Our "Trusty" LPS stores...

Totaly agree with franssny... Same boat here - owner of shop and fishkeeper as well...

the times in the past(when I was 1st tank cleaner,then assistant salesman,then salesman,then assitant manager...etc,you get the picture...) that clients have blatantly told untruths to me - ending up in MAJOR problems in their systems leaves me confounded...

My biggest rant however is at the noob fish/koi keeper who spends THOUSANDS of Rands on a system with an idealised picture in mind... Ask them(once they walk back in to my store with the 1st of MANY problems...) if they bought a book on the subject or researched their project - NO 80% of the time...

So is it ALWAYS our fault? - I dont think so....

End rant - breathe easy and attend to my guests who are here for a Braai....

 

I occasionally help a friend,who owns a fish shop,on Saturdays.Just to make it clear ,I do this as a favor to him and without any payment.Now and again I get some "stuff" at a special discount,nough said.
Initially I enjoyed the interaction with the customers,giving advise,helping to pick fish and netting the chosen fish,but......
I find the average 'Joe' coming into the shop looking for a goldfish and a bowl to keep it in,the most irretating,stupid,uninformed,arrogant,stubborn,dumb@sses in the world.To have to explain the nitrogen cycle to the same person,5 times and why he can't by a tank and 20 fish on the same day and add the fish to the new tank on the same day,will drive me insane."why do I need a filter?'' "what fish can be kept without a filter" Why can't I keep the Oscar with the Neons?" "Can I keep that Nemo with my goldfish?,little Jannie loved 'Finding Nemo'."
These are just some off the questions I'm confrontate with on a Saturday morning.Imagine having to deal with these people everyday,imagine having to depend on them for your income,everyday.
What I'm trying to say is,spare a thought for the LFS owner who knows his stuff,who's trying to give good advice and help introduce people to our hobby,but then have deal with these people.Excuse him for occasionally selling that guy a bowl and a goldfish to put in it,at least Nemo is still in saltwater,happily swimming among the Anemones.

 

its not always the lfs fault, but when they try to convince you that the puffers they have are freshwater when they are not, and they keep the snails in the loach tank and they cant sex guppies and they ask you to catch the fish because they cant manage to do it... then i dont trust anything the people who work there say. and those stories are all true.

 

I do know the lfs owner that @Rudi (met Rudi there!) is referring to, and he know his story.
When you are a one man buss. and have no staff, to keep costs down, it must be very irritating to explain the same thing, every day, to every second person that walked into the shop.
Good luck to all the dedicated LFS owners, that try and teach the customers, and pass on some of their knowledge on to customers.
I take my hat off for them!
Gert.

 

If you can positively I.D. freshwater puffers yourself,good for you,if not.....
In the Congo river alone there are at least six species that don't tolerate salt or brackish water and in all my fish books I could only find one that can be kept in brackish water.Tetraodon fluviatilis, the Green Puffer is found in Southeast Asia.
The most commonly available puffer I have seen in the Cape Town area is Tetraodon steindachneri,Figure Eight Puffer,and they definitely do not tolerate salt.
So if you can't I.D. the fish positively,how can you question the LFS?But then again if you can,why not show them that they are mistakingly keeping the fish in freshwater.
Sometimes I find people are very quick to criticize but when asked to help,it often falls on deaf ears.

 

One thing that drives me insane is that I have never found astore that actually labels their plants. Only once has a store assistant helped me out there and that was him actually bringing me some plants from his own tank at home. If anyone knows of a trusty fish store with good selection of plants in the East rand or Hatfield pta area pls let me know

 

"labels their plants" - I speculate, but this is probably to avoid being caught out as being fraudulent more than anything else. My understanding is that LFS order (local suppliers) a tray of aquatic plants and they get something like a mixture of 8 - 12 types in a batch of 75. But of that 8 - 12 types maybe only 5 are true aquatic the others not so much. In reality if you read a label that said - mondo grass - would you really plant that in your tank?

But yes - would be nice. If I recall correctly http://www.tropicalaquarium.co.za/s...isit-14-pictures&p=53887&viewfull=1#post53887 these guys did not have all the plants details on the tanks but rather on a chart (picture, name, growth speed and tank placing).

 

FishRMan, what would it mean to you if the plants were labeled?
What do you want to see,Amazon sword plant or Echinodorus species?
If you are looking for a specific plant,you should already know what it looks like,how it's going to grow or what it needs.You don't need a plant to be labeled if you already knows what it is.
Many plants sold at the LFS is still in the emersed form,the way it was grown by the nursery.To identify the plant you have to know what both forms,submersed and emersed looks like.The plants are often delivered to the LFS in a 'mixed box',a box of all sorts.To be able to identify the plants,you'll need a extensive knowledge on plants.The LFS will rather train his employees in basic fish keeping than plant identification,seeing that plant sales is a niche market and accounts for a small fraction off his monthly turnover.
Now I've got a question:
How many members of this forum actually tries to just occasionally have a friendly chat with the LFS owner?
How many makes friendly suggestions to improve the quality of service,fish health etc.?
Wouldn't it make sense if you were a regular visitor and not just a once off customer,that your suggestions will be attended to?
Show yourself to be a valued customer,not just another 'complainer'.

 

I do agree with @Rudi. In the old days, you used to befriend your butcher, as a friend, he will always give you the best portions and know that he will keep you as a valued returning /referring customer.
How many of you have tried to sell your occasional fry to a LFS? They don't take fish from anyone, as it could give diseases to their tanks. But, if you are a friend of the LFS owner, and he know that you can keep fish healthy and is knowledgeable in fish keeping, he will most probably trade/buy your fish, as it is locally bred in the same type of water, etc.
I would like to advise everyone to befriend your LFS owner, and he will be there for you too!
It could be a friendship that both could benefit from. Well, thats how I operate.

 

Yeah, I agree with Gert. The Lfs owner will help by any means possible if he knows you pretty well.

 

I like what you're saying Gert it works for me to lol even at the butcher

 

+1 Gert, my LFS owner sell some of my fish and occationally I just give him a batch
to do with as he please.
He has even taken me along to the wholesalers and alowed me to buy at cost from them.
Most of the LPS owners know their stuff, not always the same with staff though.
I have only been to 1 petsore where all the staff could answer most ofl my questions,they were all
friendly and helpfull, also offered to order what I want if they did not have it.
They are a little more expensive then the norm but I will go back there any day.

I think it is very difficult running a Pet Store and pay for really decent staff with big salary demands.
That is why I actually like the Pet stores where you can always see the owner on the floor.

Gerhard

 

I've actually also found it better to go visit the LPS during the week when the shop store owner is often the sales person, or you can at least get him a lot easier.

 

I just think it would be much easier to buy the right plants if they were labeled. If you think about it you would never buy fish from a store that didnt have labels up yet if one thinks about it fish are much easier to identify than plants so why do we tolerate buying a random selection of plants which may not even be aquatic?

 

I think the point Rudi is trying to make is that regardless of whether the LPS puts the names of the plants up or not, it's going to make no difference to you. It's easy to label the fish because the common names are, well, common. Granted they are sometimes confused... but with plants, this is a whole new ball game, and the only proper way to label them would be to use the scientific name, because the common name is often referring to a whole family of plants, or misinterpreted. Now you walk into the LPS... having ZERO botany degree, and look at Mechalieonis deorans vs. the trabiulumph secturium. Which one is aquatic, and which one is not? You have no clue. Granted we are entering a new age where we can simply pull out our phones and google... I personally do not see the point of labelling the plants.

Buying fish is something different, you need to know the fish temperament etc and their requirements. When buying plants from an LPS, sadly, they will usually only sell easy growers... so you can be almost guaranteed that if you are at least giving decent light, and some sort of plant ferts, they will survive (unless you buy a non-aquatic). If you ware wanting something more specialised, you would then do your research, and get it from other members. The chances of you finding something like rotala walichi in an LPS is slim to nil. But it is available from other members.

 

I agree and disagree. I have a book with a list of plants, what they require, and how difficult they are to grow. Now bear in mind that this list is in a fish book, so there are no pics. However like you mentioned one can google these. But when you come to a pet shop, it would help if certain plants were labelled. The more common plants are obviosly easier to recognise but what about the uncommon plants? Hence, i only buy what i know which java fern amazon sword.