local fish stores...

[unleashed]

Originally Posted by captainMJ
I am sure in most instances it is ignorance of course that would have been a good idea to take a capatability chart with me when I started this but I trusted this girl to know what she was talking about as she has been doing this for many years having a reef tank of her own.
Live and learn, right? :joy:
I realized long time ago how much bad advice is given by alot of employees and sorry to say even other hobbiest.yrs back I started my agressive tank I had a majestic foxface that lost her lower jaw due to a feeding frenzy accident she was always a great eater and I was worried she wouldnt make it without being able to graze naturally so i looked for some other food sources anything I didnt already supply.i asked a LFS (not my norm) the they raced about being so knowledgable told be to feed it brine shrimp(btw this lost all of the credebilty with me(and they didnt have alot of it to begin with IMO.I point blank told the guy i needed herbivore food since when is brine shrimp a plant? getting advice is one but it never replaces your own research. do your own research fully it will help in the long run.

 

[maxalmon]

This all boils down to finding a store you respect and developing a relationship with them. I have 2 stores that I visit, each store has it's expertise, one store I goto for technical advice on reef issues, the other store I goto for supplies. Las Vegas SUX's for LF stores, it's really horrible and thats being nice about it. I was at another LFS the other day, a couple was in with their kids looking at setting up a FOWLR tank, I was kinda listening in and was really shocked at what the sales guy was telling them, 55g tank, told them to use crushed coral with undergravel filter, explains the cycle thing, use amquel, requaler tap water is ok...etc... and then starts pointing to and saying "You can have all these fish" yellow tang

, hippo, Queen trigger, Angels and even a clown with an anenome

, told them you could have up to 12-14 fish "No Problem"....I just about wanted to smack the kid, 17yo punk, I waited till he walked away, strolled over and said "I'm experienced in this hobby and your being snowballed and lied to and it's going to cost you a lot of money and it's going to be a nightmare" Handed them my business card and told them to call me and I would give them the right advice because I didn't want to see all those fish dead....They kinda had this shocked look, took my card and called me about 2 hours later, I directed them to SWF and few other sites, gave them a basic equipment list along with a few stores that were more reputable. I also called the store and spoke to the manager, he sounded like he cared and that he agreed with me and that he would talk to the kid, who knows. I think I might go back and pretend to be starting out and have him help me setup a tank and see what he says.

 

[ledzep fan]

Ya i dont like it when the lfs takes advantage of people . Here i'll tell you a story. OK, so one time i walked into a lfs. ( I just like to browse around ) Then there was this guy with his little kid and they where new to the hobby. I had heard them over talking saying they had a 55 gallon and they wanted some new fish. Well, there was a Powder Blue Tang, Moorish Idol. So the newbies asked is those to fish for easy to keep and would fit in their tank. Of course the Lfs lied and said they could both be in there and they would be able to keep a couple more fish :scared: . i was amazed at what i heard, the fish where like 70 bucks a peice. They walked out with both those fish.
They are probably dead now

 

[ophiura]

Couple of things:
One is that I don't think it is necessarily fair to paint these people as liars. They may be uninformed, but not liars. Different things. They may just not KNOW any better.
Second, how many customers of an LFS lie to the employees? Because I am quite positive when I worked at an LFS that people weren't asking the questions I asked truthfully because I many not have sold them a fish...quite certain.
Finally, here is the kicker. I hear people complain about stores, but then I hear people complain about the prices at the good stores. The store I worked at had many long term (many year) employees, clean tanks, a 7 day warranty, water testing and tracking, and several fish that we flat out refused to sell unless you had your water tested. But they are pricey...and EVERYONE complains about that on local boards.
So I hear these complaints about the employees, and then I also hear people buying stuff from the cheap LFS 'cause it is cheaper...and often they are one in the same.