your LFS

[yeame]

now some people may get offended by this thread but they are most likely the LFS that lacks in one area or the other. maine dosn't have alot of saltwater fish stores and some stores are taking advantage of that now i have ben to prob every pet store with in 2 hrs of brunswic maine some large some so small they have 2 tanks in their basement i think people should be able to buy something because they want it and not strugle with the price when their is only a couple places all the stores get their stock from 1 of 3-4 places and very in price like it is that is just crazy i would like to know the best deals people are getting in maine and where and was it a sale or normal price
dont know if these prices are still right but this is what i payed
these stores are recomended to every one
(1) deep sea creations,auburn
branching frogspawn 8-9 branches 30.00,7"green plate 24.95 no dead spots

(2) atlantis,portland
sun-fire polyps 20-30 polyps 22.00,chilli coral 3 stalks 2"-4" size of quarters 24.95

(3) bobs tropical fish,nobelboro
pepermint shrimp 6.75 ,redsponge branch 9"3 branches 24.99

[yeame]

what knowone ever buys anything from their LFS ??(OIC)

[Driftwood]

I picked up a Pacific Sailfin Tang from The Golden Lamb in Gardiner last night. It was $19.98. Nice looking fish.

[jacksonsmom25]

My LFS in bangor are the ones I usually buy from.
I buy my fish food at Pet Palace because they are the only ones who carries Omega one. and usually if I buy fish, get them from Petco. nothing spectacular

[nickyblase]

from what I can tell, those prices don't seem out of line. If you want to be more cost conscious though, look for people who are breaking down their tanks, or selling frags.

[msman825]

I bought a sun coral from atlantis and i paid 45 bucks for about 15 polyps. go in there and ask about that zoo rockeek2 shes got . just was there friday. bob's has great fish, but know corals, I agree with above post. theres a great deal on a 125 setup in uncle henrys right now 100 pounds of rock too. I wished i knew more people here to swap are just buy corals from. theres not a lot to choose from here.

[SaltyDogg]

Those prices seem very reasonable to me...most of the corals that I have for sale start at 25.00 and go up from there.

With the prices on fuel and electricity going out of control,the prices will continue to rise..............

[yeame]

msman you bought the other half of the rock i got when the polyps came in it broke i got the smaller peice with a white sponge wraped around it that is if u bought it a couple months ago

[ME2003]

"From what I can tell, those prices don't seem out of line. If you want to be more cost conscious though, look for people who are breaking down their tanks, or selling frags."


I agree with this statement. I have been to many pet stores from
here to New York. The prices in Maine tend to be the lowest. Even,If you go to NH you will tend to see higher prices. The best way to save is going to frag swaps and hobbiest meetings ex. ( SWAM )
They also go over many DYI projects that save money.
It is good to support your LFS. They do not make much of a profit.
When buying fish, corals and other livestock, I have found it is less
expensive than buying on line. Most people do not add the cost of shipping, going to fedex to pickup, dealing with unhealthy fish, and
thats not what I ordered issues. Ask anyone that has ordered
blue zoos before. They do not look like the picture on the web.
The best way to buy fish and corals is to observe them in the store.
This allows you to select a healthy fish that you want.

[nickyblase]

good point - I'm always leery of ordering online, because you don't have the option to have the LFS put it on hold for you to see if it is healthy and will make it a couple weeks in their tank.

Corals online are almost never what they seem. I love the Atlantis site (the LFS out of NY), they've got some really nice looking corals, but the pics they take are really heavy on the actinics, so it's really hard to tell what the color will really look like in person and in your lighting...

[nickyblase]

Plus, you'll get a lot more info on the care needs of a fish or coral if you are talking to the LFS owner. I've gotten some very valuable information that way. In fact, when I was just starting out, I was all gung-ho and wanted everything.

Becky & Anna at the (former) Port City Reef did not hesitate to tell me that some things were out of my league, inspite of their wallets, and I respect them more for it. They could have just as easily sold me the things I wanted, and taken my money (and then taken my money again when I realized the hard way it wasn't a good thing for my tank and it died).

[Hedonist]

What Mike said is so true..

Also add the fact that the sized fish are never the same, one week a small fish is considered a large one the next week so the price is going to be different from week to week....

also your LFS has a lot of I did not order that issue, and it is not easy to return such things... something I find rather bizzare.. in the 'normal' retail world, if you did not order it, you do not pay for it and get what you want... not so in the world of fish

Your larger pet chains sometimes have the same fish for much less, as they can make up for sales in other depts. However, then you may not get good 'service', many times their knowledge is limited as opposed to a 'specialty' shop

And like Nickyblase said, photos of corals are almost never what you get, corals look so different in many different set ups that we have

All I have to say is if you want it and see it, buy it, esp if it is rather uncommon.... it may not be available for a while, plus then you can frag it and share amongst your fellow addicts ;)

Wish I had done that at Aqua Addicts last month, they had a RBTA I have been looking for, but I cheaped out :(
Denise

[yeame]

any thing i put in my tank is usualy ordered threw the LFS but whats the point if im going to pay more ordering from the same wholesaler yea I like the eye it buy it feature you ger at the LFS but their price is cheeper than mine ordering so why cant they sell it at the same price i can order it for right now I have found a new pet store that does that and they have no problem getting and keeping business coming back frags I sell to 3-4 stores put a 30%-500% mark up this is how they work and this is why we have to travel to 10 pet stores befor we buy or order anything and dont stay with the LFS they say they cant compare their prices to on line this is a joke

[spotfin]

yeame,
Please try to improve your grammer, it's very hard to read your posts.

[jacksonsmom25]

Punctuation!?

[AquaEquestrian]

I was able to read his post fine. I also don't want to discourage another aquatic hobbyist from contributing for something trivial.

I agree that the markup on some stuff is ridiculous but I can also see how they may think it makes sense. Like the recent increase in the price of gravel and fill since gas is more expensive. I do wish, though, that pet stores would buy locally to support local aquaculture! Some of them in the Bangor area won't buy from hobbyists anymore.

[scunan]

There is a reason the LFS charge more for their products. Your LFS has more overhead/operating expenses. Just about everything online is cheaper because their operating expenses are lower and those people do not have to be at their store, do not have to pay rent for their store. They probably just have a desk in their basement and dropship everything.

When you own a business, say a local fish store for instance. You need to price your fish,corals, dry goods, etc accordingly to pay your bills. For a nice retail location you could pay $1000 to $2000 a month for rent. The electricity bill is probably anywhere from $500 to $1000. per month. Then there is insurance,shipping charges, telephones, advertising, fish and coral that are dead on arrival and if you are in business it would be nice to get a paycheck.

So based on this little bit of information I would say that the LFS around here in Maine have some pretty good prices.

[yeame]

well I bought a couple of fish at deep sea creations the other day well sad to say it was a joke they got me good I got a fire clown to be the mate for my large male well it lasted 10 hours befor i found it dead so i go back and tell the lfs it had died I tell him this is the first thime I have ever lost a salt water fish and asked him if he wanted the water sample I had from my tank he tells me there is a first for everything and they had no warranty like most stores in maine but he gives me another at 5.00 off so dummy me i get another well 2 days has slime all over her never mind she is just about dead my large male is now getting slimey this sux! Iwas told the rest of his clowns are sick lets se what he says when I go back about a refund

[nickyblase]

you didn't QT first?

[RLMainers]

Where's Deep Sea Creations?

[Driftwood]

Sorry to hear about your problems yeame. You should ask about return policies before you buy something. Some shops are really good about that.

[yeame]

the fish were in qt (20 long it was their new home)
I talked to them yesterday and I was the only person to buy them they all died at the store so they said they would treat me good when I make another purchace. o well it happens
I didnt realy buy the fish I traded my 8" SOHAL TANG he will treat me good I'm sure, he said he would order some zoo frags for me

[yeame]

finaly visited the golden lamb in gardnier large selection on fish lots of soft corals with good prices and great service its nice going into a store and feeling welcome. finaly a store that relises they need you as much as you need them. they were very helpful and I bought an awsome pink tailed trigger 4" 30.00 I will recomend them any time

[Oskie]

I got hammered purchase/policy wise pretty hard when I first got into the hobby by a LFS in Southern Maine. I’d read everything I could get my hands on but there’s nothing like experience. The other thing was I wish I’d become a SWAM member as soon as I got started. There’s a wonderful “brain trust” available at no charge (OK so a couple of ‘em want a beer or two), but there’s a wealth of good, useful information available from these folks. As has already been said many of the LFS owners/operators are excellent sources of information and other than my 1 bad experience I would certainly recommend them for assistance.

Oskie

OBTW It isn’t terribly difficult to spell check your work before posting and it does matter. I’ve see big fights on other boards over misinterpreted/misunderstood posts that could have been totally avoided with a simple spell check.

[Driftwood]

I think we can all get along reguardless of how well we spell. If the board doesn't provide spell check, I don't bother with it. And some people have all they can do to figure out how to post... I say give em a break, it's nice to have a place where everyone is welcome.

On topic, Golden Lamb's new website has some pictures from around the shop... Check it out here:

http://www.goldenlambpetstore.com

[jessiesgrrl]

Vance's Tropical Fish in Bucksport is a nice place to go. He's got a website, and you can call befor you go to see if there's anything there you like. He'll also tell you if you are buying something you shouldn't. Nice guy.

[jessiesgrrl]

Oh hey, by the way...

For anyone who is near enough to get to Ellsworth, there is a kick butt saltwater store in the Maine Coastal Mall there. Crystal Clear moved out, got their own building, and a new guy set up shop in their old location. He has two (I'm guessing) 90 gallon or so reef tanks FULL of clams, softies, etc; another the same size above it salt fish only, and this odd looking stepped cubicle of individual salt fishies. He also carried fresh water stuff, but since that's not my thing, I didn't spend near as much time mooning over it. I'm not sure I caught like 3/4 what the guy was saying to me either- too busy checking out all his salt livestock...LOL.

I got a hammer coral, and a new clam today while I was there, and the guy even threw in some free macro algae. Prices seemed comparable to the rest of Maine (Save Petco, etc...). I'm pretty excited about it, haven't quit staring at the new tank buddies yet. I'm going to post a pic of the tank as soon as I can figure out how to resize the pics I have.

Laurie

[Racing1]

For any of you looking for a local LFS you need to check out aquacorals.com She has a great selection and prices are good. :p

[dad300]

Did the guy at Maine coast have the live mysis in today? He used to stock 1 lb tubs of live mysis. When I worked at the Hannaford next door I'd buy some to feed the tank. It was hit or miss.

[yeame]

sorry racing1 the whole reason this thread was started, aquacorals is a joke, penny is a salesman that is for sure ask any one about her sales ethics, and prices suck. I havent gone there in about 4 months and counting her lies make me sick first pathological lier I have met my advise to any one STAY AWAY!! the only lfs in maine I dont recomend for anything!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[bunsenburner]

Everybody is welcome to express their oppinion, but yeame's is not shared by all those in the club. Please remember that the club trys to reach out to all the stores in Maine to help it grow. When store owners get bashed here they are always more reluctant to donate things to auctions. In the past stores have supported auctions and it helps us pay for speakers.

[Ewan]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7657460#post7657460 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by bunsenburner
Everybody is welcome to express their oppinion, but yeame's is not shared by all those in the club. Please remember that the club trys to reach out to all the stores in Maine to help it grow. When store owners get bashed here they are always more reluctant to donate things to auctions. In the past stores have supported auctions and it helps us pay for speakers.

Very well said, Matt.

[yeame]

and who payed for all those corals donated? and were the corals "donated" to them? If the donated corals from lfs pay for the speekers at events why don't the reefers at the event bring a donation to the events as cover charge?
There is alot of good lfs in maine and a few great ones, I think there should be a place people can share their experience with out being scrutinised.
I think every one should visit all the fish stores and make up their own mind wether or not to visit them again, but leave feedback on their experience.
Word of moulth is the best advertisement any one can have wether or not it is good or bad advertisement is up to the store owner and or employies.

[jessiesgrrl]

Hmm... I've been reading this trying to decide if I wanted to enter the fray from a LFS 'bad' standpoint... I always like to say good things instead. So, in the interests of keeping my karma clean, no names:

1. If it is poisonous or potentially toxic, the buyer needs to know, and the seller should ensure that. Not all LFS do that. (Boxfish, lionfish, sea apples, etc) I love those, but can't stand when I see them being sold to kids, etc.

2. LFS sell things they should not, because they sell well. They are generally not conscientious aquarists (With exceptions, Becky being one, etc ), which hurts the environment. I have asked and it's mostly wild caught being sold in Maine, not tank raised. Obviously, this is not good overall. I'm not one to throw red paint, but there is a very real reason why Hawaii had to pass laws to preserve coral beds, etc. Prime example is mandarin dragonets, locally. The majority do not feed well and starve. When I bought mine, no one asked me how much LR I had, size tank, etc... Also, some LFS sell out of an obvious QT tank (Labeled as such) to naive customers... which generally leaves me standing there wondering if I should say something to the guy buying. Generally I say nothing and stay out of someone else's purchase, but it leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

3. I did just read about the Aug meeting, where the items to be auctioned were donated, I assume by LFS. While I understand wanting to keep them happy, they are already getting way more than their money's worth in advertising by donating to a specialized target market that is otherwise way too diverse for radio advertising, etc. I'd place money that the younger members don't listen to the same stations as older members, etc. You'd have to advertise everywhere to reach us all, which is not cost effective for such a small store.

Plus, the burden of happiness is really on them. If they do not donate, we survive but with less cool events. If we stop patronizing, they close. It would not be smart of them to declare war with a hobbyist club and stop donations. It is also true for suing a member for a comment made about them in the heat of the moment. Case in point, in the Vendor Experiences forum a guy had to make a public apology because the store's 'legal team' harassed him for saying basically that they sucked. When I saw the apology, I asked who the store was in a PM. I'll never order through them,just because that was wicked bad taste, which is worse than the original problem they had with the guy. I am sure I am not the only one- no one wants to be muzzled after being stonewalled on a bad purchase. Would have been smarter to just fix the problem with the guy.

Also, they get way more positive here than negative... As I read this thread alone, I see several positive referrals... even yeame made a positive referral himself. 'Mexican Turbo Snails in ME' is another good example. I will drive to Southern Maine or New Hampshire just to go to a good LFS. I've even gone to Boston and New York for rare shark breeds. I go because other hobbyists tell me it's good to go there on personal experience. You can't buy advertising like THAT at all.

4. This is a public forum in all actuality, until someone is banned. All the local LFS have more than a right to defend themselves online if they see something they feel defames them. I believe there are quite a few on here I have seen doing just that. And I think they SHOULD do that... they have a right to get their side out there. There is also the legal route if need be... Which, yeame, is the real reason you should avoid using someone's name in a public forum. You could very easily wind up in court if the store owner can prove you used their name and their profit margin subsequently dropped.

I appreciate the LFS because I can walk in on a WYSIWYG basis and not pay shipping in theory... but I do pay the profit markup as well as the passed on cost of shipping in the price... not to mention them having to make up for dead livestock, etc.

That having been said, I do believe that yeame has a right to opine. Names are best saved for PMs. What scares me is that I think no hobbyist club should become dependent on donations to the point that we are no longer able to vent to one another. Especially when the donations cost less than targeted advertising... and are not that often. I would much rather split costs some other way if there is a cool event... or not have the event at all.

Sorry for the length of the post
Laurie

[jacksonsmom25]

Good Post...I totally agree!! just my 2 cents :)

[Driftwood]

I imagine that if a LFS in Maine sued a club member for a post here that shop could expect to go out of business very shortly after. I can't imagine anyone wanting to support a business like that.

What would the point of a LFS thread be if all the opinions were good? We are not helping each other if we are not honest and share our experiences in this hobby. I do not think it is morally right to lie or remain silent just to get donations. Not saying anything at all is the same thing as lying, that bad taste is guilt...

I'd like to think that this is a place that people can express their opinion without feeling anything but welcome and appreciated. I appreciate everyones opinion reguardless of if I like it or not. This club needs to be taken seriously and this type of thing makes us look like sheep.

[thefishbowl2006]

I've been to aquacorals only once and found at that time her prices pretty reasonable compared to some stores in the Portland area?

Yeame, what did Penny do to you to make you so bitter? She didn't seem that bad, I actually got some good advice.

Personally I think all the prices in any store are pretty outrageous.

As far as fish, the best deals I have found have been at "Petco" in Augusta, last week I bought a Banded Corall Shrimp for 5.99, damsels were 3.49 each, and a Nice sized Yellow tang for $24.99, so far everything is alive and doing fine

The sad thing is prices are going to keep rising as long as fuel goes up and there are people like all of us willing to be in the hobby.

We should all support each others addictions in trading frags and such. That is one reason I am looking forward to the July meet, it will be my first meeting but I hope the prices are going to be reasonable?

[Driftwood]

I have been to a few frag auctions and the prices are great.

[nickyblase]

I think everyone is entitled to their opinion, and for those who have had a negative experience, to perhaps elaborate more than that someone is a pathological liar, or something that's just plain slanderous would be nice. It helps us all understand a little bit better where you are coming from.

I personally tend to discount posts like that, because without information I can go on, it sounds completely baseless.

If we are going to have a thread about the good and bad vendor experiences, it should be constructive. That way we as consumers can be smarter when making purchases, and the vendors themselves can get a form of (if it was a negative experience) constructive criticism - that is, if the individual didn't attempt to rectify the problem directly.

[Driftwood]

Telling someone how they should say something isn't much better then telling them not to say it at all. If you really care then ask him to elaborate.

[nickyblase]

I'm pretty sure that's exactly what I was asking for in my post - for people to elaborate. That way we can all benefit from other people's experiences.

Someone calling a vendor a pathological liar, it doesn't really help me to form any opinions as to whether or not it's worth me driving an hour and a half to a store. If more info was included like - she lied to me about the health of this fish, and then lied again to me about something or other - (fill in the blanks), I think it would help a lot more.

I wasn't telling anyone how to say anything, other than to ELABORATE.

[yeame]

when you sell a coral to someone for $5 and they sell it for $35-$45 saying it is a special order item that they got by mistake.(trying to sell it back to the persom that sold it to them LMAO) or when they tell you that they are very interested in a rare exotic fish you have and they will trade you a few tank raised corals (they payed $5 each for) then you spend 1-2 hours catching it and another 1-2 hours driving there then they think you are stuck there with a fish in a 5g bucket so they feed you a line of BS and told they cant give you anything for it and they will only take it for free or take the chance of having it in the bucket for another couple hours for the drive home ( this was after about 5 e-mails and 2 phone calls that day) and I could go on and on and on penny is a good person and knolageable about the DSB system but.....
another thing when I last visited her all she did was tell me about how bad the some other stores were and how my tank system was junk and how it wasn't going to work and it is luck it is still running. (tank is 4 years old and I have the only compleet ecosystem I know of in this hobby) why is it people can say what they want unless it is typed on here?

[Racing1]

yeame,

Sorry that you feel that way about aquacorals. I did not mean to cause a heated discussion about her. Evidently you had a bad experience with her. I have NOT!!! She has been very professional and courteous and her prices seem within reach. Bashing someone on a website is just plain WRONG and could cause you more problems down the road if she can prove that you caused her to loose business because of your actions. I have only been a member here for a short while and unfortunately I will no longer be a part of something like this... Good luck SWAM
If this is the type of discussion board you want to keep and let people stay on when literally BASHING a LFS and not banning that member........

[Ewan]

Racing1,

I hope you reconsider attending some club functions. They can be rewarding.

-Rob

[Kevinnap]

I believe that there would be a mass exodus if there was even an attempt at censorship here. I am happy to have the freedom to process the information that I get here and use it to make a decision about patronizing a LFS.

I believe that yeame has a beef with Aquacorals, and I am glad to hear about it, but I also have the privilege of making my own decisions about spending money with Penny. Yeame did not attempt an organized boycott of Aquacorals, only relayed his experience there.

I don't believe that libel or slander enter into the mix as long as the description of the events is accurate, without embellishment or exaggeration, so I am not sure that a true account of an experience at a LFS could ever lead to problems.

I am appalled that someone is willing to deny himself a valuable resource, such as SWAM, due to a free and IMHO appropriate discussion of a personal experience at a LFS.

Racing1, I urge you to reconsider your decision, SWAM can be a place to build friendships and exchange ideas about our hobby.

[jessiesgrrl]

Hmm, well... I leave for the holiday, and I get back and WOW!!

You couldn't tie me to wild horses to keep me from the frag auction. :) And, if Moses shows up to part the sea for a mass exodus, I wanna be there with a couple Thermoses to grab what I can from the wall of water on both sides. (I'll be the chick with the giant coolers on a red wagon running frantically back to my car on the same shore I started out on)

Life is happy. Fish are happy too when I am not killing them off accidentally. :)

Laurie

[Racing1]

I apologize if I flew off the handle too quick. I will stay and try to make peace. I understand if he has or had a problem with her but to use her name the way he did is wrong. I do enjoy this hobby and have a long way to go and learn. I learned of SWAM through Denise. She lives a few miles from me and I purchased a 75 Gallon setup from her. She is another great person to talk to and deal with. Thanks Ewan and Kevinnap for your words of wisdom.

[yeame]

first off I never bashed any one if you see it that way than that is you this was my experiance and I think people need to hear about it that is my choice. I never made anything up in any statement! ok I was lied to multiple times but hey mabe it was just me .
I dont think anyone should leave the club because of one members posts on one thread that is up to you, there is alot of people here that know alot more about reefin than me and I would hate to see any one miss out on anything offered by the club or by any of its members.
tell me you havent had any GOOD or BAD experiances at any lfs? I would like to hear it and I'm sure alot of other people want to here about it to.

[Hedonist]

I think the main idea of this thread is to share your experiences, good and bad, so that others may go to that LFS with some idea of others' experiences but also with an open mind. If you have a problem or issues, you have the option of not going there again and sharing that with others.

Please do refrain from name calling, just state the facts and explain your situation...... and most will sense the frustrations, 'feel your pain' and conclude with our own choice of actions and names ;)

I personally would appreciate it if people would post their names at the end of their responses... I know most but there are some that are new to me and other SWAM members and followers....

Denise

[Driftwood]

The BRS site has an entire catagory full of threads on vendor experiences. They also have a rules post stickied to the top of the forum that explains how people should conduct themselves in the threads.

Can you imagine the fights that they used to get into before those rules were posted? I mean, they'll kill you for driving slow in those parts. ;)

[jessiesgrrl]

Hmm, my worst experience at a LFS was watching a guy sell a venomous fish to a 12 year old child. (For the record, I pulled mom aside in the parking lot and let her know it was poisonous; also wrote down a couple web sites for them).

As far as stuff dying, well... I dunno. Yes I've had stuff die that looked fishy (LOL! No pun intended), but I have never asked for a refund. I don't know why, probably because I just don't like doing it. Plus most places have a 'No Guarantee' on SW policy.

Prices in southern Maine are much cheaper than what we pay in Northern Maine. For example, I saw two tiny sun coral heads for sale this week, 12-15 polyp heads each for $35 and $49. Damsels above Bangor are at least $6.99 to $7.99. I had to pay $29.99 once for regular size 6 line wrasse near where I live. It's one of the reasons we drive elsewhere to buy or trade. However, having said that, I do still buy locally at times because I just like going in sometimes.

It's all about what you feel like doing, I guess.

Laurie

[Driftwood]

yeame, you should give us some details on your complete ecosystem. I'm curiuos. By the way, those blue mushrooms are doing awesome.

Dave

[jessiesgrrl]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7652811#post7652811 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by dad300
Did the guy at Maine coast have the live mysis in today? He used to stock 1 lb tubs of live mysis. When I worked at the Hannaford next door I'd buy some to feed the tank. It was hit or miss.

Hmm, I've never looked for it/asked about it. I will ask the next time I go.
:D
Laurie