How I feel when I walk into my LFS:

[Bells>Waimea]

 

[Bells>Waimea]

Kinda ridiculous.

Why tell me to ask if I need anything when you can't supply basic information?
I got three "IDK's" today, and not even a "hold on let me find out for you".

Brutal.

 

[Murica]

It depends, some are good some pretend to be wicked smaht just to sell stuff. Personally i search R2R for everything or the open web. Better answers and you can pick and choose who to listen to instead of one stranger

 

[Crabs McJones]

Lol! This the the truest statement ever made!

 

[ScottR]

I’ll share a story. I walked into a newer fish store. The owner was showing me his sump and he had 2 very large tridacna clams in the fuge with a fuge light on them. He then said he put the clams there to help filter the water. The mantles had turned a reddish brown color. I explained that they need proper lighting to survive. He said no, they filter the water to make it cleaner...

 

[Fudsey]

SPOT ON ! ! ! ;Hilarious;Hilarious;Hilarious

 

[Peace River]

Kinda ridiculous.

Why tell me to ask if I need anything when you can't supply basic information?
I got three "IDK's" today, and not even a "hold on let me find out for you".

Brutal.

Yes, this seems to happen far, far too often. It is to the point that I am surprised when I don't get this experience in many stores. The store where I primarily shop and that I refer to as "my LFS" is over an hour from my house even though there are plenty other fish stores that are closer - quality service, quality fish, quality corals.

 

[flagg37]

I’ll share a story. I walked into a newer fish store. The owner was showing me his sump and he had 2 very large tridacna clams in the fuge with a fuge light on them. He then said he put the clams there to help filter the water. The mantles had turned a reddish brown color. I explained that they need proper lighting to survive. He said no, they filter the water to make it cleaner...

Yikes. They do filter the water but they still need proper lighting. I know a guy with so many in his tank that he took his skimmer off. He didn’t have them in his sump under a fuge light though. That’s crazy.

 

[mystersyster]

Had fish store ladies try and talk me out of getting a pair of royal grammas. Assured me one would end up dead. They've been paired 5 years and counting.

 

[vetteguy53081]

 

[ScottR]

Yikes. They do filter the water but they still need proper lighting. I know a guy with so many in his tank that he took his skimmer off. He didn’t have them in his sump under a fuge light though. That’s crazy.

They can get food from filtering (but I don’t think they will actually clean the tanks water) but when they get to a certain size, they rely on the zooxanthellae in their mantle for food. A fuge light would almost certainly kill the beneficial zooxanthellae which would most certainly kill the clam eventually.

 

[Flippers4pups]

Most of the LFS stores know me.

They see me come in and it's:

Store owner:" Master Flipper, what a pleasure to see you! Let me get someone to assist you!" (Fingers snapping) "while your waiting, can I get you a beverage or a foot massage?"

Me: "No, I'm good, thanks anyway."

Store owner: "Very good! Boy, get Master Flipper the fish he wants! Pronto!" "So hard to find good help!"
"Oh and bring Master Flipper's car around front!"

About this time I stub my big toe on the tank stand and wake up!

Hey, I can dream too! Lol:po_O:eek:;Jawdrop;Nailbiting;Nurse;Shy;Pompus;Playful;Bucktooth;Joyful

 

[Billdogg]

Sadly, quality LFS's are in short supply.

I went to one a number of years ago that I had high hopes for. Lot's of nice clams and a good selection of SPS frags along with plenty of reasonably priced zoanthids. Then the owner started talking to me. He spent at least 15 - 20 minutes first asking about my system and then telling me how my tank was doomed to failure becasue I wasn't doing things his way. Swore that my whole system would crash within a few months, etc etc etc. Being that my system, at that time, had been up and running quite successfully for nearly 25 years, I chose to take the high road. I thanked him for his advice and left without spending a single cent. Never been back either.

Luckily enough for me, there is a great place in town that is owned by an experienced reefer. He hires only people with time in the hobby. I spend my $$$ there.

 

[Wen]

I brace myself for the usual sight of multiple sick, skinny and dead fish.

 

[Skynyrd Fish]

My lfs owner thinks it’s still fine to put new fish right in the tank.

 

[Aheinz]

It depends, some are good some pretend to be wicked smaht just to sell stuff. Personally i search R2R for everything or the open web. Better answers and you can pick and choose who to listen to instead of one stranger

Yep if I see something I like and I dont know much about I turn to the web and here over asking though I will ask and use the knowledge of what I learned on the net to to see if the employee knows their stuff but my lfs I've gone too knows quite a bit which is great

 

[TheOne]

My LFS must be making a fortune on selling algae because their saltwater tanks are full of it.

 

[blasterman]

We're being cruel for the wrong reasons.

My favorite LFS store has a very, very smart owner that is not only honest to beginners but keeps up on reef trends and offers things other shops have never heard of to keep veterans like myself coming in. He also gives me top prices on trade ins because he wants me to hang around and wants a diverse stock. They've had a dedicated tank of rock flower anemones for like a year now. Now he's got me hooked on the things, and he knows it.

His biggest issue is training staff. The service industry is lean in general, but finding store clerks that are good with people and have an indepth knowledge of reefing is pretty difficult.

He's also go two girls that work on the floor that are utterly smoking hot. That helps of course.

 

[C. Eymann]

I worked in LFS throughout highschool and college and while most patrons were nice, you occasionally do get the "I know more than you types" come in and act snooty towards staff.
Fortunately I worked in LFS that prided themselves in hiring experienced and knowledgeable staff.

I experienced a bit of this working as "the new guy" at a LFS in Saint Pete, where customers would be like " oh you must be new, never seen you here before, hey can you see if _______ is available to help me ? I need some help and advice on something".

basically because I was the new guy and they had never seen me before, they assumed I was a noob and knew nothing. Which, I understand and most were nice about it.

However there were a few that were pretty disrespectful and treated me like I was a peon when I asked them if they needed any help.
It was those that I had a little fun with-and flip the tables on them and start using Latin names only when referring to stuff, correct them when they call Micromussa lordhowensis "acans" etc etc.

Bottomline, be nice to LFS employees, even if its "the new guy" because you never know, that "new guy" maybe one of the most knowledgeable people there.


Basically, be nice, treat everyone with respect.


Just my .02

 

[biecacka]

Bill I bet I know which two stores you are talking about buddy! I went to the “one with ALL the know how” yesterday because I needed calibration fluid for my ph probe since the one 2 minutes from me was out.....I can tell you, some things don’t change...... ;)


corey