Three Cheers For The Lfs

[ParadiseGuerrero]

Anyone got any good stories to tell about the fish shops they like?

There a number of fish shops around me and they vary in how good they are- there are three of the same chain store only one of which i would not touch with a barge pole, one of a differant chain which i tend to avoid, and three little shops one of which can be a bit hit and miss but the others always have good looing fish and a nice selection (not to mention one has a really nice cat that follows you around- it feels like you get a tour guide ;p) however none of them have ever made me think they are particularly good for advice. The other day i was in one of the little shops and there was someone in there asking about what fish would be suitable for their tank and they pointed at the clown loaches. Straight away one of the owners said they would grow way to big and continued remarking on all of the fish these people were looking at and stopped them buying a few of them! It was brilliant and they were in no way rude but the people left happy and probably with a better selection of fish then they otherwise would have done (and not enough to overload the tank) I had gone in to swap some bleeding heart tetras who decided it would be good to shred all livign things in my tank and i was expecting maybe half credit or something but they swapped it for the full amount which was really nice considering i had only bought 2 of the 6 from them I love this little shop. Oh and they don't mind me waiting around for an hour or so watching the stingrays It's nice to know that they care more about the fish than the money which is something the other shops don't seem to.

 

[betta989]

Lol i am mr.kitty your tour guide! All i have around here are marine stores, petsmarts and petcos, but they do get in trouble for animal cruelty, so they try to keep the fish dicent!

 

[The Taffy Apple]

Always nice to hear of good LFS stories, we hear of WAY too many bad stories, particulary on this forum .

This LFS sounds like a little cracker, stick with it
It took me a while to look around the area in which we live for aquatic stores... obviously, you have your chain stores i wouldn't set foot in, you have your chain store that i would (and do), but the best little one i have found is a little local, family run business with over 20 years experience (which, coincidentally, was the only shop not to be "shocked" when i mentioned i was putting pure ammonia in my tank ).. they are more than happy to keep fish aside for me, they have a quarantine set-up out the back of the shop and the staff there (primarily father and son) are very patient and knowledgable.

Terry.

 

[ParadiseGuerrero]

Always nice to hear of good LFS stories, we hear of WAY too many bad stories, particulary on this forum .

This LFS sounds like a little cracker, stick with it
It took me a while to look around the area in which we live for aquatic stores... obviously, you have your chain stores i wouldn't set foot in, you have your chain store that i would (and do), but the best little one i have found is a little local, family run business with over 20 years experience (which, coincidentally, was the only shop not to be "shocked" when i mentioned i was putting pure ammonia in my tank ).. they are more than happy to keep fish aside for me, they have a quarantine set-up out the back of the shop and the staff there (primarily father and son) are very patient and knowledgable.

Terry.

tht was kinda why i wanted to start the thread it quite disheartening to hear all the bad stuff and the good things tend to be over looked
the little ones, i find, are normally the best ones (provided they arn't too little) and the family ones particularly

Lol i am mr.kitty your tour guide! All i have around here are marine stores, petsmarts and petcos, but they do get in trouble for animal cruelty, so they try to keep the fish dicent!

it nice to know they don't always get away with it

 

[smokeyjo]

There's well know chain near me with 2 stores down here 1 I only get my non living things from like food etc ill go to the other store for my livestock as they are better cared for and more knowledgeable and there is 1 local family store I'd go to over both they are friendly will order anything in that you want and got no problem taking fish off your hands and giving you full credit to get something else and they too know what they are talking about so they aren't all bad just got to sort the diamond from the rock

 

[MBOU]

I think I got a bit lucky where I am...

There is:

-Two Koi Farms/Shops (open to public)
-One HUGE and well known Koi Specialist (and cold water, trops, marines, pets and reps on massive scale).
-Five of a big chain store I wouldnt really use but i got in for a look sometimes...
-Eight of another big chain store, all of which i have visited, not all of them i like and I work in one
-About 4-5 small independant shops that you couldnt pay me to go back to! Its a shame, i'm all for supporting small family run businesses but the ones around me are awful...

(the area im counting is between where i live as you can see.... and where i work...)

 

[colleen0309]

I had one lfs that was excellent. He always gave great advice. He had awesome fish, and if he thought you didn't have the proper setup, he wouldn't sell you any fish. He'd help you get the tank ready, then he'd sell you the fish that were appropiate for your tank. Unfortunately, he died doing what he loved best, taking care of his shop. It has taken me almost ten years, but I think I have found another good shop. I developed a way for me to gauge how good a shop is. If you go into a shop and they know you have experience, their advice is different than what they will give a newcomer. I've been keeping fish for almost 45 years, so I am pretty experienced. I go into a shop and play "newcomer" to see what kind of advice on fish and cycling they offer. If they tell me I can get fish right away, or if they tell me that beautiful african cichlid can go in with my betta, I don't shop there. I was in this shop a couple months ago and kept asking questions. I'd been in there several times asking questions. Well, this time the guy put his hands on his hips and asked me why I was asking questions I already knew the answers to. Busted! I told him I was testing him and he laughed and asked if he passed. Now I know I can depend on him. I have seen him with other customers. He will tell people that you can't keep a certian fish. When the customer insists, he tells them ,fine, but don't complain when things go wrong. It's a good thing he doesn't depend on the fish part of his business for income, I've seen him make a few customers very angry.

 

[Dieses Madchen]

I feel that I am lucky enough to have 4 shops that I can feel comfortable going into. Two of them are chains. I love my local Petsmart and Petco, as they are well run and they do have some decent knowledge. One of them did steer me wrong once, but they did apologize, and tried to make things right. They replaced my fish that their advice killed, and even went into investigating the product as it didn't do what it was supposed to. To this day I still go in there, and I still buy fish from them They are good people.

There are also two hole in the wall locally owned shops that have a fabulous selection, and are run by knowledgable hobbyists. I went into one just yesterday. They were nice enough to take my Red Zebra (he was a mean lil thing! He bit me whne I was trying to catch him!) and in exchange, they gave me a high end medication to treat the ich the Zebra induced lol.

I feel pretty lucky that I have a good selection of places I can go

 

[ParadiseGuerrero]

it's really nice to hear there are so many good places- even if they do seem to cluster in one place lol

 

[Cazgar]

The 2 that I visit most often are chains.
1 I've learned to go on specific days that a very knowledgeable chap is in, & the other is always good.
Not a great variety of fish as with a lot of chains, but all always look healthy & the staff in the main know their stuff
I would prefer to support a small independant, but there isn't a lot of choice where I live unless I want to travel

 

[Better is Betta]

I don't know if this one is a good or bad story....But there is this tiny little aquaruim store on the main Highway and the guy that runs the place is only opened 4 days a week. He has the best aquariums I have ever seen. The tanks are so pristine clean, fish are vibrant and healthy. He is very knowledgeable and knows his stuff. The bus stop is right outside his front door and people waiting for a bus often go into his store to look at his fish to kill time. He tells these people (rudely) if you aren't buying then get lost and wait outside.

 

[Mikaila31]

Last time I was in the only actual private LPS they were dismantling their saltwater section, which is good since their fish supply/quality is horrible. I hate to say it but walmarts fish look better then theirs.

The only stores I buy from are about 40 minuets away and are pretty much dedicated fish shops. The ones I visit most have around 8,000 gallons inside them. One has a importers license and is minuets from the international airport so they get some pretty sweet stuff sometimes. They don't have the best fish quality though, another shop has healthier fish normally. I'm generally stuck with the one shop because they are the only shop that will give you credit if you bring in fish or plants. That said I visit the place maybe 3-4 times a year. Most all my fish I get through the local club auctions.

 

[Akasha72]

I'm happy with my usual store where I've got all my fish from. I've gone in many times to ask questions, have a look round - there's never any pressure to buy at all. In fact the staff say hi when you go in and leave you alone until you approach them. All the fish I've had from there have been healthy and they've actually refused to sell me too many fish at once (this was at the beginning before I discovered this forum and knew very little. They only allowed me to take 3 neons as my first fish)

I went in today and said I was considering some corydoras. I saw the usual lady that's served me a everytime and she asked me to remind her of my tank size, what fish I already had and asked how my water was doing now after my problems with new tank syndrome. I told her all had been fine for 3 weeks or so now and explained I'd done my research on cory's and knew they needed a group. She turned to me and agreed but said in my little 57 litre she'd let me take 2 or 3 at a real push.

I find them very helpful and sensible and refuse to sell any old fish to anyone. She actually praised me today for doing my research, learning about fish keeping and taking things at a slow pace

 

[Dieses Madchen]

Yeah I go to Petco and Petsmart for livebearers and other common type fish because I know how to care for them and know what to look for in them, so if the fish specialist i normally talk to isnt there, I can be confident in myself to choose wisely. I become pretty ab;e to identify disease or illness in those type of fish. For my cichlids and more "experienced" fish, I go to the locally run shops as I am still learning and I know the people in those shops are knowledgable enough to steer me in the right direction. Plus their fish quality is outstanding. You will never see a fish in there that is sick. They have a quarantine room in the back.

 

[mark2109111]

I personally love my lfs. I went in their last week and i got a "pair" of apistos or so it looked. I went back in on Sunday and told the store owner that it turns out that i got two males and he said no problem and apologized and told me that he would give me two females for free and if it turned out they were males again i could bring them in and trade the four for a pair of double red agazzisi. But turns out no agazzisi pair because i now have two pairs of apistogramma trifasciata So this store will have my loyalty in the future Two thumbs up