Alamo Aquatics?

[marcusgonzales210]

How would you rate alamo aquatics?

[Gilbert]

I stop by every so often, my chick and i mostly like to browse around and check out all the animals and fish.
Coral prices and sizes are pretty good but the selection is limited.
They have a good selection or dry goods and food at good prices.
Fish prices are a little high in my opinion.
Tanks and store is pretty clean.
I dont feel like im forced to buy something whenever i stop by.
And the hours are great.

[ErikH]

I went there looking for a jawfish. After two died, and the employees were giggling about it and all looked like they were all high as a kite, I decided too see if they would call me to let me know the status of the new one, and I never received a call. They knew I was irked but what was worse was the lack of regard for such a hard to keep fish. Especially after the guy I had been dealing with kept telling me how that was his favorite fish. The part that really made me mad was how I called the second time and they told me the fish was ready to be picked up. 15 minutes later the fish was dead? No, I was told by another employee that it jumped into a puffer tank and died overnight?

I ended up buying three helfrichi firefish from another store. I used to really like that store, and no nothing has changed. The store looks the same to me and the service is the same ol same ol.

I am not trying to offend anyone, but I was horribly offended by the lackluster service and poor attention to detail when dealing with a customer. I am sure you guys know who I am just from the post because you guys know what happened. Thank you for asking for our opinion, that was just one bad experience I have had there. I won't waste your time with another story like you did mine that morning.

Mods if you have to edit my post feel free, but it's just honesty, and there is no cussing which we all know how I talk in person. :)

I thank you very much for supporting MAAST, please take the above experience as constructive criticism from a knowledgeable and respected member of this community.

Erik

[marcusgonzales210]

how long ago was this? do you know the names of the employees? or physical characteristics? Did eddie snicker too?

[Agent Jones]

there needs to be a selection about bad customer service and bad products cause thats what i would select. i really havent had any bad things with the two choices you have available to pick

[ErikH]

how long ago was this? do you know the names of the employees? or physical characteristics? Did eddie snicker too?

You can ask your employees. I have no idea whom Eddie is. I just wanted a fish, or some correspondence. Maybe even an apology? Seems like you just want to poke fun and get people in trouble. This is the problem, thanks for pointing it out so perfectly.

[Gilbert]

Eddie is the owner

[marcusgonzales210]

You can ask your employees. I have no idea whom Eddie is. I just wanted a fish, or some correspondence. Maybe even an apology? Seems like you just want to poke fun and get people in trouble. This is the problem, thanks for pointing it out so perfectly.

Excuse me? Why would I apologize to you? I wasn't even there when it happened. I want to poke fun and get people in trouble? Are you serious? I'm sorry if I seem a little bit rude but you have no idea who I am and I had nothing to do with what happened to you.

[Agent Jones]

Excuse me? Why would I apologize to you? I wasn't even there when it happened. I want to poke fun and get people in trouble? Are you serious? I'm sorry if I seem a little bit rude but you have no idea who I am and I had nothing to do with what happened to you.

it may have not been you or you may not know who did it but i think he is coming from the view point of you being a representative of the company or store. when you ask for experiences and you get a bad one, the first thing to do if you have good customer service is to apologize. even if it wasn't you who did it. and then get to the bottom of what happened.

[Mr Cob]

How would you rate alamo aquatics?

Are you an employee of Alamo Aquatics or do you have a vested interest of some sort? Based on the previous posts it appears as though you have some sort of affiliation with the store.

Please clarify the purpose behind this thread.

[ErikH]

it may have not been you or you may not know who did it but i think he is coming from the view point of you being a representative of the company or store. when you ask for experiences and you get a bad one, the first thing to do if you have good customer service is to apologize. even if it wasn't you who did it. and then get to the bottom of what happened.

+1

[Agent Jones]

Are you an employee of Alamo Aquatics or do you have a vested interest of some sort? Based on the previous posts it appears as though you have some sort of affiliation with the store.

Please clarify the purpose behind this thread.

based on all of his post and his post in the Alamo Aquatics sponsor thread, he works for them.

[The Butcher]

it may have not been you or you may not know who did it but i think he is coming from the view point of you being a representative of the company or store. when you ask for experiences and you get a bad one, the first thing to do if you have good customer service is to apologize. even if it wasn't you who did it. and then get to the bottom of what happened.
+1

I think that you were hoping that perhaps people would generally give good reviews. Unfortunately you may not have expected bad experiences to be voiced right away. I hope that you take the criticism as a way to make the store better. The selection is ok, prices are average, but it's the customer service from the employees that, in all honesty, isn't very good (I was going to describe it another way, but I don't want to be edited). The knowledge that the employees seem to have about the items being sold is somewhat amusing. Maybe, instead of just ordering fish to sell, the employees should read about them (Google) and learn what the fish eat, if they are reef safe, what other fish they can mingle with, etc. I will drive across town if necessary and buy from a place where the employees KNOW what they are selling instead of just trying to make a buck. In my opinion, Alamo Aquatics isn't one of them. Good luck.

[marcusgonzales210]

First off I want to apologize for coming off a little strong. Reading past threads I know that we are not the perfect store. I truly am sorry about your jawfish. I know it sucks when you lose a fish. By asking about who it was I was going to try to find out who it was to get to the bottom of it. The reasoning behind this thread was to figure out where this store needs to improve. I am open to both positive and negative feedback.

[ErikH]

First off I want to apologize for coming off a little strong. Reading past threads I know that we are not the perfect store. I truly am sorry about your jawfish. I know it sucks when you lose a fish. By asking about who it was I was going to try to find out who it was to get to the bottom of it. The reasoning behind this thread was to figure out where this store needs to improve. I am open to both positive and negative feedback.

Ask around your store about a jawfish and a customer that never got one. Someone will speak up about it. If you guys want to compete in SA, you have some serious competition. You can "make rent" with all of your other fish/herps but as far as SW goes, you have less selection than Texas Tropical.....

You need to have some nice clean tanks displaying newer SW technologies and clean lit tanks with nice plumbing ETC if you really want to sell tanks.

You have to sell the beauty of saltwater aquariums as a whole, not just slap fish and corals in your 15 year old poorly lit tanks that are often right next to QT tanks, or what appears to be QT tanks. Talk with your distributors about getting some serious SW stuff in there and create a space to make it look nice and clean. Present the different types of tanks, reef or fish only, etc so you can create interest in your products. You all have a large store, it would be nice to see it refined.

[marcusgonzales210]

we're getting 4 new coral tanks setup soon. I do agree with you on the look of our tanks though. If it were up to me I would only keep saltwater, cichlids, and oddball freshwater fish. So all the tetras, barbs, etc. would be saltwater tanks. I really want to setup a nice show tank with some nice lps and sps corals. I really like your tank.

[CoryDude]

First off I want to apologize for coming off a little strong. Reading past threads I know that we are not the perfect store. I truly am sorry about your jawfish. I know it sucks when you lose a fish. By asking about who it was I was going to try to find out who it was to get to the bottom of it. The reasoning behind this thread was to figure out where this store needs to improve. I am open to both positive and negative feedback.

Marcus, I figured this was your position from your first post and appreciate what you're trying to do. Sorry others couldn't see that.

You guys used to be my store of choice, but then I started seeing more empty display tanks than full ones in '08. After months of coming by, hoping to see something new, and instead only seeing the same empty tanks, I quit shopping there.

Here's my recommendations:
1) Finish to SW display on the other side of the store that y'all have been working on for over 3 years!
2) Clean up that huge show tank in the middle of the store and get it working again. That's a huge tank, and if done right, could be a boost to your sales. Nothing gets customers to spend money like an impressive display tank.
3) Clean up the coral tanks, and stock them with something besides BTA's, brain corals, and mushrooms. Y'all need something that separates you from your competitors.
4) Start carrying some new, up to date products. I really haven't seen anything of interest in your dry goods section.

Best of luck to you!

[CoryDude]

Also, on your poll, I noticed you kept mentioning prices. I don't think high prices are the problem with AA. Y'all have always been pretty competitive in that aspect. My problem has always been more with the lack of selection than anything.

[ErikH]

we're getting 4 new coral tanks setup soon. I do agree with you on the look of our tanks though. If it were up to me I would only keep saltwater, cichlids, and oddball freshwater fish. So all the tetras, barbs, etc. would be saltwater tanks. I really want to setup a nice show tank with some nice lps and sps corals. I really like your tank.

Thanks for the compliment. You are welcome to come by anytime and talk shop. Try and get a couple of large displays with a couple of specialty tanks. Something like what Clone ReefCube and CPReefguy have done. The more modern look with high dollar SPS in it. Get your store to buy frags to grow in them from locals. Encourage the hobby and aquaculture. If more stores bought items from our local people and traded for store credit, it would probably grease the wheels all the way around. I trade alot of my corals for store credit whenever I need stuff. I setup my 45 gallon with money all from bartering corals. I know the stores that I barter with make money otherwise it wouldn't be worth it. People want rarity without risk. Oh for that big tank, 1000W MH Fish Only with a HUGE anemone.

[marcusgonzales210]

CoryDude and Scorpino, I couldn't agree more with you when it comes to variety! I'm going to try to get him to start getting sps corals. I don't think I've ever seen one there lol. And also some more dry goods. What would you guys like to see? I'm thinking those picotopes. We had a rimless fluval tank that had all six sides sealed. I though that was pretty cool. It only lasted like 2-3 days. Once we get those coral tanks setup I think we're going to make one a seahorse tank. I really want to get a better selection of inverts and better quality liverock as well. As for the tanks on the opposite side of the store, sorry to inform you but those are going to be african cichlid tanks and not saltwater tanks.

[ErikH]

Setup cubes! Cubes are just awesome. Rimless tanks are cool too, but you would need a static one because of the lighting, unless you have a floor based hangar. You guys just need to display things, especially corals, nicely. Make your stands a little taller for people whom are standing and put the drooler corals in front. Easy for sheezy. If I had the money, man o man. I would propogate like a madman. I need a bigger tank to make more money off of! Too bad we're on a second floor.

[Crazyeyes]

The store on sw needs to improve and hopefully you guys can do it to keep up with the other stores. You guys have way to many sw stores in that area that are competing with you but all they do is saltwater. You need to get better selection improve the look like scorpino was saying and finally get staff that knows a knowledgeable amount of sw, so when people ask a question or two they don't look so confused or I don't know look. Overall you need more tanks devoted to coral and inverts you currently do not have enough. Hope this helped.

[marcusgonzales210]

believe it or not we actually got some cubes in! I think we might have 1 28 gallon left and 2-3 12 gallons. All come with a free stand. The 28 gallon tank has a built in wavemaker. I bought the first one, it's still cycling though. Hopefully within the next week or two I can add some small frags. I really want to get him to buy some Pocillopora damicornis. The green ones look really cool. and some orange crush corals. Plus the more colorful zoanthids. not the regular plain jane ones. Something like the dragon eyes, spidermans, cat eyes, and everlasting gobstoppers. Have you seen everlasting gobstoppers? Those things have crazy color!

[Kyle46N]

I like the way you guys price corals....29.99 for all corals. The problem is the serious lack of selection. As a buyer, I like to be able to go in there and find those corals that are worth the 29.99, but they are few and far between. I understand the goal for you behind that price. You will get enough buyers to buy corals that are not worth that price (noobies), but still have people who know what they are doing come in looking for a steal. The former being more than the latter and you still make profit. I would invest on better lighting for your coral tanks. I don't mind your fish setup. It works. At the very most, I might put some cheap flourescent lighting over it. Stock more inverts. You have a decent little setup for those guys. Like someone mentioned, clean up that big tank. Easy fix, and it is an attractor to customers. You really don't have to do anything drastic. Just some basic fixer uppers and you guys will have made leaps and bounds.

[allan]

I appreciate customer service, top of the requirement for me. Not the hang on my elbow and push me to purchase kind of sales act, but a hello when I walk in, a walk by and "Can I help you" "Let me know if you need something or have a question" while browsing. This does a couple of things but most importantly, and hear this clearly, it identifies who works there, and who doesn't. I wouldn't expect you to start wearing a uniform, god knows I hate them, but I've approached a customer asking for assistance before here in town. Don't think it was y'all, but one of the lfs. As far as your shop is concerned when I want something I either get that dumbed down and searching look in my eye as I make eye contact with everyone until someone responds... or I send my daughter off to find an associate that can help me bag a piece. She knows your crew better than I.

The second thing, one that's been alluded to in the thread above, is that your store seems to be a SW after the fact. Let me explain, take no offense, sometimes you have stuff, sometimes you don't. Most of the time, as stated above, it's very common coral. Let me clean that up. You don't "always" have a saltwater selection (note, I don't think a hand full of coral and 12 fish are a selection). I imagine that it's a bit hard to establish any kind of ROP, reorder point, with fish and coral... but you should "always" have a variety on hand and for sale. I sometimes come in to just view the product, and if I bring the wifey she gloms onto something and presto I'm at the cash register. Set up a tank where you can get some fast grower not-for-sale corals that you frag. Keep our eyes on the expected frags to come.
The impression that I get, correct me if I'm wrong, is that you drop a bill on a shipment, but you don't reorder until the first shipment is sold. I can understand this method but to be successful you have to keep the operation fluid (excuse the pun) as opposed to disjointed or staggering as my current opinion holds.

I haven't been in all the stores in town, but out of the one's I've been in yours is the largest... and you have a huge 'warehouse' like area back in the reptile/rodent with absolutely nothing going on but a badly organized depository of forgotten equipment. Clean that up. I don't care personnaly as I have found that the hole in the wall shops are often the best, both for the low overhead transferred to the customer and as it seems that these shops tend to hold more experts.

That big tank in the middle, I agree with what the others said. I think, I could be wrong, that while visiting my daughter here in SA a few years ago, it was operational. I believe that it had a shark in there. In fact when I saw the shark egg in one of your tanks I thought you were going to open that up again. But it was for sale so I guess not. Having kept a SW tank for the last year I can appreciate the cost of keeping water available in that volumn... if you aren't going to use it why is it still up?

I recognize that you are an employee, perhaps even a supervisor, but your active participation in this forum indicates that you have a vested interest in the sucess of your business. I applaud that on a few levels, and can appreciate an employee who takes the initiative. The owner (edie?) probably is a bit busy with running the business and since it offers not just waterborne pets but attracts the herptologist as well, he may not have the time to focus on the watery pets as the other SW only places in town.

That being said, take a day off and clean up that big tank. get the water parameters back in check and put something into it. I do believe that when word gets out that it's up again you will have visitors just to see it and what's in it. It's at that moment that you deliver the impulse buy to the reefer who will not really want to leave without making a purchase... or perhaps that's just me. I typically won't go to any of the lfs without at least 30 to 40 dollars in my pocket.

And don't forget to keep your stock up and fluid. Establish an ROP for those items that are always going to sell. I am tired of seeing the same old zoas in the LFS. One of the reasons I like BB (haven't been to their new store) was that they had a large selection of corals that I didn't have. Their pricing system was always suspect but if I found something I really wanted...

Good luck dude, and if you need any help to clean out that tank I would be happy to volunteer... just give me enought time and a weekend and I'll be happy to help out.

Anyway, just my two cents and three cups of coffee...

[Kristy]

This store is closer to our house than some of the others where we spend our money. We used to buy from Alamo as newbies, but then quickly hit a wall where there was never anything there we wanted. The selection of fish seemed to be the same old cast of characters week after week. The selection of corals is almost nil... even when you have some in, they are all very plain. In my opinion, if you offer only a very basic selection of livestock, you will lose out on more experienced hobbyists who are looking for high quality selection, less common items.

An aquarium gets "full" on fish pretty quickly, but I like to say that there is always room for one more coral if you are offering something that catches my eye. Having a more interesting selection of coral would get you far, maybe some LPS, some color? Then you will need better lighting over the coral tanks in order for the color to stand out and for those corals to survive. This is the area where this store could make the most improvement.

Once in a while we will wander in for some much-needed dry goods at the end of the evening. When you HAVE gotten our sale, it has been because you were open later than other stores and we appreciate your hours.

I can't really say much about the customer service because the staff has not talked to us much at all and we haven't been in in a long time. (I have also had the definite experience in the past that Erik refers to where the staff seemed to be pretty high. It got to be a little awkward going there with our teenage girls. The discussion on the ride home turned into an after-school special.)

EDIT: Mike wanted me to add something about the visible problems with water quality that have been present time and time again. Every tank has its moments and every LFS has the occasional struggles, but this one seems to more than most.

[allan]

Ooh, I got another one for you. Have you been into the bass pro place? They have a room for antique and expensive rifles and guns. Almost feel like you can sip scotch and smoke a stogie in there.

How about making a room where you have select and pricey corals. If you walk in there you know the cost will be high but it also gives you the chance to see some of the other items that you can save up for. Perhaps do a consignment with some of the reefers here in town to bring in choice coral that are expensive and hard to find out in the LFS scene. I guess liability would be an issue as to keeping the coral but you would be attracting a certain customer with these offerings. Consignment would allow minimal investment on your part with a small return in the event of sale, but there are other staples that you can capitlize on while the customer is buying that piece.

Of course the reefer would have to have faith in your abilities to keep their pieces safe and healthy... and it may be easier for them to sell here on the forum, however not everyone is on MAAST, and sometimes it is much easier to drive to a known LFS rather than googling and address and driving through town to get there...

anyway, just more thoughts from the 'gallery.

[Mr Cob]

The reasoning behind this thread was to figure out where this store needs to improve. I am open to both positive and negative feedback.


Thanks for the clarification.

I was impressed with the store when I came in at the beginning of the year after not visiting for some time due to lack of coral variety, live stock in general and rude staff that always had conflicting advice. The store was always dirty too.

Prices on dry goods from what I have seen at AA have always been competitive. You have a lot of competition in the area and I would suspect keeping a fully stocked livestock section will help you keep people coming back in. Also, your posts in your sponsor forum about new shipments was a great idea to continue... AA will benefit because it lets all of us know what you have and encourages you to get better stuff since you are posting it publicly.

I think just by starting this thread you are showing the MAAST group that you do care and are willing to make changes.

[timmytimtim]

Let me start by saying that I like looking at AA and do buy salt from there because the price is good. But I've heard too many stories form employees that were not true. The only reason I say that is because they would tell me the story, then next week I'd hear the same story to another customer...but the facts are VERY different from what I was told. I even heard one employee telling the same story another dude told me before. I just lost faith in their knowledge base, and felt they were just trying to sell fish.

Secondly, and maybe it's just a military thing, I don't think the employees look/act very professional. I don't want to spend a lot of money in a store when the employee is wearing basketball shorts and flip flops. It just seems the lack of professionalism hurts the store. If the store is messy, the employees are messy and the tanks aren't clean...I don't want any fish from there. My wife won't even go in that store. Even when I tell her about a fish I see there, I have to google it on my phone and show her a picture. She says the store feels "creepy."

[studioone]

just my two cents from college station... My wife's family goes to a church off bandera.. whenever we are in town I get to visit lfs... AA used to be our only stop, but now we never even go there... i am into corals, not fish...

Used to have a lot, and I mean a lot of selection... used to be sea horses, acros, montis, sps, lps... I even bought a 10" crocea there... Really nice price it was... But last time i was there all they had was shrooms...

If you want to make money as a business, find out what sells.... Since you are on a marine fish/invertibrate forurm, chances are you will see a lot of people wanting that... your owner makes his money in the support equipment, (tanks, salt, food, etc.,. ) he might even barely break even on animals, maybe not, but I know for a fact that petsmart will buy from a wholesaler a fish that costs a $1 and sell it for $10... why? because the other 20 died, got ate, etc,,, and yet that is NOT the most profitable area... selling equipment is... GOOD equipment, tunze, korelia, wavemakers, etc..

get off your hiney and drive to houston... go visit keith at 'all about fish'.. he sells almost NOTHING but corals... and he makes a bundle... his tanks are spotless, his livestock healthy and rare, and he has the knowledge of what works and why...

or go to tnt reptile, fish gallery, city pets, or any of the other stores,,... go to austin and visit aquatec, rivercity, or any others..

see that they stock nudibranchs, weird crabs, mantis shrimps, ora and atl corals, rare zoas like nightmares, sopranos, hornets, clean up crews like cerith snails (15 for $10) nasarias, turbos, abalones, arrowcrabs, pistol shrimps, ribbon eels, morays, sharks, octopuses, sandsiftin stars, blue linkas, chocolate chips, leather corals, fingers, toadstools, dendronepthias, dendrophilias, yellow cukes, black cukes, tigertail cukes, sponges, ball sponge, breadcrumb sponge, and the list goes on and on and on... but it's 12:30 and im sleepy...

(oh... everything listed above can be found in one store alone, cept the zoas... not pushing a store, just saying this what is NORMALLY seen in a typical houston lfs)...

[JoshOdphi]

yea the store needs to improve a lot....im from kingsville and make the drive to san antonio on occasion...we try to hit up as many lfs as possible....as newbies...AA was a frequent stop...but after looking at other lfs we havent been goin quite as often...when we do its usually for dry goods....

yall HAVE to make something happen with that huge display tank...its a must....would bring in more customers...even experienced reefers..the store is huge and not much is being done with all that square footage....not to put your store down or anything ....but look at ed aquatics....small store...but man does he know how to use his space....good tanks with good equipment....huge selection of fish and coral....so to the owner i would say make an investment in more display tanks/equipment and clean up the store a bit....

fish prices are alright...not the best not the worst....but yea it seems like yall order the same fish in every shipment....we need more variety....same thing for coral...

as far as the work crew...eh younger crowd...not sure if id trust their judgement when it comes to fish/coral...would rather have a chat with someone more mature and experienced...the usual convo i've had with the work crew...if u could call it a convo is the usual " yall alright? need help with anything??....build some rapport with your customers....try to learn their needs and concerns....not sure if u've ever been in corpus...but at aquarium masters...eric/sherry are extremely helpful....they see you looking at something...he'll come over talk to you about the the fish/coral...lets you know bout their habits/needs....customers appreciate that...theyre not jus concerned bout making a sale but looking for the best interest of their livestock as well....i know sherry was sad when i told her my vlamingi tang i bought from them died in my tank....

so needless to say...usual stops include ed aquatics, aquarium designs, and reefs2u...well havent been there just yet but im sure they have it up and running as good or even better than when it was B&B....

just a heads up for you...like i said no pun intended...not personal just business...

[Kyle46N]

Someone mentioned you mostly have mushrooms only. I love different types of mushrooms, but even I can't find any variety with the shrooms that you carry. Pretty much the same ones. And like I mentioned before, they are one of the reasons I go in the store. You usually have a mushroom rock or two with close to 10 shrooms on it. Thats a good deal for 30 bucks if it is something other than ordinary.

[zerreissen]

I'd have to agree with everyone else on this.
You guys used to have a fantastic store with a great setup, great selection, and a wonderful staff. I used to love going into AA to see that huge SW tank setup with the green moray and all of the cool fish schooling around, and the huge FW tank with the arrowanas and what not.
You guys used to have a great setup in the back with all of the rarities similar to the setup at Aquatek, arrow crabs, urchins, etc.
I enjoyed going in there and talking to the nice, polite, and KNOWLEDGEABLE employees about all of the fish.
Now all of that is gone. The only thing I go into AA for now is dry goods. Your prices may be good, but most of us would rather pay just a bit more if we can get a great selection and talk to someone who knows their stuff.
This used to be a clean store, now when I go in, I don't get such a great feeling. A lot of empty tanks, dirty floors, dirty display tanks, etc.

You guys have a lot of potential, look where you came from, it's time to break out the elbow grease and shine!!

[sampsonndelila]

I hit it up every time I go in there, you really can't beat it. I have shopped this store many times.

[RayAllen]

I first shopped at Alamo Aquatics in 2003. when I do shop there I prefer to work with You-Marcus or Eddie. The two head guys are great but ive had some lackluster experiences with other employees over the years. Most of the time they are younger highscool aged kids so I honeslty dont let it bother me too much, i was that age once and had to work myself.

As far as the stores appearance, it could be better. It seem as if you guys have had the new tanks there for a while and just have gotten the time to set them up. (Im reffering to the tanks on the left if you are facing the store from outside) The enourmous tank that is left used to be pretty cool to look at not so much anymore.

Prices on livestock are average, ive seen better and worse so it is what it is.

I am impressed with the show tanks that you have for sale. Dry goods- food is priced well. Some of the equipment a little high though.

Would like to see a little more hard to find/unusual saltwater selection. As mentioned before it seems that you cater more to new hobbyist versus those of us who have been around a while.

All in All. Id give you a 6 out of 10. I still shop there from time to time so you get my business.

[marcusgonzales210]

I don't think the employees look/act very professional. I don't want to spend a lot of money in a store when the employee is wearing basketball shorts and flip flops. It just seems the lack of professionalism hurts the store.

I don't think that hurts the store at all. The majority of people want to shop at a place where the employees are very knowledgable. I don't think what you wear to work should matter. It doesn't make you any less informed about the task at hand. I'm assuming that your talking about the guy who has long hair and is part philipino. He is Paul and he's the main salt guy. He is also probably the one who some of you think is high. I can assure you that he does not do drugs. His eyes are always just like that. They don't look red to me. The reason he always laughs and is happy is because he's just that kind of guy. He loves his job and has a great personality. I don't see anything wrong with loving what you do and expressing your emotions. :)

As for the cleanliness of the store. I know it could use some work. We try to mop and sweep at least twice a week. We have had many complaints about a weird smell. I'm assuming it's the reptile side. Anyways we have added plug in air fresheners near the fans to give the store a somewhat more "pleasant" smell.

[studioone]

umm... just fyi, you should be moping and sweeping daily. My wife used to work at a LPS that had fish in the shop... they cleaned the tanks daily, cleaned the floor daily, changed every reptile's bedding daily, washed bird cages daily, etc.. it had to be spotless... used to be called petland in sa...

[mabel_photo6]

Ugh, I know I used to work at a Petland here in my city.
Totally blowed to be doing it every single day! But it had to be spotless.
I suppose it paid off.

As for AA. I used to ask questions and get good answers.
Every store has people who specialize in a certain part of the store.
I don't really ask many questions any more because I would sometimes get an answer I KNEW was wrong.
But I cut the guy some slack 'cause I knew he was more knowledgeable in another area of the store.
I'm sure it's a reason they work there because they have a passion for something and I totally respect that.

Every visit to S.A. I do indeed stop there at AA.
Where do you guys make stops?
My main ones are AA, Gabe's, Phenomenal Aquatics, and Fintique.
SOMETIMES Texas Tropical & Marine.
But I must admit, I visit AA because of their prices.

One of the times I made a visit, they explained the issue with the huge tank.
It's bent from the front and the glue is coming apart from one of the edges.
I believe they had to wait for it to leak, THEN they could get it replaced from where they purchased that monster tank.
So naturally, they emptied it out to prevent an innocent animal from possibly being left out to dry.

But really, I don't have ANY local fish stores in my city.
So I still enjoy visiting AA when I make a trip up.
And just so you guys know, I have to drive 2 1/2 hours to get to a local fish store!!
I just have Petco and finally Petland started carrying SWF like a month ago. LOL

[CoryDude]

Sorry, but I used to be a tank jockey at Aquatek years ago, and I had to mop/sweep every day before the store opened and have all the tanks cleaned every day.

I personally could excuse all the problems at your store if you have a better livestock selection. The store is less than spotless, the reptile side is a mess, the fish side could use some organizing, the employees aren't very knowledgable (they are very nice though), and the dry good selection isn't the best.......so what reason do I have to shop there?

Personally, I'd get Eddie shut the store for a couple of days, and give it a top to bottom cleaning. Reorganize some things, and maybe have a good coral order timed for the re-opening.

[marcusgonzales210]

I agree with you corydude. It sounds like a good idea to close for a few days but I don't think Eddie will buy it. He'd think about the thousands of dollars we'd be losing. Maybe a good in between thing we could do would be to shorten our store hours. Like stay open for 4-5 hours and use the other half of the day to clean. Once we get those four coral tanks set up though I'm sure that area will have a much greater variety. We would then have 10 tanks in that area.

If it were up to me I would have those tanks setup like this:
1. SMALL sharks/rays
2. Tons of different snails and hermits at $1.00 a piece
3. Anemones
4. RARE or COLORFUL mushrooms/zoas
5. Soft Corals
6. LPS Corals
7. SPS Corals
8. Frag Tank
9. Seahorses
10. Cheap corals. *For Beginners*

If we had a setup like that would you guys be a little more interested?

And what fish/corals/inverts would you like to see more of? Or should I ask in a different thread?

[Gilbert]

you should start a different thread to ask those questions, but whats the ETA on the new coral tanks that you mentioned?

[timmytimtim]

He is Paul and he's the main salt guy. He is also probably the one who some of you think is high. I can assure you that he does not do drugs. His eyes are always just like that. They don't look red to me. The reason he always laughs and is happy is because he's just that kind of guy. He loves his job and has a great personality. I don't see anything wrong with loving what you do and expressing your emotions. :)

Marcus,

I never said that I though anyone looked high. Paul has always been helpful whenever I'm in the store. All I was talking about was the level of professionalism displayed by the employee's appearance. I'm glad Paul loves his job...we should all be so lucky. I was in the store the day that Paul was working after having the wisdom teeth removed. I know he didn't want to take any pain meds because it messes him up. I would never accuse his of being high in the shop.

I will continue to shop there for my dry stuff. But you asked for feedback so I gave it. I didn't intend to offend you, but please recheck the comments, I didn't say that about Paul or anyone else.

[marcusgonzales210]

no no I understand. It was directed to others in the thread. Thank you though for seeing that he's a good helpful guy. :applause: