If I owned an LFS I would.......

[Caliban07]

Cycle sponge media in their own little tanks and sell them with new setups for an extra £5

If you were an LFS what would you do differently to improve the experience of your customers visit......

 

[Huro]

Cycle sponge media in their own little tanks and sell them with new setups for an extra £5...

That's a great idea


As I have no one locally that does it I think I would offer rescue and adoption services for starters.

 

[captaincritical]

- Offer custom orders for regular clients. It's impossible around here to get specific fish ordered in, and since I'm in Canada I don't have many options for getting fish shipped by mail.

- Offer a professional consultation service for people looking to stock their tanks properly.

- Offer classes on fish-keeping!

Your seeded filter media idea sounds like a genius plan to me. I had a hell of a time finding somebody around here willing to give me any.

 

[Caliban07]

How is this not even mandatory lol. Because they want you to come back when your fish die I suppose.

I think you will make more money being genuine and by refusing to sell to people who haven't had their water tested first.

 

[Caliban07]

I would also set up a little fish medic centre at the back so dead fish could be tested for parasites and the necessary meds could be prescribed. You could also swab your fish and distinguish between gram positive and gram negative bacteria to prescribe the necessary meds.

 

[Caliban07]

- Offer custom orders for regular clients. It's impossible around here to get specific fish ordered in, and since I'm in Canada I don't have many options for getting fish shipped by mail.



- Offer a professional consultation service for people looking to stock their tanks properly.



- Offer classes on fish-keeping!



Your seeded filter media idea sounds like a genius plan to me. I had a hell of a time finding somebody around here willing to give me any.

Excellent ideas! I like the professional consultations for stocking.

 

[ArtistGardener]

Totally agree with everything so far, especially classes! I would also add this:

*Carry ammonia for fishless cycling (it is amazing how hard it is for people to find it without surfactants and perfumes, etc) for those not wanting to use someone else's media or to feed bb while getting set up.
*Provide a space for the sale of used equipment (tanks, filters, etc).
*Literature (books and magazines) related to the hobby, plus leaflets or brochures from local or regional clubs.

I am lucky to have an independent LFS that is great--will order what I want, knows what they are selling, won't sell fish they know have problems, etc.

 

[Caliban07]

So right about the ammonia! My LFS sells used tanks etc.

 

[Rare]

Cycle sponge media in their own little tanks and sell them with new setups for an extra £5

There was one store that did this with the biowheel form marineland filter emperor. If you bought a new emperor filter he will give you 1 or 2 biowheel filters that was cycle in one of the aquariums for the new one's in the box.

 

[Caliban07]

There was one store that did this with the biowheel form marineland filter emperor. If you bought a new emperor filter he will give you 1 or 2 biowheel filters that was cycle in one of the aquariums for the new one's in the box.

Sounds like my kind of LFS!

 

[Kittykat364]

Great ideas everyone! I would have a separate tank for fry just for people to see how great it is when you have fish that are happy enough to breed.

 

[Caliban07]

Great ideas everyone! I would have a separate tank for fry just for people to see how great it is when you have fish that are happy enough to breed.

Yes I went pets at home and the most interesting thing there was the Molly fry in the tank.

 

[Kittykat364]

Yeah I have a Molly fry now she's so cute she runs up to the tank every time I come over. She's definitely happy and I want people to see what a joy it is to have a happy fish.

 

[Plantaholic]

I would probably go broke creating display tanks! Wholesale prices on tanks, fish, plants, and supplies would be too tempting!
Id try to put a few computers/tablets in with AQAdvisor, for customers to use after seeing fish they like. Not sure if this would be beneficial at all but it would be piece of mind for the employees/customers to check on something they weren't sure about! In a perfect world they'd do research before they came in, and my associates would all be marine biologists and ok with the lfs wages(then id wake up and see that employee that is 1 lip ring short of piercing them self shut...).

 

[Nortzy21]

Run a couple guppy breeding tanks and lower fish prices as the amount of fish bought increased.

EX: 1 neon tetra- $1
5 neon tetras- 85 cents each
10 neon tetras- 75 cents each

 

[Plantaholic]

Run a couple guppy breeding tanks and lower fish prices as the amount of fish bought increased.

EX: 1 neon tetra- $1
5 neon tetras- 85 cents each
10 neon tetras- 75 cents each

Yeah, I love the threshold pricing, glad my lfs does it!

 

[mr_X]

If I owned an LFS I would.......

Close it down and get into a new line of work, because I wouldn't be able to sleep at night knowing I am directly and indirectly killing tons of living creatures each year.

Folks...you are dreaming, and dreaming is fine, but please see things for what they are- This hobby attracts people to it on a regular basis. most of which, don't have a clue and completely stock 2 day old tanks, buy sensitive creatures they know nothing about, dump in unnecessary products without testing...and the list goes on.
Besides all of that though, right now there are many people, all over the world, who's sole job is to capture innocent creatures by any means necessary and then mail them to you, so you can fill your stores, and in turn, sell them to people who can't take care of them. I know you are thinking "I wouldn't do that though", but you'll have to do that if you want to feed your family.
Being in the retail business myself for a few years, you would not believe the things that are on stock lists. Creatures we have no way of taking care of long term, and some times short term even. Creatures that have been sentenced to death in the name of human amusement.

Some are making attempts to captive breed fish and inverts, but most cannot be bred in captivity thus far. And even if they could, would it be any better if we knew they were not going to live out their lives?

 

[Nortzy21]

If I owned an LFS I would.......

Close it down and get into a new line of work, because I wouldn't be able to sleep at night knowing I am directly and indirectly killing tons of living creatures each year.

Folks...you are dreaming, and dreaming is fine, but please see things for what they are- This hobby attracts people to it on a regular basis. most of which, don't have a clue and completely stock 2 day old tanks, buy sensitive creatures they know nothing about, dump in unnecessary products without testing...and the list goes on.
Besides all of that though, right now there are many people, all over the world, who's sole job is to capture innocent creatures by any means necessary and then mail them to you, so you can fill your stores, and in turn, sell them to people who can't take care of them. I know you are thinking "I wouldn't do that though", but you'll have to do that if you want to feed your family.
Being in the retail business myself for a few years, you would not believe the things that are on stock lists. Creatures we have no way of taking care of long term, and some times short term even. Creatures that have been sentenced to death in the name of human amusement.

Some are making attempts to captive breed fish and inverts, but most cannot be bred in captivity thus far. And even if they could, would it be any better if we knew they were not going to live out their lives?

Brilliant. Could not be more true.

 

[Ian086]

If I owned an LFS I would.......

Close it down and get into a new line of work, because I wouldn't be able to sleep at night knowing I am directly and indirectly killing tons of living creatures each year.

Folks...you are dreaming, and dreaming is fine, but please see things for what they are- This hobby attracts people to it on a regular basis. most of which, don't have a clue and completely stock 2 day old tanks, buy sensitive creatures they know nothing about, dump in unnecessary products without testing...and the list goes on.
Besides all of that though, right now there are many people, all over the world, who's sole job is to capture innocent creatures by any means necessary and then mail them to you, so you can fill your stores, and in turn, sell them to people who can't take care of them. I know you are thinking "I wouldn't do that though", but you'll have to do that if you want to feed your family.
Being in the retail business myself for a few years, you would not believe the things that are on stock lists. Creatures we have no way of taking care of long term, and some times short term even. Creatures that have been sentenced to death in the name of human amusement.

Some are making attempts to captive breed fish and inverts, but most cannot be bred in captivity thus far. And even if they could, would it be any better if we knew they were not going to live out their lives?

Sad but very true....

 

[uelissa]

If I owned an LFS I would.......

Close it down and get into a new line of work, because I wouldn't be able to sleep at night knowing I am directly and indirectly killing tons of living creatures each year.

Folks...you are dreaming, and dreaming is fine, but please see things for what they are- This hobby attracts people to it on a regular basis. most of which, don't have a clue and completely stock 2 day old tanks, buy sensitive creatures they know nothing about, dump in unnecessary products without testing...and the list goes on.
Besides all of that though, right now there are many people, all over the world, who's sole job is to capture innocent creatures by any means necessary and then mail them to you, so you can fill your stores, and in turn, sell them to people who can't take care of them. I know you are thinking "I wouldn't do that though", but you'll have to do that if you want to feed your family.
Being in the retail business myself for a few years, you would not believe the things that are on stock lists. Creatures we have no way of taking care of long term, and some times short term even. Creatures that have been sentenced to death in the name of human amusement.

Some are making attempts to captive breed fish and inverts, but most cannot be bred in captivity thus far. And even if they could, would it be any better if we knew they were not going to live out their lives?

Agree, but it's still fun to dream