Stupid LFS

[compulsion]

what do you guys think to this.. when i was last at my lfs the plant tanks had been drained and some plents were in the tanks, some were on the floow in kitty trays all of they were drying out and looking pretty nackerd as there normaly pretty rotten anyway.i asked the shop assistant if he was throwing them away i would have liked to have tried to get them all back to life if i didnt have to pay anything so i thought i was in for a treat untill he said..

' no sir were just cleaning the tanks and waiting for the next stock? '

isnt this going to make these plants bad? normaly the big leaf plants which i saw on the floor die or rot in the roots when i buy them.. could this be because there stupid with what they do? this must be once a week so any stock left over could effectivly been dryed out 2 or 3 times before someone buys it?

[Overfloater]

Most LFS don't have any clue how to care for plants, or even handle them. This is no surprise. It's my estimation that the vast majority of their plants will die from lack of nutrition or poor handling before they can ever sell them. One has to be willing to put the effort into providing the plant with what they need to flourish if one is ever going to hope to succeed with them.

[Thanks]

yes, its really a shame... most times, fish stores dont even carry true aquatic plants, and so they will die in a tank anyway...

[Barbels]

Wow! When did you move to my town?

[Raul-7]

That's unfortunately true, most LFSs' don't want to spend on the high equipment to keep their plants alive. They'd rather keep getting new shipments since it supposedly costs less.

[ringram]

I think a lot of the reason is, LFS's simply don't have anyone know knows squat about keeping plants alive. Most of the LFSs around here (Sacramento, CA) have their live plants in that big pea-sized inert gravel without root tabs(i'm almost certain) and they seem to think that dropping a double-tube T-12 will be all they need. Maybe that's why the plant tanks are always ridden with algae, dead or dying plants and little else...maybe a few ottos or chinese algae eaters trying to keep up, of which they cannot.
It's funny, but perhaps you're right about them wanting to keep getting rid of them asap so they can get the next shipment in, instead of taking care of them.
I also see a lot of plants that are not true aquatics, like green/cherry hedge and a few types of ferns.

[Buck]

Mine are the same way but it works to my advantage at times. Take last week for example, I have been pondering getting some Cardamine lyrata back in my tank and I stopped by the LFS to kill a few minutes and get a giggle and low and behold there in the tank was some lyrata.
It looked like it was on its way to melting as usual but it didnt look all that bad at the tops so i figured I would buy one bunch knowing that I could get a decent plant from it with time. When the girl reached into the tank it all just fell apart and was floating everywhere.
She scooped up what she could and threw it in a bag and said "just take it no charge"... not that I would have payed for it anyway but I brought it home and saved what I could from the tops and it is starting to recover nicely now.
If they weren't so stupid I would have had to pay for it... LOL... sometimes I love stupid people.

[Anthony]

Yeah, I myself have never seen a planted lfs tank look nice for longer than a week or two tops. They just keep them until they die, then drain the tank ,start over, then get a new shipment. Some say the true measure of stupidity or insanity is to do the same wrong thing over and over and expect a different outcome, or something like that. How do they think completely throwing away tankfuls of plants are cheaper than learning, and buying good equipment.

[ringram]

its all about the "bottomline" with most of them. What! We have to buy a CO2 tank, regulator, etc as well as good substrate, intense lighting, fertilizer, etc. Too expensive and knowledge intensive!

[Stu]

Originally Posted by ringram

I also see a lot of plants that are not true aquatics, like green/cherry hedge and a few types of ferns.

Me too, and I begin to wonder whether suppliers get left with these after a sales period, and being not as popular, bulk ship em out to the stupid lfs that just wants something resembling a plant to sit in their sterile glass cubes for a week on the cheap.

[aquaphish]

Originally Posted by compulsion

normaly the big leaf plants which i saw on the floor die or rot in the roots when i buy them.. could this be because there stupid with what they do? this must be once a week so any stock left over could effectivly been dryed out 2 or 3 times before someone buys it?

The way I look at it is the only stupid ones are the ones that buy dried out plants!!!

One other thing about LFS and plants... They are in the bussiness to sell the products that you need to maintain fish and plants. That is where the real money is, not in a few plants that people will buy when they look good or poor.

How many times has one gone into a store and saw a plant they want but was not in great condition but have taken it home and had success in reviving it into a wonderful specimen and the center of the aquascape???

Then after that plant has recovered returned to the same place to purchase fish, food and all the other supplies needed to maintain that poorly maintained plant you saved?? Where is the real money in operating a successful LSF now?? In keeping plants maintained in the best conditions or in the "by-products" it takes to maintain that plant???

[Overfloater]

Originally Posted by aquaphish

hey are in the bussiness to sell the products that you need to maintain fish and plants.

You an easily see this by looking at their huge markup on equipment. They are going to be taking a huge hit on equipment sales when mroe people find out you can buy an Eheim filter for 1/3 the price online instead of what they want in a store. They can't charge more money for fish and plant because who is going to pay $7 for a Neon, no one. I think if they don't start learning to deal with online retailers LFS are going to be in a world of hurt.

[aquaphish]

Hey Overfloater,

I'm looking for a good deal on a new filter for my 40 gal. Where can you get cheap Ehiems?

BTW Neons at my LFS go for about 2bucks ea.

Online stores- #1)no store front to maintain= less cost to maintain bussiness
#2)no set hours to keep store open= more time to do what owner wants to do.
#3) sell out of state=no sales taxes to keep up with.
#4)charge double for shipping and handling=added profits
#5)no personal contact with disgruntled customers=less of a complaint dept. to deal with.

The other day I went to my LFS to check out prices for a new filter and they showed me the mfg. price book which stated a suggested retail price of $120.00 but they will sell the product at a sale price of $89.99. Even at this price which is lower than the suggested price the LFS still makes money. So when you see a low price on an online store you need to take into account- the price the shipping and handling will be and the inconvience of waiting for shipment which might get damaged along with the possiblility of the need to return. Is the online prices really cheaper than purchacing from the LFS?? Lots to think about before making that online purchase.

Yea some things are better bought online like ferts and some test kits. And things you just can't get at the LFS. Saw some great discounts on books, but I don't really think purchacing heavy weighted equipment online is cheaper due to the high shipping cost. And forget fish water is too heavy!!!

[Buck]

Where can you get cheap Ehiems?

LOL ! There is NO such thing...there are "less" expensive ones, but not cheap in my book !

My wife says that if I work hard and get some overtime and save up that some day I can play with the big boyz and own an Eheim.

[Overfloater]

Of course heavier items are going to be expensive to ship, but generally speaking, buying most supplies is much cheaper online. I don't know where to buy an Eheim, I can't afford that top shelf merchadise. I run a Fluval