13 replies to this topic

[Thalassic Park]

hi,
I would like to hear peoples views and statistics on the aquarium industry.
Is it in a growth stage? booming, steady or no growth?
Is there an increase of aquarists employed in the industry?
Are you happy with level of fish education by your lfs provider?
Can any one give me a web site to view financial statistics?
thankyou.

[peddigree]

I can feel this is gonna be a huge topic !! I think its growing i know quite a few people who are getting into it ! And it would be nice if people at the lfs new a bit more ! But not everyone is perfect !
thats my 2 cents

[00 MooRRii 00]

I agree.. its growing slowly but surely IMO.

I do agree with peds though I think that staff at shops should be more educated, i hope it never gets to the stage that it is at in the US. Where people start out with a 5gal started with an oscar and RTC.

[BengaBoy]

it would be interesting to see some stats on number of lfs per head of population for Perth versus other capital citys and o/s etc

off topic: 'Thal' I saw your entry in the Breeder's register. what variants of duboisi and annectens are you breeding?

cheers

Steve


Does RR stand for Rolls-Royce or Red Rainbow?

[shaperau]

it is a bit concerning that people keep bagging the staff at the fish shops. I have never owned or even looked into running an aquarium shop, but I honestly dont imagine they are making funny money. if you are not making a big profit (not per item but overall sales volume) your just not in a position to hire only experts for people to leech of information, when they have a dozen books or so which they sell (would you buy a book if the person at the lfs told you everything you need to know??). Again i dont know what these people earn, but i cant imagine that lfs staff would get paid any more than checkout chicks/guys at department stores. no person with real qualifications will work for $25,000 a year (without huge amounts of job security or any room for advancement in a career, which there is obviously none in the lfs industry). So that means that the owners of the shops must hire hobbyists. these hobbyists must try and know a huge amount of data about a huge number of species. but if they are spending time allowing you to leech of their knowledge, and then you go and buy the majority of your supplies from online stores and your fish privately where does that leave them ? It comes down to the fact that people will either want service or cheap prices (and how often do debates start on this forum about how lfs "overcharge" for their stock??). the whole situation probably isnt helped by all the general purpose pet shops selling fish either (they will obviously have less knowledge and probably poorer quality fish). anyway i dont know if i have a point so ill just say that is my 2c

[Dawson83]

Hey

I think that the industry is growing for sure. There has been quite a few new fish shops open, as well as old ones going through major upgrades. But at the same time I'm not sure if demand is increasing as fast, as I know of at least one shop that shut down its fish section (although it was never in a particularly good location).

And I think it is reasonable to expect someone selling you fish to know about them. They don't have to be an icthiologist, but should at least know the needs of the fish they are selling. And I'm sure there are heaps of fish hobby-ists who'd like to work in a fish shop (at least part time or casual), as I'm one of them. So I don't think it'd be too hard to find people allready educated enough.

Also I think service will always be a big part of this industry. I wouldn't go back to a place where I got bad service, even if the fish were a bit cheaper.

Cheers

Aaron

Cheers

[calvus75]

Hi Shaper,

I think you have raised some fair comments from the other side of the coin there.


p

[saudukar]

Well speaking as someone who has worked in an aquarium store for 5 1/2 years and working in other pet industry jobs for a couple of years. I think its a bit harsh to judge stores based on 1 or 2 occurances you may have had with them. Different stores have different approaches to fish keeping and fish stocks. Saying one store is better than another is totally subjective.

If I had to say anything about growth of the industry I would say it has grown about the same as the population base. Which means it has stayed at the same level but increased in locality as suburbs spread outwards.

As for education of staff. Some employers finds it to be a much better solution to hire on minimum wage and educate the staff on the job while this is not instantly a good solution a long term employee becomes a real valueable member regardless of their inital inexperience. I mean university educated people would demand a higher wage than your normal aquarium store would be ready to offer for employment. Though sometimes when I go into a store I wonder if the employees have any interest in learning about the trade whatso ever.

Dont ever bag aquaruim store staff. Im sure at one stage of your life you pronounced Cichlid as "chick-lid" and where not as educated as others in the hobby. No one can pronounce themself "all knowing". Teaching others about the interesting habits and quirks of these deliteful fish increases the knowledge base and gets you friends for life. Bitching and moaning stores/people gets you nowhere.

Price of fish is subjective too. All the end consumer see's is the price in the tank. What you dont see if the initial breeders mark up then the wholesalers markup then the final price on the Tank. Depending on how many hands a fish has gone through and how they where aquired its not always the shops markup that is the largest percentage. I mean its all well and good to pick up a nice home breeders selection for a nice price and do a fair markup but realistically this isnt always available. Sometimes you have to decrease your markup on wholesale fish because you have stocked the exact same fish for less but you didnt do a fair markup on it and you constantly get "But this used to cost X" "Such and such is selling it for X" because they are still stocking the fish they got for a good price. Realistically wholesale fish vary on price GREATLY from day to day,month to month. Most shops also enjoy purchasing from home breeders but they also enjoy getting the fish for a fair price aswell.

I really dont think your going to get much info on financial statistics in the aquarium trade. You might get a broad one for the pet trade as an entirety and aquarium as a suboutlet.

[Thalassic Park]

hi,
Pet Magic does have Environmental Science Graduate working for them. She's good but I still don't agree with all her advise.
Thats the nature of aquariums. Its' not so much right and wrong its more to do with effort in = reward gained. Although I have come across dedicated novices who put in too much effort only to have serious problems. There are some definant rules To keeping fish. I believe books are important even if you do have a knowledgable LFS dude (pictures). As you may not remember all the advise offered on the day. With 30,000+ spp. You would have to be dedicated.

[OgTimGr]

Good to see a topic full of reasoned comments.

I worked in a LFS in Melbourne for three years on a part time basis and have seen the trade as both a hobbyist and as LFS employee.

While there have been comments on this forum about the lack of knowledge of some LFS staff you must remember how broad our hobby has become.

For example I would doubt that many Cichlid keeprs could authoritatively comment on native fish, killifish or even koi for that matter so spare a thought for the poor LFS employee who has to answer the questions from the often passionate specialists and also from the newcomer who can't seem to find the neons that he put in with his oscar last night . . .

We should also support our hobby both in terms of the LFS, breeders and online suppliers.

I have a number of shops I regularly visit despite knowing that I could save a few $$ by shopping online or buying privately. I do plan to buy some things online though as it will let me get some things I couldn't otherwise afford, likewise with some fish species trading with another hobbyist can be the only path to the rarers ones. Online shops are also great for people in remote locations or for people who for various reasons cannot get down to their LFS.

If you look at how you started in the hobby was it because you shopped online or bought from a private breeder or was it the helpful staff at the LFS or helped you start out in a very rewarding hobby. . .

tim

[Thalassic Park]

excellent points. It was an lfs that sold me my first tank a 30 incher woohooo.

[melshaw5]

For the most part I personally think that the industry has
grown... Word of mouth is a big thing in society. I remember
looking at a friends tank and wanting one desperately. It took
a long time, but I got one...then two then three then some
more.... Then a friend of mine saw the fish and the setup and
went and got a tank...then another.... then another. Then
another friend and another. I met someone not long ago
that has about 10 tanks. Not a breeder but just a hobbyist.
So I would have to say that the industry had gotten bigger and better.It amazed me how many people have fish.

Everyone has opinions on what should and shouldn't be put
together in this or that much water, with this or that type
rocks and I must admit that I too am guilty of telling people
what I think because it worked for me. At the same token I
have listened to the advice from a fish shop only to do the
exact opposite (despite my better judgement) and things
turned out pretty smooth. So, you cant blame anyone really
you can only try your best to be educated as fish shop
employees do.

Sorry to go on !!

[Thalassic Park]

I think aquarium keeping is both an art and a science.
trial and error. a little of sculpture and floristry & biology and engineering.