What Do You Think Of Your Lfs?

[Seidge]

Hi all,

Just need to have a really good complain about my LFS. They are crap. The staff don't know anything about fish keeping.
In half the tanks there are dead fish floating around!
Nothing is labelled so i have no idea what i am looking at.
I asked one of the staff if he thought i was overstocked (knowing already that i have) and he said basically said keep adding fish until they start to die then you are overstocked.
I asked him about an unlabelled catfish as i wanted to know what it was and how big it would grow and he said i dont know and i dont think it gets much bigger than that (vague!!!!)
Anyway as i was leaving i passed a reptile down one of the ailes (uncaged), i could have trod on it and killed it, turns out one of the staff was showing it off to a cutomer!!!!

 

[guppymad]

mines great all the staff are freindlly and all of them know everything about fish, one guy used to breed 2000 angels a month but he's retired and working there now. All the fish are labled and healthy got some quite rare fish there too.

 

[Jen]

My lfs is a Big Al's. Its a great store. Lots of tanks of healthy fish and plants. The staff are very knowledgable. There are a few in the fish room that I won't deal with, but that's just something I have learned over time, and those are more because of a clash of interest ("why in the world would you add co2 to a planted tank?!?! That will kill your fish! Take it out and add an airstone fast!" umm. no. lol) They have special ordered things in for me from time to time... plants and whatnot.

 

[fatguppy]

Mixed for me! I have 4 that I use fairly regularly for various different fishy items - some due to price and some for other things. There is only one that I trust implicitly with fish but sadly, they don't stock very many nor many varieties. However, they ALWAYS quarantine their fish so I know that the fish are healthy enough to add to the tank straight away.

I also have shied away from the ones who have dead fish floating around - I find it hard to believe that they don't get them out straight away - but they don't seem to give a flying doo-dah. Obviously expendable items but thedead ones must put off the serious fish keeper!

There is one that I HAVE to use for plants as they are the only one that sell any decent variety but I HATE buying anything from them as they are so appalling with fish.

I went in with my husband one day and they had just got new stock in which were going straight into the tanks for sale from shipping. My husband pointed out one poor fish that was lying on the floor. This was swiftly picked up by hand and dropped into the nearest tank for some poor unsuspecting punter to buy that day - chances of survival pretty poor I think. The punter can get his money back - the fish was the loser.

Local authority can do nothing apparently and the RSPCA rules are not stringent enough!

 

[Seidge]

Yeah i always think when i see dead fish in a tank, Why havent they taken it out?. Especially when there is more then one. Also would like to add about 30% of fish in my LFS have white spot.

 

[rixy]

my 3 lfs are all really good.the main one i use is cudra in cornwall.the staff are very,very helpful and the dry goods are second to none.

 

[rEvolution27]

One of them is great, but they've got a low selection. The other sucks really bad.
Me: how big does that fish get
Them: it depends how much you feed it

 

[juelz]

mines a big al's too

theyre all helpful just theres one guy there that doesnt know anything so i just try to avoid him and talk to the rest of the staff

 

[kanzaris]

Hi


Just to say all 4 lfs I use in leicester are good. Had no bad experience so far. Some are a bit better than

others regarding advise on certain fish. Only thing I don't like when a fish bullys other fish real bad and they

don't put him in another tank.


Sabby

 

[onemisterchristian]

It depends upon how "local" we are talking. I live in california and most of the ones nearby are pretty crappy. however, about 45 miles and i've got two great places...aquatics warehouse in san diego. Aptly called "the costco of fish stores" and there's also all about fish in long beach. Incredibly pleased with both. I called one about plecos and they used L numbers and latin names. I was quite impressed. They both carry gudgeons.

 

[bunjiweb]

Mines hopefully quite good, beacuse I work there

The other shops in the area are very mixed. There are a couple of average retailers, but the staff are a pretty crap. There is however an awesome Marin-only retailer not too far away which is run by one guy, a brilliant shop.

Ben

 

[Seidge]

I havent seen any rare fish in any of my LFS's. Were do people normally get them from?

 

[lljdma06]

My lfs is a Big Al's. Its a great store. Lots of tanks of healthy fish and plants. The staff are very knowledgable. There are a few in the fish room that I won't deal with, but that's just something I have learned over time, and those are more because of a clash of interest ("why in the world would you add co2 to a planted tank?!?! That will kill your fish! Take it out and add an airstone fast!" umm. no. lol) They have special ordered things in for me from time to time... plants and whatnot.

Sounds like the manager in my LFS in Champaign. Doesn't understand why I add CO2 or why I dose with Nitrates. Fish food and waste will give plants all the nitrates they need...Uh huh. He's great, just old school. We agree to disagree. But he will get me whatever I want regarding stock.

 

[bunjiweb]

Sounds like the manager in my LFS in Champaign. Doesn't understand why I add CO2 or why I dose with Nitrates. Fish food and waste will give plants all the nitrates they need...Uh huh. He's great, just old school. We agree to disagree. But he will get me whatever I want regarding stock.

I think its called being "stuck in your ways".... I hate fish keepers that swear by what was good 20 years ago and refuse to believe any of the new info and equipment has any value for your setup.

Ben

 

[csjasona]

The one I tend to visit most often (i.e. at least once per week) is the Aquatic Design Centre, on Gerat Portland Street, London. It's a great store and they do some truly fantastic displays for offices and the like. But the important thing is that each member of staff has different levels of knowledge and different areas of expertise. For example, there is one guy in there that is a plant specialist and a woman that knows pretty much everything about loaches. I wouldn't ask the woman about plants and I wouldn't ask the guy about loaches. This kind of thing takes some time to figure out, but you could always ask the store which of their staff are more experienced or experienced in certain areas.