the sucking aquarium

fishman90G wrote: Holdencraft 33 wrote: So how do you really feel about Urban Aquatics?   lmao i was gonna say something sarcastic like that earlier but felt since i had nothing to do with why he is out of business, divorced and selling off all his stuff, i should just keep my mouth shut.

 That is really sad. He lost his business, and his marriage?

 wow....

 I haven't been paying attention here much. Your post almost implies that there are some who do have something to do with a man losing so much. Isn't this the guy who wanted to start a radio program for WMAS? Why would someone want to hurt him so much?

 So, in this thread, a great LFS has been slammed, a young kid and a ex small business owner. Looks like the MB hasn't changed much....

Suzy....I believe that The Aquarium was defended quite well. A "young" kid that brought the slamming here was rebuked. And A small Business owner that lost it all did it himself. ( This is the first I've heard about a divorce. So sad with her medical problems)

Edited by Holdencraft 33 - April 06 2008 at 2:18pm

Edited by mlmforsuccess - April 06 2008 at 7:42pm

Ok, I kept my mouth shut long enough......I don't know how Suzy can say the board hasn't changed much.  If you would notice, the person that started this post is new to the board.  This was actually his 2nd post.  The people that have been around for a while actually defended Brad and his store. There really hasn't been a whole lot of drama on here for quite a while, it seems like everyone is pretty much friends.  I know I have made some great lifelong friends in this club.  I don't like that anyone is slamming any of our LFS's. I am glad that Brad came on here and defended his store.  Not surprising that Suzy came on here and slammed the message board though.  It seems that the only time she "pops" up is when there is drama.

ya know .. I have to pop in here ... I started BST Aquatics thinking I would be able to help the board by not charging a arm and a leg for live stock .. I had a idea that I thought would be great and help the community ...  I have since come to the conclusion that it does not work that way .. you have to take into account the entire picture .. flat out the live stock is expensive .. Does The Aquarium charge more .. Yes they do .. its not a secrete .. but look at there store .. its awesome .. by far the best looking and cleanest store in the valley .. BTW that does not come cheep ..  

I will say with 100% conviction that people on this board are very very very very lucky to have the resources that they do in the area and that were they in ANY other market they would be  paying much much higher prices.  It's not that they are more educated (many are) but they don't devote half the budget towards reefing that hobbiests in other regions do.

 From my personal experience in other locations everyone on this board is willing to pay about 1/2 of what others in the country pay for used equipment and even corals for that matter.  However that worked out I just hope that everyone knows how lucky they are and that they seem to have somewhat of a control of the market value of products in their area.........

There are a lot of people however that seem to want things for nothing, I've never seen anyone actually ask someone to drive an item to them that they are giving away for free, I've seen it twice now on this board, I've also seen items not even being able to be given away or sold for less than 1/10 of market value......

It seems there are a decent number of serious hobbiests and many that wouldn't be in this hobby if they weren't able to get nearly everything for dirt cheap-

Bottom line its a very very hard market anyway to make margins in and in this market it seems that even making any margin is nearly impossible.  So i'd say everyone should count themselves lucky to be in the location they are and appreciate all the resources they have available to them.....


Edited by dew2loud1 - April 07 2008 at 2:26pm

people on this board are very very very very lucky to have the resources that they do in the area and that were they in ANY other market they would be  paying much much higher prices.

I blame it all on Utah Rock 

No seriously, I think there are a lot of people in the hobby in Utah because of the cheapness/freeness of Utah Rock, this is a commodity that we have that pretty much no one else has.  I can tell you in all seriousness, that if it weren't for Utah Rock I wouldn't be in the hobby because I wouldn't be able to save the money to buy the rock needed just to get started.  Because of this, you tend to get a lot of enthusiastic hobbiests, who don't have a ton of money (or as much as say, hobbiests in different regions of the country), and consequently are looking for the cheapest prices possible.  I am undoubtedly a cheap hobbiest, and am not ashamed to admit it.  People are prone to look for the cheapest price possible, and because of the freeness of Utah Rock, I think it brings down the expectation of the local fish economy all around.

I agree with Shane here. I know my self and yes I do like to get items at a great price. I mean I do look around alot for th best price. The net has helped alot of people with that. But unlike some people I do drive very far at times just to get something nice. Yes Aquatic Dreams has nice corals and it is the closet LFS I have but I also drive over a hour just to go to aquatica because I like how they treat me. I also like that they have a live guarantee that most don't carry, So its worth the drive. I would have to say though The Aquarium does have a great looking store and they treated me very well.  I think we all for the most part find things we like and dislike about stores.  I mean things that might happen to me might not happen to you and so how you feel about the store is not going to be the same.

I have to say though I like WMAS and glad it is here even though i'm not a paid member




Edited by firefighter6681 - April 07 2008 at 3:06pm

Shane H wrote: people on this board are very very very very lucky to have the resources that they do in the area and that were they in ANY other market they would be  paying much much higher prices.   Can't say I totally agree with this statement. I've been to fish stores in many other cities in the U.S. as well as Germany, France, Sweden, Turkey and England. Some items may be priced lower here, but from my obervations the prices and selection were actually quite similar.  I've since stopped making the effort to find LFS when I travel because they are so similar world-wide.

I was referring more to the hobbiest ( used equipment) sector not retail, retail here is very similar to everywhere else actually higher than what I pay in the midwest on livestock, but the corals/fish species that come in vary significantly, some things are cheaper some things are more expensive...

Very good point with the utah base rock, I remember paying  $9 a pound when I first started out, luckily it was only a ten gallon nano, but that was a big hit back then.  For most people starting out the cost of live rock is the most daunting, telling anyone the price to stock even a 29 gallon with $7 lb rock turns them off in a huge hurry!

Either way, I think that everyone is very lucky to have the resources that they do......