Blue Ridge Aquatics

Blue Ridge Aquatics Nature aquarium store in downtown Waynesboro, VA 🇺🇸 Quarantined freshwater and marine fish + natural aquascaping supplies.

Live aquatic plants, corals, driftwood, oh my!

05/30/2026

Stop in for a good time 🐟 💦

Did you know: there’s no such thing as “livebearer’s disease”? 🧐 🦠 🐟 Livebearer’s disease is not a formally recognized ...
05/28/2026

Did you know: there’s no such thing as “livebearer’s disease”? 🧐 🦠 🐟

Livebearer’s disease is not a formally recognized singular disease, but rather a broad blanket term that covers a *large* range of common identifiable parasites and disease. Livebearing fish are more likely to have these specifically due to their nature (they scavenge and peck at the ground for food where many parasites reside in an infected tank) and because of how they were raised (often in crowded and poor tank conditions in large and busy breeding facilities with frequent cross contamination).

On top of parasites and disease, fish (especially livebearing) often arrive to stores with stressed with weak immune systems from poor prior water conditions which can make them that much more susceptible to becoming infected- *especially* if a store doesn’t quarantine and drops new fish immediately into sale tanks without monitoring and treating for common parasites and disease prior. Many of the parasites out there stay an aquarium *long* after the infecting fish is gone, underscoring why we choose to quarantine.

When someone says “livebearer’s disease”, they actually mean one or more of the following that haven’t been identified yet:
🧫 Internal parasites (there are a ton but the most common are the infamous camalla**s worm + tapeworms…)
🧫 External parasites (most common are: ich, epistylis, velvet…)
🧫 Bacterial infections like columnaris
🧫 Chronic stress
🧫 Tuberculosis
🧫 Poor water chemistry

Typical symptoms lumped into the term “livebearer’s disease”…
🦠 weight loss despite eating
🦠 caved in stomach
🦠 red “threads” hanging out of a fish’s a**s (camalla**s worms)
🦠 white/stringy p**p
🦠 clamped fins
🦠 bent spine
🦠 repeated deaths
🦠 poor fry survival
🦠 lethargy

PS: parasites and diseases can come in on PLANTS, CORALS, decor… anything from an infected tank- not just fish. This is why we are so extra. Quarantine your fish. Dip your plants. Dip your corals. 🌈⭐️

🧐What are some other myths you’ve heard of?

📸 Let’s see your fish + tanks! How’s everything doing? PS: we are bringing up new fish right now, no stock lists this ti...
05/20/2026

📸 Let’s see your fish + tanks! How’s everything doing? PS: we are bringing up new fish right now, no stock lists this time- just surprises.

A great weekend to be downtown!☀️ The Street Art Festival is happening now (and tomorrow!) with lots of live art, live m...
05/16/2026

A great weekend to be downtown!☀️ The Street Art Festival is happening now (and tomorrow!) with lots of live art, live music, vendors, local food and drink, lots of activities, and a ton of aquatic plants and fish! Did we mention you can walk with your 🍺 and 🍷 down here today and even bring it in while you shop in DORA approved locations like ours? Come support your local businesses!🌱🦐🍻

New Aquarium Co-Op stuff came in today! 💚Frozen food just got restocked!🧊Liz just picked up another round of fish from t...
05/08/2026

New Aquarium Co-Op stuff came in today! 💚
Frozen food just got restocked!🧊
Liz just picked up another round of fish from the airport!📦(In quarantine for 2 weeks.)
Picking up some more 🐟 from a couple local breeders soon too! Do you raise fish or shrimp locally? Hit us up!

🌱Next plant/shrimp order will be here next Friday 5/15. Lots of bucephalandra varieties on that order, Amano shrimp, monte carlo, pearl w**d, pygmy chain sword, super red ludwigia... lots of big requests. We still have tons of anubias this weekend and a few other easy growers for Mother's Day- because flowers die but anubias are forever. AND they flower!🌸

Staff picks this weekend:
💚Aquarium Co-Op's Magic Nuggets
💚Royal Longfin White Cloud Mountain Minnows
💚Cardinal Tetras
💚Emperor tetras
💚UNS Tanks < 20 gallons

Address

317 W. Main Street
Waynesboro, VA
22980

Opening Hours

Wednesday 12pm - 7pm
Thursday 12pm - 7pm
Friday 12pm - 7pm
Saturday 12pm - 7pm
Sunday 12pm - 7pm

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