> I think the chain stores are to blame, anything the least bit difficult to
> keep or outside the range of bread and butter fish is a no no. A lot of fish
>
> farms have quit breeding anything difficult to please the chain stores. Since
> no
> body orders them why breed them.
One can't blame the chain stores, - it's the people who shop there who are
responsible. There IS a viable niche for the LFS: marines and oddballs. The
big boxes won't touch 'em. The problem then is this: Most LFS's just about
break even on their fish, when all is said and done. So where they make money
is on supplies. And guess where people buy their supplies?
There are certain manufacturers which cater to independent shops. I'm not
familiar with any within the pet industry (I think even Bil-Jac sells to the big
guys now), but they will not sell to chains, or sometimes even to distributors.
What the pet industry needs is for some enterprising soul to come up with a
product line that aquarists love, and then distribute it only through
independent shops.
So put your thinking caps on, guys. What features do you want to see in a
filter that nobody is offering? Or an air pump? Or a simple net?
--Irate
Charter member, DNRC
To me, it's a good idea to always carry two sacks of something when you walk
around. That way, if anybody says, "Hey, can you give me a hand?" You can say,
"Sorry, got these sacks."
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