peoples thoughts and opinions on calgary lfs???

[Coralgurl]

Denny, you are so passionate about this hobby and those in it! YOU should open a salty store, you'd be fantastic at it. You have a vision of what it should look like and could set the new standard for others to follow!! Tonka could be your mascot for the store, think of how spoiled he'd be!! LOL

I for one sure appreciate your enthusiasm for the stores and the customers and livestock. I'm excited to see what you come up with for a new concept as you've mentioned and I'm sure it will be a great partnering!!

[cuz]

Originally Posted by Coralgurl

Denny, you are so passionate about this hobby and those in it! YOU should open a salty store, you'd be fantastic at it. You have a vision of what it should look like and could set the new standard for others to follow!! Tonka could be your mascot for the store, think of how spoiled he'd be!! LOL

I for one sure appreciate your enthusiasm for the stores and the customers and livestock. I'm excited to see what you come up with for a new concept as you've mentioned and I'm sure it will be a great partnering!!

Ironically worded??

[reefwars]

Originally Posted by Coralgurl

Denny, you are so passionate about this hobby and those in it! YOU should open a salty store, you'd be fantastic at it. You have a vision of what it should look like and could set the new standard for others to follow!! Tonka could be your mascot for the store, think of how spoiled he'd be!! LOL

I for one sure appreciate your enthusiasm for the stores and the customers and livestock. I'm excited to see what you come up with for a new concept as you've mentioned and I'm sure it will be a great partnering!!

haha thanks sheena, who knows maybe ill be recruited someday lol untill then...

chive on!!

lol

[reefwars]

thanks everyone for your input so far, its all going in the vault


seems like we are all on the same page no?? theres def nothing wrong with the lfs we currently have...per say..... we all have the stores we like for various reasons, its nice to be able to read this and see what everyone likes or dislikes about each store....im even more amazed everyone stuck to the no names request

this thread isnt about bashing any store or stores , its simply to see what the public in general wants or likes and hates about their lfs.

[magikof7]

I have been "cruising" a couple of the local Lfs stores for 15 yrs.

QUALITY over quantity I think is the key, for me anyway. I can wait for nice corals and fish to come in or ask to be called if they get it in.
you can have several types of corals and plenty to buy but, if they are all brown, stressed gaping and being stung by aptasia in the tanks. no matter how low you price em I aint buyin em.
There is one store I will look at fish but I pass by the coral tanks. it stresses ME out. I'd love to get in there and fix what is easily fixable. it shows a lack of care for these animals and knowledge in reef keeping.
I know aptasia can be a never ending problem but in a fish store is there really any excuse (to that degree) when you have access to all kinds of stock that eat them?

Ethics! I have reconsidered going to (or buying from stores) that carry animals that get HUGE and know darn well it won't live to half its size but will charge 2 g's for it. (a Wobegong shark!) There has to be some kind of responsibility here.

Dry goods that are not expired. was a little shocked by the amount at one store. and up to 4 yrs past the date.

Prices would be nice but I find it gives an oportunity to ask about their opinion on what is in their tanks, what they just got in, and often they point out something I have missed.

I also appreciate Honesty! there is one store that I am rather fond of despite their ups and downs at times. I find him the most Honest. I will keep going back.

If you can not stay in business by being honest about your equipment and why you do or don't stock it some of the problems with it or the company policies that sell it then I don't want to buy from you.

Cleanliness would be nice but cement floors with high traffic and water spillage is very hard to keep clean and after all I'm not buying fish from your floor. I would rather have dirty floors and clean tanks.

Tanks on the floor are Not appealing, nor safe for the fish. a few times I thought I was going to have a stingray in my lap while I looked at a tank above it.

Live rock tanks are a different story. it is nice to have it accessable and allows you to see a good portion of it in a glass tank. makes picking easier and you can see the condition it is in. Maybe not on the floor but waist height?

[reefwars]

heres one.....i love it when i buy multiple things and im given a styrofoam box or any box really, theres a few spots in town that like to see you leave without the bag popping and offer boxes

cheers to that !

[Coralgurl]

Originally Posted by Zoaelite

Slightly off topic but has anyone noticed a general increase in the price of live goods throughout Calgary after RC shut down?

Things that would cost $40-$60 are hitting $70+ at the moment.
Maybe its just me, maybe costs are getting more expensive? Even what I would consider the least expensive store in Calgary seems to have higher prices than usual.

A decreased supply with steady demand would theoretically yield a price increase, have our LFS picked up on this?

I'm not at the LFS much anymore since Red Coral closed, noth the same service. Not the same.

[Delphinus]

Well here goes. My thoughts on this..

As I hinted about before - location is important to me. All the stores are clustered in the north. 10 years ago, heck even 5 years ago when Elite Aquatics was still around - it was a possibility for me to do a LFS run in my lunch hour. Today this is simply impossible unless I can afford to be away at my desk for 2-3 hours. And guess what, I can't afford that, I have a job to do and I get in trouble when it doesn't get done. Weekends are worse. Put a family into the mix and your time just isn't there like in the good old days. Let's go to a fish store! Ok, 4 hours later, we're back! ... So yeah, I know people in other places have longer commutes but the fact is if you're OK with it then cool. But I'm not. And guess what? I hardly hit up LFS's anymore because it's just too time consuming. For me the whimsical LFS visit is a thing of the past.

I liked Red Coral because their new location was south-ish. I WAS able to visit there from time to time. But having said that: their location was my favourite feature of the store. Service was great too. But prices and selection were far from ideal. Luckily for them these are/were not huge on my pick-list.

Prices - lower prices are always nice but the truth is that I'm happy to pay a premium for convenience because that matters to me. Within reason, of course - the other fact is that I don't have deep pockets and if something is priced out of reach then I simply won't buy it. It's a hobby, one of many, I don't need to overspend. So lower prices are *appreciated* but far from the most important consideration for me.

In fact, the most important feature for me is cleanliness. More so than location in fact. There is one store that I only check on about once per year these days just to see if anything has changed but everytime I do go in, I am reminded why I never shop there. I will find dead and decomposing fish in several tanks every time. That is disgusting. I see disease there every time. That sickens me. I have been in this hobby a long long time and I know that things happen but this goes beyond that. Things are left to rot in those tanks. You really want to take something home and expose your established livestock to that? Of course you should QT but that goes beyond needing to QT that's more like go straight to the hospital tank. No thanks. The fact that the purveyor of the store isn't the most congenial, doesn't really matter to me. The fact that his prices are consistently the highest out of anywhere else in the city - doesn't help matters but I don't even care because I just won't shop there until I see a reason to.

I like a trip to the huge pet "supermarket" these days because there is always something neat to see - reef related or otherwise - but the 40 km drive in one direction makes it a rare thing for me. Plus the prices are HUGELY up compared to other stores. However, I do shop there from time to time. Plus they have a good selection of FW stuff (I have a planted FW tank as well as my reefs) and they are the only ones I know now who sell those New Era products (tang disks) and I don't know where else to get them - so I go there happily when the opportunity allows for it.

The other "big box" store that's just around the corner from everyone's favourite tank builder - I honestly love this place. Never had an issue with livestock that I've taken home from there. Miss their south store like the DICKENS because it was like 2km from my office, but nothing lasts forever I guess. If I have time I'll poke my head in there and see what's new, sometimes I walk out with something. Usually have a great conversation too with the fish room guys. Bonus points for being next door to a R/C shop too.

There is another store that is dedicated saltwater and I'm always impressed at how clean the tanks are. Drygood selection not huge but I do appreciate the cleanliness more than I think I could ever post about. Kudos to you guys running that store for keeping it clean. I regret that I can't visit more often. Move south, dang it!

There is another store that is cramped but to give credit where credit is due: these guys care a LOT about their fish. I have absolutely no qualms about buying there because I know the guys have done their best to keep their fish healthy. Prices are usually pretty good too though, although this means that nothing stays in the store very long which puts a guy like me who can't visit every day (jeepers bye don't you have a life or a job?) are at a huge buying disadvantage. However, if there's something I want, I'll ask the guys and they do their best to find it for me. Patience is the only required input after that. So that works out well, I find.

And then there's the guy who sells mostly frags out of his basement. Great guy. Great frags. Great times when visiting. And in the south. LOVE. 'Nuff said.

[JDigital]

Originally Posted by Delphinus

The other "big box" store that's just around the corner from everyone's favourite tank builder - I honestly love this place. Never had an issue with livestock that I've taken home from there. Miss their south store like the DICKENS because it was like 2km from my office, but nothing lasts forever I guess. If I have time I'll poke my head in there and see what's new, sometimes I walk out with something. Usually have a great conversation too with the fish room guys. Bonus points for being next door to a R/C shop too.

Very surprised to hear this about that location. Every time I've been in there I have seen rotting fish or fish with some sort of disease. Both of which put me on edge when I'm looking to stock a large tank. Anyways, I digress.


RC really was my go to place and I shopped 99% exclusively there. Now that I'm getting back into the hobby and they are not around (locally), and my favorite tank builder has yet to start selling livestock, I'm going to have to go out of my comfort zone and shop at places I've never been comfortable going to.

[The Grizz]

Originally Posted by JDigital

Very surprised to hear this about that location. Every time I've been in there I have seen rotting fish or fish with some sort of disease. Both of which put me on edge when I'm looking to stock a large tank. Anyways, I digress.

That big box store has gotten much better since Andrew started working there, just wish Ryan was there more often & Megan didn't leave. I have never had any issues there either.

Myself personally I would like to be able to get list of available livestock that I can order & not wait a month to arrive. But most of all I also agree with Tony, I like to see what's coming in on shipments with prices on here or website.