PDA

View Full Version : Very "Interesting" Conversation at LFS


Unome
03/31/2013, 06:08 PM
I like to drop by and check out what he has going on. I also like to talk to his people(if not busy) and any customers about their tanks. I'm still in FW but wanting to listen/learn as much as I can so when I make the step to SW, I'll have a good chance at success.

Well, there is a couple in there buying so fish. I ask how big a tank do they have & they have a 55. So we get to talking and I mention I'm probably going to have to start with our 29 and hopefully go up from there when money gets better.

So she starts talking about doing things and I'm listening and talking about what I'm looking at - peaceful FOWLR and "maybe" down the road adding some reef inhabitants if I go bigger. So she brings up cycling the tank and says it has to be done correctly & not rushed in order to succeed.

Her suggestion for cycling was getting 5 - 6 Damsels & dumping them in the tank after salinity & heat was okay. :uhoh2: I'm stunned as everything I've read says this is not the way to do it due to many reasons(with #1 being you're putting fish in there with plans for them to die. No big deal, right? :facepalm: ) So I bring up using some shrimp from the grocery store ad she says that might work but the surefire way is with the Damsels. ( :facepalm: again )

I thanked her for talking to me & wished her & her husband a good day.

I'm thinking:

1. I don't want to put any fish in a tank with the sole purpose of having it die a painful death to cycle a tank.

2. Once it was cycled, whatever fish survived I would now have to attempt to catch & return to the LFS. Damsels can get aggressive & if they survived a cycle, they'd be hardy & POed at the world.

3. When I go to SW, I'm going with shrimp from the grocery store os something from my LFS.

gone fishin
03/31/2013, 06:13 PM
It is sad but true many people still cycle this way. I actually enjoy the trips to the LFS you never know what your going to hear.

eacosta
03/31/2013, 08:36 PM
I have tried cycling both with a dead shrimp and pure ammonia chloride. They both work, but the shrimp method can be a little stinky.

metalmike415
03/31/2013, 11:05 PM
+1 above

If you use ammonia,use ammonia with no surfactants and dyes or perfumes.

whiteshark
03/31/2013, 11:26 PM
Pure ammonia is the way to go IMO. No phosphates, no smell, easy control of exact addition amounts.

Yeah, I hear some crazy stuff at some LFSs. I want to say something, sometimes I do, but people only ever hear what they want. If someone tells you that you can add fish to your tank within one day, while another tells you it might take more than a month, who are you going to listen to?

Silvergryphon
03/31/2013, 11:32 PM
I tend to eavesdrop if you will on LFS employees while they deal with other customers to see what kind of advice they are giving. If it is something I know is definitely wrong, I won't buy from them.

coker98
04/01/2013, 12:00 AM
I just let the live rock do its thing.

Always seemed to work for me.

G4546
04/01/2013, 02:26 AM
Yeah, I hear some crazy stuff at some LFSs. I want to say something, sometimes I do, but people only ever hear what they want. If someone tells you that you can add fish to your tank within one day, while another tells you it might take more than a month, who are you going to listen to?

+1
When someone is hell bent on getting what they want, they will refuse the best of wisdom for instant gratification...:facepalm:

192clark
04/01/2013, 06:44 AM
Live rock has plenty of dead organic matter that is more than sufficient to cycle. All you have to add is patience.

bighead
04/01/2013, 07:02 AM
one visit I made to the LFS I was ease dropping the employee was selling a customer a tank bucket of salt some sand rock and about 5 or 6 fish with all the other goodies all at the same time and said everything will be ok I am sure by know that customer has had his hands full

I am glad I found RC

AHDOnline
04/01/2013, 08:11 AM
Also keep in mind that some employees may be recommending what works for them. Some bacteria also says add this and you will be able to have fish in one day.

I am not recommending it, but its all about instant gratification and the sad part is if that store doesn't sell it to them they will go somewhere else

HumbleFish
04/01/2013, 08:20 AM
Her suggestion for cycling was getting 5 - 6 Damsels & dumping them in the tank after salinity & heat was okay. :uhoh2: I'm stunned as everything I've read says this is not the way to do it due to many reasons.....

Back in the day a lot of us used damsels to cycle. We just didn't know any better. And for some, old habits are hard to break.

Rognin
04/01/2013, 09:32 AM
So many horror stories in the LFS's. My LFS owner has a degree in biology, the co-onwer is a specialist in reptiles and also has a degree in biology. I get a lot of the same info there as I do here. The sales people however I am weary about, but there's only three of them. One of which is in his second year of university in marine biology.

Sk8r
04/01/2013, 12:14 PM
My method: a few flakes of Formula 1 fishfood a day, til it cannot provoke any more ammonia. Meanwhile I've fed any crabs or worms or corals that came in with my rock.

MrTuskfish
04/01/2013, 01:32 PM
It is sad but true many people still cycle this way. I actually enjoy the trips to the LFS you never know what your going to hear.

Especial from the LFS owners and employees.

I remember when a decent LFS was a great source of info; sadly, not anymore. Competing with the good online dealers and Fed-Ex for livestock and with the online dealers, big box stores, and Petcos or supplies has to be impossible. Maybe if you have a thriving maintenance business (and a few kids to do the heavy lifting). you can make it, but I wouldn't try.

After Katrina I moved and re-built ( with a great helper; well, mostly the helper), about 1000 gals of DTs and about 1000 square feet of basement space for sumps water, QTs, etc. I live hours from any decent LFS and they don't know as much about fish keeping as my 14 yr old daughter. I haven't bought a single thing for this project that wasn't purchase online. (Except plumbing & electrical stuff). If I need an emergency med, part, etc.; Fed-Ex overnight gets me what I need at 9AM the net day. No gas, sales tax, a great guarantee, etc. I see no reason to ever go into a LFS again, but still like to look at new stores whenever I'm in a bigger city. ( Compared to where I live now, Rosie O'Donnel is a bigger city.)