fish store (if you can call it that) experience

[canuckreef]

well it was early and i had nothing to do...so i headed off to Petcetra... a conglomorate of pet stores across canada.. and specializing in nothing..

i looked at their saltwater section and laughed to my self..

i asked the clerk... what kind of fish is that...? (pointing to a yellow angel fish that was dead and sucked into the filter and decaying).....

oh that is an angel..it is dead but we have a live one here..
(showing me one that was about to die i suspect)

and what about this one down here... i asked..pointing to a dead
perc clown that was almost decayed...'
oh that is a clown fish and he is dead...

hmmm i wondered to my self...why are they leaving them in the tanks.. maybe they wanted to do a test on nitrates and ammomia on the system...

then the best for last....

hey that is interesting ..i say..what is it..?

oh that is some kind of ammomium or something like that the teenaged clerk says.. i am not sure..but it sure is nice....

i say hmm... it is labeled as a "Quirly Anemone"... but from my short experience i would say it is Aptaisia... do you know what
aptaisia is... i ask...

oh i know we had it specially imported for someone...

oh... i see i guess someone wants to kill their tank..or at least
ruin their tank....

oh it is special.. and i think the person is picking it up today..!!

hmm well wish them luck...

oh who is in charge of the fish area here...

oh well i am now.. until my boss comes in..

oh well tell him to hire someone who knows about fish and having the wrong things in your tanks..

with that i walked out.. laughing and wondering how long they will be in the saltwater business.. and how many poor fish must die due to their neglect..

by the way there is a Big Al's in five minute drive of the place..

just had to let you all know...!!

[theo]

I hear what your saying.........but its not the kids fault. Hes just there to make a buck or fifty cents after school and on weekends. The fault is with the store. They don't want to spend any money on anyone with any knowledge. There is a store close to me where they have a marine biology student working! Good for us but I think hes in his second year and is racking in a wopping 9.00 dollars an hour. I couldn't even afford to have a tank at that rate of pay.:blob:

[ajx22]

...I agree with you 100% Theo...

This is the whole reason behind us starting AquariumPros.ca and this forum...

We are all involved in this hobby too much and it pi$$es us off to see ignorance and just plain BS being given to customers. We have all been taken for a ride at some point, and it's not fair to say the least.

I only want people to be well informed PRIOR to spending tons of money on animals that they have no idea how to care for. Knowledge IS power...and this is the reason I have spent the time and money setting-up this forum.

Glad to see so many new 'faces' lately...I look forward to seeing the combination of experiences add to everyone's knowledge.

Good luck and here's to KNOWLEDGE!!:cheers: :read: :fish2:

[theo]

I can't believe when I think of the money I could of saved if i hadn't of listened to my LFS:bigeek:

[Mitchell]

Even the experienced like to bullsh#$t the newbie just for the sale.
When I started I went to buy some LR at a LFS. The older gentleman in the store who told me he had over 25 years in the hobby sold me on a piece of rock. $15.00 a pound premium LR.
Told me the 20 0r so aptaisa's it had on it were benificial to a reef tank and proved the rock was full of life and worth the money.
He must have laughed his butt off as I left the store, rock in hand.

Then at another store, an employee was looking at the large reef displaythey had set up. I said to him( because now Im a Reefin Geek :D ) Wow look at the outbreak of aptasia you guys are having.
Is that what they are? he said
Oh yeah
Well the owner wanted us to sell those for extra as they had real anenome's on them

:mad: :angry: :mad: :angry:

I convinced the employee as to what they were.
They were working on cleaning out the tank after that.

[canuckreef]

^^

[Covenant]

I think at most places around here ("most" is an overstatement, as there's only 1 store remaining that has a marine tank - and never any corals, just Live Rock and a couple of fish sometimes), it's not a matter of trying to rip a newbie off, as it is misinformation.

I was sold (and recommended): CC substrate, a white sand star (to eat algae!), Lee's Protein Skimmer (only one available w/o buying online), NO lights (which I knew would be temporary until I got corals, but there were no other options, either), a Fluval 304, Live Rock with aiptasia ("it's a REAL anemone!"), and overly priced rock and livestock. I only partially blame the LFS - I should've done more research on my own.

Somehow I managed to find out about Reef Central, and from that moment on, I never consulted my LFS except to find out what was in stock at which prices. I was at the only remaining LFS when a couple of ladies from up north were in, interested in starting a reef tank. After listening to recommendations by the owner, an incredibly nice man who CARES about his products and livestock, I had to jump in and recommend Reef Central. (It wasn't so much that the owner was misleading them, as his info was sadly out of date.) The owner heard this, and said he'd never heard of such a thing and was going to start consulting it and other Reefing BBs to get more up-to-date info.

I think from his point of view, the best way to make a living competing with online vendors and pet superstores is to be honest and accurate and helpful, and that includes listening to more informed customers. I believe that what I was sold in the beginning (not just from him, but also the other stores exsisting at the time) was more the result of outdated info, not so much a chance to make a quick buck. I'm not saying it doesn't happen, but maybe it's an opportunity for us to introduce people who SHOULD know better to great BBs like this and RC, and the many others out there.

[angel]

While we are talking about less than desirable experiences with the LFS:

The 'pros' who set up my SW tank did not level it properly and I had to tear the tank down and re-level it because it was threatening to overflow at the front corner.

These same jerks put a nail into a water line in the ceiling when installing the lighting.

When the pumps I bought from them failed after just 3 months, (2 brand new pumps) , they tried to tell me that they were still good pumps.

They installed a huge Dolphin pump for circulation between the sump and 100 gallon tank, and then severely throttled it back.
I paid a premium price for a pump which was noisy and overpowered.

The charge to do this set-up was $400.

I ended up re-doing almost everything they did and buying new more suitable pumps.

I know that I have some responsibility for this experience. I was a beginner, but had done my homework and read up on the hobby before getting into it. I feel that they took advantage of me because I was a newcomer. For some items, they charged me 3x the price I would have paid anywhere else, until I wisened up.

Moral: It really is 'buyer beware'.

[pluff]

:uzi: Yeah as i'm a newbie in the saltwater setup,i'm not buying anything from the LFS here in New Brunswick.After i posted and read stuff from the net i ordered my stuff from the net.I did buy some LR from the LFS,but i mae them give me a good discount,or i would of put a add in the paper here and try to get people together and order from the net.When i showed my LFS my list from M-Ps where i ordered they said why didn't u talk to us first :cool: Then when i told the :clown: that i was tired of spending hundreds of dollars for my African tanks with them,buddy sais we will give u %15 off everytime,and i said,now were starting to talk:dance: