Decline of LFS

[scubasteve]

After having my tank crash due to what i now think was a fish contaminated from the LFS and then added in my tank (shame shame on me for not qt'ing it, live and learn i guess), anyway ive been goin to a few local fish stores and they all seem to have horrible tanks, the one store by me has fish on their sides in multiple tanks, fish with totally frayed fins, petco, well petco is self explanatory, itd be hard to find a fish there without ich, and the other fish store i went to has decent quality fish but is expensive, so im going to turn to the internet (liveaquaria.com) and hope for some good luck this time around.

How has everyones experience been with your LFS.

 

[leafyseadragon]

Mine was good, but now it stinks. The last time I stopped by, I didn't recognize a single member of the staff. I ordered a fish in January, still haven't gotten it yet! I've given up, I'm trying the other LFS.

 

[reefrunner69]

I have a fairly decent LFS, I purchased a 40 dollar Acro frag from them on Thurs, turned out the sucker was infested with Red Bugs, I went ballistic and went pretty drastic to get rid of the bugs, almost killed the frag, but got the bugs out, the coral lost all it's color due to the treatment. I was in the store yesterday and I mentioned it to the manager and he gave me another frag of the same value and then on top of that fragged a colony of pink birdsnest for me at no charge. There tanks are usually OK, and the customer service is great.

 

[firerescue2002]

My LFS is decent, excellent quality livestock both FW and SW. large roomy tanks and impecable selection If it is available for the pet trade they can aquire it. The only disadvantage is that their prices are through the roof. Quality is expensive but we could all use a little break here and there.

Andrew

 

[ImLookinForNemo]

mine LFS is great...they specialize in saltwater only, and their fish are realyl healthy and actually not expensive at all. The live rock there is really good, and they usually give me a few pounds free when I buy some (because I'm new to the hobby and they want to get me started right). All their display tanks are really healthy and the main guy who works there is actually a water chemist, but on the weekends he does this, and has tanks at home for the past 20 years. All in all, i really like them and if they were a national company I'd recommend them, but as far as I know its a one-store company here in Missouri.

 

[William]

The only LFS I have that I've found around me with Salt water tanks is PetLand.

and its deplorable, Tanks are dirty, fish rotting, ect ect.

They have a few corals, but their so sickly looking that I can't imagine anyone wanting to buy it.


They also had a MASSIVE out break of ich a few months ago, in their fresh and saltwater tanks.

 

[ostrichkiller]

actually have a couple within about an hour and a half and i like to drive. petsmart is pretty good ahve found one person there that i actually have found knows what he is talking about. he said the rest of the people don't know **** about fish and just help him out from the other sections of the store. offered me a job for weekends but i'm busy enough. every time i stop into the other one that i frequent there fish are always covered in ich. onyl usually go there for food and other supplies that are cheaper than other places. they also seem to ahve alot of health problems with their reptiles if anyone knows anything about those. usually sickly and about to die. there puppies look nice though

 

[Menagerie]

There was a decent LFS where I moved from, same staff for years--the family that owned it. Since moving to Calgary, I have been to one HUGE LFS. Signs were up on new arrivals that read, "New arrivals, quarantined, not for sale." I was so impressed.

 

[pipermurphy]

Sorry to hear about other peoples experiences with their LFS. Here in the Denver area I have found over 12 different FS(will NOT EVER go to the chain stores), they all deal with SW, but some do FW and some do ponds. Out of the dozen I will do 90% of my business with 3 of them and they all have their specialty; one is coral, one is livestock and the third is equip., their prices are extremly comparable to the net when you add in the shipping. I really enjoy the interaction, the personal touch(we all know each others name), and the ability to hand pick everything. The only items I purchased thru the net was my MH lights(good purchase) and my RO/DI which I regret doing, I should have bought that locally, too many problems getting it going properly.

 

[OhTheHumanity]

I don't have much of a selection for LFS here in Modesto, Ca. There is a Petsmart, PetCo, a pet store with little sw fish and the store where I get my equipment and supplies, because the prices are great. The livestock on the other hand, I wouldnt give them a dollar for a shark. (well maybe) lol The LR in their tanks have hair algae covering them with very little to no lights on some of the tanks. There is dead livestock, both SW and FW floating in the tanks. In a few tanks I have seen carcasses and skeletons on the bottom that look like they have been there for a while. I guess I'll be doing a lot of QTing.

 

[daveNandi]

Our local petstore is great. Free advice, knowledgable staff, free water testing, 10,000 square feet, almost everything I want in stock or available. All fish in a QT for at least a week before going on the sales floor.