Do Not take the word of any pet store owner/employee as fact, always research.

[spiked09]

These people generally do not specialize in just fish so it is pretty much impossible for them to know EVERYTHING about all the animals they sell.
When compared to a salt water enthusiast who spends all their spare time experimenting, researching, observing and designing different systems you can see how hard it would be to become as knowledgeable as the enthusiast.
Pet store owners/employees simply have too much ground to cover and the bottom line is always sell, sell, sell.

 

[reefkprz]

I agree take any LFS advice with a grain of salt (pun intended) do your own research, ask more than one source, check and double check, then still ask questions.

 

[morval]

while there are some good LFS, all of them are there to make money. many hire untrained staff on the cheep and they might give you good advice once in a while dont blindly trust everything they say. its lot more productive for a LFS to sell you somthing u shouldnt have than try to convince you not to buy it. always ask on here first

 

[sepulatian]

I very much agree here. Not all LFS's are bad, but don't blindly trust what they say. Do your own research on anything that you plan to purchase as well as asking on here.

 

[cowfishrule]

you have to sniff them out.
find one your comfy with. some will sell you a bridge, and some realize they will make more money by steering you in the right direction. (repeat sales, loyalty, recomendations by you, etc).
some are bidness people, some are hobbyists that found a way to cash in on their hobby.

 

[fishfreak1242]

Ironically, I found this guy that really knew what he was talking about when I was buying my first tank, and he suggested for me to get some equipment that I found out now that I should of bought, but my friend told me not too and that it was a waste of money. I will always regret that.

 

[crimzy]

I agree that you need to be cautious when listening to the advice of a lfs. However the same is true for this site. This is entertainment and can be informative, however there is also a lot of bad information being passed along here. Just remember that this is not research. A hobbyist cannot give you the type of expert opinion that you can get from Fenner, Burgess, Scott Michael, etc.

 

[ophiura]

But even those "experts" often extend beyond their true realm of expertise and are in it to make money as well.
I am generally wary of anyone who has a dime to make in selling you something. Buyer beware.

 

[scotts]

Originally Posted by ophiura
http:///forum/post/2606626
I am generally wary of anyone who has a dime to make in selling you something. Buyer beware.

I started this hobby solely listening to my LFS. Any problem I had, there was a $20 bottle of something to solve the problem. I have no idea how much money I literally poured into my tank.
I found this site, started learing how to do things the right way and stopped pouring money into my tank.

 

[matt b]

I always ask my LFS cause they know alot but I still dont buy anything they say is ok without looking it up on my own

 

[sepulatian]

Originally Posted by MaTT B
http:///forum/post/2606940
I always ask my LFS cause they know alot but I still dont buy anything they say is ok without looking it up on my own
Very wise decision

My LFS has nice stock at good prices. They do not push anything. It is a husband and wife that own it. They are smart individuals. The guy always asks about my tank. They have also told me NOT to add vitamins to the fish's food. They said that SW fish will not touch foods with additives on it. This was said to me when I tried to order vitamins from them. They are sweet people, but do not know everything. No one knows EVERYTHING about anything in this hobby or anything else. It is very important to not just research in one area, and not to take only one persons advice. Weigh out the options and make the logical choice based on your research.

 

[stdreb27]

The problem is the balance between selling ethically which has long term payoffs, but short term costs or selling anything which has immediate payoffs. Most people can't grasp or fail to see the benifit of doing it right. All they see is a potential sale walking out the door.
I bought my first large tank taking the advice of a lfs and now have no tank because I took the advice of the lfs and bought a lousy tank.

 

[i love fish]

Originally Posted by spiked09
http:///forum/post/2605937
These people generally do not specialize in just fish so it is pretty much impossible for them to know EVERYTHING about all the animals they sell.
When compared to a salt water enthusiast who spends all their spare time experimenting, researching, observing and designing different systems you can see how hard it would be to become as knowledgeable as the enthusiast.
Pet store owners/employees simply have too much ground to cover and the bottom line is always sell, sell, sell.
I totally agree with you on that, I've had so many BAD experiences last year when I first set up my SW aquarium, coz I didn't know much (assuming it was as easy as FW) and I got fooled and ripped off alot, in the end I lost everything, and had 2 start from scratch. They only care about money, NOT the well being of their fish, or for keeping the customer happy.

 

[sepulatian]

Originally Posted by i love fish
http:///forum/post/2607225
I totally agree with you on that, I've had so many BAD experiences last year when I first set up my SW aquarium, coz I didn't know much (assuming it was as easy as FW) and I got fooled and ripped off alot, in the end I lost everything, and had 2 start from scratch. They only care about money, NOT the well being of their fish, or for keeping the customer happy.

Responsibility falls on the hobbyist as well though.

 

[i love fish]

Originally Posted by sepulatian
http:///forum/post/2607045
Very wise decision

My LFS has nice stock at good prices. They do not push anything. It is a husband and wife that own it. They are smart individuals. The guy always asks about my tank. They have also told me NOT to add vitamins to the fish's food. They said that SW fish will not touch foods with additives on it. This was said to me when I tried to order vitamins from them. They are sweet people, but do not know everything. No one knows EVERYTHING about anything in this hobby or anything else. It is very important to not just research in one area, and not to take only one persons advice. Weigh out the options and make the logical choice based on your research.
That's nice of them to be so honest with you on that, here, where I live NO ONE (and I mean no one) does that, they will try and sell you a dead fish if they can.
I have seen an employee at the lfs i go to sell a lady a deworming medication to treat her ich infested fish with, even though she clearly told him it was ich.
They r really bad here.

 

[stdreb27]

Originally Posted by i love fish
http:///forum/post/2607234
That's nice of them to be so honest with you on that, here, where I live NO ONE (and I mean no one) does that, they will try and sell you a dead fish if they can.
I have seen an employee at the lfs i go to sell a lady a deworming medication to treat her ich infested fish with, even though she clearly told him it was ich.
They r really bad here.
Yeah, but that is an entirely different culture.

 

[sepulatian]

Originally Posted by i love fish
http:///forum/post/2607234
That's nice of them to be so honest with you on that, here, where I live NO ONE (and I mean no one) does that, they will try and sell you a dead fish if they can.
I have seen an employee at the lfs i go to sell a lady a deworming medication to treat her ich infested fish with, even though she clearly told him it was ich.
They r really bad here.
Actually, in that post I was showing that the LFS owner did not know about vitamins and gave me false advise, unintentionally. I am sorry that your LFS is not so great. It is very important for everyone to go into a store with knowledge of what they want to purchase.

 

[guille]

There seem to be several views on the LFS. True I don't and never have claimed to be an expert. No the store I work at is not the only good one out there. If I don't know I don't know. I call the owner with 30 years exp. in salt water. I have had customers come in and be bent 10 ways out of shape because they had to have the Hawk fish and then get bent because it wipes out their inverts and is the terror of the tank. If I stongly advisr that you don't get a fish and yet you still demand it what should I do????? I have bills just like all of you do. I had a guy today that has a small 3 inch Huma, yellow tang, and damsles in a 55 and would not be turned away from a 4.5 inch maroon clown, myself and the owner told him its not good. Not every customer cares to look things up. I do my best to advise against these things but what do you do??? If I refuse to sell a fish, and I have in the past nothing stops them from going 3 miles down the road where the stuff porcupine puffers into 20 gallon tanks.
I agree with everything being stated in this post about trust and your LFS but how about a thread where the LFS is not cast in such a negative light. Sorry for the rant but sometimes its hard not to take things pesonal. I have never and will never sell something just to make a sale. I also can saya the same for the owner. If you buy a fish as a new person and it dies in 2 days are you going to come back? I would and so would the owner try our best to have you enjoy the hobby, have things run smoothly, that way you come back for other fish, food, ect. Makes more sense to me to have you as a happy repeat customer than an unhappy one time sale.
Sorry again just my 2 cents

 

[stdreb27]

Originally Posted by Guille
http:///forum/post/2607245
There seem to be several views on the LFS. True I don't and never have claimed to be an expert. No the store I work at is not the only good one out there. If I don't know I don't know. I call the owner with 30 years exp. in salt water. I have had customers come in and be bent 10 ways out of shape because they had to have the Hawk fish and then get bent because it wipes out their inverts and is the terror of the tank. If I stongly advisr that you don't get a fish and yet you still demand it what should I do????? I have bills just like all of you do. I had a guy today that has a small 3 inch Huma, yellow tang, and damsles in a 55 and would not be turned away from a 4.5 inch maroon clown, myself and the owner told him its not good. Not every customer cares to look things up. I do my best to advise against these things but what do you do??? If I refuse to sell a fish, and I have in the past nothing stops them from going 3 miles down the road where the stuff porcupine puffers into 20 gallon tanks.
I agree with everything being stated in this post about trust and your LFS but how about a thread where the LFS is not cast in such a negative light. Sorry for the rant but sometimes its hard not to take things pesonal. I have never and will never sell something just to make a sale. I also can saya the same for the owner. If you buy a fish as a new person and it dies in 2 days are you going to come back? I would and so would the owner try our best to have you enjoy the hobby, have things run smoothly, that way you come back for other fish, food, ect. Makes more sense to me to have you as a happy repeat customer than an unhappy one time sale.
Sorry again just my 2 cents
If you were in houston then I'd have to come pay you a visit. I've worked retail for 5 years in electronics, I can only imagine the fun you'd have selling live animals. That being said, I've been to ALOT of stores and have yet to find one I really like or even don't like but trust.

 

[guille]

This is my 3rd year in sales. My first year in salt water but the same kinda holds true. Sales wouldn't be bad if it weren't for the customers lol.