ACBlinky
01/15/2008, 01:01 AM
I had the afternoon off work today, and since it's my birthday I decided to visit the LFS. I didn't have much money in my pocket, but thought maybe I could find myself a little present -- possibly a scratch & dent coral, or a nifty hermit (I've been looking for a Halloween hermit).
I've been to this LFS many times before, and several visits were with a goofy friend of mine who is always hunting for a bargain. If there's a lone zoa on the bottom of a tank, he'll ask if he can have it for a dollar, that sort of thing. Today I noticed a little piece of leather coral (no idea what type since it was all shriveled up and covered in detritus) in the corner of a tank and decided to try my luck. I also saw a large black and white hermit in a beautiful whelk shell, without a price tag.
I asked an employee the price of the hermit -- usually the big guys go for $10 or so -- and he said I could take it for $3.99. Sold! Then when I asked about the leather frag, he not only said he'd retrieve it for me (no easy task, being in the bottom of a 30" deep tank that's at eye level, he needed a tall ladder, a tool and some serious dexterity to retrieve the 1" piece of slime), he went a step or three further...
We cruised around ALL the coral tanks and he pulled out zoas (closed, no idea what colours), clove polyps, two types of leather (one slimy, one dry with retractable polyps, both pink), and mushrooms. Seven frags for $5.
When we returned to collect the hermit on our way back to the counter, I asked if there were any more in the tank. There weren't, but there was a BIG electric orange that he sold me for the same price as the black and white.
I left the store with seven frags and two giant hermits, all for the very reasonable price of $12.98. I didn't even have to tell the employee it was my birthday -- he's just that nice :D Happy birthday to me!!
I've been to this LFS many times before, and several visits were with a goofy friend of mine who is always hunting for a bargain. If there's a lone zoa on the bottom of a tank, he'll ask if he can have it for a dollar, that sort of thing. Today I noticed a little piece of leather coral (no idea what type since it was all shriveled up and covered in detritus) in the corner of a tank and decided to try my luck. I also saw a large black and white hermit in a beautiful whelk shell, without a price tag.
I asked an employee the price of the hermit -- usually the big guys go for $10 or so -- and he said I could take it for $3.99. Sold! Then when I asked about the leather frag, he not only said he'd retrieve it for me (no easy task, being in the bottom of a 30" deep tank that's at eye level, he needed a tall ladder, a tool and some serious dexterity to retrieve the 1" piece of slime), he went a step or three further...
We cruised around ALL the coral tanks and he pulled out zoas (closed, no idea what colours), clove polyps, two types of leather (one slimy, one dry with retractable polyps, both pink), and mushrooms. Seven frags for $5.
When we returned to collect the hermit on our way back to the counter, I asked if there were any more in the tank. There weren't, but there was a BIG electric orange that he sold me for the same price as the black and white.
I left the store with seven frags and two giant hermits, all for the very reasonable price of $12.98. I didn't even have to tell the employee it was my birthday -- he's just that nice :D Happy birthday to me!!