What do you wish your LFS would carry?

[bg2311]

I usually try to buy locally to support the LFS but sometimes no one has what I'm looking for and I have to order from Marine Depot, BRS, Amazon etc.

This week it was large frag tiles. I've only been able to find ones up to 1.25" locally and I needed larger.

These just arrived from Amazon via Ocean Wonders store:



I understand not every item has a lot of room to markup for profit, some items take up a lot of space, have expiration dates, don't move fast enough etc.

What have you not been able to find locally that you wish one of our several LFS would stock or stock more of?

Off the top of my head:
Orphek lighting
Larger frag tiles (2-3")
Schedule 80 fittings & colored PVC

 

[BlackLitez]

I think I've officially given up on all the local fish stores. I'm pretty new to the hobby so I try to research what the most popular opinions are and then go find the stuff at all the local fish stores. I was genuinely surprised when I couldn't find what I thought were the 3 most popular snails. (Cerith, Nassarius, and Trochus). I eventually found them all but they all came from different stores.

Recently I've been looking for All-for-reef in liquid form, it seemed to be very popular with people online, but I cant find it at any local stores.

I was beyond upset when I was plumbing and when I went to Ferguson's they didn't have any schedule 80 elbows, just a couple empty racks and boxes.

I think next time i go to a store, i'm gonna take a photo of all their shelves so that i don't have to keep going back to find something they don't have.

 

[snarky shark]

I think I've officially given up on all the local fish stores. I'm pretty new to the hobby so I try to research what the most popular opinions are and then go find the stuff at all the local fish stores. I was genuinely surprised when I couldn't find what I thought were the 3 most popular snails. (Cerith, Nassarius, and Trochus). I eventually found them all but they all came from different stores.

Recently I've been looking for All-for-reef in liquid form, it seemed to be very popular with people online, but I cant find it at any local stores.

I was beyond upset when I was plumbing and when I went to Ferguson's they didn't have any schedule 80 elbows, just a couple empty racks and boxes.

I think next time i go to a store, i'm gonna take a photo of all their shelves so that i don't have to keep going back to find something they don't have.

Keep in mind right now there are a lot of supply shortages so that may not always be the case.


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[bg2311]

I think I've officially given up on all the local fish stores. I'm pretty new to the hobby so I try to research what the most popular opinions are and then go find the stuff at all the local fish stores. I was genuinely surprised when I couldn't find what I thought were the 3 most popular snails. (Cerith, Nassarius, and Trochus). I eventually found them all but they all came from different stores.

Recently I've been looking for All-for-reef in liquid form, it seemed to be very popular with people online, but I cant find it at any local stores.

I was beyond upset when I was plumbing and when I went to Ferguson's they didn't have any schedule 80 elbows, just a couple empty racks and boxes.

I think next time i go to a store, i'm gonna take a photo of all their shelves so that i don't have to keep going back to find something they don't have.

Calling ahead to ask if they have a product in stock doesn't hurt. It's saved me a trip/hopping between 3-4 stores several times.

 

[BlackLitez]

Calling ahead to ask if they have a product in stock doesn't hurt. It's saved me a trip/hopping between 3-4 stores several times.

That's a good idea, I guess i was just putting too much faith in the stores. I'll goto one store and if they dont have it, i'm like...well, this other store definitely has to have it.

When i was looking for the snails, I actually saw a store post that they had certain snails and when i went over there they didn't.

 

[snarky shark]

Depending on when they get shipments they will sell out.


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[BlackLitez]

There was one store I went to that didn't have the snails, they said call us in a couple days. I called, they said sorry, call us next week. I called again a week later, they still didn't have it. That wasn't a very nice experience.

 

[BlackLitez]

I've always preferred to shop at Brick and mortars, there was a time when stealing packages were rampant and I wasn't really comfortable with packages sitting in front of the house for hours. The past few years have been a struggle finding many things, not just fish supplies. Once covid started, it only got worse and I believe the online stores have finally beat out the brick and mortars. With majority of the population shopping online, i guess it makes sense for brick and mortars to not carry as much.

 

[Rainblood]

i use instant messenger on fb to ask if they have a certain item in stock. most answer pretty quickly.

 

[Trizzino]

Pure Reef has been one of the better stores for drygoods. I don’t mind just going to see if they have something because it’s nice to visit and most times I end up picking up something I need anyways.

I’ll always try to support B&M stores first.

 

[BlackLitez]

Pure Reef has been one of the better stores for drygoods. I don’t mind just going to see if they have something because it’s nice to visit and most times I end up picking up something I need anyways.

I’ll always try to support B&M stores first.

I don't know what it is, but I enjoy just standing around in Pure reef more than any of the other places. Maybe one of these days I'll sit down at the front and pull out my phone.

Then there's something about the store inside the perimeter that makes me just want to run away