Never tell an LFS they have a rare fish!!

blaxsun · Dec 6, 2022

i cant think said:
I know right, I also witnessed this happen when I pointed out that instead of having a regular Gold Rim we had a very nice specimen of the Hybrid Achilles. I’ve now learnt my lesson and don’t point these things out until I own them.

nuxx · Dec 6, 2022

Seriously... what did they pay for it?

That's pretty crappy TBH

Petcrazyson · Dec 6, 2022

Slocke said:
Post it in a thread and tag Peace River

So I just like write it as a normal thread and then do tag that? Or is there more to it?

lion king · Dec 6, 2022

So I bought this normal, basic, bland brown fuzzy lionfish. When I got home under the lighting in my observation I could see just a speck or two of yellow. After I gave him a good home in the 90g reef display and fed him live ghosties, guppies, and mollies. This is what he turned into; you should have seen the face of the lfs owner when I showed her a pic. I paid $30, I bet she wished she had charged $300, even though I know they only paid $10. I had a previous source recently offer me a yellow fuzzy for $650.

Petcrazyson · Dec 6, 2022

lion king said:
So I bought this normal, basic, bland brown fuzzy lionfish. When I got home under the lighting in my observation I could see just a speck or two of yellow. After I gave him a good home in the 90g reef display and fed him live ghosties, guppies, and mollies. This is what he turned into; you should have seen the face of the lfs owner when I showed her a pic. I paid $30, I bet she wished she had charged $300, even though I know they only paid $10. I had a previous source recently offer me a yellow fuzzy for $650.

What type of lionfish is that?

lion king · Dec 6, 2022

Petcrazyson said:
What type of lionfish is that?

It's a dwarf fuzzy lionfish; they come in 3 color phases. So basic brown, red , and yellow; here's my current one that in the lfs also looked basic brown. The one you see in the lfs is usually a shade of brown, although this can be very deceiving. In good conditions with the right diet they many times will turn red. The one above happened to be a yellow phase that was brown due to stress and a poor diet, when given correct care, blossomed into the fish above. Also, an added note; someone that pays a pretty penny for a red or yellow phase and feeds them an inadequate diet, they will turn brown over time.

i cant think · Dec 6, 2022

lion king said:
It's a dwarf fuzzy lionfish; they come in 3 color phases. So basic brown, red , and yellow; here's my current one that in the lfs also looked basic brown. The one you see in the lfs is usually a shade of brown, although this can be very deceiving. In good conditions with the right diet they many times will turn red. This happened to a yellow phase that was brown due to stress and a poor diet, when given correct care, blossomed into the fish above.

We had many yellow fuzzies come in but they were common as ever and it got to a point we were selling them for 3/4 the price they should’ve been. Now I barely ever see them around, I maybe find 1 or 2 each year.

lion king · Dec 6, 2022

i cant think said:
We had many yellow fuzzies come in but they were common as ever and it got to a point we were selling them for 3/4 the price they should’ve been. Now I barely ever see them around, I maybe find 1 or 2 each year.

They are very rare in the States.

Slocke · Dec 17, 2022

I don't know how this store survives. This is a small and not overly healthy magnificent foxface for sale for 400$. Mine is probably an inch or two longer and at least twice the weight yet it cost me 150$ from another store in my area.

But I guess they have now officially updated the price.

lion king · Dec 17, 2022

Slocke said:
I don't know how this store survives. This is a small and not overly healthy magnificent foxface for sale for 400$. Mine is probably an inch or two longer and at least twice the weight yet it cost me 150$ from another store in my area.

But I guess they have now officially updated the price.

Money laundering or tax shelter, really I'm not kidding. Some stores don't mean to make money, the real money is coming from somewhere else.

I knew a store like that, the owners were hobbyists that loved everything about fish and stuff. They made their money on real estate and investments, they took a loss on the store to write it off and help balance out their tax burden.

Slocke · Dec 17, 2022

lion king said:
Money laundering or tax shelter, really I'm not kidding. Some stores don't mean to make money, the real money is coming from somewhere else.

I knew a store like that, the owners were hobbyists that loved everything about fish and stuff. They made their money on real estate and investments, they took a loss on the store to write it off and help balance out their tax burden.

When I've asked they've told me it is so they can pay their employees well. Which is good of course but if true they lack a simple understanding of supply and demand. Really there prices are all over the place. My adult engineer gobies were 17$ each and my pink streaked was an about average 130$ but then they sell common red firefish for 80$ a fish.

lion king · Dec 17, 2022

Slocke said:
When I've asked they've told me it is so they can pay their employees well. Which is good of course but if true they lack a simple understanding of supply and demand. Really there prices are all over the place. My adult engineer gobies were 17$ each and my pink streaked was an about average 130$ but then they sell common red firefish for 80$ a fish.

They may just be bad business people

Petcrazyson · Dec 17, 2022

lion king said:
They may just be bad business people

Or just money hungry business people

Slocke · Dec 19, 2022

lion king said:
They may just be bad business people

Petcrazyson said:
Or just money hungry business people

Maybe money hungry definitely bad. Their competitor sells partially (2 week which is 2 weeks better than most) at much lower prices. Therefor they sell a lot more and continue to upgrade. This is them after they upgraded in June:

What is that? 90-120 tanks just on the left. The coral and invert tanks are in the middle and they decided to sell some freshwater recently on the right.

I try and shop around (there is a 3rd store with normal prices I also love) but when the prices aren’t even close to competitive it makes it difficult.

Lbrdsoxfan · Dec 19, 2022

Slocke said:
Maybe money hungry definitely bad. Their competitor sells partially (2 week which is 2 weeks better than most) at much lower prices. Therefor they sell a lot more and continue to upgrade. This is them after they upgraded in June:

What is that? 90-120 tanks just on the left. The coral and invert tanks are in the middle and they decided to sell some freshwater recently on the right.

I try and shop around (there is a 3rd store with normal prices I also love) but when the prices aren’t even close to competitive it makes it difficult.

My LFS's never look that good, lol. I shop at dives, but always good prices on livestock.

Petcrazyson · Dec 19, 2022

Slocke said:
Maybe money hungry definitely bad. Their competitor sells partially (2 week which is 2 weeks better than most) at much lower prices. Therefor they sell a lot more and continue to upgrade. This is them after they upgraded in June:

What is that? 90-120 tanks just on the left. The coral and invert tanks are in the middle and they decided to sell some freshwater recently on the right.

I try and shop around (there is a 3rd store with normal prices I also love) but when the prices aren’t even close to competitive it makes it difficult.

Now that’s a store I’d like to visit and buy from!

MONTANTK · Dec 19, 2022

That’s some greed if you ask me. If you reserved it you should get that price. They messed up. If you passed on it then the increase is totally fair

BamaCoastPyrat · Jan 15, 2023

Slocke said:
Maybe money hungry definitely bad. Their competitor sells partially (2 week which is 2 weeks better than most) at much lower prices. Therefor they sell a lot more and continue to upgrade. This is them after they upgraded in June:

What is that? 90-120 tanks just on the left. The coral and invert tanks are in the middle and they decided to sell some freshwater recently on the right.

I try and shop around (there is a 3rd store with normal prices I also love) but when the prices aren’t even close to competitive it makes it difficult.

Dang! Where is this store?