are LFS's necessary for the hobby, or not???

[pallobi]

Been to Skiptons, and i agree, with everyone, its a great LFS... I also wana be clear, that this thread was never a knock against them, as i dont want anyone getting the wrong idea...

However, educated and informed customer service, quality dry goods, and quality livestock (live aquaria for example) are absolutely possible to find through an online vendor...

again, Skiptons is a great store, with great selection, and fair prices considering the locale... I have been there a couple times, but i have never spoken with anyone who works there personally however...

 

[Flame Angel]

If this is your experience with the LFS's then I would argue you are going to the wrong stores.

I personally think they are very important if you know the right ones to go to.

I have a LFS about ten minutes from my house and I pass two petcos and petsmarts on my way home from work every day.

I choose to travel 45min(1.5hrs round trip) just for the variety of product, quality of product and experience.

Again, do your homework. Online is good for certain things and a LFS is great for others. I would hate to pay the shipping on 35gal of RODI when it only cost me $7.00 and an extra 20 minutes travel on my way home to go out of my way. Or purchase a system, but it give me the oportunity to kill two birds with one stone and browse with envy.

I think the toughest part of the LFS is the overhead in cost to have a place to put everything. Lets face it floor space is not cheap.

I guess in short I am from MO the "show me state". I do not like purchasing things sight unseen and the internet is pictures with no depth in size or dimentions. Hence this forum is great to ask advice on best practices.

We all have our own reasons why we shop the way we do. Certain things drive certain people.

I am sure we will hear many opinions on this topic.

 

[pallobi]

if you dont have your own RO/RODI/water filtration system, then a LFS visit is sort of a must...

 

[RadReefer]

The right LFS is like gold. I don't need to wait when I need something immediately. I can see my purchases up close instead of a tricked out photo by a professional photographer (i.e. live aquaria diver den), if you order from divers den you are paying crazy prices for shipping, the price of your livestock ends up being much more and there is no absolute guarantee that it will come in healthy or even survive (although I have heard their fish are generally pretty hardy and they have a great guarantee). My LFS housed my livestock and corals for me during a move for several weeks and took great care of them for free. They also QT all livestock for weeks and don't sell diseased fish. The guy doesn't stock fish that have low survivability rates EVER, bad to sell to the client and not moral for the fishes sake.

 

[jayman10134]

it sounds like you are going to the wrong stores, or just dealing with the wrong people at the stores you have been to. i do work at a fish store but it is not my primary job. i just do it for fun. so in my eyes they are necessary. the hobby would eventually die out if people couldn't go to stores to see what they could potentially have in their homes. watching a youtube video of an aquarium isn't nearly as amazing as seeing one in person.

 

[WoodRiverTroutBum]

Lets not forget the fact that a lot of us wouldn't even be in this hobby if it weren't for the LFS. Before the internet was big, this hobby probably wouldn't even exist let alone be as popular as it is today. Like others have said, you must be going to the wrong stores. There are some shops where it seems that even the owners don't know much if anything and are willing to hire any kid that shows up, knowledge and experience or not. Then there are others with degrees in marine biology that built their business based on their love for the hobe and the fish they deal with. I have a LFS litterally 5 minutes from me, another about 20 and another a half hour (not to mention all the petcos and petsmarts) and I drive the hour to Tropic Isle 2 sometimes 3 times a week because I feel none of the other shops or staff even come close.

 

[pallobi]

it sounds like you are going to the wrong stores, or just dealing with the wrong people at the stores you have been to.

this is solely an opinion based discussion on how each person feels about the state of the hobby today, and as it stands with LFS's, and Online vending... and how it effects their hobby... i have many great places, as well as poor... good or bad, i jus choose not to use LFS's myself...

again, i appreciate everyone's insight and input into the discussion, and open ended debate

 

[mordibv]

I say yes .
I never buy a fish online .
Online vendors have made a lot of LFS's shut down .
Online vendors have and ship infected corals and fish too . Let's not mention their mortality rates .
We bash an LFS if we see an unhealthy fish because we see it . In July I could not buy a cherub angel because the LFS said they are under the weather and we are treating them . I can call you if you want one when they are better . Kudos for AquaDreams . I didn't even mind that he advised the price may go up a lil if he lost a few .
How many people have scrambled to the local store in need of meds, salt or even a battery air pump during the last storm scare ? U would have been up the creek if they were not around .
Support or advice is just as bad with online vendors as with stores . Ever tried to get support on that new skimmer,light etc you bought ?
It makes me cringe when I am in a LFS and a person looking at a light saying " blah ,blah blah has it for $$$ to the door .I try to split my hobby funds between online vendors and the local LFS . I find that I have to order online because the LFS can't afford to stock the item and pay the light bill . A result of competing with the online vendors .
I look at online vendors as akin to a Dish Provider . Good product ,horrible support and they do not care about the community you live in . Cable providers are the LFS in this scenario competing with mobile services ,dish providers and good old ma belll . Cable providers reinvest in the local communities as do LFS's .
Every try to have a frag swap at a online vendor ?? I bet an LFS can help but if we keep making them compete with online prices the next time the crap hits the fan with ur hobby , u might just be SOL .

Please buy something from a LFS every now and them otherwise the next time you go to the store all they can sell you is dog or cat food .

 

[tran]

I have to say that now I do not need them as much as I needed in the past

if it were not for them, I probably would NOT have known and would NOT have started this hobby.
I started this hobby after seeing many nice looking fish, corals at the LFS
When I began this hobby, I did not know any people that have fish tank in their house. I did not know about the bostonreefers.org or other reef community sites almost 3 months later...
Although I do not need them as much now but once in a while I do go to LFS to get some cheap stuff like sponges, snails, hermit crabs, $1/gal sale...etc.

hung

 

[shecter]

i dont think id be in the hobby if it wasnt for the lfs. granted because of a lack of research on my part i spent hundreds i didnt have to because i took thier advice. but im not one that likes to wait. shipping something is hard for me. but on the other hand now that i have local friends in the hobby and am more knowlegable about the hobby and where to take info from i dont really see the lfs anymore. i get corals locally and support others in the hobby. as for dry goods this hobby is teaching me a whole new level of patience and i dont mind having things shipped now that i can see the savings with no change in quality. not exactly comfortable buying fish online mostly because i havent yet. but im steering more towards supporting the local reefers and not lfs. and i cant see spending $100 or more markup on say a light fixture ( still mad about that lol) when i can ship in most of the time for free and i just get it next week.

 

[Ford625]

Most online stores do have more variety than a lfs. Although yes shipping can be a hassle sometimes too. I had a bad shipping experience already. It was sent fedex and then to the USPS for delivery, and apparently it had the right physical address but the mail carrier said it was the wrong one, which didn't make any sense because we always get mail with that address. Long story short, it got sent back to the shipper and I had to wait even longer to get the package. If I needed this right away, I would've been in a bind. I believe that both are necessary for the hobby but I believe you should always buy livestock when it's visible.

 

[tran]

I usually buy dry goods online but for fish, I would prefer to have fishes and something like corals checked out with my eyes before I buy.

 

[pallobi]

great opinions guys...

 

[WoodRiverTroutBum]

Most online stores do have more variety than a lfs.

But if you talk to the person behind the counter or the owner, they can almost always get you what you need. Just because they on't have it in stock doesn't mean they can't get it. Plus, if you go through them it usually only takes a couple days and there is no shipping fee.

 

[WoodRiverTroutBum]

Some people are pretty much saying "Well, I depended on the LFS at first and they were always there for me but now I don't need them so screw them". Buying from a LFS compared to online is like buying a bow from an archery shop compared to Dicks or online for example. Sure, you may be able to get the bow cheaper but they can not offer service for the product you bought or even make adjustments to the bow for you. Buy from an archery shop and you get 1 on 1 service with a staff that actually knows their stuff, they make sure the bow fits you and will usually even give free range time. This goes for bike shops, tackle shops etc. Don't forget that without the LFS you would not be in this hobby. Period.

 

[stingythingy45]

Honestly,I couldn't even keep snails or even crabs alive when I first started.
That is until I visited a little store in N. Providence called Sea Creatures and talked with John.
If he's not busy,he'll even go behind the magic curtain and come back with a reference book for you to look something up or point something out to you.
And how many owners will say,"you don't need to buy that,just do this and this and that should solve it"?Success is most definitely the key.
Sorry if this seems like a plug for the store.But,utimately a LFS should be interested in"keeping"you in the hobby.
Not just selling stuff that has no real benefit to your system.
But as mentioned already......educate yourself!!!

 

[pallobi]

Some people are pretty much saying "Well, I depended on the LFS at first and they were always there for me but now I don't need them so screw them". Buying from a LFS compared to online is like buying a bow from an archery shop compared to Dicks or online for example. Sure, you may be able to get the bow cheaper but they can not offer service for the product you bought or even make adjustments to the bow for you. Buy from an archery shop and you get 1 on 1 service with a staff that actually knows their stuff, they make sure the bow fits you and will usually even give free range time. This goes for bike shops, tackle shops etc. Don't forget that without the LFS you would not be in this hobby. Period.

Ur first "quote" is completely off base, and not an actual quote, so its never good to put words in others mouth, mine or the next person... no one has said that... also, in my case, LFS doesnt have any reason to do with why im in this hobby personally... i can not speak for anyone else...

For the sake of discussion, its been said the people NEED lfs's, particularly in a bind... i dont find this to be true either, its my fellow hobbyists that have always stepped up when ive needed anything, as well as the direct customer service of dry good manufacturers, which is one good reason to use dry goods from quality, and reputable companies... i have not used LFS, in a very long time, so i dont feel some of the statements above that i recited, are accurate...

Again, there are many LFS's out there that are very good, as i do visit many of them... i jus choose to use other avenues to support and supply my hobby...

 

[aiaman]

In days of old the lfs may of had more respect since this was a new hobby and knowledge was limited to those experts. Now a day everyone can be an expert or pretty close. The lfs provides a stable environment for us hobbyists. They are here in lean hard times and when we are flush. The lfs is our starting point and as many have said provide support freely & indiscriminately. I whole-heartedly support the lfs & as I further my knowledge in this hobby.

 

[jarrodsanborn]

I think good lfs are very important.
I can not always afford to support them but i try.
What makes it difficult is when petco has un qt'd fish on sale for 30% of the good lfs cost.

A reefer i know just had a plumbing disaster and multiple systems emptied! the store was already closed, but Myk from aquatic creations in nh drove back to the store and helped out.
Next scenario, my tank had a phosphate crash about a year ago. Same panic ensued as the stores were closed. He came to my house with water and test kits etc.
When you have someone like that, and they also qt all of their fish, etc You have to support someone like that.


If there were not good lfs around i would have given up a long time ago....

 

[Mr.Rodrigo502]

If it wasn't for lfs...... We wouldn't know about Boston Reefers!