The Irony

[JennM]

Just for clarity - I'll trade in creatures purchased elsewhere that I can re-sell to more appropriate homes... but if it's something that's not on my own list, I'll give it a home out of compassion for the animal, but no compensation to the client.

I've got a quarantine tank full of damsels. I don't stock damsels (right Steve & Gresham?!) except for green or blue chromis. People have bought damsels because they thought or were told they "needed" them to cycle tanks, and then later they find out what a menace they are and the originating dealer won't take them back or trade them in. I offered no compensation for these - but they were left with me anyway.

Trading in stuff seems to be a non-option at a lot of stores, sadly, and I've had a lot of stuff dropped off with me because the hobbyist simply can't keep it. and returning it to whomever sold it to them is not an option, either because it was purchased online, or because the local dealer doesn't take returns.

I've got a HUGE Pacu and some very large Oscars that were cute when the keepers bought them wherever, but quickly outgrew small tanks - not a whole lot of resale potential in those - they take up valuable tank space and eat me out of house and home. I've provided for them but I'm not about to give store credit for something that is actually costing me more money than I can ever hope to recoup from its unlikely resale.

Over the years I've had a variety of stuff brought in to me - purchased both online and from retailers, that were either unsuitable, not compatible, grew too large -- like the (now) 14" Vlamingii tang I took in a couple of years ago that came out of a 60 Hex. Customer had no idea it would outgrow their tank - let alone grow to 2 feet as an adult. He's in my 1000 now, living large.

If the B&M stores go the way of the dinosaur (which I doubt they ever will), who will take in all the "oops" stuff?

Jenn

 

[Anonymous]

If the B&M stores go the way of the dinosaur (which I doubt they ever will), who will take in all the "oops" stuff?

Unfortunately, I know the answer to this.

DPW/WM.

However, I agree....B&M will never go away.

Peace,

Chip

 

[Anonymous]

Knowse I am curious, what are you implying about Inland?

STR

I wasn't infering/implying anything. Just that as far as LFS (you know local fish stores) goes, Inland Aquatics is the "cream of the crop". Jenn's Imagine Ocean is up there too, a very top notch store. Who knows, in a few short years she may surpass IA. Kalk's Cappiccino Bay is another excellent store, although a little cramped for room. :wink: Now if you want to talk about full service PET store's Dizzy's Fishey Business is by far the best I've ever been in. And it wouldn't take him much to pass IA either.

Now, would you me like to tell you about Inlands etailing too?

 

[Rascal]

Hey Knowse,

Can you mention what it is about those stores that you like...that impresses you.

 

[Anonymous]

Ok, I'll start with Inland Aquatics. The retail part of the store is small but the floor plan moves smoothly. All the tanks are easily viewable with little strain on the neck and back. All the tanks have proper lighting for the animals contained there in. There is always staff to ask questions of that are "smarter than the average bear" and you don't have to wait long due to a busy or crowded store plus most keep their own tanks. If I want mh lighting, dt's oyster eggs, a 50g sump, a small frag, particular fish or anything else related to saltwater fish/reef tanks they have it. I won't go into the details of the back part of the store other than it's huge and has lots of BIG stock tanks with fully grown corals in them. I'll also say that the back is awe inspiring. If you need it, they got it. I'll also mention here that they hold new fish arrival for 2 weeks befor they hit the sale floor. It takes me 3 1/2 hrs to get there.

Kalk's has a larger sales floor than IA, with the most corals and clams in house than I'd ever seen before when I was there a few years ago. He had everything needed for the reef tank and also had helpful and knowledgeble staff. When he says "reef" store, he means it. His tanks were clean and easily veiwable and I personally like the mirror behind the clam tank. The only draw back to his store (and this is purely personal or I was just over whelmed) is that the floor space seemed cramped due to have so much in a small store. All in all it was a nice store and I do plan to go back. 6 3/4 hrs drive time.

I was at Jenn's store the same weekend I was at kalk's. Jenn's store is larger than kalk's with lots of room to move around. VERY clean. Her sales tanks a large and the fish very healthy and act more normally in them. She was the only employee at the time but took along time talking with me on my first time in. I think she'd been in business a little over a year. She had everything I needed at the time and even came in a few hours early on a Sunday morning to bag my purchases for the long haul home. Now that is great service! As we all know she is very knowledgeble but she's also very friendly and easy to ask questions of. It takes 6 1/2hr door to door and about 20 minutes from kalk.

Dizzy's is my personal fav. His store is HUGE. Extremely clean and well lit. Since redoing his coral tanks (he now has more corals than kalk's store did.) he has the largest selection of corals of anywhere I've ever been and a great selection of fish and inverts too. The floor is laid out very nicely and regardless of how busy the store is there's room for every one and the "traffic" flows well. Did I mention I also like his non-skid floor! His tanks are clean and no sore backs looking at all the pretty fish, which by the way are always healthy. Mitch's staff is always friendly, knowledgeble and able to assist at pretty much any time, regardless of how busy the store is. Another store where if you need it, they got it. Another thing like about Mitch's store is that it's very accessable and has good parking. I also get to play with the birds or pet a kitten or two if any are in that day. Mitch is also just plain nice to talk to, my first trip in I think I was there for close to 4hrs and we talked most of that time.

 

[Rascal]

Thanks. I've been in business for almost 13 years and am very proud of my store, but I feel I should always be looking at the others to potentially learn from something they do...or maybe don't do.

I wish I had a little more time frankly to be able to go around and look at some of these other stores. Florida is a pretty tough market in my opinion and I haven't been tempted to 'emulate' any stores arounnd me. These's a store a little south of Tampa - Fish and Other Ichthy Things. I've heard very positive things about him. Other than that I'm not OVERLY impressed. I'm probably due for a road trip...maybe even a vacation. Hahaha, as if!

Thanks again for the response.

Butch

 

[JennM]

My store is clean?! Not always... but we're always puttering to try to keep it that way at least - but it doesn't always show - especially afer a busy weekend... I'm a sloppy worker and I'm not alone - I tend to leave things about, and I'm always battling algae in my FO system - flow issue - I have lots of "pump" but not enough "drain"... it's on the slate for retrofit one of these days... reef system has lots of flow where it counts, and LOTS of light. Lots that I want to do to upgrade/improve... we tinker with it here and there when cash flow permits. I suppose it will always be a work in progress...

I'm fairly sure that Kalk's store is bigger than mine too - layout is different. We used to be in one suite... tanks around the walls, dry goods in the middle but when we took the adjacent suite, we made one a showroom for tanks and dry goods and put more tanks in the middle of the fish room (original suite) where the dry goods used to be.

When we first expanded we felt like we had tons of space - now I wish I had another 1000 square feet... but my budget can't handle that I've got 2740 square feet. I'm reasonably sure that Kalk's place is bigger than that.

Chip, what is DPW/WM? I'm lost on those acronyms...

Jenn

 

[dizzy]

Sally thank for the nice compliments. We try hard, but things don't always go perfect. We sometimes get caught with our pants down too.
Mitch

 

[SavetheReefs]

Wow Knowse, you make inland sound so nice I want to hope in my car and go there right this second.

I on the other hand have a far different opinion of IA. It is one of those places which is very cool when you get started in the hobby, or is cool to go to the first one or two times.

Now granted, I have not been there in almost 3 years so maybe they changed a lot. But one thing they never had before was fish. Except for clowns, bangaiis, and the occasional goby.

STR

 

[Kalkbreath]

My store has changed alot in the past year.
I the female mermaid tank wasnt up the last visit.........then I have twice as much corals and clams as two years ago. {three hundred plus farmed acro colonies , several thousand growing frags and a few hunderd clams. } But whos counting?
I think on your lst visit we still had not finished the "coffee side of the store" Which we never did and instead put up a few more coral vats.
My store is 3800 square feet.
I am actualy hooking up some live web cams to go with my new e-commerce website next week.( now thats "IRONY") :wink: Cdevito

 

[Anonymous]

Chip, what is DPW/WM? I'm lost on those acronyms...

Department of Public Works/Waste Management.

Garbagemen.

Peace,

Chip

 

[TuskFish]

Now that is one cool tank, kalk. Is that acrylic? Can you tell me where you have the overflow hidden? I think I see one of the returns to the right of the mermaid. What about lighting?

Very cool. I will have to make it a point to stop and see both you and Jenn's stores on my next trip to Atlanta.

 

[dizzy]

Nice clams, but not much different variety

 

[Anonymous]

Kalk, I'm sorry if my "review" wasn't accurate on store size, my memory is'nt what it should be. You did have a large amount of dry goods and that's probably why I felt the store was crapmed. I meant no offense.
Do you still have that big tank by the front door? It had Posidon or Neptune in it, that was pretty funny. In all seriousness, I do remember being impressed with your store tho and plan on visiting it again on my next visit home.

I believe any store can get disorderly when the employees are rushing to help a lot of people at the same time. That doesn't mean the store is dirty just means it's busy.

Jenn the two times I was in your store, it was very clean. And I have'nt been into Mitch's when it wasn't tidey, maybe a few boxes of dry goods hadn't been put on the shelves yet but not a big deal.

I also visit 2 stores in Nashville. Both are almost strictly lfs, but they both also sell reptiles. Both are excellent in their own ways. The larger one usually has great selections on livestock but it's hard to find what I want in the dry goods. The other is much smaller with less tanks but the dry goods are right where they should be and oh so easy to find and the employees are spot on when it comes to being friendly and helpful. In case no one has noticed, I like talking to people about sw fish/reef tanks and the best place to do that is at the lfs.

Recently I heard threw the hobbiest grape vine that there are a couple of very nice stores in the Memphis area. I need to go check them out one of these days. :wink:

 

[Kalkbreath]

Nice clams, but not much different variety

Thats just the 49 dollar tank (croceas and Derasas [on the sand], we still have the maxima tanks {more next week} ..... four more sets/pricing of croceas and even croceas inside rocks. :wink: (not farm raised)
With the new website and webcams youll be able to see whats in the store real time. Even actually talk to someone one on the phone while they pull your order right before your eyes (on your computer ) 8)
Ive been working on this concept for three years and thanks to Flash media servers and two 6 meg dsl connections im about to change the way hobbyists think about online stores.
Now if I could just settle on an acronym to describe such a store?

 

[Kalkbreath]

Now that is one cool tank, kalk. Is that acrylic? Can you tell me where you have the overflow hidden? I think I see one of the returns to the right of the mermaid. What about lighting?

Very cool. I will have to make it a point to stop and see both you and Jenn's stores on my next trip to Atlanta.

Yes its plastic, just like my implants.:wink:
Twin 1000 watt Lides light this ladies days .....and I light her nights .:wink:
Yes,
The two over flows are on each back corner, for easy acess.

 

[Anonymous]

Personally, I believe that guarantees and sw fish don't belong together. It just gives people a reason NOT to care for their purchases. JMO

What a wonderful statement Sums it up nicely!

Jenn

I don't know any hobbyists that don't try to care of their purchases. I think that knowse's comment is unfair to the vast majority of salt water hobbyists.

 

[naesco]

If the government mandated say a 5 day sw guarantee than LFS and online stores would think twice about dumping cyanide caught fish and Impossible to keep fish on unsuspecting newbies.

 

[JennM]

Personally, I believe that guarantees and sw fish don't belong together. It just gives people a reason NOT to care for their purchases. JMO

What a wonderful statement Sums it up nicely!

Jenn

I don't know any hobbyists that don't try to care of their purchases. I think that knowse's comment is unfair to the vast majority of salt water hobbyists.

Unfortunately, I do. While *most* do care, many don't. I've got one guy who bought cheap canisters to filter his tank and no skimmer. As a result he's *always* got nitrates of over 100. When a fish dies, he says, "Oh well". I hate selling to these types of people and it's a real struggle sometimes because the "business" part of me tells me that I am informing him so if he wants to buy anyway, I should sell, but the ethical side of me usually tries to talk him out of a new fish *today* and encourages him to do more aggressive water changes and rethink his filtration. It's very hard sometimes.

Jenn

 

[Kalkbreath]

I dont think a five day period would be enough for unsuitable species to expire.....Naesco.
and Cyanide fish dont really drop dead from exposure either.
If you ment 15 day or 50 days then that might accomplish your goal.
But I agree with Knowes....... fish that look good enough for the customer to pick them out of the tank line up , dont die within 24 hours of purchase from anything but new owner neglect.
That being said I still offer a 48 hour stint. [But it aint a no fault blanket.]
I even run water tests through the ORP meter to see if its fresh made sea water {instead of from the tank}