[Dracofish]

179D Deming St., Manchester
(860) 648-1166 Fax: (860) 648-2489

http://www.aquaticwildlifecompany.com/

The store is very nice and the display tanks are gorgeous. The fish were healthy for the most part, but the prices were OBSCENELY overpriced. I mean crazy, like more than double retail in some cases. Also, unlike thier supposed plug of having tons of rare fish, I didn't see much that was beyond what any other store has. The only thing I saw that I couldn't get at any other fish store in the state for much cheaper (I'm talking freshwater) was a quartet of skinny yet active Rays (3 of which were mis ID'ed) in a display tank. The properly ID'ed one was a Motoro, the smallest one I've ever seen. It was literally about 3" in diameter and was labeled at $239. Yes, $239!!!! The others fell under the Orb/Humerosa/Dumerlli category yet for some reason were labeled with two different names. One was $199 and the others I don't remember. Probably equaly overpriced. My guess is since the store is right by the Buckland Hills Mall, they think they can get the soccer mom crowd that doesn't have any idea that they're getting raped. The store is brand new so I'll give them that much...I hope they change their pricing because I've never seen any retail fish store so inflated. They had a 6" Jardini labed "HUGE Jardini" for $250. 4" Satanoperca juraparis for $60. 3" Black Ghosts for $30. Quarter-sized Angels and Green Severums for $25. I mean crazy. We went there hoping to get some good fish for our new community tank and turned around and went to the other much cheaper stores in the area. I mean, I can see charging a premium for the occasional oddball pred like the Jar or even the Rays because not everyone is into those and the average Joe knows nothing about them, but the bread and butter stuff has to remain competitive to the area.

[Ethan14]

They have lowered their pricing on a lot of things and they have been getting in a lot better variety lately. It seems like they have improved since opening although much of their stuff is still more expensive than other stores. The owner is nice too and will special order and will sometimes make a better deal for something.

[Juntau]

Idea store for community fishes. Not too much miscellaneous stuff though

[Dracofish]

I recently visited this store again to give it a "second chance." They still have a gorgeous pond like setup at the front with some really nice Rays (there were some Motoros and Retics if I remember correctly)...but still EXTREMELY overpriced. These fish are clearly not priced to sell, but hey, they get the "Oooohs and aaaahs" from customers.

The rest of the store has gone downhill from when they opened...I saw quite a few sick and dying fish in the tanks. The staff was still extremely rude and the prices were still astronomical, even for the cheapie "bread and butter" fish. For the quality, you can go down the street to Petsmart and spend a fraction of the money on the same stuff.