The Perfect LFS

snail-free plants

tanks that don't all have atleast one dead fish

Knowledgable staff would be nice, but at the very least, staff which isn't knowledgable should just dip fish and keep their advice to themselves.

adequate supplies -- My LFS's don't even carry liquid test kits, much less all the other things I use.
 
Easy driving distance would be nice, highway accessible, parking. Novel fish kinds. Q tanks. Actually some of my "area" stores have these & more (or most).
 
Mg, you kept telling me you don't buy fish from your LFS and now you want rare fish in there.:confused:
the local ones suck. thats all there is to it. i get better fish from the fish club. if there was clean tanks with healthy fish i would go. rare fish would be a bigger draw too.
How'd I know the plants over salt would come up?! :laugh:
lol its not that hard. you can sell just as much plant junk as the salty nuts. stock a store with ada co2 t5 lighting cf lighting a show tank. the plants sell their selfs.
 
Knowledgable staff who care more about the health of fish than the money.

No glo-fish, no dyed fish, no mutant hybrids, just normal fish & healthy hybrids.

A very big salty section, a pretty good brackish section, a very big plant section, and a teh sup3r ginormous FW section :grinyes:

A section labeled "Giant fish", including common plecos, pacus, etc.

No fish that get too big for an aquarium, such as black tip reef sharks, nurse sharks, etc.

Very low quantities in the "Giant fish" section, 3 pacus, 4 arros, etc.

Meticulous cleaning of the store and tanks.

Healthy fish, inverts, plants, molluscs, cepholopods, amphibians, corals, etc that have no deformities.

All sales tanks are 20g+, and all but the ones containing plant eaters are well planted.

Staff that are helpful and always there to help.

All different types of fish foods, from bulk high quality flakes to a copepod population to help people feed their picky SW fish.

A "local breeders" section, where they have top quality locally bred fish for sale and demonstration and ways of contacting the breeders.

A wide range of diversity in animals, with bargain prices on top of the notch corals & plants, with most of the fish known in the hobby availible and all others availible to be special ordered.

Cheap aquariums, from 3gallons to a 2000gallon for sale, with kits coming with well known brands such as aquaclear and penguin.

Store-bred fish, in more than guppies & convicts.

Giant 1000g display tanks, 2 for every section. Big brackish fish, little brackish fish, agressive salties, small salties & inverts, a planted tank with dwarf crays and another with snails & brigs, and a FW tank with hordes of schoolers and another with tank busters.

Bulk sand & gravel, in every size, shape & colour imaginable.

All kinds of lights, for low prices (compared to other places).

A fish-veterinarian on hand for questions and minor surgery.

A local supply that was famous for their good stock & extremely low disease rates, with the pet store picking up fish straight from the dealer.

Room for up to 3 aquarium clubs to meet, discuss things, exchange frags, plants & fish and sell to each other for mutual benefit. Several adoption tnaks for fish to give away that no one has claimed yet.

A very, very large parking lot, with the farthest away parking space still within reasonable distance. You always are with 3 main doors :)

No fishy cycling, and no goldfish bowls.

No tanks under 3g, and no tanks suggested for fish other than bettas under 5g.

They sell picky eaters like baby sharks, moorish idols, and dragonets only after you see them eat.

They feed their fish top quality foods, including beef heart.

Proper housing signs that mention agressiveness, correct full size, food, and schooling requirements (if any). On the bottom each card clearly reads "Talk to a staff member for further questions".

Staff that are careful when netting fish, and who tell you about any potential dangers.

Many books, from breeding to basic care, that were all checked by the staff for any innacuracies.

QT tanks that tell you what kind of fish they are and when they will be availible to buy.

Staff that will set aside certain excessories and fish in hidden tanks in the back.

And of course, all staff & fish clubs reccomend AC!! :D:D:D:D:D:D

Well, thats all I can think of for now(AKA I'm tired of writing :p:). You can tell I am very demanding about LFS's :silly:
 
Thanks DP! There's some very good stuff in there. Some unrealistic stuff too, but this is just what I'm looking for! :)
 
Thanks HN... I think :lipssealedsmilie: :joke:

wow doesnt take much to make you happy

Nope, I'm pretty undemanding... I think I'd be good on survivor, if they gave me a tank to keep those giant clams in to stare at before I cooked them... And maybe a barbecue to cook them, nothing much :p:
 
Around here LFS don't exist. LPS do because the puppies and kitties sell at a far higher margin than fish. My biggest complaint is that there isn't a knowledgable fish person on staff during the hours when the store is open. They have one or two guys that are knowledgable but don't always work the same hours and often work at one of the two different stores by the same owner.

I really hate it when the Kittie person is fishing out the fish and splashing water every where chasing down that fish for the little kid who doesn't know any better. There has been a couple of times where I have gone up and basically went, let me do that before they stressed out the whole tank.

While I do understand that a store is in business to make money I would prefer if that isn't the only driving factor of the people that work there. I really get tired of reading about the store that sells a fish meant for a 180 gallon tank to someone that has a 30 gallon just because its a juvenile.

I know at some point the person buying the fish has to take responsibility for what they are doing, but I just see to many owners only having fish because its a cool conversation piece for when they have company.

Also I can't expect every fish employee to be Bob Fenner but I would appreciate it if they didn't know the answer just to fess up instead of giving out incorrect information. Using the term, "I don't know but I can find you an answer" has never turned me off. In fact it has made me respect that employee more..

I don't know guess I'm to picky..

Another thing that I like about electronic stores that I'd love to see in fish stores is a coming soon sign. I know that you are at the mercy of your distributors and it may not be feasible but I'm just putting it out there.

Oh and I'd like you to bring world peace.. :D
 
Thanks HN... I think :lipssealedsmilie: :joke:



Nope, I'm pretty undemanding... I think I'd be good on survivor, if they gave me a tank to keep those giant clams in to stare at before I cooked them... And maybe a barbecue to cook them, nothing much :p:

Your post was great! To think that any store could have an on site Vet and 1000G display tanks is pushing it a bit. I would definitely go there though! :)

Around here LFS don't exist. LPS do because the puppies and kitties sell at a far higher margin than fish. My biggest complaint is that there isn't a knowledgable fish person on staff during the hours when the store is open. They have one or two guys that are knowledgable but don't always work the same hours and often work at one of the two different stores by the same owner.

I really hate it when the Kittie person is fishing out the fish and splashing water every where chasing down that fish for the little kid who doesn't know any better. There has been a couple of times where I have gone up and basically went, let me do that before they stressed out the whole tank.

While I do understand that a store is in business to make money I would prefer if that isn't the only driving factor of the people that work there. I really get tired of reading about the store that sells a fish meant for a 180 gallon tank to someone that has a 30 gallon just because its a juvenile.

I know at some point the person buying the fish has to take responsibility for what they are doing, but I just see to many owners only having fish because its a cool conversation piece for when they have company.

Also I can't expect every fish employee to be Bob Fenner but I would appreciate it if they didn't know the answer just to fess up instead of giving out incorrect information. Using the term, "I don't know but I can find you an answer" has never turned me off. In fact it has made me respect that employee more..

I don't know guess I'm to picky..

Another thing that I like about electronic stores that I'd love to see in fish stores is a coming soon sign. I know that you are at the mercy of your distributors and it may not be feasible but I'm just putting it out there.

Oh and I'd like you to bring world peace.. :D

I have the solution to world peace, no one will listen though. Shop design and making an independent shop viable will be a much tougher challenge. Great ideas though, thanks!
 
My ideal LFS would be that they are huge, nice cheap things, $1 per gallon sale all the time, lots of fish, adaquete space for them, and helpful employee's/current fish owners.
 
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