LFS Discus Quality...

[Curt]

:mad:

So I was at A LFS yesterday Picking up a couple sponge filters and some frozen food, An was shocked by what I saw! There was a tank of 5" fish just labeled as discus there fins were torn and they were darker colored with there bars showing. They wanted $130 each I was shocked! Also they had another tank with Stunted Juvies Cobalt X Red Turk For $60 All fish Dark, and mis shaped, looked Like footballs. And there were 2- 1.5-2" Pigons stunted starting to color shaped Like a football, They had labeled as Malbros for $65.

Why do stores that have been around for ever do this? I am shocked and appaled. Needless to say I got my food (it was on sale) Paid to much for my sponges and Left dissapointed. It will prob be another year before I go back there again if I do. I am always dissapointed by there selection and quality of there stock. I unfortunitly believe in giving the stores second chances. I just hate to see potentional customers being ripped off.

Just needed to vent;

Curt

[sandy]

In my area no lfs keep discus as they are afraid they will die soon but expect one guy he have white butterfly and red map with lot of peppering with high cost :mad:

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[camuth8]

Yes, some LFS are really crazy. My LFS used to sell Discus, and they were all stunted, except for a few. Nearly all had healthy color, but the biggest was 2.5 inches and they were selling them for $50. Some LFS just don't know how to take care of them, and they want money for an expensive fish they bought. :(

[Discus-n00b]

Just the market, they have to make profit. Thats why I don't go into LFS anymore unless I have to or really bored in the area. Not just because of the discus, but overall its overpriced and lower quality. I can order from Hans directly or another sponsor and skip all of the third party stuff with central systems. Theres a thread on my local club boards where I basically come out and say hey, LFS owners what are you going to do to get me in your store to buy your products? Because right now its not working. I would love to support the LFS, but when I can preemptively order food and supplies cheaper online even after shipping before I run out and have them come directly to my door why do I need to fight traffic and use gas to go to the LFS? And as far as fish go, like I said all that third party stuff with a central system doesn't usually ease my mind. I kind of chuckle when I walk into the LFS and see a dark tank with a sign that says Not for sale, treating for Ich or something like that......as that tank happily runs in the middle of a whole rack.

I would love to be able to work at an LFS. So many good ideas and resources that just aren't being taken advantage of by current owners/employees.

[Curt]

Matt,

I agree with you. I dont know how many big box stores or LFS I have been in where I know more then the employees or owners! I was there because I dont have net at home yet and I needed supplies. I am dissapointed everytime I visit a LFS. I know they have to make money But It just dissapoints me that they have been open as long as they have And cant keep Quality stock to sell Potentional new Hobbiests.

Curt

[John_Nicholson]

It is not just LSF's.....I am constantly seeing people post pictures here of fish that are at best average and that just rave about them......So I am saying that some of it mught just be ignorance.

-john

[Harry Marsh]

It is not just LSF's.....I am constantly seeing people post pictures here of fish that are at best average and that just rave about them......So I am saying that some of it mught just be ignorance.

-john
What particularly bothers me is that people that know better continue to compliment poor quality fish...and further the problem

[John_Nicholson]

And apparently I was passionate about what I was trying to write.....there are missing words and the others are mis-spelled......LOL.

-john

[nevsfish]

What particularly bothers me is that people that know better continue to compliment poor quality fish...and further the problem

I agree if a poor quality fish is posted for comment Isent it better to tell the person posting what is wrong instead of praising the fish so as not to hurt feelings .to me honesty is always the best policy.

[discuspaul]

I was at a well-known, popular LFS the other day, which usually has well-kept, reasonable quality fish, and employees who have some experience with fish-keeping & fairly good knowledge -

- well they had about a 25-30 gal tank set up with temp around 80 F, a small number of other fish species, and 5 discus, ranging in size from 2.5" to 3.5" at best. I'd never seen discus in that store before.

They were not well formed, shy/skittish, not looking particularly colorful, nor healthy, & obviously under stress.

They were asking $69. for the smallest one, and would you believe - $114. for the barely 3.5" fish.

I could not believe it.

As calmly as I could, I asked one of the clerks, (whom I knew was reasonably well-experienced, and I knew was actually keeping discus at home in his tank) - where the store got those fish & what he thought of them -

He hesitated, and stammered very vaguely that he didn't really know the source.

After pushing him a bit, he more or less admitted - 'between us girls', if you will, - that he felt they were not good quality, extremely overpriced, and he was embarrassed over trying to sell these obvious culls/runts.

Point of my tale is..... most LFS's , should they carry discus from time to time, don't have the time nor inclination to care for them properly, get sub-standard stock in the first place, and charge way more than they're worth.... and unknowledgeable people still buy them, and then wonder why the heck they didn't survive more than a month..... and there's not really very much you can do to convince them, at least many of them some of the time, that they should not get discus from a LFS.

It's very sad.

[GrayLadyPat]

We have a LFS store here that gets discus from time to time.

For the most part, this LFS has great stock, and they truly know what they're doing. Their apistos are the pride of the area. Discus come and go, but alas, they have some of the problems mentioned here and elsewhere.

There is one man that works there who is knowledgeable about discus, and helps me with "emergency" questions as best he can. There's another who, like me, is learning as quickly as he can, and isn't afraid to ask the right questions of others. They try very hard, but they still get sub-par stock. Last time I was there to buy food, the knowledgeable one was telling me why each one of the discus they had in stock was less than perfect, but lamented the fact that all the owner could see was $$. I think the person that they really need to educate is the one who is buying the stock, not necessarily the ones who are selling them.

In any case, what I wanted to say was that some times, it's not the workers, because our LFS store has some fairly knowledgeable people. Sometimes, it's the person who is responsible for buying the stock who really needs to be taught what good discus are.

[TURQ64]

For what it's worth, many LFS run on mechanics; order from the distributor, and take what you get...They many times have no in depth specie requirements, they are just businesses..Then there are some who 'know their fish', and buy from breeder's and importers. Point being, they aren't necessarily 'out to screw you', they are just as John said, ignorant....Gary

[chipmunk636]

I am disapointed 95% of the time i visit my lfs , couples weeks ago i went to order a sponge filter for additionnal filtration in my 55 , it took 15 min to explain to all 4-5 employes present what it was and how it worked , when i started to say it work with air bubbles and no motor they were looking at me like i was a moron , i say can i just have the catalog and i will find it , when i go back 2 weeks later to get it , the owner of the shop said oh that you thats ordered sponge pad to put in your canister , i was like no - no its a filter , he said okok you have baby , i said no just for additionnal filtration for my discus , he was confused a bit lol ...

this lfs has a show tank , if you can call that a show tank that has 5-6 3 " discus for like 6 month , no grow, and football shaped , he ask like 69.99.

imo they are lots of bad deal but some are good in lfs , my sponge was like 10-12 dollar which is good , last time they forgot to charge me for my two 500 ml of prime after i bought 50$ of frozen food so that was a good deal 30$ of prime for free;)

[Combo]

OH lord, HELP ME I AM ONE OF THOSE DUMMY'S NEW TO DISCUS THAT BOUGHT 2 DISCUS FROM LFS LAST WEEK IN SEARCH FOR INFO FOUND SD AND LEARNING NOT TO BUY DISCUS FROM LFS IT JUST COME TO MY ATTENTION THAT EVERY TIME I WALKED BY THE TANK THAT THESE FISH HAVE BEEN IN THE CORNER AT THE BACK OF TANK SO I PUT MY HAND UP TO THE GLASS THEY JUST STAYED RIGHT THEY DIDN'T SWIM AWAY OR ANYTHING JUST STAYED RIGHT THERE SO I LOOKED AS CLOSE AS I CAN AND I THINK THEY BREATHING VERY RAPIDLY I HAVE BEEN DOING WATER CHANGES EVERYDAY AND DID A WATER CHANGE TODAY ABOUT 1PM

[LizStreithorst]

Your not a dummy unless you knew better. Hard lessons are lessons well learned. I could tell you what you should do, but it's so hard that I don't even think I could do it. If you want to save them, why not go to the Emergency Room and fill out the form so we can help you.

[Johney Blaze]

Dirty little secret....they know that any fish they sell are coming in sick...they dose metro with their food and never tell you. The fish looks healthy as you purchase the discus only to have your fish get sick eventually due to stress of a new home. Then u come in and buy their expensive 15 dollar metro . But since they dose metro without your knowledge, the dicus has immunity to it and you need to buy more metro, plus you need more than usual for discus, because they are dosing them daily with their food...genetics of discus are mostly not hardy and they know it. They are probably laughing as you come in to buy more discus or more 15 dollar metro.

[Second Hand Pat]

Dirty little secret....they know that any fish they sell are coming in sick...they dose metro with their food and never tell you. The fish looks healthy as you purchase the discus only to have your fish get sick eventually due to stress of a new home. Then u come in and buy their expensive 15 dollar metro . But since they dose metro without your knowledge, the dicus has immunity to it and you need to buy more metro, plus you need more than usual for discus, because they are dosing them daily with their food...genetics of discus are mostly not hardy and they know it. They are probably laughing as you come in to buy more discus or more 15 dollar metro.

I rather doubt that is the case in a general sense.
Pat

[RogueDiscus]

Dirty little secret....they know that any fish they sell are coming in sick...they dose metro with their food and never tell you. The fish looks healthy as you purchase the discus only to have your fish get sick eventually due to stress of a new home. Then u come in and buy their expensive 15 dollar metro . But since they dose metro without your knowledge, the dicus has immunity to it and you need to buy more metro, plus you need more than usual for discus, because they are dosing them daily with their food...genetics of discus are mostly not hardy and they know it. They are probably laughing as you come in to buy more discus or more 15 dollar metro.

Hey Johney, this sounds a bit like a rant. Do you have any evidence that this is actually done?