Allie

In the next 2 years we are planning to open our own fish store here in our town. We know what we want to do differently than our local pet stores with fish rooms and the other tropical fish store on the other side of town. We want to do what is best to keep our fish healthy and happy, & have them proper environment.

The problems we have noticed with our fish shops & fish rooms are:
~Staff has limited knowledge on the fish they are selling
~ Overstocked SMALL tanks with all types of fish
~ Filtration system is awful
~ They treat the fish right in the sale tank...should have a quarantine room to put the sick fish
~ Wrong common names of fish & no scientific name
~ No advice given unless you ask & most time they haven't a clue how to help
~ Dirty/messy fish rooms

What things would you want a fish store to have that they don't have know? How would you makes things better?
Thanks guys

MagpieTear

Good start to your list here...
http://www.fishlore.com/fishforum/ge...ould-know.html

Though, I will say, I have yet to see a sale tank that was not overstocked, anywhere. Elmers (my LFS) has display tanks set up properly with larger/mature fish which you can buy, but the general for sale tanks are horribly overstocked with teeny little fish. And they do have passionate salespeople who do know what they're talking about 90% of the time. but to be honest, you almost have to have it that way to be profitable. Sales profit on even 60 neons is almost nil after overhead. It's the related stuff we go gaga over (ornaments, plants, food, filters ect.) that you make money on.

I would recommend a good select on plants other than just java ferns and hornwort. That's my fish store pet peeve of the moment.

Chief_waterchanger

An overstocked tank at most petstores is a bit different than personal tanks that are overstocked. Most pet stores run sump systems, so yeah the fish may be in a 10g tank, but there may be 1000g of water running through the system (the better stores may even have a UV Sterilizer on the system.) So it is a bit different, but I understand the frustrations of the appearance.

COBettaCouple

i'd love to see bettas treated better.

Cody

sounds like you got some good plans the ..lfs by me has mostly 29 gallon tanks...and for there larger fish...like oscars and what not that people brought in ..and 55 to 75 gallons

susitna-flower

I wish you luck, from what I hear it is very expensive to set up a fish store. With lots of planning I am sure you will do a good job. One thing I feel all LFS's should be are experts in what they are selling. There should not be any bs by young fresh mouthed employees.....THAT in the end will drive away all the serious customers. Start small, but with room to expand as your business grows, and try to locate in an area where there is high traffic, but low overhead....Best of luck!

fishgirl

Have more info about each fish, not just common name...size...temperment. you could Have a book (3ring binder)with detailed info so that your customers can look up more info on the fish.
In the book list what other fishes each fish is compatable with. That way your customers can read up on the fish they are thinking of buying.

Susan

Dino

Have at least 6 months money to pay bills before you even open the doors.
Thats store bills, not personal.

Don't open while you are still setting things up.
Wait until you have everything in place.

sirdarksol

I agree, there is a huge difference between an overstocked personal tank and an overstocked store tank. My favorite fish store has a few extra fish in their standard 30g tanks.
One of the worst fish-specific stores in the area has something like thirty tetras (the bigger varieties, not the neons) in a 20g tank.

I would suggest starting out with the basics, as well as a few of the easier-to-keep oddities. Let your customers know that you're willing to order specialties for them, but you don't want to keep such things in stock, since they would be in the store too long and could risk being in the tanks too long.
This goes back to the difference between fish store "overstocked" and personal "overstocked". A fish store needs to keep fish healthy for several months. Their tanks are not usually set up to keep fish happy for a year or more, and stressed fish become sick fish. This is why I'd rather see a store that has a small handful of bettas than a store that has a stock of forty or fifty. Most stores won't go through that many bettas before they start dying out.

Chief_waterchanger

I would suggest a definate quarentine time not in the tanks the customers will be able to buy from, and prove that you quarentine... have a board maybe that says for example:

<specific strain> of Poecilia Reticulata/fancy guppy will be available <2 weeks from current date>

And realize that housing several strains together is not good. A female guppy has a life expectancy on average of 2 years. 18 months of possible breeding time, 14-16 months of good breeding time.. if 6 months of that is spent throwing a strain of guppy that is not what you are wanting (a half black throwing yellows, blues, etc) then you've wasted half that fish' breeding life just to make it easier on you as a store. Same with swordtail species.

I understand that most people buy them not to breed them, but to look pretty, but probably half your business will come from the small portion of SERIOUS hobbyists that come in.

Dino

What CWC is taking about is a business rule for specialty shops.

90/10, 50/50.

90% of your customers will have 1-4 tanks and will generate 50% of your money.
10% of your customers will have lots of tanks and will generate 50% of your money.

You need to make sure that you have products/livestock that will cater to both groups.

Allie

If we get betta they are going to be wild caught, not the ordinary kind. We'll try not to have too many betta at once so we can tend to less fish to give them more care.

We are hoping to get some people/friend& family to have tanks at their houses too. So we can have lots of space to take care of the fish ect..

Allie

Yup were are planning on having info sheet for people for when they buy fish. Also like a a fish "encyclopedia" What they can & cannot go with.

Allie

We also going to set up a second hand section for used aquarium gear...to help people get into the hobby at less of an expense. It's how we got started.

Allie

The store we frequent, their filtration system is terrible...all the tanks , sick ones too run on the same large filter/sump. It's stupid, it's a small fish room so it could not be hard to run a few smaller sumps/filtration It seems to me the sick tanks' water is going thru the healthy ones. It seem that the tanks that are sick in our store are all in the same section at the same time. There is always sick fish being treated. My bf asked the fish room manager (whom we've come to know) about how the filtration worked. He said, no wonder they have sick tanks tall the time.
I don't under stand all that stuff completely...so it's a good thing that when we open the store open that I'll be taking care of the fish, not the tanks. That is my bf's and other's jobs.

Tom

I think one of the most important things would be, do you want FW, SW, a mix, tropical, coldwater, live plants, equipment(i.e. tanks, test kits, gravel, food, water conditioner, etc.).
Tom

Allie

We are going to have a mix of every type of fish, plants even drift wood...natural decorations, food...and the store isn't going to be crowded. Our lfs is cramped & hard to move around. I am always scared I am going knock down something...plus the men that work there are snobby.
I'd like to be able find out what people in our area are interested in...it seems that cichlids and fancy plecos are very popular around here. There is a select group who only want odd fish, like sting rays, wolf fish etc...all the scary fish BUT will pay the amount needed to expensive rare fish.

Allie

That is definitely a good idea about 6 months worth...we'll start saving that after we move.
We are making sure all the tank are cycled first before adding fish & that the fish are healthy...not like Walmart.