Hello all-
I am considering starting up an lfs in the central to north central area. It has always been a passion of mine, however, for every second I want to pull the trigger and make it happen, hesitation kicks in.
With places like craigslist, various online retailers, and everyone who sells frags out of their house, could it be considered a wise choice?
I have had tanks since the 90's , from fish only, to mixed reef and seahorse tanks, to now an sps dominate tank which houses a Moorish idol. Knowledge wise, I am certainly know Julian Sprung, or Bob Fenner, however, after having been to all the local shops (say 30 miles radius from Edison area) without coming across standoffish, or arrogant, I know my fare share.
I am not formally educated in business, I possess a master degree in education, but quickly got away from that. I am well versed in education, working in retail, and dealing with people. I can comfortably say when it comes to personality, and explaining various mechanisms in a reef tank, whether it be the eradication of crypto, balancing cal/alk/mag, or visually explaining the nitrogen process and the concept of extracting nutrients that go into tank, I could do that with ease.
In short, do you guys feel the lfs is something on its way out, or a place that can be improved and sustain itself?
My ideology would be complexed, and would be based on everything I have ever wanted to see from an lfs, and an avoidance everything I didn't.
*Place all fish, who are eligible to do so, through some sort of quarantine process. I feel the number one reason turnover runs rampant in our hobby is because of parasites. Nothing says get out quicker than losing 1k worth of fish because of ich, velvet etc. The process would be having all incoming fish be put through 3 different levels of copper, similar to the fashion or process seachem suggests. With gradual transistions to full strength copper, all fish would spend at least 14 days in copper, thus nullifying velvet and ich.
* Price wise, I never dreamed of being rich, and this certainly would not be my avenue for it. To me, it would be more advantageous to move fish, coral and supply quickly, and not celebrate fish birthdays in the store.
*Education..This is something I feel has really propelled me to even consider this option. Having had taught mathematics at different levels, one thing that has always stood out to me is the lack of "teaching" in...well just about everything Were told we need a skimmer to remove doc's, but were never told how to size it, and that how having too large of skimmer, where not enough organics can obtain a foam head, we are essentially not skimming. We are also led to believe that because we cant see white spots on a fish, that the fish is clean and free of parasites. This is where I feel my experience will kick in, and I will be able to demonstrate various practices in the hobby. Too many times I see someone spend hundreds of dollars on fish, to go into a tank that they just had admitted has been running 3 weeks. Or having seen someone be told with high phosphate, just start using nopox, and the carbon will reduce organice, with no regards as too how much, caution of algae blooms, and not removing too much nutrients at once, thus shocking live stock.
I also have faults. Having worked retail a long time, I have steadily gained a reputation of being the go to honest guy, the guy gives you an answer based on your questions and the knowledge I have at that given time. The guy who knows the activities you take place in, who in your family is interested in what you're doing, the guy who wants to know why my employee is out sick two days.
Perhaps being too nice, or understanding , or kind, is bad for running one of these shops. That is a question I ponder and will eventually have to face the music of I suppose.
I can also be too honest. All to often, I become frustrated with this hobby, when at a fish store, I see someone buy a panther grouper for there 90 gallon aquarium. Or a brilliant piece of stylo knowingly going into a tank lit by power compacts. The latest means of anger came when I saw a young hippo tang being sold to someone with a nano tank. That is stuff I wont ever be able get behind, and as one store told me, once it leaves the store, its not his/her problem, and the fish staying in the store wont keep the lights on.
To me, if someone comes in and says they just lost the majority of the fish they had, and they were coated with dust, I would not be able to sell them another fish. But I know, people will walk out, bad mouth me, and go to another place. In my mind, I tried, and didn't contribute to the problem, so in that respect, at least I will have my dignity.
Seahorses, the often talked about, less tried form of aquatic life is something that has amazed me since I was a kid. Having had tried my hand with them based on advice from an lfs place, I lost many nights of sleep. It wasn't til I actually became close with a breeder who supplies CB seahorses to various zoos, Disney destinations etc, that I understood why people fail with them and promised to not make the same mistakes. Having been through that horrendous learning experience, I found great joy in advising and setting up people with them who were able to successfully keep them for many years. From getting healthy specimens, to nailing down a proper feeding schedule, maintaining power heads that effectively lift detritus, while not causing harm to the horses, were all steps I had to learn, and its moments like that, the ultimate satisfaction of keeping them, that has sparked me to educate and help others do the same.
Thanks for any and all input
I am considering starting up an lfs in the central to north central area. It has always been a passion of mine, however, for every second I want to pull the trigger and make it happen, hesitation kicks in.
With places like craigslist, various online retailers, and everyone who sells frags out of their house, could it be considered a wise choice?
I have had tanks since the 90's , from fish only, to mixed reef and seahorse tanks, to now an sps dominate tank which houses a Moorish idol. Knowledge wise, I am certainly know Julian Sprung, or Bob Fenner, however, after having been to all the local shops (say 30 miles radius from Edison area) without coming across standoffish, or arrogant, I know my fare share.
I am not formally educated in business, I possess a master degree in education, but quickly got away from that. I am well versed in education, working in retail, and dealing with people. I can comfortably say when it comes to personality, and explaining various mechanisms in a reef tank, whether it be the eradication of crypto, balancing cal/alk/mag, or visually explaining the nitrogen process and the concept of extracting nutrients that go into tank, I could do that with ease.
In short, do you guys feel the lfs is something on its way out, or a place that can be improved and sustain itself?
My ideology would be complexed, and would be based on everything I have ever wanted to see from an lfs, and an avoidance everything I didn't.
*Place all fish, who are eligible to do so, through some sort of quarantine process. I feel the number one reason turnover runs rampant in our hobby is because of parasites. Nothing says get out quicker than losing 1k worth of fish because of ich, velvet etc. The process would be having all incoming fish be put through 3 different levels of copper, similar to the fashion or process seachem suggests. With gradual transistions to full strength copper, all fish would spend at least 14 days in copper, thus nullifying velvet and ich.
* Price wise, I never dreamed of being rich, and this certainly would not be my avenue for it. To me, it would be more advantageous to move fish, coral and supply quickly, and not celebrate fish birthdays in the store.
*Education..This is something I feel has really propelled me to even consider this option. Having had taught mathematics at different levels, one thing that has always stood out to me is the lack of "teaching" in...well just about everything Were told we need a skimmer to remove doc's, but were never told how to size it, and that how having too large of skimmer, where not enough organics can obtain a foam head, we are essentially not skimming. We are also led to believe that because we cant see white spots on a fish, that the fish is clean and free of parasites. This is where I feel my experience will kick in, and I will be able to demonstrate various practices in the hobby. Too many times I see someone spend hundreds of dollars on fish, to go into a tank that they just had admitted has been running 3 weeks. Or having seen someone be told with high phosphate, just start using nopox, and the carbon will reduce organice, with no regards as too how much, caution of algae blooms, and not removing too much nutrients at once, thus shocking live stock.
I also have faults. Having worked retail a long time, I have steadily gained a reputation of being the go to honest guy, the guy gives you an answer based on your questions and the knowledge I have at that given time. The guy who knows the activities you take place in, who in your family is interested in what you're doing, the guy who wants to know why my employee is out sick two days.
Perhaps being too nice, or understanding , or kind, is bad for running one of these shops. That is a question I ponder and will eventually have to face the music of I suppose.
I can also be too honest. All to often, I become frustrated with this hobby, when at a fish store, I see someone buy a panther grouper for there 90 gallon aquarium. Or a brilliant piece of stylo knowingly going into a tank lit by power compacts. The latest means of anger came when I saw a young hippo tang being sold to someone with a nano tank. That is stuff I wont ever be able get behind, and as one store told me, once it leaves the store, its not his/her problem, and the fish staying in the store wont keep the lights on.
To me, if someone comes in and says they just lost the majority of the fish they had, and they were coated with dust, I would not be able to sell them another fish. But I know, people will walk out, bad mouth me, and go to another place. In my mind, I tried, and didn't contribute to the problem, so in that respect, at least I will have my dignity.
Seahorses, the often talked about, less tried form of aquatic life is something that has amazed me since I was a kid. Having had tried my hand with them based on advice from an lfs place, I lost many nights of sleep. It wasn't til I actually became close with a breeder who supplies CB seahorses to various zoos, Disney destinations etc, that I understood why people fail with them and promised to not make the same mistakes. Having been through that horrendous learning experience, I found great joy in advising and setting up people with them who were able to successfully keep them for many years. From getting healthy specimens, to nailing down a proper feeding schedule, maintaining power heads that effectively lift detritus, while not causing harm to the horses, were all steps I had to learn, and its moments like that, the ultimate satisfaction of keeping them, that has sparked me to educate and help others do the same.
Thanks for any and all input
