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What to you are good/bad signs when in a new LFS

Hi all,I had the misfortune to visit a local large garden centre on Sunday (I won't name it, but it is located on the Corsham road, Lacock, Wilts.).

The aquatic section was beyond horrible, I didn't get a photo, but the gravel in the tanks was entirely covered by a luminous carpet of cyanobacteria, there were dead fish in many of the tanks and the "aquatic" plant section prominently featured both Dracaena and Selaginella.

cheers Darrel

That's another one I see everywhere I go Darrell - Pets at Home always have a healthy stock of this, reason being is that it sells well - probably does so because its the only one not covered in Algae and actually looks like a plant in their tanks!

What really upsets me is recently all the Pets at home stores I've visited (it's a dog thing) have had loads of Oto's in their tanks. They are beyond hope, destined to die in the 10L pink tank they have just sold saying "give it two weeks and you can put fish in" then having the front to ask for your name and address, tank details before they will sell, apparently in the interests of the well being fish - tragic and cruel treatment of a live creature for a couple of quid.

Heartbreaking really.
 
then having the front to ask for your name and address, tank details before they will sell, apparently in the interests of the well being fish - tragic and cruel treatment of a live creature for a couple of quid
.

This is why I never buy from PAH. Their petcare advice is awful. The only reason I can fathom for taking purchasers name and ' is for marketing and data collection purposes - there's a huge market for data. The fact that their staff have no experience/knowledge of fishkeeping gives the lie to their reasons for taking names and addresses.

I asked why they needed the information and was told it's the law ! If this were the case, I'm sure large aquatic companies like MA would be complying.
 
Re: Dracaena

When I asked in my P@H about this, I was rudely told "all plants we sell are verified by the RSPCA as fish safe".
 
I wanted to check out other shops in my area (I love the one I use but it's always good to check out other options) so I went to a few and 'played daft', asking questions I already know the answers to. Some of the answers I got were shocking!

I also look for clean tanks (algae is a fact of life for all fish keepers but I did see one horrible tank with a very miserable, dull discus that I would have rescued if I'd had the knowledge and space for the poor thing).

I also ask about their quarantine procedures - to my mind, they should be happy to answer these questions if it means happy customers who come back.

My favourite LFS were also great when I was a total novice, helping me choose the equipment that was right for me, not just trying to sell expensive tat to a newbie.
 
Quarantine period
Tank Labelling
How long has it been open ? If its good likely to be longer
Specialisation - Freshwater, Sea , Koi (is it a jack of all trades master of none)
Does it look cared for No dead/ill fish, clean substrate (if any)
Customer Care - can they retain knowledgeable staff ?
High plant turnover & labelling
Reasonable Hardware selection
Ownership - avoid large chains
Parking
 
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