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Re: Aquatic Plants Digest V3 #79
Subject: Trace elements
Paul Sears wrote:
> I don't make my own trace element mix (any more).
Sorry, couldn't pass this one by. What are you using these days?
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Subject: Selling Plants to LFS
George wrote:
>If it's not "too much trouble" as it is with our LFS. "Please come in
when we
>are not busy" (i.e., not on weekends), "please only deal with the owner"
(not on
>Mondays and Tuesdays), "only bring in stuff I can sell in a hurry" (because
>plants die in our holding tanks), "only come in when College Students are
>setting up their tanks" (September and January). It's far easier to drop
them in
>the garbage can!
I think you've got to find a different store. I've had several occasions
when I've had a lot of plants and no time to get them to the LFS. I've
called them up and they've sent someone over to get them. Of course, I'm
also tolerant of their bringing the occasional customer over to see my
tanks.<g>
>I have a short dissenting opinion. It would seem to me that the LFS depends
>more on *lack* of success with plants than anything else. After all, once
>someone becomes adept at growing plants, there is very little need to buy
more.
It's going to be a _very_ long time before there are more people growing
plants than killing them. In the mean time, the smart stores are getting
on the "planted tank band wagon". This is a new market segment that astute
stores can tap into, just like the reef market. There will always be
beginners and there will always be a need for beginner plants. The better
stores will start to carry more exotic plants, and _hopefully_ more plant
related dry goods. I'd love to be able to go into my LFS and pick up
laterite off the shelf. He'll order it for me any time I ask, but he, at
this point, doesn't sell enough of it to have a lot of money tied up in
inventory. The last time he ordered Dupla products for me, he got some
extras for stock. They sat on the shelf until the next time _I_ needed
them.<g>
>The only plants we ever buy now are species we don't have yet or got rid
of in
>the past for whatever reason. And guess who doesn't carry the more
interesting
>species?
Again, maybe you need a better store. Mine gives me a call when they get a
new plant list in, and we go over it together. They'll order anything I
request personally, and also have me pick out plants they should order for
the store.
>Frankly, the LFS that carries plants goes out of their way to make us want
to
>buy things from the "other" LFS or mail-order suppliers. For example, they
>don't carry the specific items we want (mostly because the owner is pissed
at
>most of the wholesaleers in the area and won't carry their lines) and they
won't
>special order anything for us (too much trouble).
Boy, you do have a problem. My "regular" LFS is within 10 minutes of my
house. And does eveerything they can to help me. There's another about an
hour away that has an extensive line of planted tank dry goods, and a nice
selection of plants. While I don't go there that often, others have told
me that the owner of this place is as willing to help as my local guy is.
>The only things we ever bought there were two-pound bags of frozen food
cubes
>and PennPlax Ultra TriLux bulbs. The "other" store now special orders UTL
bulbs
>and sells them to us for less than mail order prices. Now we buy smaller
packs
>of frozen cubes from him.
So why not work on him to keep a better inventory of plants in the store too?
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Subject: Selling Plants to LFS
Dave Gomberg wrote:
>Karen, my LFS offered me 14% for some fish. I flushed them rather than
>give them away. This store has a rep for very high retail prices too.
>Often twice what the mail order places charge.
I guess I'm lucky that we have the stores around that we have. But maybe
it's at least _partly_ because our local aquarium clubs work hard to
cultivate the good will of the LFS's.
My LFS sells _only_ local hobbyist raised Angels and Guppies, and mostly
hobyist raise Discus. (they do occasionally import wild-caught Discus for
their hobbyists who like to outcross to wild stock)
On any given day you can find tanks of Killies, Rainbows and Dwarf Cichlids
that have been raised by local hobbyists, not to mention _scads_ of locally
raised Africans.
BTW, they also sell wholesale, and ship fish. I don't know if they ship to
Canada, but I do know they ship regularly to Bermuda, because a friend of
mine does their vet certificates. If anyone's interested in their
stock/price list, they can be contacted at cichfish at aol_com. And no, Dave,
except that I get rid of my excess plants there, I don't have any business
or financial interest ;-)
Karen Randall
Aquatic Gardeners Association