# Want to set up a display tank in your LFS?



## George Farmer

*UKAPS member, Mark Evans, sets up a planted display tank for his local aquatic retailer (Photo - George Farmer)*

Recently I've been contacted by some UKAPS members that are interested in how they should go about setting up a planted display tank in their local aquatic retailer.  This subject is close to my heart and I genuinely applaud such pro-active attitudes.  Thank you.

This thread is aimed at enthusiastic and experienced aquarium plant growers and aquascapers who are interested in promoting the planted aquarium hobby to a wider audience by setting up a display aquarium in their local retailer.  

In addition to the setting up of the display tank, they may be also required to train shop staff in maintenance and basic modern plant growing techniques that many staff are unaware of i.e. dosing NPK, good circulation, moderate lighting etc. 

*Introduction*

A healthy and well-aquascaped planted aquarium is one of the most attractive features there are in the fishkeeping hobby.  

A shop with a decent planted display tank will provide instant impact and longer-term interest for the potential customer.  Vitally, it provides an ideal opportunity to open dialogue between staff and customer.  Depending on the customer, they will either ask questions if they’re interested, or if the staff have good communication skills, they will strike up a conversation.

The display tank should contain equipment and plants that the shop stocks regularly, so the customer can replicate the set-up if required.

The staff should be trained to able to pass on the appropriate knowledge to the customer. 

In summary a decent display tank has the potential to be the most important advertising feature and revenue generator in the entire shop.  Remember this fact if/when you approach the shop.

*Establishing a rapport with the retailer*

Ideally you will know the shop’s staff already and have a good relationship with them, especially the manager.  It’s unlikely that a shop will agree to you setting them up a planted tank if they don’t know you and your skill set.

If the shop already has a planted tank(s) on display and it’s looking great then there’s probably little you can, or need to do.  But let’s face it – the vast majority of shops either don’t have a planted display tank, or if they do, it contains suffering plants with algae issues, is poorly aquascaped, and is overstocked with ill-chosen fish.

This where you can step in.

Have a polite but informal chat with the staff.  Explain that you’re a keen plant grower/aquascaper and ask if they’re interested in seeing any photos of your tanks, past and present.  The staff will be happy to you see your work, unless they’re very rude and/or fell asleep during their customer relations training! 

Your photos should back up your claims that you know what you’re doing with plants. Of course, the photos need to do your tank justice and at the very least make them look better than the shop’s display tank.  Hopefully the staff will be suitably impressed.  

It may be a good idea to try a find out which member of staff set up their current display tank (if there is one), and not deal with them directly, as they may take some offence to you offering to tear it to pieces and starting again!  Dealing with the manager is usually the best idea in all but the largest of shops.

*Setting up the tank*

Assuming you’ve got the go-ahead to set up the tank you be either setting one up from scratch, or re-doing an existing tank.

The physical processes involved go beyond the scope of this thread, and as an appropriately experienced hobbyist you should be confident enough, and there’s always UKAPS to give any more detailed advice should you need it.

However, it is important to involve a member of staff with the entire setting up process.  Explain everything as you are doing it and the theories behind the practical elements.  Here’s some example – 

“We’re not using a heater cable because there’s no evidence that they improve plant health and are an unnecessary expense.”

“We’re using this substrate because I have experience of it and it’s great”.  “We slope it to the rear because it enhances the appearance of depth”.

“We’re only using 2 x T5s for 6 hours initially because more would cause potential algae issues”.

“We have the CO2 come on 2hrs before the lights because….”

“We use NPK/trace dosing every day because…”

“We change 50% water twice per week in the initial few weeks because…..”

“We stock lots of algae-eating shrimp because….”

"We're overfiltering because..."

You get the idea.

Hopefully the member of staff will be dedicated to the display tank in your absence.  The idea is that they take ownership of it and this in-turn gives them a sense of achievement when they see it doing so well and creating lots of positive attention. 

They can also educate the customers and most importantly for the shop, sell more plants and plant-friendly equipment.

*Maintenance*

You need to agree a maintenance schedule in your absence.  This could be the biggest stumbling block and potential for the tank’s downfall.  The staff involved really need to buy in to the whole requirement for regular maintenance, and this needs to be backed-up with the manager’s blessing too.

Again ,the technicalities of how much maintenance is required i.e. water change quantities and frequency, pruning, dosing, filter cleaning etc. goes beyond the scope of this thread.

*Conclusion*

Setting up a display tank for a retailer should be a real win-win.  You get to have fun setting up a tank with the shop’s products at no real expense to yourself.  You get the reward of knowing that you’re helping to educate the staff and public.  You also get to promote our wonderful hobby.  In-turn the shop gets a great planted display tank that soon pays for itself with the revenue generated by customers wishing to attain something similar.

I truly believe that if more decent planted display tanks existed in more shops, the hobby would move forward considerably.

Finally I’d like to encourage UKAPS members with past experiences of setting up tanks in shops to post here – good and bad experiences.


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## Tom

I have an interview at Pets at Home this evening for some part time work (to begin with), and one of the things I want to put across is how much more they can do with their plants. They have Tropica plants of course, yet a couple of days after their delivery they aren't worth buying - even at the reasonable prices they offer them at. Maybe if I get the job, I can convince them to improve their plant holding tanks and improve sales  And while doing that, maybe point people here if they have enough interest.... I know it's only Pets at Home but they have the base there already for a good plant setup, and I want to see how much improvement is possible


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## George Farmer

Good luck with the interview, Tom! 

Have you ever set up a planted tank for a shop before?


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## Tom

No I haven't. Well, I kind of did for Swallow Aquatics when I worked there, but the limitations (budget, crap gear) made it near on impossible. Thanks  I just hope they see it as worthwhile investment. Hopefully I can convince them they can sell many more plants if they are clean and nicely presented.


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## Johno2090

Thanks for this post George, Should help a lot! I'm thinking of talking to my local dobbies garden center about getting one setup, they stock a lot of Tropica plants and while the holding tanks aren't great i feel that if they had a decent planted display tank then they would be able to sell them before they look horrible! It should be interesting to see if I can persuade them to stock a few Co2 kits as i'm guessing I would need to use my spare DIY kit for co2 >.<

Either way within a week they will be full of UKaps leaflets hopefully.


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## George Farmer

Johno2090 said:
			
		

> Thanks for this post George, Should help a lot! I'm thinking of talking to my local dobbies garden center about getting one setup, they stock a lot of Tropica plants and while the holding tanks aren't great i feel that if they had a decent planted display tank then they would be able to sell them before they look horrible! It should be interesting to see if I can persuade them to stock a few Co2 kits as i'm guessing I would need to use my spare DIY kit for co2 >.<
> 
> Either way within a week they will be full of UKaps leaflets hopefully.


Great news, Chris.

All the best with it all and if you need more advice you know where to come!


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## greenjar

This gets me thinking if any shops have co2 hooked up to the actual holding tanks / for sale displays or is this not feasible or necessary?


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## aaronnorth

I am good friends with all the guys in my LFS anyway which I think is the most important first step lol, but I asked how often they rescape their tanks and it just happened so they were stripping a 60l tank down in a months time so I got offered the job of doing that. I think they also gained a lot from it as they were suprised at how many pots I used on the startup  and also how to split the pots up into more plants.


> This gets me thinking if any shops have co2 hooked up to the actual holding tanks / for sale displays or is this not feasible or necessary?



You have to think about their costs although it depends on the shop, if its a small family run business then they are probably not going to want the high tech approach. I did one for Maidenhead Aquatics and the tank I did used the stock equipment, (2x15w T8 tubes on a 60l) with heavy fish stocking which was enough to keep it going. There was a weekly 50% water change which the staff did so it was easy and it looks good.
Also it depends on the shops focus, the shop I did it for is mainly for fish, but there was a staff member there who was interested in plants who had a better than average understanding of plants which always helps, so he could pass on the info.
The fact that plants could be grown from a stock setup aswell was really the main point of setting the tank up, as a lot of people think you need CO2, high lighting and heavy fertilisation, so this could be another reason shops shy away from using CO2.

Thanks, Aaron


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## George Farmer

greenjar said:
			
		

> This gets me thinking if any shops have co2 hooked up to the actual holding tanks / for sale displays or is this not feasible or necessary?


Shops that take selling aquarium plants seriously should have CO2 injected into their selling tanks.  Some shops also have hydroponic systems.

Tropica promote the use of selling tanks that have a specially designed plant pot holding 'tray', rather than placing the pots into substrates.  

The selling tanks are often lit with HO T5 or metal halide, have CO2 injection and are filtered.  Some even have algae eaters.  The result is the plants are actually growing in their holding tanks, rather than slowly dying.

It takes some investment on the shop's behalf, but after some time they should make their money back in less wastage.

This can also be backed up by better plant sales through promoting via a decent planted display tank...

The way some stores 'get away' with poor holding facilities and not being worried about keeping the plants in the long-term is that they save money by buying bundles of plants that are on 'special offer' from the growers.  

These 'special offer' plants are sold off cheap to make room in the grower's facilities and are as such a random selection.  This explains why Tropica pots are generally much cheaper in Pets at Home.

My hope is that the bigger stores (some MA stores already do this) invest in decent selling tanks, and display tanks, so we see less wastage.  

Currently the perception of many fishkeepers is that aquarium plants are just a disposable ornament, and the facilities that many shops run only serve to reinforce this.  They simply aren't aware how relatively simple it is to have a successful planted tank, and for many, they've never even seen one in the flesh.

Perhaps we can do a little bit to help change this.


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## John Starkey

I get on well with my local MA,David the owner has asked me if i would interested in setting up a planted tank when they move to new premises,trouble is the move has been cancelled twice,but he assures me that they will move this year sometime and i can do it for them then,

John.


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## sanj

So has Mr Evans been keeping that tank maintenance up?


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## nayr88

Nice write up George,

My Dad has just opened a shop across the road from my LFS, and after going there for sometime and gettin to know the guys working in there I'm always talking to them about planted tanks as a guy called Richard is into his Planted tanks and shrimp so being so close now I'd consider getting involved in a display tank some time. 


Really helpful read mate. Thanks


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## Johno2090

Look what just arrived!





Lets see if we can get Aberdeen on the Ukaps.org Bandwagon!


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## George Farmer

Johno2090 said:
			
		

> Look what just arrived!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Lets see if we can get Aberdeen on the Ukaps.org Bandwagon!


That's brilliant mate!  Well done, and all the best with spreading the word.


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## nayr88

Nice one mate, goo forth and spread the word 

If you don't mind me asking how much was that lot? 

Good luck Johno


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## George Farmer

nayr88 said:
			
		

> Nice one mate, goo forth and spread the word
> 
> If you don't mind me asking how much was that lot?
> 
> Good luck Johno


I'm not sure if everyone is aware, but the leaflets in electronic form are available here for free.  

http://www.ukaps.org/resources.htm


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## nayr88

Cheers for the link George  I had read them online, good read.

Cheers


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## Johno2090

I got 2 of each posters on stickyback so there easy to mount £8 for the 4 and the 100 glossy 1 sided leaflets where about £20ish. 

Worth it to look professional it's nice to give back to a forum and hobby that's done so much for me.


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## nayr88

Yeah worth it for sure.

Did you have them printed from an online company? Do you have a link please if you did mate.
Cheer§


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## Johno2090

http://www.e-printing.co.uk/ just used the PDF's that George linked too.


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## Piece-of-fish

Great topic. I've got some crazy ideas too. Just received an ipad which was bought for the purpose to showcase my work. 
Shooting another vid tomorrow and will start to approach shops. Will report the progress and feedback received here.
There is loads of shops in London. I can find about 15 fishshops within 5 miles radius and there probably are much more which i am not aware of.
Great idea about the leaflets. I always point people to ukaps when they come to pick up shrimp.


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## nayr88

Nice one

Have you seen the recent display in Wetpets?? 

Look great, shame they don't stock many plants, decent amount of landscape stones though witch is a start, oh and they have 'saluwasi' (is that right) shrimp in the tank....there deep red with blueish white dots on them and white legs.


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## ghostsword

George Farmer said:
			
		

> nayr88 said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Nice one mate, goo forth and spread the word
> 
> If you don't mind me asking how much was that lot?
> 
> Good luck Johno
> 
> 
> 
> I'm not sure if everyone is aware, but the leaflets in electronic form are available here for free.
> 
> http://www.ukaps.org/resources.htm
Click to expand...



Good one on the link, will print it out for the schools.


.


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## Gill

Did not realise that was there for us to use. Will DL to Mobipocket


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## JohnC

my old corner tank setup is currently sitting in a shop near me. ive been popping in every few months to keep it ticking over.

although it is no where near the state i had it in my flat it is a hardy setup and has just about kept going.

every time i am in there customers come over and ask me questions.  The tank was even used in a photo by PFK when they visited the shop in a regional tour.

Best regards,
john


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## alexandre

Great topic, and for sure a good display tank will bring new people in the hobby.
Couple of month ago I visited this pet store without knowing what to expect, and...






Sorry for the picture been taken with my mobile.
Then I go home and think... This is not normal. I check on the net and I found that's a 7000ltrs set up by Oliver Knott. So I go to check one of there other shop (still picture taken with my mobile).





The down side is the staff is not very friendly. I don't speak german and that was a bit like going to france and try to speak english lol


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## viktorlantos

Yeah that's Kolle Zoo where Oliver build most of the displays. The last pic is cool


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## aqualaw

Nice photos.


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## deepak267

second tank is Amazing .............


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## Brian Murphy

I know the guy in my lfs is about to set up his display tank but I think he wants to do it himself .... I still have to perfect the art but I soon want to start selling proper plants and eventually set up my own shop .... its my passion and dream !


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## jack-rythm

I'm aiming to do the same mate   all in good time. I need a few years under my belt first though  

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2


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## taistrietman

George has covered it all here really, but I set up a 2500 litre for my local MA store back in February as a volunteer, they wanted low maintenance but lush planting to house 6 altum angels...(that's me planting it in the avatar). Now I work for that store and my principle role is creating and managing all our planted tanks. It's always worth asking your LFS if you might volunteer with displays as staff don't always have the time or energy to do them and fresh perspectives and ideas can be very valuable. Ask them when and if they are doing a bit display and get involved! Finally, it might let you put your imagination and creativity to use, creating aquascapes and biotopes that you just don't have room, or money for at home.


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## Iain Sutherland

And a lovely display it is Tai, i might have to get some images of it on my next visit to share with the gang


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## taistrietman

Thanks Ian! We ordered some motherplant E. Parviflorus from Aquadistri yesterday so I hope they will arrive on wednesday and will go into the display tank, though I'm not sure how we will plant it among the sagittaria bed, it's so thick! I have also managed to get Nomphila stricta to grow emerse out of the tank and am attempting the same with hydrocotyle species so as to add a new dimension to the upper layers of the tank  
I will attempt to post a pic:

Altum Angels at work by tai strietman, on Flickr


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## George Farmer

Very nice.

Please consider starting a separate thread to do your tank more justice. 

As a retail employee though, I would ask you politely not directly mention your employer as they are not a UKAPS sponsor.

Keep up the good work. 

George


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## taistrietman

Hi George, thanks for the input, I hope to get some more photos and info as the tank develops. Of course, I didn't think of that, thank you for alerting me.


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## George Farmer

No problem. It's all written in the UKAPS Rules & Guidelines but I realise few folk actually read them.


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## taistrietman

No no fair enough, I was to busy looking at all the wonderful pictures on here and getting excited about the topics to read the small print! Your 'Jungle' scape that you did a while ago was the tank that made me spend every penny on planted setups from then on...I tried to replicate a 'jungle' tank like yours...

200 Plant Display by tai strietman, on Flickr
I'm about to plant a 325 litre Fluval Profile at home, I want to use Vallisneria nana for the background, I tried it once before and failed miserably but this time it will get co2 and decent lighting plus colombo substrate, would you have any other tips regarding it's care/propogation? Thanks!


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