Why Cant The Big Companies...

[gaz gun man]

Sell some test strips (at very least!) and a small bottle of ammonia and some advice to get people fishless cycling, when they buy a new 'all in one' aquarium kit.

It wouldnt be hard, would it?

P.S - yes I know the strips arent very accurate but they're definately better than nothing, and they would keep the price and complications down to new fish owners.

 

[Faythee]

Because they rather sell the stuff that instantly cycles your tank instead !








Which doesn't work.

 

[tenohfive]

Because they like making money.

If I could find a testing kit that had Ammonia, Nitrates, Nitrites and pH I'd be well happy. Still, testing kits are very expensive for a bag of chemicals.

 

[Corleone]

The companies (and the fish stores) make the bulk of their money from two kinds of people: The long term addicts, and the casual newbies who don't know how to keep fish, but think it's as easy as adding water.

The former spend a lot of money over the years, and know enough that they don't need advanced products like this.

The catch is, the one-time owners might get intimidated by anything that isn't just "Add a capfull of all these bottles and then just feed them sometimes," they don't want to risk the first impression of the hobby being too complex or a lot of those one-time buyers will think, "Oh, wow, there's more to this than I thoguht. I'll just get a guinea pig."

The proofs in the LFS, really - the good ones that know their stuff and try to put people on the right track have a dedicated following of experienced, or at least informed customers, but struggle with new business, since so many new fish owners will pass on complicated procedures when, "The guy at the cheaper store says just run your filter overnight."

 

[rdd1952]

As mentioned, the big companies care not about the fish. It's all money. They don't care if you buy fish that die (they get to sell you more) because the tank isn't cycled. If you go back to the store and tell them you've got a problem, they test your water and tell you your ammonia is high and sell you Ammo-Lock (probably sold you Cycle or Stress Coat to cycle your tank in the beginning). It's just purely business. And most employees in the big chain stores look at you like you've got two heads if you ask them about fishless cycling. They don't have a clue what that is (quitea few won't even know what cycling is).

 

[gaz gun man]

I meant the big manufactures, like Fluval, Roma etc

 

[waterdrop]

I meant the big manufactures, like Fluval, Roma etc

I think its the same for them. Its just a very tight wholesale/retail system. From a business/financial viewpoint they are probably all quite caught up in the consolidations and changes that have happened in the industry in the last couple decades. Lots of retailers probably experience how marginal the business can be and the big companies are right in there, sensitive to those things too. A bunch of hobbyists going on about how all you need is water and knowledge and a test kit would seem "fringe" to them at best and a downright drag on business if they studied it closely enough to understand it.

 

[rdd1952]

It would be difficult for them to package the ammonia as liquid can leak. Putting it in the box with the kit could cause problems if it leaked. Obviously, it wold be very simple for them to package the test kit and accurate instructions on cycling, both with and without fish. Most of the kits have a book of instructions on setting up the tank but the say the same old thing about letting it run for X days and then adding fish which as we all know isn't cycling.

 

[Corleone]

I meant the big manufactures, like Fluval, Roma etc

What's good for the stores is usually better for the manufacturers, who usually get a bigger cut out of every sale than the retailer.

Short of full-blown MTS, an informed hobbiest spends less than the type of fish buyer I mentioned above, both initially and for maintenance. I bought a tank, stand, test kit and filter my first day in, and came back for a heater, gravel and rockwork, and plants two weeks later, and three more weeks later fish and food. From there it's just been food, occasional fish (which my LFS tells me isn't very profitable for them in general), and once in a blue moon some meds. My LFS spending rarely breaks $15 in any given month unless the test kit needs a refill.

Going on bad advice, somebody can walk out of the store their first day with everything I did in three visits over a month, plus too many fish and $50 in random chemicals they don't need and probably shouldn't use, and if they don't give up will likely continue to buy filter cartridges, chemicals, and will likely replace fish at a higher rate than I have to.

If they can be hooked with zeolite like my aunt was, they can end up spending $30 a month just to keep ammonia under control, and armed with the cycle instructions that came with their equipment and the bottle from the store that says they'll only have to do water changes once a year, they'll be dependent on it once they start.

So, there you go - it's just capitalism. You cater to the customer who spends the most money. If group A drinks 500 bottles of coke a year and like it, but group B drinks 5 million and think it needs something new, you cater to group B and will let group A buy Pepsi if they don't like it. If you catered to group A and started losing group B's business, the investors will jump ship and the company will suffer.

Not the best analogy I guess, but it works for what it is. And in this case, group A may not like it, but they still have to buy what they do use, so there's no need to struggle to keep these customers, and there's definitely no percentage in converting high paying group B customers into low paying group A customers, even if group A is happier.

Edit: In retrospect, the example works better if group A thinks it needs to be changed and group B is happy, in which case Coke would continue with the status quo.

 

[tangokitty]

A fish store near my house "Strickly Fish" Sells used bio filter media (Those donut shapped ceramic things for filter media) At least that helps better then the instant cycle in a bottle stuff.