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Biggest lfs blunder


Dr.Brain Coral

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Dr.Brain Coral

What is the biggest fail/mistake your lfs has made? Any thing from petco employees selling clown fish for fw to lfs selling trigger fish for 10 gallons.

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Petsmart selling 250 ml bottles of fresh water and calling it their "special, fortified Betta water" for 2.50 a bottle..what a joke.

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Petsmart selling 250 ml bottles of fresh water and calling it their "special, fortified Betta water" for 2.50 a bottle..what a joke.

Best marketing strategy ever.

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Best marketing strategy ever.

Whats even funnier is that my wife said "well honey, maybe it's specially made water that the Bettas grow better in" Ya gotta love her...

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Dr.Brain Coral

Whats even funnier is that my wife said "well honey, maybe it's specially made water that the Bettas grow better in" Ya gotta love her...

Haha thats funny.

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I had a guy at a LFS try to sell me the following after hearing I was stocking my 10G reef tank...

 

1x Hippo tang approx 2"

1x Picasso Trigger approx 3"

and this is the best part....

 

 

 

A panther grouper (~4").

 

 

 

 

I kid you not. Granted, he did say I could trade them back in when they got big but I was at this point a bit well versed in tank sizes needed for those, so I didn't fall for it. B)

 

 

Whats even funnier is that my wife said "well honey, maybe it's specially made water that the Bettas grow better in" Ya gotta love her...

LOL

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Dr.Brain Coral

I had a guy at a LFS try to sell me the following after hearing I was stocking my 10G reef tank...

 

1x Hippo tang approx 2"

1x Picasso Trigger approx 3"

and this is the best part....

 

 

 

A panther grouper (~4").

 

 

 

 

I kid you not. Granted, he did say I could trade them back in when they got big but I was at this point a bit well versed in tank sizes needed for those, so I didn't fall for it. B)

 

 

LOL

Haha They have enough room to turn around they are good. Keep em coming guys!!

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Snow_Phoenix

One of my previous LFSes tried to sell me a baby Sweetlips and a Lionfish for my first ever salty tank, which was a 10G FOWLR. Thank goodness I was smart enough to opt for an Occy clownfish back then. :mellow:

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I always go to the same LFS here in Idaho. Iv been to many of the others and did not like what I saw. One store trying to sell Aiptasia the size of a gold ball saying it was an anemone. all the tank full of different kinds of algae. anyway while visitin over herd a lady talking about one of these other store setting up a tank for her saying all the rock, sand, stand, tank, equipment were brand new she was charged over 8 grand for the whole set up.

Anywho i like to help my LFS owner with tank set up/maintenance jobs. we went over to her house to take a look at what they did because she said it was completely filled with algae already and it was only set up for 6 weeks and it was being overrun. so we get there and bam completely filled with hair algae. bubble algae, looked like cyano in some places. it was pretty bad. we tested the fresh water they gave her and our jaws dropped i believe the rodi she was givin had a number of over 250ppm. we then took a look under the tank. and the shittiest home made sump was thrown in there. waaaaay to small for the 300 gallon tank she had. not to mention they had the sump at an odd angle to catch the dripping water from the leaking bulk head. we then checked her brand new mp 40's o wait they were not mp40s they were mp10s so she was lied to. and better yet we checked the manufacturer date on them and they were made over 4 years ago. lied to again. we then took a closer look at the tank itself. full of scratches not a new tank. bottom line this lady is now suing this store for all the lies and bull shit she has gone threw.

 

so my lfs guy asked that fish store employee why the owner hasn't replaced his filters on his rodi and the employee quoted the owner and said he doesn't have the time to deal with customers and there bull shit and doesn't have to change his filters :/

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Dr.Brain Coral

I always go to the same LFS here in Idaho. Iv been to many of the others and did not like what I saw. One store trying to sell Aiptasia the size of a gold ball saying it was an anemone. all the tank full of different kinds of algae. anyway while visitin over herd a lady talking about one of these other store setting up a tank for her saying all the rock, sand, stand, tank, equipment were brand new she was charged over 8 grand for the whole set up.

Anywho i like to help my LFS owner with tank set up/maintenance jobs. we went over to her house to take a look at what they did because she said it was completely filled with algae already and it was only set up for 6 weeks and it was being overrun. so we get there and bam completely filled with hair algae. bubble algae, looked like cyano in some places. it was pretty bad. we tested the fresh water they gave her and our jaws dropped i believe the rodi she was givin had a number of over 250ppm. we then took a look under the tank. and the shittiest home made sump was thrown in there. waaaaay to small for the 300 gallon tank she had. not to mention they had the sump at an odd angle to catch the dripping water from the leaking bulk head. we then checked her brand new mp 40's o wait they were not mp40s they were mp10s so she was lied to. and better yet we checked the manufacturer date on them and they were made over 4 years ago. lied to again. we then took a closer look at the tank itself. full of scratches not a new tank. bottom line this lady is now suing this store for all the lies and bull shit she has gone threw.

 

so my lfs guy asked that fish store employee why the owner hasn't replaced his filters on his rodi and the employee quoted the owner and said he doesn't have the time to deal with customers and there bull shit and doesn't have to change his filters :/

I hope she wins that lawsuit as that is B.S. That owner sounds like a jerky

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I worked at an LFS, here are a few of the mishaps I witnessed during my tenure. Customers can be just as, if not more, idiotic than employees.

 

Once I watched a 6' 180g roll into a street and get hit by a car... It was pretty spectacular.

 

One guy thought he could load ~300 gallons into the back of his sedan with no ill effect. He broke two springs and blew the shocks.

 

Another dude decided to load three tote containers into the back seat of his car without lids and fill them only halfway. He demanded we pay for a replacement stereo

 

Was breaking down a tank in the store and had some LR lying around the floor. Didn't notice a toddler come by and pick you a stray bristleworm. His mom went of the deep end for like 5 min when I told her she should have kept a better eye on the kid. She stopped yelling when I asked her where the kid was presently (he had wandered off and was trying to kill himself with a 5g bucket)

 

I was breaking down a tank at the admin building for Energy Solutions Arena; the big ass stadium in the middle of the city. They didn't want any of the water to go down the drain and demanded I recycle it out in the front planter... Nothing grows there to this day.

 

Once sold a $300 scoly for $30 because it was retracted and looked like an Acan.

 

Fought with a lady for 30 min when she told me a "Nemo" could work in her FW tank. She apparently went back the next day got one from a new employee then tried to return it for credit whilst I was on duty.

 

Called out another store for selling a chick Aptasia for $5 a head.

 

There was the time another owner was working in the back of his store and some kid walked in and stole $2500 worth of coral from his display tank out front.

 

A guy brought me to his house to quote his current setup "For Insurance Purposes". I quoted him $8000. Apparently he was in a legal battle with one of our competitors having been charged $25,000.

 

The list goes on and on. I'll post a few more when they come to me.

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Dr.Brain Coral

I worked at an LFS, here are a few of the mishaps I witnessed during my tenure. Customers can be just as, if not more, idiotic than employees.

 

Once I watched a 6' 180g roll into a street and get hit by a car... It was pretty spectacular.

 

One guy thought he could load ~300 gallons into the back of his sedan with no ill effect. He broke two springs and blew the shocks.

 

Another dude decided to load three tote containers into the back seat of his car without lids and fill them only halfway. He demanded we pay for a replacement stereo

 

Was breaking down a tank in the store and had some LR lying around the floor. Didn't notice a toddler come by and pick you a stray bristleworm. His mom went of the deep end for like 5 min when I told her she should have kept a better eye on the kid. She stopped yelling when I asked her where the kid was presently (he had wandered off and was trying to kill himself with a 5g bucket)

 

I was breaking down a tank at the admin building for Energy Solutions Arena; the big ass stadium in the middle of the city. They didn't want any of the water to go down the drain and demanded I recycle it out in the front planter... Nothing grows there to this day.

 

Once sold a $300 scoly for $30 because it was retracted and looked like an Acan.

 

Fought with a lady for 30 min when she told me a "Nemo" could work in her FW tank. She apparently went back the next day got one from a new employee then tried to return it for credit whilst I was on duty.

 

Called out another store for selling a chick Aptasia for $5 a head.

 

There was the time another owner was working in the back of his store and some kid walked in and stole $2500 worth of coral from his display tank out front.

 

A guy brought me to his house to quote his current setup "For Insurance Purposes". I quoted him $8000. Apparently he was in a legal battle with one of our competitors having been charged $25,000.

 

The list goes on and on. I'll post a few more when they come to me.

Holy moly those are great. Especially the toddler, nemo lady and the 300 gallons in the sedan.

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We had a 3' Silver Arowana whose tank started leaking and the only thing we had big enough hold it was the Koi pond. He was a jumper. We put a net over it and a warning sign. It still managed get a hold of two small dogs (one regular customer's dog would constantly pick fights with it), a bird, two lizards (we think), countless hands/fingers, and one child's face.

 

The entire store was a nightmare of electrical failures. Every circuit was a few amps shy of overload. I used to use myself as a multi-meter in the search for stray voltage via a process of elimination.

 

The transformer that supplied power to our building caught fire while the boss was out of town and we couldn't get to the generator. We had firefighters hook airstones to their O2 tanks and walk around supplying air to the fish.

 

We electrified the floor with one of our water fights.

 

Razor blades were the go-to algae scraper... We forgot them all over the place and they can rust really quick. Two customers were cut that I knew of and had to get tetanus boosters.

 

We ordered Moorish Idols and actually found a type of food they would go crazy for. They local club caught wind and soon we were ordering a half dozen at a time. They stopped producing the food 6 mos later and we lost like a dozen fish throughout the Valley.

 

Lidless Blue-Spot Jawfish tanks. At least 8 jumped.

 

Koralias in the anemone tank... Every other day we would find one pureed.

 

Can't remember the things name (wanna say Goatfish). Either way with a price of $80, no one was willing to buy him and we had it for like a year.

http://s75.photobucket.com/user/g12052/media/40%20B/04-01-09051.jpg.html'>04-01-09051.jpg

 

I was the master of mislabeling. I once confused per polyp vs per frag and cost the store bout $250. I was no longer allowed to label after that.

 

We used a tile saw with a 1' blade to frag with. It was like using a chainsaw as hedge trimmer.

 

One of the employees would sneak up to small children when they were tapping on the glass and scare the crap out of them.

 

Another pet store had two dogs stolen from it. They came into our store and my coworker called the police. The two people who had it were charged with Grand Larceny.

 

Ahhh good times.

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I've had pretty good times with my LFS (www.memfish.net) and honestly an even better experience with customer service from the only two guys at my local Petco that fortunately know quite a bit about saltwater!

 

Though my story doesn't end there...

 

I was once at a LFS (to remain unnamed) and had a twenty minute argument about how LEDs are apparently horrible for tanks because you can NOT change their power level. He thought they were basically undimmable bulbs that were not natural, just "electrical", and so "simply made" that they were somehow not real light. Who knows what really went on in his brain. Oh well needless to say I want to believe I owned him with my engineering degree.

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Ask my local LFS a price on piece/fish and it will change from day to day and employee to employee

 

Yep my LFS is ran by an older guy and his son. His son would quote me like $50 for a small cluster of zoas, then Id wait till the dad came in and he would quote me $25. Ive recently switched to a "LFS" that is a couple ours away and have their prices listed above each section.

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Yep my LFS is ran by an older guy and his son. His son would quote me like $50 for a small cluster of zoas, then Id wait till the dad came in and he would quote me $25. Ive recently switched to a "LFS" that is a couple ours away and have their prices listed above each section.

I do prefer this, although I also know who to ask for prices from from the lfs's that don't list prices heh

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Hmm the best one that comes to mind immediately is the label for the sixline wrasse," does best in groups of same."

 

oh and lfs employee to customer," you don't want turbo snails for an algae problem,they eat coral."

 

this same guy asked me why his various sps drags are dying while he has exceptional lighting (a zoo med dual bulb fixture,over a 30 gal)

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I walked into an LFS here in DFW once and never went back. When I walked in I was instantly hit by the strong smell of weed. The only people in the store were the owner and his elementary school age daughter. The owner then proceeded to follow me around the store while I tried to browse and shop, telling me all about his extensive knowledge about reefing. I will give it to him, he had knowledge, but his tanks didn't reflect it. I'd say there wasn't one tank in that store that was aiptasia free. Also, he had dry goods that appeared to have been there since the 90s. And enough salt creep to fill a couple 50 lb bags.

 

I once overheard a customer at Petco ask if they could keep coral and a clown in a fish bowl like a betta. Thankfully the Petco in my area is a magnet store and has a lot of decently educated saltwater aquarists. They said no. The customer then proceeded to ask if they could buy a 10 gal and put a simple filter on it, and put the corals and fish in the same day. The employee just said no and the customer walked away in a huff.

 

I watched a kid bully his mother into buying about 500 bucks worth of coral that was worth probably half that.

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I walked into an LFS here in DFW once and never went back. When I walked in I was instantly hit by the strong smell of weed. The only people in the store were the owner and his elementary school age daughter. The owner then proceeded to follow me around the store while I tried to browse and shop, telling me all about his extensive knowledge about reefing. I will give it to him, he had knowledge, but his tanks didn't reflect it. I'd say there wasn't one tank in that store that was aiptasia free. Also, he had dry goods that appeared to have been there since the 90s. And enough salt creep to fill a couple 50 lb bags.

 

I once overheard a customer at Petco ask if they could keep coral and a clown in a fish bowl like a betta. Thankfully the Petco in my area is a magnet store and has a lot of decently educated saltwater aquarists. They said no. The customer then proceeded to ask if they could buy a 10 gal and put a simple filter on it, and put the corals and fish in the same day. The employee just said no and the customer walked away in a huff.

 

I watched a kid bully his mother into buying about 500 bucks worth of coral that was worth probably half that.

 

i think all of these qualify as sad, who has funny i prefer funny

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Yeah, I've only ever had sad experiences at LFSs or good ones. I wish I could be around for the more funny ones like seeing a guy put 300 gals of saltwater in the back of his sedan. :lol:

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I was at the Grand Opening of a new LFS that was owned by local club members who I was friends with. They have a little seating area in the store with a couch, a chaise lounge, a TV, and a view of a nice 75g tank. Well during the Grand Opening festivities one gentleman hadn't gotten much sleep the night before and was there from open to past closing and at some point during the afternoon he plopped down on the couch and fell asleep, the owners wife then proceeded to take a picture of him sleeping and posted it on the local club's forum.

 

I may or may not have been the gentleman who fell asleep on the couch.

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Dr.Brain Coral

We had a 3' Silver Arowana whose tank started leaking and the only thing we had big enough hold it was the Koi pond. He was a jumper. We put a net over it and a warning sign. It still managed get a hold of two small dogs (one regular customer's dog would constantly pick fights with it), a bird, two lizards (we think), countless hands/fingers, and one child's face.

That is to funny. Did it actually eat the dogs? That would be funny to see the people react. Especially if they were chihuahuas. I hate those little yappers

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