Flippin Local Fish Shop Is Rubbish.

[Graeme Edwards]

Well I'm well peived......................

My usual fish shop which is in north wales ( ceargwle ) is the best planted tank shop near me, and its at least 45 minute drive away but i still go.

Anyway the guy is moving to Canada very soon.
This means ill have to use my more local pet shop, I say pet shop because it sells everything, so imagine that its not that keen of planted tanks, the guy doesn't even like the Tropica aqua cube he says "well its ok for plants" the only thing the shop has got going for it is its good selection of fish, its disorganized ,messy, poor labeling, poor staff, poor quality plants ( half of which are none aquatic , I mean why sell none aquatic plants ) its just plain old POO!!!

Let me get to my gripe, Ive ran out of Co2 from my SERA set so i think ill go and try my local shop, I ask a girl "can you fill up this with Co2?" she says "erh yeah" she takes my bottle and comes back with a rusted up crappy JBL bottle Ive paid allot of money for that why do you get to keep it

Heres the comparisons to the two shops.....

Not so local shop#That is shutting down
Well maintained well presented shop with lovely planted display tanks.
Good selection of tropica plants, if there not in stock he can order any from the tropica range, oh and he stores them hydroponically (ermersed) just like tropica.
Co2 set SERA £120
Refill £5 with your bottle back to your hand in less than 2 minutes ( brilliant ).

My oh so local fish shop#
Crap layout, poor , no very poo display tanks, poorly labeled and organized.
Rubbish selection of plants, all submerged , no Co2 added half of which are non aquatic!!!!
Co2 set JBL £140 +
Refill, £12 and your well kept bottle gets swapped for a rust battered old one.

Which shop would you rather go to??

The standard of aquatic shops is SO poor, other than the shop i have been using every other shop i have visited is a total let down all rubbish, all have poor quality of service ,advice and choice.

Why is fish keeping so flippin tacky
Wheres the design and style???

Right I'm going to start my own business

 

[Bloo]

Sounds like you have a market there !

Feel your pain though

 

[MoreCoffee]

I'm fairly luck as I have Birstall only a 15 min drive away, so ordering plants isn't too bad. But even the stock they have in store starts to look pretty sad if it's been there more than a week !

However I realise I'm lucky they are so close ..... there is nothing near me that even comes close.

One LFS even said they dont do CO2 .... only carbon dioxide
Apparently that's the difference between my pressurised system and the Nutrafin DIY system they stock !

............ I wont be going back

 

[Themuleous]

Mate I know what you mean, I've been to Aquajardin over in Gloucester several times (whenever I'm over that way in fact!) and its the best planted shop Ive ever been to. Trouble is the drive there which is over an hour. My local shops are actually very good fish wise, the local MA shop has even started to employ Jeremey Gay, yes the PFK bloke! So they have recently had lots of very interesting and different fish in stock which is great, but Ive not got very much space and its easier to change plants than it is fish. And they all lack the plant choice and advice.

We planted people truly are a very rare ground of people in the UK.

Thank goodness Aquaessentails will be stocking plants very soon, cant wait, then Richard will be able to supply everything I need for my planted tanks, and I can order it all in my PJ's drinking tea at home!

Sam

 

[Gnatfish]

We planted people truly are a very rare ground of people in the UK.

Maybe this is why they dont stock what we want. Becasue the demand isn't high enough.

Like you said a possible reason why smaller local shops might look messy is becasue...they are small...... not enough space to put things neatly. When new stock comes in then all the boxes would be everywhere becasue there is just not enough space.

But i can understand your frustration. We all want quality things.

 

[Graeme Edwards]

Like you said a possible reason why smaller local shops might look messy is becasue...they are small...... not enough space to put things neatly. When new stock comes in then all the boxes would be everywhere becasue there is just not enough space.

Not the crappy shop near me, its MASSIVE no bull, its just they carnt be botherd , i cant stress how poor it is, and this is a shop conciderd the best in the area, CRAZY

 

[Gnatfish]

Ok thats quite bad!! Do they actually get alot of custom?

 

[Graeme Edwards]

They must do but they sell all sorts of pets reptiles , marine, pond and fury things too all of which are poorly housed and presented.

I had an argument with the owners mother because i was buying some Otto's and she asked if my tank was mature, the Otto's where the first fish to go in and i had been adding cycle for 4 weeks and it was heavily planted, she said that my tank wouldn't be mature until i had added some guppy's or Molly's, she was adamant that this was the only way to mature the tank, why would i buy fish i don't want just to mature a tank, what I'm i supposed to do with them after that, STUPID women

Any way I got my Otto's

 

[voo]

The nearest fish shop to me also sells other animals - rabbits, birds, rats etc, as well as a few lizards, snakes.

They do have a range of fish although not always good quality. Quite often there will be dead fish in the tanks and the staff just dont bother to take them out. They do have a few plants but they're not kept in good condition. Just chucked into a tank together.

Luckily there's a maidenhead aquatics just 15 minutes from here. They have a lot better selection of fish and they know what they are talking about. Unfortunately their selection of plants is limited, but they do have good lighting on them!

I guess there's not enough money in the plant business. There's only a few plant places on the internet too

 

[Graeme Edwards]

Im not sure if the guy i normally buy my Co2 from gets all 500g in though after its been suggested that you need to freeze the cylinders first, he fills it there and then and i get my bottle back.

I think its a cheek to buy an expensive Co2 bottle like JBL or aqua medic and then pay for it to be swapped for a crappy rusty (not looked after one) ive paid for that bottle so i want to keep it, if they take it off you it should be done on a lease!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I think shops should think about disposable bottles like the D+D ones at least your paying for the reg and the Co2 only not a bottle that is going to be taken off you strait away.
The D+D bottles are around £12 if thats what it cost postage included they this would be a more cost effective way of buying C02 and will always be available.

This subject gets me so annoyed at the state of play for aquatic plant enthusiast.

 

[Commander Cool]

I only have 2 options near me. One is Petco which has a desent selection of plants and fish. The other is a local store which has no plants at all, fish tanks are kinda dirty, and they sale all other pets mostly reptiles but lots of rodents and birds also. The problem with petco is no one knows anything about the fish or plants you are buying.

 

[LucyHurst]

Did you get your good CO2 bottle back? I would have asked for it back and gone somewhere else.

 

[Graeme Edwards]

Yeah I did , i told them i would leave it, went to the best shop that i mentioned in the first post, he shuts down in 6 weeks so Ive got C02 now and hes passing his gas exchange onto another fellow planted tank person who is taking over from him so it may be ok in the end.

But it still doesn't change the state of the planted tank hobby in the UK.

 

[callum_parsons]

you should set up your own shop, u would do good business fish keeping is becoming a much bigger hobby.
i know someone who wants to set up there own shop soon they are jus waiting for there loan