C
Chiefmcfuz
Guest
When you go to a LFS or to a website and you buy a coral do you research it before or just impulse buy.
- Location
- Marine Park
On that note,
When I go to a store with my wife and she says "OH! Let's buy that!"
I respond:
"I don't know what it is"
and she responds:
"Oh, so we have NO IDEA what it eats, what it needs, where it lives, or what kind of tank it requires."
"Yes"
"Well find out cause it's COOL!"
When I go to a store with my wife and she says "OH! Let's buy that!"
I respond:
"I don't know what it is"
and she responds:
"Oh, so we have NO IDEA what it eats, what it needs, where it lives, or what kind of tank it requires."
"Yes"
"Well find out cause it's COOL!"
- Location
- Marine Park
How about a Cowboy Neal option?
www.slashdot.com
www.slashdot.com
- Location
- Ossining, NY
The beginner buying cycle from hell -
1) see in local fish store and like - don't impulse buy
2) research online to define husbandry
3) realize, it won't work in your system
4) Go back, buy anyway "hoping" that "with caution" means "possible"
5) Animal dies - saddened owner.
Since there isn't multiple choice options - I say many reefers subscribe to the learning cycle and use most of the above methods in sequence to define their learning experience.
It's unfortunate that picking up a book and carrying it with you when making a purchase at the LFS.
J
1) see in local fish store and like - don't impulse buy
2) research online to define husbandry
3) realize, it won't work in your system
4) Go back, buy anyway "hoping" that "with caution" means "possible"
5) Animal dies - saddened owner.
Since there isn't multiple choice options - I say many reefers subscribe to the learning cycle and use most of the above methods in sequence to define their learning experience.
It's unfortunate that picking up a book and carrying it with you when making a purchase at the LFS.
J
I have to agree with Jim, while the poll results show the opposite, with 15+ years experience in this hobby and from daily reading about 8 different forums, the real answer is one of the two:
Hope and pray buy that you buy it and it will live without any research.
Buy it and have others ID it for you and tell you how to take care of it.
It's a sad but unfortunate reality. There is a very small percentage that actually take the time to research before buying.
Hope and pray buy that you buy it and it will live without any research.
Buy it and have others ID it for you and tell you how to take care of it.
It's a sad but unfortunate reality. There is a very small percentage that actually take the time to research before buying.
hmmm...I did buy somthing that I knew I shouldn't - because Jer wanted it. What can I say? He's my sweetie 
I have also done incomplete research and been given bad advice and purchased things that I shouldn't.
Usually, I bring my book with me to the LFS if it is a planned trip. As I live in Manhattan, any impulse buys are from New World so I use their books on the spinny rack. Also, the guys are pretty cool with me and are very up front if they think I am not ready for something. So far, they only let me buy leathers and one trachy
There you have it - Newb purchasing practices.
I have also done incomplete research and been given bad advice and purchased things that I shouldn't.
Usually, I bring my book with me to the LFS if it is a planned trip. As I live in Manhattan, any impulse buys are from New World so I use their books on the spinny rack. Also, the guys are pretty cool with me and are very up front if they think I am not ready for something. So far, they only let me buy leathers and one trachy
There you have it - Newb purchasing practices.
Just because a coral is common or easy to get, doesn't mean it's easy to keep. I would venture to say that the Euphyllia's (hammer, frog spawn, candy cane) you mention require medium to high light, moderate flow and placement is important. All have stingers that will sting each other or other corals. Flow is important as well. The Tubastraea (sun coral) requires DAILY feeding of all polyps. The only animals in that list that can survive in just about any tank are the zoanthids and the mushrooms.
Acropora is a common coral too, but, unless the LFS is setup for caring for them, they are not brought in. Because of the expense in setting up a system to support them this is not usually done. Some will bring them in hoping to sell them before they croak.
Depending on the LFS to give you good advice is not always the best way to go. Far to many LFS sell a reef tank setup with NO flourescents, an undersized skimmer and a wet/dry filter and tell the customer that "they can keep anything we stock." The goal of the LFS is to SELL, SELL, SELL so the cost of the initial setup is kept down to make the sale.
The result of this type of sale is usually failure. The customer doesn't know why his corals died, he continues to bring water samples to the LFS for testing. More corals are bought, some live poorly, others die. Unfortunately, education is a last result, rather than a precursor. It's a shame considering that the internet is in almost every home. This customer usually gets fed up and quits the hobby, unless he happens to educate himself through books or forums such as Manhattan Reefs on the internet.
If this happens then, he'll more than likely come across a non typical LFS such as House of Fish who do educate and fully disclose the real costs of a reef tank. They educate the customer as to the husbandry techniques required to maintain a healthy reef system. By example, they have spent the money up front to build systems in their stores to support a variety of reef life. These are the stores that will get the long term business of hobbyists who continue to stay in the hobby after being burned by the typical LFS.
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