Hot and Heavy Topic of the Week!

[Jarred1]

I would agree that some folks at the lfs, are just looking for a sale. But I think they are the minority. I have stood looking at fish and coral at the lfs, and listened in on conversations. Usually it goes like this.

Employee, "That item really isn't appropriate for your tank"
Customer, "yeah but thats really the item I like"
Employee, "I really doubt it's going to do well in your tank, I can show you some other items that would be more appropriate"
Customer, "ohhh, I think we'll just give this one a shot, it cant be that hard, bag it up."

There really isn't much anyone at the lfs can do about this. They can refuse to bag it up, part with the sale, and never see that customer again. Or they can bag it up, with one more warning that success is a long shot, and hope the customer doesn't kill the critter. And when they do kill it, hope the customer realizes the mistake was on them and that the customer takes the financial loss for the decision. Most often however, the customer blames the lfs that it didn't work out and demands their money back.

The above situation is a primary driver of high costs at the lfs, one reason a $10 frag from another reefer is $25 at the lfs.

Ultimately a reefers success is wholly and entirely dependent upon the owner of the tank. You as the customer have the responsibility to research what your doing. Don't just rely on the person at the lfs, don't just rely on one reply to a thread you started. LEARN, learn and then learn some more. RESEARCH, research, blah, blah, blah, you get the picture. Caveat Emptor, learn it, live it and live with it. If a fish doesn't look quite right, don't buy the dang thing. Same with a closed up sorry looking little frag of nothing, JUST DONT BUY IT.

Sorry about all the caps, kind of cheesy, I'll go for italics next time, lol.

I'd much rather them tell me that a certain item won't do good in my tank than tell me lies. When I first got into the hobby I went to buy some fish and get my water tested. The owner of the LFS told me that I can't buy fish that week and to come back the next week to get my water tested. So I did just that and walked away with a few fish that have lived in my tank for a year or two before I had to give them to someone with a bigger tank.

[rmalone]

I'd much rather them tell me that a certain item won't do good in my tank than tell me lies. When I first got into the hobby I went to buy some fish and get my water tested. The owner of the LFS told me that I can't buy fish that week and to come back the next week to get my water tested. So I did just that and walked away with a few fish that have lived in my tank for a year or two before I had to give them to someone with a bigger tank.

Very fair and I think 90% of the time thats what the lfs tells people, the truth. But I also think way too often customers disregard the truth, I see it all the time with plants. People are always trying to fit a round peg through a square hole (an sps under pc light, or a petunia basket in the shade), which is fine (sometimes it does work), problem is they rarely want to take the blame, and/or the financial burden when the crap hits the fan. As a society we seem to want to blame someone when things don't go right, either in our tanks or in our lives. Many times we need only look into the mirror to see the real problem, and then, most importantly, fix the problem. And that friends is a hard but necessary thing to do in life. I guess what I mean to say is you don't have the right to expect things to go right based on what you want, you have the responsibility to make things right for yourself. No one else is responsible for your success/failures or happiness. It's ultimately on YOU.