Operation: Pet store stocking

[Mrc8858]

I still think you should make a video log or something of the store project and some personal tanks I'm dying to see your setups lol

 

[skiweeangel]

It would also be interesting to learn how these companies go about effectively gathering and concentrating a predominantely substrate dwelling bacterium in a liquid environment.

Just scrape some off and inoculate a broth, stick it in a bottle, incubate it at optimal temp. refrigerate it and ship! I see it all the time in lab. A real bottle of good BB would be time sensitive and require refrigeration.

A pamphlet about tank cycling would be nice. Books are awesome, but some people, like my husband turn their nose up at them. My new found favorite LFS has a sign posted which informs new people yet have to bring in a sample of their tank water before they will sell any fish. The sign also says that they would be happy to talk with you about what cycling a tank means and step you through the process. I think a pamphlet someone could take home referring them to different books or reputable online sources would be nice, although I'm not so sure about how the owner would feel about linking themselves to anything outside the brands they carry.

 

[jetajockey]

It would also be interesting to learn how these companies go about effectively gathering and concentrating a predominantely substrate dwelling bacterium in a liquid environment.

That is a good question, its proprietary information I'm sure, I'm not enough of a chemist/biologist to know for sure.

I was curious about how you go about setting up all those tanks at once which I assume will be heavily stocked right out of the gates. I saw something online a while back where some company (I think Dr. Tim's?) has a product where they instantly cycle millions of gallons of water for major aquariums around the world. I wonder if it's related to that. I'll be interested to hear about it.

I believe that it is in fact Dr Tim's that they work with,I know they offer up some bacteria starter/supplementation stuff that looks strikingly similar to his product line but without the brand name.

After talking to the rep for a few minutes and explaining what I do know about cycling, he pretty much agreed with what I was saying so I think we were on the same page. He was actually really excited about the idea of running sponge filters/media to make available for those with new setups.

I still think you should make a video log or something of the store project and some personal tanks I'm dying to see your setups lol

We have a few pictures floating around but for the most part it's just been a matter of hooking up the filters and whatnot. I'm not exactly a video person, but we'll see. lol.

Just scrape some off and inoculate a broth, stick it in a bottle, incubate it at optimal temp. refrigerate it and ship! I see it all the time in lab. A real bottle of good BB would be time sensitive and require refrigeration.

A pamphlet about tank cycling would be nice. Books are awesome, but some people, like my husband turn their nose up at them. My new found favorite LFS has a sign posted which informs new people yet have to bring in a sample of their tank water before they will sell any fish. The sign also says that they would be happy to talk with you about what cycling a tank means and step you through the process. I think a pamphlet someone could take home referring them to different books or reputable online sources would be nice, although I'm not so sure about how the owner would feel about linking themselves to anything outside the brands they carry.

They don't really have an issue with anything I do as far as giving information goes. There's no real brand affiliation or deep seated values that are being stuck to apart from just making sure the customer gets taken care of and is given high quality fish.

I would say the only slight concern I have is that we have to keep feeder tanks, but it's not really an ethical concern for me as much as just not looking forward to maintaining it.

I am going to put up a sign offering free water testing, but honestly I am going to have to make sure that the employees know how to do it. We do have a brand new API kit and I'm going to work on getting more put on the shelves so that we can point to them.

If a LFS demanded a water sample before they'd sell me anything I would probably not go back, but that's just me. I can appreciate the desire to give the fish a good home but I don't jump through hoops for anyone, my word should be enough. That's just my opinion though.

I think my other big concern with this project is that there is no fish guy here. No one there that I know of has a real dedicated or intimate knowledge of fish. I'm only going to be in there every couple of days since it's an hour drive and I have a full time job to contend with myself, so my time there is rather limited.

But, overall, I have faith that it'll work out. I mean it got this far, the guy bought an entire fish room setup with little knowledge of the process, and one of the few people who actually knows how to set up and maintain one just happened to wander in at the right time and ask the right questions. Call it chance or fate, whatever it is, it's on his side.

 

[Mrc8858]

Have u asked him if he'd be willing to hire one more employee for that department.. just post a sign out front "looking for experienced aquarists"...you know someone coming in to buy some fish would think (how cool would it be to make money doing what I already am) lol

 

[mfdrookie516]

Too bad they can't offer you enough to leave your current job and manage the fish section. You'd do wonders for them, I'm sure. Sounds like you've got a solid plan to get them up and going. I guess the one thing you'll have to do is not throw too much at them at once. I like that you don't necessarily agree with the water testing part. I don't either, and would also be turned away from a place that did that. I don't like being questioned when I buy fish. If I know enough about the fish to pronounce it's latin name without looking at any 'fact sheet' on the tank, they should understand that I also know enough about the fish to buy it without question. I think it would be beneficial to train the employees on picking up on things like that. While beginners may appreciate advice, some of us who hae a good idea about what we're doing don't necessarily appreciate someone who is most likely less informed trying to tell them how to stock their tank.

 

[Mrscbennett]

An assortment of smaller plecos, zebra, clown, snowball, pitbull, bristle nose, etc

 

[skiweeangel]

They only require one sample to begin with but I didn't bring one and talked with the guy for a few min and asked him if I needed to bring one in and he laughed and said "you know what you're doing. I don't need one from you.". It was more for the newbie who doesn't know anything. But I hope he doesn't expect me to bring one next time.

 

[Ibrahim]

Can you get a price quote for the African grey? I have a Senegal now and love him dearly

 

[Wy Renegade]

Just scrape some off and inoculate a broth, stick it in a bottle, incubate it at optimal temp. refrigerate it and ship! I see it all the time in lab. A real bottle of good BB would be time sensitive and require refrigeration.

Hhhhhmmmm . . . that procedure oughta inspire lots of confidence in the bottled bacteria products .

 

[ocean]

What I would like to see at a LFS ( ours don't have ) driftwood ( no kidding ) for one! Mosses, none here at LFS or Petco. Decent filters, don't have to be top of the land but not the bottom of the line either. Lol and some nice natural looking decorations instead of the butt ugly stuff, ( rock with fake flowers sticking out of them for one example ) don't mean to offend anyone one. I could go on and on but I'll hush up now.

 

[Wy Renegade]

I'm going to put together a basic starter order at segrest tonight, just to get things rolling. After we get some fish in I think it'll be easier to determine what direction to go as far as what else to stock, what works, what doesn't, etc.

You may know this already, but just an FYI if you're not aware. You need to expect a certain percentage of the order to arrive DOA, and the owners need to be advised up front to factor in a certain percentage to cover shipping deaths. While some of these big companies will cover a % of DOA or offer credits, those credits are only redemmable on another big order. Additionally, most will not cover lost livestock due to shipping errors. Again, just a FYI for you and the owner, if you're not already aware.

We have a pretty big, 125 or 150ish (6' long) size tank that is going near the entrance. Thought about going well planted with something colorful, probably natives or angelfish for now, just depends on what I have to work with.

I wouldn't place any natives in a display unless you're going to offer them for sale in the store. Other wise, you will have individuals who will go out and start collecting their own without regards to legal issues, and without researching how to properly care for those they collect.

Have you ever thought about selling natives? Native fish have always intrigued me for some reason, I've never tried them, but I do like to read about them from occassion to occassion and I'm sure people would be fascinated by the thought of sort of having a stream from their country in their own back yard JMO.

Please see above. Additionally keeping natives may require retention of a fishing licease or other legal permit and individuals may be required to stay within legal limits in regards to their liceanse. Native stocking issues can be a rather interesting ball of wax.

Just some thoughts on these issues. Hope that helps.

 

[bruinsbro1997]

Thank you WyRenegade for posting that. I knew there were laws for keeping certain fish, just didn't know you actually needed a permit as well. I agree, maybe just for sale? And not tell them they're natives either?

 

[jetajockey]

I'm going to speak with the FWC for clarification but I think we are good to go as long as there's a commercial fishing license.

 

[Wy Renegade]

Thank you WyRenegade for posting that. I knew there were laws for keeping certain fish, just didn't know you actually needed a permit as well. I agree, maybe just for sale? And not tell them they're natives either?

I'm going to speak with the FWC for clarification but I think we are good to go as long as there's a commercial fishing license.

No problem, one of those issues I had to deal with when I started keeping my native tanks.

@ jeta, you may also want to check on what type of permit/license individuals may be required to have when they purchase from you as well. Happy to help.

 

[jetajockey]

I will. Florida is not very strict on their non-game fish laws, so I think everything is pretty cut and dried, but I am definitely going to be certain before we stock anything. I spent quite a bit of time researching before I took the native angle with my own business so I have some familiarity with it, but it never hurts to be certain.

 

[aqua_chem]

I'm not sure if you've addressed it, but what kind of a market do you serve? If you were to get something high end in, would you be able to sell it to someone that appreciates it fairly easily?

For example, I don't exactly live in aquarium capital USA. You occasionally get some nice fish in, but there isn't necessarily a hobbyist population to warrant high end fish. I'm seeing people recommend things that they might want, but some of these read more like christmas lists than feasible stocking strategies. Do you live in an area where it would be financially viable to keep otherwise low demand fish in stock, taking up space that an fast mover (planties, neons) would otherwise be able occupy?

 

[jetajockey]

It's not going to be high end. I think time is going to determine a lot of things as far as that goes, but I'm going to work in some higher end stuff so that even if it doesn't sell it can at least make things look good.

That's how it is here also, at least in that town. I don't think there is a dedicated FW fish store there, but there are several SW ones.

So for now its the basic bread and butter stuff with a few uncommon (for this area anyway) things thrown in.

 

[maxwellag]

I'm not sure if you've addressed it, but what kind of a market do you serve? If you were to get something high end in, would you be able to sell it to someone that appreciates it fairly easily?

For example, I don't exactly live in aquarium capital USA. You occasionally get some nice fish in, but there isn't necessarily a hobbyist population to warrant high end fish. I'm seeing people recommend things that they might want, but some of these read more like christmas lists than feasible stocking strategies. Do you live in an area where it would be financially viable to keep otherwise low demand fish in stock, taking up space that an fast mover (planties, neons) would otherwise be able occupy?

Do you mean like arrowanna? I think those are high end... my lfs has them...

 

[NYgiantsRP]

What kind of filtration is it going to be? Every tank with a hob? I've always wonder how bigger fish stores filtered there water.

 

[skiweeangel]

Hhhhhmmmm . . . that procedure oughta inspire lots of confidence in the bottled bacteria products .

That's how bacterial colonies are transferred. I do it all the time in lab. You could do the same thing in your home.

One more thing I thought of today is possibly some kind of fish compatibility chart.