fish in the suspended six-foot tank is SMUD the electric eel, a local celebrity, IMO.

[reefcrack]

Hey guys,

I have to agree with everyone in that Capitol is very expensive! Went there for the first time this past Monday. I think it was the first time I didn't buy something on impulse. Too bad. Exotic was far cheaper, but that is a different thread altogether. Hopefully, Capitol can lower their prices and have employees available when needed.

Jim

[fazzman]

I agree with everyone about Capitol, I prefer pet connection,althou there stock is usually smaller in size they have alot of variety and their fish are always of very good quality. its very impressive for a smaller store.

[ANTHONY]

hey do u think that capitol aquarium got any big slivers there?and do u think they will let me trade my temensis in for a big sliver..my temensis is about 15inches or bigger..

[Gump]

Last time i was there they didnt have any big silvers other than the one in the 1000gal tank. And i doubt they would give a strait up trade for your bass.