Fish Certification

[Sesshis_grl]

Hello

I want to open up a fish shop after I'm done with school, and I'm hoping to take some classes to get certified in fish keeping/tropical/freshwater fish before then. Does anyone know of a program for this? Or what is really required to be called "certified" in this field?

I'm in the U.S , any help would be greatly appreciated

thanks

 

[laxation]

Going from the advice I get from LFS in Australia, there is no certification at all!

I think your best bet is to just work for a LFS to get an idea of how things work, gain both business and fish knowledge before opening up your own.
It would be important to know how to run a successful fish shop before opening one up, obviously.

 

[ian]

agree with the above. In this economic melt down, it would be wise to study some king of business qualification.

 

[Timmy_Bee]

I would also be a bit careful. I don't think they are the best businesses at making money... But hey, let us know how you get on, and whether we can have a staff discount!

 

[Littlemonkey]

I would also do market research, would a fish-shop do well in the locallity you choose, you may also have to on-line retailing as a top up. Good Luck though, it's my dream to open a fish shop but would have to win the lottery first.

 

[Sesshis_grl]

Thank you so much for all the suggestions

Yes I agree that I need to start looking into the business..sucks that I might need to start a new major all over again @.@ oh well..lol. Seems like once you understand the business side, the fish side is more about personal experience from what I'm reading, thats good. The reason I asked about certification is because we hired some guy to come check out my tank while I was on vacation, and he said that he took certification classes in fish. Can't remember if he was freelance or with a company...

 

[anon02]

You are so fortunate to have the internet, when I was studying the only resource was a recommended book list which meant that you only get one guys point of view.

If I were you I would enrol for a business course cause that will be useful even if you change career paths, but I would also read up on things like water chemistry, natural habitat, diseases and medication, nutrition and maybe aquatic plants, thats beside species and genus.

Then when you`ve done all of that opening a fish store should be childs play

I hope you can make your dream come true, good luck

 

[drobbyb]

10 tips to operating a good LFS:

1. Learn to keep fish. This seems obvious, but all too often LFS really do not keep their stock well. They tend to overcrowd their tanks and as a result the fish suffer. When fish are not happy they get sick, and selling sick fish is one quick way to go out of business fast.

2. QUARANTINE FOR AT LEAST 30 DAYS! Nobody likes buying sick fish.

3. Do a dead check several times a day! No matter how well you keep your tanks, most suppliers really don't care too much if they send you bad fish. Lets face it, when you get shipment in, you are going to have some losses. Shipping causes stress, and stress kills fish.

4. Do regular tank maintenance! The cleaner your tanks, the happier your fish will be. See # 1.

5. Don't stock bad merchandise. Sure most fish keepers are looking to get into the hobby on the cheap, but cheap equipment often fails resulting in your customers spending more money than if they would have bought quality equipment to start with.

6. Listen and learn from your customers. If the people in your area buy nothing but platies and guppies, don't stock too many specialist fish. Every shop owner wants to keep interesting stock, but often times they just don't sell well. Instead, offer a special order service.

7. Buy from reputable local breeders when you can. You may pay a little more buying from them, but the quality of livestock is generally better and healthier.

8. Educate your customers and offer good advice. Nobody likes getting bad advice only to find out that they have been swindled into buying a fish they will have to give away because it grows too large for their tanks or is not suitable.

9. Make sure your employees know what they say they know. Many potential employees claim to know all about fish, but sometimes they really don't know what they are talking about. If they don't know the answer to a question, make sure they say that they don't know instead of making something up, and then have them look it up to be sure.

10. Inquire about your customer's tanks and conditions. Replacing returned fish only to have the replacements go into a tank with high ammonia/nitrites only results in customers thinking that it's your fault and that you sold them bad stock. See # 8.