Todd’s Tropical Fish

I wasn’t greeted or acknowledged. I asked one of the workers about a protein skimmer and they didn’t know what I was talking about. I didn’t talk to Sam and reading other reviews now, I’d say if you go there, ask for Sam!

The Denver Metro area is sorely lacking independent pet stores where one can purchase a variety of tropical fish not available in the big box stores. Todd’s is one of these places. Their prices are reasonable and selection is generally decent, though not huge. While not looking to be personal buds with the people I buy fish from, I find the staff to be fairly unfriendly and abrupt. Chatty? Certainly not but they will answer questions with the occasional grunt or 1 word response. So, if you’re looking for fish alone, Todd’s is a decent choice. If you’re also looking for some decent genuine knowledge on mix possibilities, etc, look elsewhere.

I bought some fresh water ghost shrimp here not too long ago and a few days after I introduced them to my tank, my fish caught argulus and they slowly died off. The guy working there re-​assured me that they would be safe to add to my tank, but apparently not. I’m not sure if the tank the shrimp were originally in was contaminated or if the shrimp themselves carried the disease. Maybe in the future I’ll try returning to the shop because their selection of fish is incredible. Although all my fish died, the shrimp lived; they fed on the fish carcasses so I didn’t have to worry about feeding them for a few days which is a plus I guess.

I’ve been going to Todd’s Tropical Fish for about 10 years now. Sam is a great help and is a very sweet guy. I love the selection and I don’t think the prices are terrible. They will also special order any type of fish that you want. It’s always a joy to go in and check out their selection.

My mom has been taking me here since I was a kid. If you want some no nonsense knowledge about fish this is where you go. their tanks are always clean and full of a great variety. The staff is a well of knowledge. They have good prices on tanks too, new and used. I’ll go there as long as their around!

we inherited some fish, and went in to check out the store. They didn’t get up or greet us, and we weren’t helped for 10 – 15 minutes. We purchased a plant, and put it in our tank. We planned to go back for fish from here, but after introducing the plant, we lost a fish. I don’t know if it was the plant, or just a super weak fish. I was definitely unimpressed with the customer service, but will probably go back and give them another shot. The guy at the counter looked like he belonged in a comic book store, but seemed to know his stuff. Since I work in customer service I tend to expect a higher level of service, and try to remember that when I’m unhappy, which is why I’ll give them another chance.

I really like Todd’s. But mostly you will be dealing with Sam. He knows his stuff. I got an infection of trumpet snails which multiply like crazy. On line I learned that the trumpet snail does not need a male and female to mate. But the female can lay eggs that will be a clone of herself and multiplication begins. I tried removing all the plants and gravel and baking them in the oven to kill them. The trumpet snails arrive as eggs on live plants — beware. But after trying to eliminate the trumpets they came right back. Sam is slow on retail help until you have had enough time to peruse the shop. Just ask. He’s a cool dude. He and the Todd shop was infested with trumpets. As was Pet Smart etc. But Sam ordered in «The Assassin Snail» which eats other snails. That bad boy cleaned out my tank within a couple of weeks. So much so that I went to Pet Smart where they gave me a dozen trumpets for free. Now the Assassin (we call him affectionately — Killer) is back on the prowl. He buries his head into the gravel and the next thing you see is an empty trumpet shell. I’ve known people who have thrown away everything in their tank and started from scratch again — no need — get an assassin. We just got one because it takes a male and female to breed. One is plenty in our 16 gallon tank. And feeding it is free. DB

I love this place! The owner, who I assume is Todd, really knows his stuff. He’s not super personable, he’s basically the comic book guy from the Simpsons, but he knows his stuff, doesn’t price gouge, and is always eager to help.
He steered me away from expensive feeder fish and always humors my stupid questions.

Service: Fair to poor. Nobody says hello and nobody is in too big of a hurry to help out the customer. They really don’t seem to care if you need help or not.
Selection: Pretty good. In fact, Todd’s has probably twice as many tanks as a typical Petco or Pet Smart. They have all of the standard freshwater or saltwater fish and lots of fish that you may not find at most other places. There is even a large and varied selection of aquariums for sale.
Prices: On the high side compared to the chain stores, which is to be expected for a specialty shop.
Quality: Several dead fish in many of the tanks. Most places will at least take the dead fish out of their tanks in order to prevent them from poisoning the water.
The store itself is run-​down and the tanks are mislabeled as often as not.
There is a giant tip jar next to the register. Seriously.
The selection is so good that I’m sure I will be back, but I really wonder about the water quality and tank maintenance.

I can understand how at first this place has it moments people are in and out just browsing. However after you purchase a few things Sam becomes beyond helpful. I bought a tank months back and he has helped me set up what I would call a very easy but beyond attractive tank. Went to neptunes and it’s close to my work however I will only go there to test my water. This place will get you anything you request and give decent coin for trade/​store credit. Only thing I wish they would do is have a rewards card. We have spent well over $ 1500 and don’t regret anything besides the damsels a guy pinched with the net and floated within a few hours. Besides that thanks Sam for the recomendation on the raccoon butterfly, Augria butterfly, sailfin tang, anenome, crabs and all the foods and nutrients. We also got a few cheaper fish for fill but almost money back on trade in after months of getting them bigger.

They had a nice selection for corals, shrimps, anemones, etc. My husband and I were excited when we bought a large amount of salt water live stock, but I noticed signs above the tanks that stated something about «chemicals» were used in the salt water aquariums. I didn’t think much of it at the time until nearly everything died in less then a week! One of the ninja star snails was already died the first day, it never moved once we added it in. The emerald crab was fine for 5 days and then on the 6^th day it died. The anemone shriveled up, mouth open and died on the 6^th day as well. After adding the new livestock to our aquarium, it also killed 4 snails and 2 crabs that we bought at petco. My husband checked the levels of the water before we added the livestock and then again once we started to notice our snails started to die. He changed a quarter of the water, after the level of nitrite was a little higher than normal, but no positive results yielded. We are furious with the quality of our livestock we bought, as result we must change the entire aquarium with new water. We believe that the water is already contaminated with whatever chemicals were used in Todd’s aquariums. HOWEVER, live rock is perfectly fine to buy, the corals attached to the rock are doing fine. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND you do NOT buy any live stock from Todd’s. After reading many dissatisfied review, I also want to urge others not to buy livestock, it is like throwing MONEY down the drain!

They have fish and fish stuff. The staff is knowledgable. I don’t know what people were expecting that came here, but if you are looking for fish, they have them and they will tell you what to buy. That is pretty much what I wanted.

After passing by this store several times, I brought my little reviewer in for some fish for his tank. They have a pretty decent selection of fish, and there were many that I have not seen at the other stores in town which was nice. I was concerned about several dead fish in tanks, but that happens. They should clean them out quickly though, and it appeared that they had not. Prices were slightly higher than the other two stores where I shop, and the staff was not quite as helpful, but neither complaint should keep me away. Especially when you consider that they had some fish I had never even seen before, let alone heard of.