Lev F.
New member
Oh boy, another rant.
This is just to let off some steam. My favourite LFS was the greatest LFS I had ever visited. The people were knowledgeable, the environment was always clean, the holding tanks were large, and the fish and inverts they sold were ALWAYS possible to keep in captivity. They once got in a Spotted Filefish by accident (they ordered orangetail filefish), and they put it in their coral tank to help it survive. At the back tank, which was supposed to have sharks, had a lot of "rescued, un-buyable" fish, such as fish with missing eyes, large fish returned to the store ( like a 2-3 foot long snowflake moray they had) and such. I knew both of the managers well, and they also knew me well, and we would trade coral frags regularly. the other members of the team knew me quite well also.
But one day, it changed. About a month ago, one of the managers quit the job. A new manager came to take his place. how bad could it be? Very bad indeed. he fired half of the team, and replaced them with Petco-like knowledge employees that can't tell a feather duster from a tube anemone. But it gets worse. He was being such a ******,and so full of himself, that the other manager (the guy who worked the fish room, and placed the orders), quit also. This is when things started to go down the drain. (no pun intended!) Things started coming in that shouldn't have.
At first it was minor. A couple of Flagfin angelfishes and a Rock Beauty. Then they started getting Moorish Idols. P. Tuka was starting to become a regular import. And they ordered twice the amount of stock that they could possibly hold. The once-large holding tanks had been divided by plastic dividers so it would be easier to catch the concentrated fish. The prices started rising. the A. Nummifer that I obtained for $29.99, were being sold for $200 as "rare black frogfish." The shark tank that held the unwanted fish was destroyed, the rocks removed, and now it holds a single pipe, which the snowflake moray use(d) to hide in. They also put an enormous A. commerson in the tank. It ate everything but the eel. The eel couldn't really move from that one pipe. It died. On the tank were some drawings of sharks and it read "SHARKS COMING SOON!!" the tank was 4'000 gallons. They ordered a couple of blacktips. they died on their first night in the tank.
Then the tanks were being crammed with incompatibilities. Triggers with lionfish. Large Angelfishes with Anthias. But yesterday was where I found it to be the most disturbing I had ever seen it. The once Nice, Friendly, Knowledgeable LFS, had turned into somthing like PETCO.
All of the tanks were divided with eggcrate or plastic dividers. Dottybacks, Grammas, and Reef Lobsters were condemned to little plastic containers with no shelter to prevent them from fighting or eating others. A 5 inch container held 4, 5 inch long toad fish, which were practically sitting on each other. No shelter was provided. And here is the scariest of all, the fish I saw that day that were occupying those tanks that were impossible, to near impossible to keep in captivity:
Moorish Idols
P. Tuka, about 10 individuals
Spotted Filefish
Triangle Butterflyfish, a pair.
Crinoids.
and a couple of other species I can't remember.
And the other ones. Take this as literally as it comes: THE FISH WERE RIPPING EACH OTHER APART! Lionfish with clipped fins, Frogfish housed with bite-sized morsels, Anthias with practically no fins, dead fish in every tank.
Basically, it's gone. One small change in management, and a nice fish store turns into a money hungry warehouse. I could go on, but I think i have said enough. Thanks for listening.
This is just to let off some steam. My favourite LFS was the greatest LFS I had ever visited. The people were knowledgeable, the environment was always clean, the holding tanks were large, and the fish and inverts they sold were ALWAYS possible to keep in captivity. They once got in a Spotted Filefish by accident (they ordered orangetail filefish), and they put it in their coral tank to help it survive. At the back tank, which was supposed to have sharks, had a lot of "rescued, un-buyable" fish, such as fish with missing eyes, large fish returned to the store ( like a 2-3 foot long snowflake moray they had) and such. I knew both of the managers well, and they also knew me well, and we would trade coral frags regularly. the other members of the team knew me quite well also.
But one day, it changed. About a month ago, one of the managers quit the job. A new manager came to take his place. how bad could it be? Very bad indeed. he fired half of the team, and replaced them with Petco-like knowledge employees that can't tell a feather duster from a tube anemone. But it gets worse. He was being such a ******,and so full of himself, that the other manager (the guy who worked the fish room, and placed the orders), quit also. This is when things started to go down the drain. (no pun intended!) Things started coming in that shouldn't have.
At first it was minor. A couple of Flagfin angelfishes and a Rock Beauty. Then they started getting Moorish Idols. P. Tuka was starting to become a regular import. And they ordered twice the amount of stock that they could possibly hold. The once-large holding tanks had been divided by plastic dividers so it would be easier to catch the concentrated fish. The prices started rising. the A. Nummifer that I obtained for $29.99, were being sold for $200 as "rare black frogfish." The shark tank that held the unwanted fish was destroyed, the rocks removed, and now it holds a single pipe, which the snowflake moray use(d) to hide in. They also put an enormous A. commerson in the tank. It ate everything but the eel. The eel couldn't really move from that one pipe. It died. On the tank were some drawings of sharks and it read "SHARKS COMING SOON!!" the tank was 4'000 gallons. They ordered a couple of blacktips. they died on their first night in the tank.
Then the tanks were being crammed with incompatibilities. Triggers with lionfish. Large Angelfishes with Anthias. But yesterday was where I found it to be the most disturbing I had ever seen it. The once Nice, Friendly, Knowledgeable LFS, had turned into somthing like PETCO.
All of the tanks were divided with eggcrate or plastic dividers. Dottybacks, Grammas, and Reef Lobsters were condemned to little plastic containers with no shelter to prevent them from fighting or eating others. A 5 inch container held 4, 5 inch long toad fish, which were practically sitting on each other. No shelter was provided. And here is the scariest of all, the fish I saw that day that were occupying those tanks that were impossible, to near impossible to keep in captivity:
Moorish Idols
P. Tuka, about 10 individuals
Spotted Filefish
Triangle Butterflyfish, a pair.
Crinoids.
and a couple of other species I can't remember.
And the other ones. Take this as literally as it comes: THE FISH WERE RIPPING EACH OTHER APART! Lionfish with clipped fins, Frogfish housed with bite-sized morsels, Anthias with practically no fins, dead fish in every tank.
Basically, it's gone. One small change in management, and a nice fish store turns into a money hungry warehouse. I could go on, but I think i have said enough. Thanks for listening.
