I Can't Believe What I Just HEARD at My LFS!

[mfdrookie516]

It's easy to think the hobby is going downhill after an incident like that, but more and more threads like this keep popping up. I think before too long, people are going to really stop supporting bad stores and start making really sure they support the good ones.

I think the biggest problem is that people new to the hobby who havent done their research wont know better. most people dont think to look for ich, finrot, etc... and they dont know how to properly maintain a tank either. But i totally agree with what you're saying

 

[CA_BroncoFan]

You should go to Aqua Imports or Exotic Aquatics in Boulder, or Sherman Tank in Denver. Those are the only 3 places I know of who will refuse to sell fish to "new tank" people. They will ask how long the tank has been set up, how big it is and what type of fish you have before helping you. I heard them tell someone that they will not sell them fish until that tank has been cycled and offered to test the water on a daily basis for free (they would go to the person's house if need be) QUOTE]

Now that is a place I would frequent!!

 

[Jason7894561230]

Me too

 

[Markstanfill]

I see that you think of that as a poor way to start a new tank, but really what is the difference between getting some small goldfish to dirty up your tank for awhile or just feeding them to something? At least at the end you can give the fish away being that they will most likely make it. When I cylce a new tank I take some goldfish and stick em in there and dont change any water and just let it do its thing. Never lost a fish and I give them back to the store. Odds of living > Getting eaten.

 

[dkpate]

Well, that is like saying "Would you rather be shot, or be drowned with a slight chance of living?" I would pick being shot so I didn't have to suffer.

 

[Aquarium1]

When you give em back they're probably going to be sold for food again anyway, or to go through another tretorous cycle.

 

[CA_BroncoFan]

I think its really just a matter of putting an animal through the stress and "torture" of the cycle.

 

[Markstanfill]

Not necessarily, I still have 3 goldfish that ended up with a perfectly happy life after their dirty duty. Plus cycling a tank is many times faster this way, and if you check the ammonia levels like I do just as a measure of seeing what is exactly happening, If you have adequate bio media to cultivate bacteria, Ive never seen an ammonia level past about 1.5. Not lethal by any stretch. Uncomfortable perhaps but not lethal or torture. Perhaps stressful, but really with the planted tanks ive had in the past, my npk and c02 levels were taxing on the fish but I never hear of anyone saying that high tech planted tanks are 'torture'.

 

[Twoapennything]

You should go to Aqua Imports or Exotic Aquatics in Boulder, or Sherman Tank in Denver. Those are the only 3 places I know of who will refuse to sell fish to "new tank" people.

Thanks for the recommendations - I'll give them a try. It's been yonks since I've been to Boulder, but I remember Exotic Aquatics from back in the day when I was still living in Boulder and going to CU. I can picture it in my head, vaguely. I'll check out Exotic Aquatics, too. I read about Sherman's recently, but I don't remember if the review was good or bad... I think it was positive, but I was reading through a lot of recs. There's some kind of fish club for the Denver metro area, and I've thought about going to a meeting, but The Fish Den is like a sponsor or something. I really liked the fish den the first time I went there, but the second time was a huge letdown. I think that I had just learned a lot between my first and second visits. The shop itself is pretty run down and dirty :/

Can you order fish from Foster & Smith, or just supplies?

I did see a dragonfish for the first time at the Fish Den and thought of you and your dragonfish, heh!

 

[dkpate]

They have fish too I think.

 

[Twoapennything]

Not to hijack the thread, but I'm just trying to say that there are some good LFS' still out there. I run into the same thing with the radio control airplane/helicopter hobby. It's easy to think the hobby is going downhill after an incident like that, but more and more threads like this keep popping up. I think before too long, people are going to really stop supporting bad stores and start making really sure they support the good ones.

By all means, hijack away! I don't at all doubt there are excellent locally owned fish stores all over. Jamie gave me three suggestions for LFSs in my area in her comment up above, that I will try. I think what was most disheartening was the fact that the Fish Den (the place in question) always comes highly recommended and is often the first store that will be recommended when the subject of LFSs come up in local forums and blog communities. I think it's because it's been around for so long - people assume it's impeccably run. Not so. As we all know!