Chance to open up LFS

[FallenPepper]

What kind of fish do you normally buy? Anything you would like to see in a store just looking for general ideas for my initial stock that I might not have thought about yet.

 

[Derekshatch]

Endlers, danios, rummy nose tetras, cory catfish, plecos, barbs, clown loaches, kuhli loach, mollies, platys.

 

[dutto73]

Harliquins

 

[Sylvan]

The usual suspects such as tetras etc then from there you can always decide if you want to specialize in certain fish. One of my LFS is a pleco specialist along with selling a variety of other fish. Another is a jack of all trades and goes for variety over specializing. Personally I'd like to find a place that stocks more choice in wild bettas for when I eventually get my dream house with a room that can be a fish room.

 

[Barry Tetra]

Plecos, mollies, neon tetra, cardinal tetra, angelfish, discus, betta

 

[utahfish]

Ive often thought if i owned a fish store what fish would i have. Ideally the point of a fish store like any business is to make profit no? Assuming thats the motivation then id look at keeping fish that are going to make me the most profit. Sure one could say well just sell expensive fish to make most profit but many"expensive" fish require more care so for me to maximize my profits id go with fish that are established in the industry to do well in transport and in fish store conditions. Also depending on the water that is running in the store will depend on which fish you have unless you are planning on setting up tanks with different water and temps. I mean we talk on this board all the time about proper water parameters, PH, temp, GH, ect...yet most pet stores keep all their different fish in same water. If i had a fish store id try to have nuetral to low water in all my tanks and if had a species like african cichlids id add calcium magnesium to tank, its easier to raise parameters of water than decrease them. Having said that not sure what your local water is like or if you plan on having an RO system for you store tanks but id get hardier fish than sensitive ones like discus. Id also get fish that are easy breeders so one can sell those with out having to buy stock. For instance people pay good money for tank raised rams and rams are a popular fish. If one knew how to breed rams and had the required space and water to do so one might make some profit.having said that mollies platys guppies livebearers are popular in fish stores cuz theyre inexpensive and hardy. Couple fish i wouldnt stock at all. Chinese algae eaters, as these are useless fish. Common plecos as most people dont have tanks big enough for a fish that will get 24inches but buy them when theyre small and id stay away from fish like arrowanas shovelnoses pacus and monster fish that dont belong in tanks. I went to a fish store in San Francisco run by an Asian couple they kept plants in every tank which required a little more work. I went to buy some plants and some amano shrimp, the owner before bagging my shrimp asked me all about my tank and water and other fish and he wasnt going to sell me those shrimp until he was sure i could properly care for them, it was like adopting a child, and while it was mildly annoying i appreciated that he cared so much. If i had a LFS id run it like that guy. Anyway good luck!

 

[Colin_T]

So is this a real thing or just a fantasy?
ie: you are going to buy a pet shop and want help setting it up, or you are asking what we would do if we wanted to set one up?

Find out if there are any other pet shops within 10km (6 miles) of where you want your shop. If there are other pet shops in the area, see what they carry and find something else.
ie: there is another pet shop 5km down the road and it has lots of cichlids but no marine fish. You carry marine fish and common freshwater fishes so you don't compete directly with them.

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You need to carry bread and butter stock. This is the common fish that sell readily because people know what they are. eg: neons, guppies, platies, Corydoras, angelfish.
The bread and butter stock is what you sell most of.

If you have space and money (you won't have much money spare for the first few years), you can carry some of the more common dwarf cichlids and maybe some marine fish.

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Be honest with customers.​

Hire good staff.

Don't carry tiny tanks or small fish bowls.​

Don't sell things to people if they don't need it. eg: someone has ammonia problems, tell them to do big daily water changes, reduce feeding and add some liquid bacterial supplements. Don't sell them medications for poor water quality.

Don't sell sick fish.
Remove dead fish from tanks as soon as you see them and check the tanks several times a day for bodies.
Keep a dead fish diary. Put the date, tank number, species that died and quantity that died. (eg: 30 January 2020, tank 29, 3 male guppies). You write down every dead fish in this diary and you can use it to monitor which tanks are healthy and which ones are having problems.

Write up a fact sheet on the filter cycle and put a copy in every tank you sell to new fish keepers.

Learn about fish diseases because you will have sick fish every time new fish come in.

Do carry good quality reliable brands with a good warranty. You don't have to carry the most expensive filters, pumps and heaters, but you want good quality that last so customers don't keep returning them.

Good honest staff that try to do what's best for the fish and customer, will keep customers coming back and keep you in business. If you have staff that are rude to customers or sell them stuff they don't need, you tend to lose customers.

 

[Barry Tetra]

So is this a real thing or just a fantasy?
ie: you are going to buy a pet shop and want help setting it up, or you are asking what we would do if we wanted to set one up?

Find out if there are any other pet shops within 10km (6 miles) of where you want your shop. If there are other pet shops in the area, see what they carry and find something else.
ie: there is another pet shop 5km down the road and it has lots of cichlids but no marine fish. You carry marine fish and common freshwater fishes so you don't compete directly with them.

------------------
You need to carry bread and butter stock. This is the common fish that sell readily because people know what they are. eg: neons, guppies, platies, Corydoras, angelfish.
The bread and butter stock is what you sell most of.

If you have space and money (you won't have much money spare for the first few years), you can carry some of the more common dwarf cichlids and maybe some marine fish.

------------------
Be honest with customers.
Hire good staff.
Don't carry tiny tanks or small fish bowls.
Don't sell things to people if they don't need it. eg: someone has ammonia problems, tell them to do big daily water changes, reduce feeding and add some liquid bacterial supplements. Don't sell them medications for poor water quality.

Don't sell sick fish.
Remove dead fish from tanks as soon as you see them and check the tanks several times a day for bodies.
Keep a dead fish diary. Put the date, tank number, species that died and quantity that died. (eg: 30 January 2020, tank 29, 3 male guppies). You write down every dead fish in this diary and you can use it to monitor which tanks are healthy and which ones are having problems.

Write up a fact sheet on the filter cycle and put a copy in every tank you sell to new fish keepers.

Learn about fish diseases because you will have sick fish every time new fish come in.

Do carry good quality reliable brands with a good warranty. You don't have to carry the most expensive filters, pumps and heaters, but you want good quality that last so customers don't keep returning them.

Good honest staff that try to do what's best for the fish and customer, will keep customers coming back and keep you in business. If you have staff that are rude to customers or sell them stuff they don't need, you tend to lose customers.

You lose customer when you’re not honest and rude just like my story, One day i’m bored of my old LFS (they are being honest with me and dont sell fish if you dont have proper tank) next to house so I went to another LFS, the first question they asked is “which fish do you have at home” i answered platy and swordtail and they answered very rudely “those are trash, just put them in the sewer” and that time they lost customer.

 

[FallenPepper]

I've been selling fish locally to stores in nearby states but my own state really only has one store that's mediocre at best (dead/sickly fish, misinformed fish and selling salt water fish and corals as fresh) . Though I've been doing rebuilds of tanks and selling tanks for others along with breeding spotted congo puffers (though that was a one off thing I think) fancy plecos (zebra, royal, green phantom etc...) I feel I can do it especially with my background in wastewater and water quality. But i might just move onto the online market for now to dip my toes into the market outside of stores.

 

[PheonixKingZ]

Betta fish (in proper sized tanks, not those sad cups) neon tetras, zebra danios, pearl danios, CPD, harlequin Rasboras, pea puffers, shrimp (cherry shrimp, ghost shrimp, etc.) snails, (Definitely Nerite snails, and maybe some MTS or BRH snails) and a “promotional” tank.

IMO, the last one is important. Set up a 55 long, or a tank close to that size. Make it a biotope. Definition of biotope: “A usually small or well-defined area that is uniform in environmental conditions and in its distribution of animal and plant life.”

Ask @Byron about this. I know he has/had a biotope tank. This will prove that your store is better than a PetCo and is also a great tank to put on your website. (If you choose to have one)

I have often dreamed about having an LFS. If this works out for you, I will be very happy!

 

[Waterstrider]

I sell my fish to a couple different stores and the ones they resell the fastest, according to them are bn. Plecos and their variants (albinos etc) as these fit into a massive range of set ups and loads of people like to see something eating algae.
other then that schooling fish are easy to sell in bulk, so sometimes make more money then more expensive cichlids.

 

[FallenPepper]

I've been traveling around the new england for about 2 years now checking out stores to see what works and what doesn't asking questions and doing a bit of research on what everyone carries that goes quick and what tends to collect dust. Plants I'm going to be staying away from online and would just carry instore next to display tanks or if they were online it would be less common plants (certain fish channels that sell plants online kinda have a big share of that market from what I've gathered). But I appreciate all your thoughts and opinions on the matter and am going to be keeping it in mind whether I start with a physical location with limited online selling (thinking mostly fish 6inches and up) or just full on online store front. Most of the fish I currently sell to local stores are really oddballs that I buy cheap from others that neglected them and grow em out but maybe with a heavier direction towards breeding smaller fish (love breeding killifish). Might be more cost effective. Just organizing thoughts at this point in my post

 

[FallenPepper]

I'll probs set up a website regardless

 

[Retired Viking]

I think going with online and having a website is the best way to start. You have low overhead. You have to get the word out about your business but if you start on E-bay or Amazon they do it for you.

 

[FallenPepper]

Picked up some new plecos today to begin breeding. The gold nuggets need a few more months before I cam start them, but i grab about 6 butterfly plecos that are fully matured and need to be quarantined before breeding! Hopefully by summer I can have enough stock to start a website and have a decent amount of fish