*****...WOW!

[garick]

I have a LFS where the guy will tell you flat out "I do not know" if he doesn't know about and will tell you he will find out immediately and will go research your question for the right answer.
That doesn't bother me really. Everything seems to be OK in his shop considering its tiny and only has about 50 tanks of fish total.

 

[kravjitsu]

Originally Posted by Jaodissa
http:///forum/post/3225002
We have 4 *****'s/petsmarts in my area and I have never seen them selling saltwater fish. Why do some carry them and others don't? (just a curiosity)
I was the manager of the fish (specialty - all animals) section at PetSmart for 3 years. We were really happy when they finally started carrying SW supplies and I did often ask why we didn't carry SW fish and surprisingly the answer I got was about ethics. PetSmart supposedly had a problem with the fact that a majority of the SW fish they would get would be wild caught and they did not like that. Similar to the reasoning behind why they did not carry snakes for a long time - because the mice they sold were specifically pet/fancy mice and not feeder mice and they did not want to sell any animal they could not provide food for.
The filter systems in the freshwater tanks at PetSmart was intense and I also imagine it would be difficult to redesign the stores to include a SW section.
BTW I have had the same experience with Petcos SW section. Everything looks terrible and you feel so bad for the fish. Its just not right. Almost makes you want to buy them so you can give them a better life... but then you are just perpetuating the cycle. Lose lose.

 

[smidree]

the LFS near me when i first set my tank up wouldnt sell me any fish until i brought a water sample in to them and wont sell me anything unless i have the right tank and equipment to care for the fish

 

[hunt]

My LFS takes great care of there fish, exept for blue hippo tangs, dont know why but everytime i go there there blue tangs are laying on there side breathing heavily.

For all the other fish, ive never had a problem and they all look good.

 

[fishtaco]

Just found out today my favorite fish store closed their doors due to the economy. I was wondering what was going on because last time I was there the owner asked if I wanted a really good deal on a cube style custom reef tank and stand set-up including the LR, fish and coral. Really sad because they had the best SW stuff within 80 miles.
So sad, they had 5-10-15-20 dollar coral frags that they did themselves that would start at 25 dollars at any of the other LFS in the area.
Fishtaco

 

[speg]

Over here in FL (New Port Richey) we've had 5 fish stores close within a year. A ***** moved in pretty close so I figured I would see what they have.
I've been going in and out of there for about a week and a half keeping an eye on some tank raised clowns they got; at $14.99 I thought that I could get a nice lil clown. I went today and one of them had a bacterial infection over one eye. I figured that only one bad clown out of 4 wasn't bad. Then my wife pointed out another clown that was in the corner of the tank dying.
I asked a lady that was cleaning the freshwater section "How long do you guarantee your saltwater fish?" She replied "There's no guarantees on saltwater fish.".....

 

[speg]

Originally Posted by smidree
http:///forum/post/3233806
the LFS near me when i first set my tank up wouldnt sell me any fish until i brought a water sample in to them and wont sell me anything unless i have the right tank and equipment to care for the fish
Truly awesome. I would do a lot of business with a place like this because they're focused on the hobby more than $$.

 

[thatg33kgirl]

Originally Posted by mrdc
http:///forum/post/3229329
Has anyone ever done this? I have thrown questions at the fish store employees before just to see what their answer will be. These are questions that I know the answer to but want to see what answer they give me. I’ve done that before just to see how knowledgeable they were. If the answer to the question “can 5 lemonpeel angels be kept in a 45 gallon reef” was yes, I would not trust that person’s information.
At the Petsmart near me, I just don't ask. I know that they are just minimum paid fish scoopers and they don't care. I actually complained about one of their workers once because she ignored me in the tropical fish section for a good 10 minutes, before I had to go up to her, WAIT for her to stop cleaning a tank, and I got a snarky comment. Ok kid, I have worked retail for years now, and its common knowledge that the customer's needs are always first. Ugh
There is a nice little mom-and-pop LFS nearby that seems really knowledgable, I haven't checked out their salt stuff yet but they always seem to know what they are talking about, even IF they have this tendency to give me the "whats a little girl like you doing in a place like this?" vibe. *shudder*

 

[scottnlisa]

I have used ***** since I began my tank. I have bought around 20 fish and haven't had a problem do to *****'s fault. ***** merchandise is alot more then Pet supply plus so I shop there. I have a good friendship with one of the sales people in the fish department. He has a SW tanks at his house so he keeps the tanks looking good and water quality ok. Matter in fact I am heading there tomorrow to see what they have.

 

[i<3reefs]

A LFS should always be able to provide a better quality product, and better service than any big box store. That doesn't seem surprising to me, plus finding knowledgeable people to staff a livestock department isn't easy in the first place.

 

[gilbert]

I think that if a store is going to sell SWF, it needs to be mainly SWF. If it isn't, then the SWF normally don't get as much care as they should. We have a Polly's Pet Shop close by that's pretty good, but a lot of their fish are still sick, and half of their corals look bleached. Although, I give them credit for keeping a flowerpot for a while.

 

[mrdc]

I went to ***** the other day to buy hermit crab food (I swear this crab will never die). Anyway, I looked at the swf tanks and they still looked so pitiful. I actually saw a guy working that used to work in petlands swf area but the petland tanks are bad also so I don't expect a change at *****.

 

[fitbmxdude989]

***** is a good place to buy supplies on a moments notice kind of thing, but as for thier livestock, well look at the facts that everyone knows, its a big company, big companys arent worried about quality because they can offer sales and many other marketing tools that people are looking for, people buy whats cheapest or whats convenient, so places like ***** just stock them, they dont care if they get die off because in the long run they make huge profits from everything else

 

[speg]

Originally Posted by mrdc
http:///forum/post/3281103
I went to ***** the other day to buy hermit crab food (I swear this crab will never die). Anyway, I looked at the swf tanks and they still looked so pitiful. I actually saw a guy working that used to work in petlands swf area but the petland tanks are bad also so I don't expect a change at *****.
lol you got one of those pet hermits?? are they fun?

 

[spanko]

Five words
One dollar per gallon sale!

 

[jamesvishiou]

i now live in DeRidder, LA (pop. about 12,000) and i found a little mom and pop LFS. i went to check out the fish section in the back and it was mainly freshwater. BUT.... the tanks were ran only by air filters barely blowing any bubbles and they had fish put together that should NEVER be. they had tetras with several clown knifefish in a 15 gallon tank. pitiful.... then there was the saltwater they advertised as if it was a series of tanks stocked with the best quality fish in town. three SW fish stuck in a 5 gallon bucket and had the audacity to label SW ONLY. there was a humbug damsel, a juvenile koran angel, and what i believed to be a sunburst anthias. all were huddling around the one are stoned that had a buttload of bubbles coming from it. so i know the O2 levels were extremely high. they were pale pale. the bucket was sitting under the wooden stands the not so 'fresh'water tanks were sitting on. the air smelled like fish poop and death. was the only non ''chain'' pet stores i was disappointed in.

 

[fitbmxdude989]

i was going to post a new thread on this but this is sounds like a good place to say this. i got a job at ***** and when i got there i started to use that extra budget they gathered at this store to fix thier aquatics department and when i gave them my proposal to change care and training, they denied it, and they gave me a really bad excuse my manager said this and i qoute "why fix something thats not broke" so i quit, can you believe that? that is ugh( best way i can put that in words...lol)

 

[scottnlisa]

OMg, went to ***** a couple days ago. I am boycotting them. They had an angelfish and coral beauty in the same tank. The angel fish had so much ich on it, you really couldn't see the color of it. The coral beauty had a huge white pimple between it's eyes. I told the sales person what I saw. She said and I quote " This is my 2nd day. I know nothing about these fish" I told her that anybody would buy these fish and the fish are suffereing. Any of the other tanks tied into this one are ask risk of getting ich. She didn't care. I am so pissed. I am only buying from Wetpets now. I will make the 2 hour drive. Just had to vent.

 

[kazooie]

My ***** (about 1 hour away) tried to tell me that seahorses are for predator tanks because they eat shrimp.

 

[hunt]

im getting a tailspot blenny from ***** this week.