Poor Quality LFS

[Matthew Frost]

Okay... that's 25 frags. I believe the OP said 5.

No Dom, that's FOUR FRAGS with a total of 25 polyps.

 

[Dom]

No Dom, that's FOUR FRAGS with a total of 25 polyps.

OH! Got it...

 

[chinw76]

I am done dealing with different Lfs. The first place that I bought my tank was nice. After the big purchase, they don't give you the time of day. I went in there and their tanks are gross. Want to buy cheapo, it comes with cotton candy and bubble algae. That place is called Something Fishy in Foxlake, IL. Another place by me is call Pet Central in McHenry, IL, the owner took a week to give me a price for a tank, then it was for the wrong tank. I told him I already bought one. Also argued with this guy, he told me the nitrogen cycle ended in ammonia and started with nitrate. Will never go there. Then I had my favorite store call Aqua Visions in Lake Barrington, IL. The staff is really friendly, this lady Beth maintained the store well, she barely works there now and it went downhill. I asked multiple times for a price on Red Sea reefer 350, it been 2 months and no price still. I want a rainbow cucumber, never got a call back on that either. I wanted fighting conch, they were going to order for me with their weekly order. Two weeks later Nada. I had them order me a bucket of salt. Drove an hour there and found out they used it on a maintance account. I tried calling multiple times to see if they had sand. No one picks up the phone. The list goes on and on. So I now buy salt and sand from Brs. I was looking for mocha storm clown fish, still havent gotten a price for them. I want to buy 3 tanks in total, but seems they are not interested in sales. I just made a purchase of inverts from Vivid Aquariums for $45 shipping, least I get everything I want and not have to wait months. Oh and another thing, I wanted to buy alot of corals, they said give us a month and we will be fully stocked. I waited and came back, still no corals, told to wait another month. I made a purchase from Jason Fox and Cherry Corals. The service was excellent. I called Aqua Visions and told them I will be taking all my business online and stated all these reasons. I am done wasting time with these Lfs of waiting, drive, no customer support. Buying online for me has been the best deal. Brs has a great staff and awesome customer support. They are the ones who take the time to help when you have an issue with your tank.

 

[chinw76]

This is something fishy pet store. They used to not be like this

 

[PhreeByrd]

If you have an LFS that is even reasonably decent, then either support them by doing business with them or watch them disappear. Yes, they probably don't have the best possible price on a lot of goods. But the convenience of getting something right now, when you need it, is worth a lot to me. For livestock, no online source can compare to a local shop in terms of ensuring healthy animals. Selection might be a little more limited, but most LFS's I've dealt with will do their best to special order something.

It's very sad, but it's absolutely the reality that internet commerce has all but destroyed local retail business in many, especially niche, markets. Internet commerce does nothing to help your local economy, distances you from your supplier, provides only indirect customer support, and keeps you a stranger to your seller. Honestly, for those of you too young to remember thriving local small (or even large) retail businesses, the state of retail commerce today just plain sucks bigtime for the customer.

 

[bobbyM]

My wife and I love visiting LFS stores. We have seen bad ones, good ones, and mediocre ones. The bad ones seem to blame the internet, other stores, hobbyists for their problems. Meanwhile, they have little to no stock, tanks are filthy, the store smells. No store display or terrible ones that are empty. This mainly shows someone has lost their passion for their business. Either store owner or manager. Bread and butter for an LFS is building and teaching new hobbyist. Servicing and maintaining tanks for clients is a weekly/monthly check that they can count on and put back in to their store. These clients want easy nice looking tanks and won't buy stuff off the internet in most cases. I know I could "Kitchen Nightmares" the aquarium industry. Step in and set LFS's on the road to success. But, the owners have to have passion for their business or close up shop.

 

[tony'stank]

When I lived in rural northwest AZ , my closest LFS were in Las Vegas 100 miles and a 1/12 to 21/2 drive away. Fortunately there were some good quality stores there. I use to make the drive every 1-2 months. Once a year I would drive 5 hours to Phoenix to go to an exceptional LFS and stock up.
Even living in the Detroit area I will frequently drive at least one hour to some very good LFS.

 

[bobbyM]

Simply put, an LFS's target market is not the hardcore hobbyist. It's doctors, lawyers, business professionals, high income families. Also, new comers in the hobby, people that love fish. Customer service is key. Those that don't buy today, may buy tomorrow or say good things to friends and colleagues. Clean stores are everything. Simple, basic, and successful set ups are money in the store.

 

[Tjakes680]

I owned 2 LFS before Super Storm Sandy and ill just tell u one thing its not easy you need to spend almost all of your time at the store but hey its what i love so i didnt mind but with all the online and private people fraging and selling its a real hard bussiness these days when i started it was an amazing business all that said you have to keep your store tanks 1000% on if your going to sell in a store my tanks were always on point

 

[tony'stank]

I bought my first saltwater tank at a LFS ( Pet Connection) 36 years ago . They delivered. And helped me set up the tank. Two years ago I bought my most recent tank, a RSR 450 from the same store. Again they delivered the tank and helped me set it up. That kind of service is why I am loyal to them and why they are still around.

 

[mrniceguy]

I totally did not mean to start a thread about bashing LFS. I was simply venting that it's hard to find good reliable places who Is not in a hurry to trade you something for your money. I grew up around plenty of good LFS in Indianapolis when I was growing up. It's hard to find the person who cares about your tank and what could benifit you so people turn to the internet or the next hobbyist. If you do has a LFS and they actually care about you and your tank well great job your loyalty and his care is what keeps him in business. But when you walk into places like I do because I can't drive 2 hours away because I work so much it kinda sucks and disappointing.

 

[Neptune 2k]

Sorry about your experiences, but you can’t go on forums voicing your displeasure about anything. It will always bring more negativity than solutions. #LFSMETOO You should know that by now..

 

[bobbyM]

I totally did not mean to start a thread about bashing LFS. I was simply venting that it's hard to find good reliable places who Is not in a hurry to trade you something for your money. I grew up around plenty of good LFS in Indianapolis when I was growing up. It's hard to find the person who cares about your tank and what could benifit you so people turn to the internet or the next hobbyist. If you do has a LFS and they actually care about you and your tank well great job your loyalty and his care is what keeps him in business. But when you walk into places like I do because I can't drive 2 hours away because I work so much it kinda sucks and disappointing.

I completely agree!

 

[BestMomEver]

I don't think Dallas North Aquarium is worth that drive to be honest. It's too big of a store to have nice conversations with people who work there, especially since there's so much more going on then just saltwater, plus mostly everyone working there are teens, who from my experience don't seem to know much.

The only other shop isn't worth going to from that distance.

Apex aquariums used to be nice, but they wen't out of business a few months ago.

I still go to the local stores here from time to time but only because i live in the area. And now that WWC has a sweet membership deal...I get it, stores are difficult, but they have to put more effort into competing with online retailers. Especially since the hobby will start seeing less older folks and more younger people who are comfortable with buying things online.

I don’t mean to hijack this thread... but is the WWC membership worth the money? What have they sent you?

 

[livingcolors]

Why not go to Petco. I understand the support your LFS movement but in a lot of cases Petco is the only option. I'm thankful to have a Petco in my area otherwise there's 1 OK LFS in the area. In all honesty I'm pleasantly surprised by the selection and husbandry at my local Petco. Its better then a lot if LFS I have seen come and go.

I don't think running Petco out of the saltwater business would be a good thing for the hobby overall. Put pressure on them to do things correctly is a much better option.

I'm with you on Petco. I've never lost a fish or any stock from there and they have helped me place problem fish to a new home. I have no issues with supporting them

 

[Rispa]

I'm with you on Petco. I've never lost a fish or any stock from there and they have helped me place problem fish to a new home. I have no issues with supporting them

Because a lot of Petcos have people working there that don't know anything and don't care enough to learn. As a result they have nasty tanks with unhealthy fish. There is only one I would buy from in Houston and if only do it if a particular guy is still working there.

 

[ReefWithCare]

Because a lot of Petcos have people working there that don't know anything and don't care enough to learn. As a result they have nasty tanks with unhealthy fish. There is only one I would buy from in Houston and if only do it if a particular guy is still working there.

And I see the same issues with the many LFS [emoji848]. Honestly the Petco near me is better than most of the LFS in town and 90% of their stuff is aquacultured. They are open later which has saved my butt a few times when I need something last minute [emoji28].

 

[Victoria M]

When I lived in rural northwest AZ , my closest LFS were in Las Vegas 100 miles and a 1/12 to 21/2 drive away. Fortunately there were some good quality stores there. I use to make the drive every 1-2 months. Once a year I would drive 5 hours to Phoenix to go to an exceptional LFS and stock up.
Even living in the Detroit area I will frequently drive at least one hour to some very good LFS.

So what are your some of favorite LFS in the area you drive to?

 

[rkpetersen]

Local hobbyists are ruining the lfs industry. Why would I go to a store to buy a Duncan for $5-8 a head, when I can get a 19 head colony for $30 through a local Facebook marketplace group? I can get corals and equipment for much. Heaper through hobbyists nearby than at my lfs.

A lot of truth to this. I mostly shop both LFSs (several excellent ones here) and online. I'm not on Facebook. But even I recently got two massive gorgeous BTAs for lunch money, from a Facebook friend of a friend. These would have cost 10x as much in a store or online, if you could find them and someone else didn't nab them first.

 

[rkpetersen]

Just made a run to several “local” stores in the next town over min 60 miles. 1 st one was not open at prescribed time so he must’ve been on a maintenance run. That’s ok I should’ve called first. Great or store small but well kept and good selection. Second one a little further away, fish looked poorly kept with hair algae and red algae everywhere. Some Corals were from a well known supplier and but still we’re not in a clean frag tank. This was a multi pet store so it gu SE the fish were secondary. Moving on to the third in a different state 90 miles total was a gem. Well kept heathy fish, great coral display and could really see they took pride in their work. Spent my money in here and will go back again when I need some more fish.

Decades ago, I used to do a 3 hour circle from Ann Arbor Michigan through the suburbs of Detroit, stopping at 4 or 5 shops, on a Saturday. In those days, I would pick up almost anything that I thought was cool, even if today I would consider so many animals wildly inappropriate for my aquaria.