The problem is that the locations here are consistently bad. Because of their marketing and branding strategy, they are a relatively visible company in my opinion and therefore I think that they do a great deal of business with suburbanites who want a pair of seahorses, a shark and an $80 mushroom rock for their new 55-gallon Hagen with unpowered HOB skimmer. Having said this, at least their livestock appears to be properly fed.

Personally I patronize only one LFS in this province, in Edmonton, and I have been satisfied with their service and livestock thus far.

Mods, if I'm not supposed to be this vocal just edit the iffy parts out.

I'd like to add a comment about dead or dying fish also. If a fish comes in with a shipment and isn't doing well, the retailer has two choices; dispose of the fish now just to keep up appearances, or try to bring it around by keeping it in a tank. Now I don't suggest that they let it suffer, but I would prefer they did give it a chance to come around.
I've seen a LFS guy throw live fish in the garbage rather than deal with a sick animal. Just my .02....

I see. Have you gone in ther and talked to the managers?

I always see people have an opinion, and I think whether good or bad, they should share it with the store in question. It's important and can cause change.

One guy who runs a LFS here has offered me a job on several occasions, but I keep turning him down, and I tell him straight up cause his store is a mess, and I can't work like that. On the same note a number of my aquaintances have gone to work there, saying they would clean it up and after several months given up as it's a lost cause.

If you want to voice concerns here about a LFS that is great, but make sure your complaint is valid and that you have shared it with someone who can do something to solve it. IE the Manager at the LFS. They are usually willing to learn, help, fix the problem, but often they don't even know what/how/where ect.

Amen Brad. I have seen fish laying on thier side, gasping like they were in death throws. I thought wow that thing is dead. The manager told me She thought it would come around. 2 days later the fish in the same tank, still in acclimation were up eating and swimming around fine. One of those fish is now in thier display happy and healthy.

I would much rather go to a store and see sick/stressed fish that the store is trying to bring around rather then 100% clean tanks. 100% clean does not mean thier fish are perfect, it just means you don't know how much they are hiding.

Throwing a live fish in the garbage rather then trying to help it IMO, I couldn't stomach that.

Hope everyone reading this learns a thing or two about how stores work.

I hear you about throwing out dead fish. I see dead fish at every store I visit, it doesn't phase me much.

My complaints about what fish are brought in will be met with either "oh they do great in captivity, what have you been reading!" or "well we're a business, we have to make money".

I am again amazed how an announcement about a store having clams in stock has been completely hijacked. :rolleyes: :mad:

Bob, it wasn't hijacked, it was "diverted"!

This one ACHED to be hijacked. It was destined to be hijacked. It needed to be hijacked. :evil:

As far as what gets brought in, sometimes retailers don't have a choice. They have to buy in lots from some suppliers, and those suppliers chose lots.

For example, one fish most people will agree upon, that does not do well in captivity, but is often seen in stores is a Moorish Idol. However they are apparently easy to catch, and suppliers like that. So they catch them because it is another fish they can sell. So they put them in the lots with your common LFS fare, clowns, damsels ect, because they make money, and that is why they are in business.

Sometimes the people running the Marine section don't even chose what they get. One store in Langley is like that. The manager is a geat guy, but the person who does the ordereing is always ordering stupid things. Like 20 pairs of Yellowhead Sleeper Gobys. What store can house 20 pairs, and keep them all alive untill they are all sold? NONE!!!

At least we know that nobody from Canreef would buy one of these!! :razz:

Only certain stores continually carry Moorish idols, large wild-caught seahorses and sharks. The store I shop at only recently began bringing in Moorish idols. Before that time I had never seen them in store.

My point is, often times all the LFS' have certain animals, ie. right now I think there are a lot of Genicanthus sp. angels floating around, since so many get their livestock from the same wholesalers, yet certain stores continually have the most unsuitable livestock in their tanks while others do not. There is one store here that has one of those red, white and blue sea apples and saltwater rays every time I visit the store. No one else does. You cannot tell me the wholesalers are dumping these animals off on this one store.