Cleo642
2500 Club Member
That's cool, more members from louisiana!
Funniest LFS statement you ever heard?
- Thread starter RareEarthCorals
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dylanmegyptian
Community Member
Oh man, @dylanmegyptian just reminded me of another good one.
Back when I was just a pup, my dad & I walked into this LFS. They had 6 fire shrimp in this one tank but no price. Even back then fire shrimp were around $20. They also had some peppermint shrimp in this same tank and those were $3-4 back then.
Dad: How much are those fire shrimp?
Kid at LFS: $4
Dad: Son, those are fire shrimp and they normally go for around $20. (Calling him "son" probably riled him up.)
Kid at LFS: Sir, I work here and those are called peppermint shrimp and they sell for $4.
Dad: Ok skippy, put all 6 in a bag.
Lol NICE!!!
Cleo642
2500 Club Member
Humblefish is from louisiana too.
dylanmegyptian
Community Member
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- Jan 30, 2012
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- Plymouth
- What state or country do you live in
- Michigan
Customer: Can you put a hippo in a nano tank?
LFS: How big is it?
Customer: 7.5 gallons
LFS: Oh yeah as long as it is one or two of these that are the size of a half dollar ....they don't grow much...
Laughed so hard I almost wet my pants!
LFS: How big is it?
Customer: 7.5 gallons
LFS: Oh yeah as long as it is one or two of these that are the size of a half dollar ....they don't grow much...
Laughed so hard I almost wet my pants!
Cleo642
2500 Club Member
The right, almost as symbolic as the crypts and bloods.lol
Cleo642
2500 Club Member
Some lfs are nice, family run. But allot of them high school kids or college kids to run it on weekends or evenings. Those young people are looking for a little job and pet store seems like a cool place to work. They don't really knowledge of aquariums and fish.
dylanmegyptian
Community Member
My God, there's like 100 people looking at this thread right now.
Its because it's totally worth it...
The thing is - and I cannot stress this enough - there are some good LFS out there worthy of your business. You just gotta find them and not allow your thinking to become poisoned from dealing with the bad ones. I worry that the mom & pop LFS will go the way of the Dodo, and all we will be left with is Petco.
I will gladly pay a little extra to support a good LFS. And I benefit as well. Sometimes I like actually getting to see the specimen I will be buying. And when I need a medication, I don't have time to wait on Amazon, I need it NOW!
I will gladly pay a little extra to support a good LFS. And I benefit as well. Sometimes I like actually getting to see the specimen I will be buying. And when I need a medication, I don't have time to wait on Amazon, I need it NOW!
kschweer
Moderator
Was in a shop a few months back and saw an employee testing water for a customer. He was using the Red Sea pro Alk kit and was trying very hard to get all the air out of the syringe. If you use these kits and read the directions you aren't supposed to do this. I told him that the air pocket was supposed to be there he replied "I've done this 100 times". I just thought "well you've done it wrong 100 times then." Lol
dylanmegyptian
Community Member
The thing is - and I cannot stress this enough - there are some good LFS out there worthy of your business. You just gotta find them and not allow your thinking to become poisoned from dealing with the bad ones. I worry that the mom & pop LFS will go the way of the Dodo, and all we will be left with is Petco.
I will gladly pay a little extra to support a good LFS. And I benefit as well. Sometimes I like actually getting to see the specimen I will be buying. And when I need a medication, I don't have time to wait on Amazon, I need it NOW!
Truth^
Flashy Fins
Active Member
Me: Looks like you have one that didn't make it in there. (small fish was wedged in the rock, upside down, almost colorless, missing its tail, not breathing)
LFS: Oh, that's just how they sleep.
Me: That one's definitely not sleeping.
LFS: Oh, it is. Saltwater fish sleep in weird positions.
Another store...
Me: I'm looking for a purple firefish now that my tank is ready.
LFS: Those are pretty, but you have to wait and add them last, because they get very aggressive.
Me: Um... I've always heard they're timid and should be added first? (I was 100% sure, but didn't want to seem argumentative)
LFS: Oh, no, definitely not. I've seen them attack a lot of other fish.
Me: Guess I better wait and come back then.
And at a store considered by most to be the best in my area, I had this unsettling discussion with the owner:
Me: During tank transfer, I had XYZ problem (can't recall what it was)
LFS: Why were you moving the fish?
Me: Tank transfer method, a proven ich remedy. You've heard of it?
LFS: Uh, no, I have no idea what you're talking about.
Me: The ich life cycle... *went into it a bit*
LFS: *blank stare* I don't see how that would get rid of ich. Quarantine is a good thing, but I didn't quarantine any of the fish in that display behind you, and they're all doing great.
Same store, conversation with a know-it-all employee:
LFS: We have the green banded gobies you like in stock, but they're very tiny.
Me: Yeah, they're a very small fish.
LFS: They get pretty big. These are very small babies.
Me: They get a couple of inches, but I wouldn't say big.
LFS: No, they'll get a lot bigger than that. I've been doing this for years and have kept these. Mine were about 5".
Me: Maybe we're talking about different fish...
LFS: No, we aren't. There's only one goby with those green and red markings.
Me: Liveaquaria and all the other sites list 2" max. They're occasionally wrong, but I've never seen one bigger. How did yours get so big?
LFS: Look, I know what I'm talking about! I've worked in this industry for decades! I've worked at public aquariums, and I was the one taking care of things no one else knew how to take care of! I can't tell you why liveaquaria is wrong about something, but I know what I've seen!
Me: *blank stare* (I should've told him to call up liveaquaria and explain how/why he knows so much more than them!)
Sometimes other hobbyists are equally ignorant. When I was just starting out, I had a discussion with a very experienced reefer about the bird wrasse. She was thoroughly convinced the brown ones are the males, based solely on the fact that she had specifically purchased one as a female that was green. I tried to politely correct her, but she was adamant and clearly did not appreciate being challenged. I just changed the subject.
LFS: Oh, that's just how they sleep.
Me: That one's definitely not sleeping.
LFS: Oh, it is. Saltwater fish sleep in weird positions.
Another store...
Me: I'm looking for a purple firefish now that my tank is ready.
LFS: Those are pretty, but you have to wait and add them last, because they get very aggressive.
Me: Um... I've always heard they're timid and should be added first? (I was 100% sure, but didn't want to seem argumentative)
LFS: Oh, no, definitely not. I've seen them attack a lot of other fish.
Me: Guess I better wait and come back then.
And at a store considered by most to be the best in my area, I had this unsettling discussion with the owner:
Me: During tank transfer, I had XYZ problem (can't recall what it was)
LFS: Why were you moving the fish?
Me: Tank transfer method, a proven ich remedy. You've heard of it?
LFS: Uh, no, I have no idea what you're talking about.
Me: The ich life cycle... *went into it a bit*
LFS: *blank stare* I don't see how that would get rid of ich. Quarantine is a good thing, but I didn't quarantine any of the fish in that display behind you, and they're all doing great.
Same store, conversation with a know-it-all employee:
LFS: We have the green banded gobies you like in stock, but they're very tiny.
Me: Yeah, they're a very small fish.
LFS: They get pretty big. These are very small babies.
Me: They get a couple of inches, but I wouldn't say big.
LFS: No, they'll get a lot bigger than that. I've been doing this for years and have kept these. Mine were about 5".
Me: Maybe we're talking about different fish...
LFS: No, we aren't. There's only one goby with those green and red markings.
Me: Liveaquaria and all the other sites list 2" max. They're occasionally wrong, but I've never seen one bigger. How did yours get so big?
LFS: Look, I know what I'm talking about! I've worked in this industry for decades! I've worked at public aquariums, and I was the one taking care of things no one else knew how to take care of! I can't tell you why liveaquaria is wrong about something, but I know what I've seen!
Me: *blank stare* (I should've told him to call up liveaquaria and explain how/why he knows so much more than them!)
Sometimes other hobbyists are equally ignorant. When I was just starting out, I had a discussion with a very experienced reefer about the bird wrasse. She was thoroughly convinced the brown ones are the males, based solely on the fact that she had specifically purchased one as a female that was green. I tried to politely correct her, but she was adamant and clearly did not appreciate being challenged. I just changed the subject.
NeuroticAquatics
Valuable Member
Absolutely agree. I've actually found a couple of home/garage-based businesses that offer fish/corals/supplies at less than retail and they give solid advice. I wish they were closer to me.The thing is - and I cannot stress this enough - there are some good LFS out there worthy of your business. You just gotta find them and not allow your thinking to become poisoned from dealing with the bad ones. I worry that the mom & pop LFS will go the way of the Dodo, and all we will be left with is Petco.
I will gladly pay a little extra to support a good LFS. And I benefit as well. Sometimes I like actually getting to see the specimen I will be buying. And when I need a medication, I don't have time to wait on Amazon, I need it NOW!
Flashy Fins
Active Member
Dad: How much are those fire shrimp?
Kid at LFS: $4
Dad: Son, those are fire shrimp and they normally go for around $20. (Calling him "son" probably riled him up.)
Kid at LFS: Sir, I work here and those are called peppermint shrimp and they sell for $4.
Dad: Ok skippy, put all 6 in a bag.
That's great! But it does remind me how offended the employees can get when you correct them on stuff. I was buying a fish once at a general pet store that sells everything from live birds to cat food (surprisingly, their fish tanks are very healthy), so I thought I'd be helpful and point out that someone had wrongly labeled and priced some corals. The biggest mistake was a scoly marked trumpet and priced around $20. They seem like an honest, well-run local business, so rather than trying to take advantage, I was polite and told them, stating I wouldn't want them to lose money. The employee gets an attitude with me and says, "That's not a trumpet. Anyone who keeps corals would know that, so they'd know that's not the price, no matter what it says." Made me wish I'd insisted on purchasing it at the labeled price.
Flashy Fins
Active Member
My God, there's like 100 people looking at this thread right now.
Would be nice to think at least a few are LFS employees/owners, reading up on dumb things NOT to say. Threads like this are entertaining, but I suspect they also do a lot to correct bad information given to hobbyists, especially new ones.
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