Trustworthy LFS in the IE or OC?
- Thread starter Jetsetter57
- Start date
Coral grazers is one of the top places i know.
Chad is really cool when my tank crash i when over and he gave me some good deals and some free frags.
Plus i got a used ro system and the person that i got it from gave it to him so he could hold it for me till i had time to get it and i pay cash to chad for it with no need of paper work.
Chad is really cool when my tank crash i when over and he gave me some good deals and some free frags.
Plus i got a used ro system and the person that i got it from gave it to him so he could hold it for me till i had time to get it and i pay cash to chad for it with no need of paper work.
I'm all about second chances and it looks like I need to head back to coral gazers and reef lounge(I'll steer clear of the last individual that helped me). I met with john at shillington in Calimesa and got a great deal of knowledge and a bluntness/honesty that I haven't seen anywhere else. His prices are spot on and he hand picks fish from his wholesalers.
John (another one) at Fontana tropical fish was extremely knowledgable and actually talked me out of a few fish/inverts on my stock list. Pretty impressive.
John (another one) at Fontana tropical fish was extremely knowledgable and actually talked me out of a few fish/inverts on my stock list. Pretty impressive.
I'll chime in with my experience at Reef Lounge.
While theyre cool people, I am very reluctant to give them the few dollars I have. Reason is because as of late, I feel as if they dont want to help and/or speak with me unless im spending money. Ive felt that they dont care to help me out. Ive also asked them on various occassions to help me get some fish yet they never do. Maybe its cause they get their fish directly from the source or not, but as an Lfs im sure they have access to wholesalers. Yet when I asked other LFS to help me get fish, they would help me out. Also when I had to restatt my tank, I never truly felt they wanted to help unless I was also spending money. When it came to questions on how to safely restart, I never got answers.
In the last 6 months, only thing I bought from them was a Potters and that was simply cause it was too good to pass up.
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While theyre cool people, I am very reluctant to give them the few dollars I have. Reason is because as of late, I feel as if they dont want to help and/or speak with me unless im spending money. Ive felt that they dont care to help me out. Ive also asked them on various occassions to help me get some fish yet they never do. Maybe its cause they get their fish directly from the source or not, but as an Lfs im sure they have access to wholesalers. Yet when I asked other LFS to help me get fish, they would help me out. Also when I had to restatt my tank, I never truly felt they wanted to help unless I was also spending money. When it came to questions on how to safely restart, I never got answers.
In the last 6 months, only thing I bought from them was a Potters and that was simply cause it was too good to pass up.
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Fontana Tropical Fish has decent selection and friendly staff but way too expensive. They're like 10-15% more expensive than other lfs. Needed a hydrometer on the quick and went there cause they're less than 10 mins away. Online prices for these are about $7-8 so I figured $10-11 at the most. Nope $15 and the bigger one $17. Needed it so I caved in.
Went another time just to check what they have and possibly get some neon tetras for my fw nano. They wanted $3 each. Picked up 10 for $8 at Monrovia Tropical fish by my work.
Went another time just to check what they have and possibly get some neon tetras for my fw nano. They wanted $3 each. Picked up 10 for $8 at Monrovia Tropical fish by my work.
I feel like that might have been me. I don't know what the premises why I had to walk away and water test. Maybe I thought we had finish our conversation and went off to take care of task pending. I am a multitasker, all day/10-12 hours a day. If I'm in the middle of water testing or cleaning a tank or catching a fish/bagging a coral, it doesn't bother me to take questions or give advice. Possibly something to do with my ADD, who knows? But if you ever swing by, feel free to ask me anything at anytime. And please don't mind or take offense if I walk away, 9/10 times I'm in the middle of a task and if I break off from it, I often forget about it and won't get back to it hours later. Just come along and keep those questions coming.
Often I ask the customer to walk along with me to finish the conversation, but I guess I blanked out on that occasion
I'm really sorry to hear that you feel that way John. You know you're always welcome to visit the store and I'm sure in the past I have always suggested that you can come by and hangout/lounge around to kill time since you work nearby. If I come off as strictly business lately, I truly apologize. With the owner and the maintenance guy gone with for past 35 days, I had to cover 90% of their workload in addition to doing my original job. I won't go into further details but its been hell.
Regarding fish selection, for the past 4 months we've been dealing fish direct from overseas. I don't do the ordering but I do make recommendations to the ordering person from customers. Unfortunately the divers cannot catch those fish you've requested for or the fish don't exist from the region our suppliers are located in. Yes I do have access to the wholesalers, but we had their fish wipe out so many of our systems in the past that we decided to limit purchasing those stock from them as much as possible. I'm glad other store were able to accommodate your request.
Regarding your tank's restart, by that time I didn't know how to best take care of ya and from our conversations it sounded like a lot of great reefers here had already helped ya out and your fish were being QTed by a buddy. You have my number and we're had many text chats. If I am without response to your ideas and questions, its probably because I am not knowledgeable enough to confidently give you an answer and do not wan to risk giving bad advice.
hope the potter's is doing well.
Often I ask the customer to walk along with me to finish the conversation, but I guess I blanked out on that occasion
I'm really sorry to hear that you feel that way John. You know you're always welcome to visit the store and I'm sure in the past I have always suggested that you can come by and hangout/lounge around to kill time since you work nearby. If I come off as strictly business lately, I truly apologize. With the owner and the maintenance guy gone with for past 35 days, I had to cover 90% of their workload in addition to doing my original job. I won't go into further details but its been hell.
Regarding fish selection, for the past 4 months we've been dealing fish direct from overseas. I don't do the ordering but I do make recommendations to the ordering person from customers. Unfortunately the divers cannot catch those fish you've requested for or the fish don't exist from the region our suppliers are located in. Yes I do have access to the wholesalers, but we had their fish wipe out so many of our systems in the past that we decided to limit purchasing those stock from them as much as possible. I'm glad other store were able to accommodate your request.
Regarding your tank's restart, by that time I didn't know how to best take care of ya and from our conversations it sounded like a lot of great reefers here had already helped ya out and your fish were being QTed by a buddy. You have my number and we're had many text chats. If I am without response to your ideas and questions, its probably because I am not knowledgeable enough to confidently give you an answer and do not wan to risk giving bad advice.
hope the potter's is doing well.
I think the thing to note of at Chad's store is that he gets lots of return customers and hobbyists that like to talk to him about stuff. Like today, Chad sold one of his customers a frag tank and he was working on making the guy a maggie muffler. The whole thing must have taken a good 45 minutes while I was there, but I knew he was taking care of the guy and asked him quick questions periodically or chatted the guy up to see what his setup was gonna be like. I didn't feel offended in any way because I knew he was taking care of his customers and he's done the same thing with me. If you go to a place like Jan's Tropical Fish, the lady barely says hello and walks around the store all the time until you have a question. It's a pretty impersonal environment and a place where no one knows your name. Chad is really a one man operation and everyone wants a piece of him, apparently. Haha
Like I said one time, if I want to spend quality time with Chad, I'll go early when he opens on Saturdays before rush hour begins. Haha
Like I said one time, if I want to spend quality time with Chad, I'll go early when he opens on Saturdays before rush hour begins. Haha
Here is what chad did for me:
He spent an hour of his time fixing my Aquatic Life rodi that I did NOT buy from him. Then he offered to help me make it a 5 or 6 stage system when im ready.
He exemplifies customer service, in amy business ive ever dealt with
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He spent an hour of his time fixing my Aquatic Life rodi that I did NOT buy from him. Then he offered to help me make it a 5 or 6 stage system when im ready.
He exemplifies customer service, in amy business ive ever dealt with
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