Anne,
Welcome to the hobby! It does sound like your LFS is not being very good at advice. I have been trying to write little guides to help new tank owners avoid mistakes. I made a list of the top ten pitfalls to avoid, here are #9 and #10:
10. Using a LFS employee as your only information source:
Local Fish Stores are businesses that are out to make a profit. There are basically two types of local fish store owners out there. The first are out there simply to make a profit and are not seriously concerned about you succeeding, in fact if you fail and continue to try they make a lot more profit off you. The second kind is there to truly help you succeed in the hobby and will do their best to help you have a happy experience in the hope you will return to them for additional business. Unfortunately, the second kind is far less likely to be found than the first kind. Until you have been in the saltwater hobby for at least six months to a year, it is unlikely you will be able to tell the difference.
If you are lucky enough to have the second kind near you, also remember that the pay scale for a LFS employee is dismal and most people with years of saltwater experience will be able to find a better pay than being a LFS employee. So you are more than likely to find employees that just don’t know very much. Some of them will have a very strong desire to help you, but their knowledge of the subject will be limited. There is just too much information out there for a low paid LFS employee to know about all of it. If you find a good one in your area, consider yourself very lucky and make sure you support that employee and store so they will remain there to help you.
If you don’t have a good LFS, you can find lots of help on the internet. My favorite two websites are:
http://www.reefcentral.com
http://www.reefs.org
9. LISTENING TO ME
What? But I thought you were giving advice? Let me clarify, don’t listen to ONLY my opinion, or just one person when making a decision. If you ask 10 saltwater reef keepers what their opinion is on a subject you’ll typically get 10-15 different responses. Listen to many people, try to find the average or best opinion you think makes sense and then go with it.
If you want to read the full top 10, follow this link:
http://www.epinions.com/content_4447641732
Best of luck in your new hobby and research research research!
Brian
Welcome to the hobby! It does sound like your LFS is not being very good at advice. I have been trying to write little guides to help new tank owners avoid mistakes. I made a list of the top ten pitfalls to avoid, here are #9 and #10:
10. Using a LFS employee as your only information source:
Local Fish Stores are businesses that are out to make a profit. There are basically two types of local fish store owners out there. The first are out there simply to make a profit and are not seriously concerned about you succeeding, in fact if you fail and continue to try they make a lot more profit off you. The second kind is there to truly help you succeed in the hobby and will do their best to help you have a happy experience in the hope you will return to them for additional business. Unfortunately, the second kind is far less likely to be found than the first kind. Until you have been in the saltwater hobby for at least six months to a year, it is unlikely you will be able to tell the difference.
If you are lucky enough to have the second kind near you, also remember that the pay scale for a LFS employee is dismal and most people with years of saltwater experience will be able to find a better pay than being a LFS employee. So you are more than likely to find employees that just don’t know very much. Some of them will have a very strong desire to help you, but their knowledge of the subject will be limited. There is just too much information out there for a low paid LFS employee to know about all of it. If you find a good one in your area, consider yourself very lucky and make sure you support that employee and store so they will remain there to help you.
If you don’t have a good LFS, you can find lots of help on the internet. My favorite two websites are:
http://www.reefcentral.com
http://www.reefs.org
9. LISTENING TO ME
What? But I thought you were giving advice? Let me clarify, don’t listen to ONLY my opinion, or just one person when making a decision. If you ask 10 saltwater reef keepers what their opinion is on a subject you’ll typically get 10-15 different responses. Listen to many people, try to find the average or best opinion you think makes sense and then go with it.
If you want to read the full top 10, follow this link:
http://www.epinions.com/content_4447641732
Best of luck in your new hobby and research research research!
Brian
