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I am getting a lot of good ideas from your comments so far. i appreciate you humoring me. I also welcome comments from the other shops as well. It is important for us to know the general attitude of the shopper out there. it is a tough thing to make everyone happy but i think we can make more happy with a little research.

I know i built my store from the side of a customer who has been in the trade for over 10 years. but everyone has their style. I like to get feedback.

thanks to all of you.

that is what i am looking for Reefcam, thanks for that. it is important to let us know what to change. For many of us we can get almost everything out there but we don't stock it because there is no promise that it will sell. thanks for the input.

Keep in mind I am NOT trying to make you feel guilty. I am just trying to get feedback on this. Both of us have agreed that we will take care of a customer no matter what because in our experience most will eventually become a paying customer.

I am more interested in what else makes you go one way or another. I am not pushing for some guilt trip or i would have worded things much more aggressively.

I had a fascinating discussion with the guy in the pond shop next to mine and i am interested in your thoughts.

We discussed how we often get people who will come into our shops and pick our brains for hours to set up their tanks, then they go and buy all their stuff online. Being a resource is a double edged sword for all reef shops and with the competition online it can really be tough to keep things going in todays economic climate. we came to a few points:

Online Shopping

good: can be cheaper

good: more variety (sometimes)

bad: shipping costs

bad: fixed pricing

bad: generally poor product support

bad: no setup help or advice

bad: warranty related issues

bad: cannot actually see what your getting beforehand

bad: no actual critter by critter analysis on compatibility (bad animal for your tank)

bad: sometimes illegitimate, stolen, or non-warrantied items

Local Store Shopping

good: able to haggle on price (volume discount)

good: no shipping costs

good: expert assistance and advice for your specific tank

good: expert setup and advice on setting up new items

good: warranty assistance on items that break

good: see what you are getting before you buy (in most instances)

good: critter compatibility analysis for your specific tank

good: support your local economy

good: WINDOW SHOPPING!! get ideas for your tank by looking at our setups

good: take advantage of local artists, suppliers, manufacturers, and aquaculturerists who have nice stuff not available on the national market

bad: price is sometimes higher

bad: sometimes have to drive for a while

Yes i admit i may have missed a few things but in general that is the skinny. What we find disturbing is when a customer will go spend hundreds of dollars on a complex item online and then come to a local shop and expect free advice on how to set it up and use it. Most of the local shops would be happy to give advice on how to set up an item, in a way it is included in the price.

so, is the value of an item online worth the difference in benefits from shopping locally at a shop?

I'll bite, lemme get some pics as i go and it will take some more time as i am in the process of working on it. I will go through the setup of our water system setup at my shop. 250 gal of fresh and 250 gal of salt with circulation system and feed lines for customers out the front and the shop out the back. Also my DIY large volume DI resin system to filter it down to 0tds.

this is a system that could be adapted for anyone who does their water system at home.

i vote auto shut off.

Ok, I'll bite. you want a group buy then i can accommodate. but i have to hit certain terms. head to my sponsor forum for details.

We do half and full sheets of black at The Nano Reef

if it is a standard tank i can probably get a new rim in for you if needed.

Hypo does not a quarantine make. sorry but you need the right meds, i recommend no light at all and a single place to hide.

I hope you have all been briefed on proper acclimation for transshipped fish. it is not the standard deal.

someone from the club presidency please contact me over there on TRT, i can forward your concern to the correct people to resolve. if some of the bod or leadership is blocked let me know and i will get it reversed.

you guys are too funny... now serously, this guy is free, first come first served, get a nice big star for him, great conversations piece. "hey, you think that yellow fish is cool, check this out"

Yup, thats it, very nice. I wonder if a school would like this guy, probably make an interesting specimen. Any takers?

If you thought the fat innkeeper had a raw deal (see my last post), then consider the fish in the family carapidae, commonly known as pearlfish. Elegant name, but wait until you find out how they live. This is what they look like:

Opportunities exist everywhere in nature and if there’s a niche to be exploited some manner of organism will exploit it. The opportunity in this case is up the arse of various marine invertebrates and this is where pearlfish live and sometimes feed. I use the term arse, but technically these fish gain access to their hideaway through the aperture known as the cloaca (Latin for sewer) – most animals have one (mammals being the notable exception) and it is the common opening for the reproductive, digestive and excretory tracts. With the technicalities over let’s keep to the term ‘arse’.

The animals that have the honour of being violated by these tiny fish are things like starfish, sea urchins and sea cucumbers. The relationship of pearlfish with the latter group is particularly interesting and it seems that pearlfish have symbiotic and even parasitic relationships with these peculiar, sedentary animals. Just how a pearlfish gets inside a sea cucumber is bizarre because it’s effectively let in. The fish knocks and pecks the sea cucumber’s arse and it’s permitted entry. Typically, it wriggles in tail first, but they also go in head first and make for the breathing apparatus of the sea cucumber – structures known as respiratory trees. Some types of pearlfish appear to use sea cucumbers simply as convenient refuges as they frequently leave their living lodgings to forage and scout for mates on the sea bed, while there are other species (e.g. Encheliophis boraborensis) that rarely leave once they’ve gained entry. It’s likely these squatters are parasites that nibble their host’s respiratory trees and reproductive organs. Ghoulishly, these likely parasites have been observed in captivity eating they’re way out of their host instead of using the normal exit.

There is still lots to find out about these tiny and somewhat unfortunate fish, but their way of life is intriguing as parasitic relationships are typically invertebrates living at the expense of other invertebrates as well as vertebrates. I can’t think of any other example where the tables have been turned like they have with the pearlfish and sea cucumbers.

How long have pearlfish and their ancestors been sneaking up the tradesmen’s entrance of marine invertebrates? Their appearance alone suggests it is a very long time – many millions of year – as they’ve evolved a form that allows them to squeeze in and out of tight openings, they’ve all but lost many of their fins and their anus has migrated forward so that’s now near their throat. This novel anal arrangement allows them to empty their own digestive tract when they’ve got their head poking from their host on the look out for food and mates – a position these fish often adopt in the wild:

source: http://scrubmuncher.wordpress.com/category/poor-unfortunates/

I have seen this somewhere before on the TV or internet, but i am having a hard time finding the name for it. when we got our Hawaii fish in we had this large choc chip type star in it. a few days later i noticed a thin black tentacle swimming out of it.

then it popped out and i realized it is a fish. A parasitic fish that burrows into stars and eats them from the inside out.

it looks like a freshwater knife fish. pic attached.

any help with an ID?

Thanks man, that is one beautiful trigger.

I have 3 dottybacks in the shop and no, i have not sold a single one for the reson you state very clear, they are mean little *asterds. we do have one with a grouper that we will rent out if you have a pesky damsel to get rid of but that is about it. they do keep my tanks clean i must say.

I am having a similar problem with my two guinea pigs that were born together. good luck man, i respect an owner wanting the best for their babies!

What is really funny is how over the time the site is slowly moving back towards those rules you hated so much...

Bummer you not up in Portland. Nano reef would be glad to order one for you too.

Thanks for stopping in. hope pinky is doing well.

regarding the grass... it is super invasive so keep an eye on it. it will go to seed eventually, make sure you go cut all the seed pods off before they develop.

I highly recommend posting a no trespassing sign. it will provide a little liability protection should someone accidentally drown in that thing (since it is in the front yard) you will also want to protect your fish from the birds. i have a few recommendations and the pond shop next to my fish shop will also have some good advice.

looks really nice!

This is a clown i got from Bob (Sunset Tropicals) who breeds them. my wife named this guy winky. he is the cutest clown i have ever seen because he was born with no tail. instead his top and bottom fins grew together and look like two tails. he is growing well and has no trouble getting around. do any of you have any deformed fishies?

2 guinea pigs that my wife loves and nobody wants to take off my hands.

yes we have some nassarius, we also have diamond gobies