[Witfull]

very articulate group~

On a side note, I think nano cubes are the bane of the industry

these have always been around, Nano is just the latest name for them. for decades they were the "starter set." every store had them, the cheapest, most basic set up to get the marginal customer interested in fish. sticker shock is an understatement in this hobby. many people that are curious about the hobby, dont want to drop the cash if they arent quite sure if its for them. these folks, when i had my stores, i would steer towards freshies. i would literally talk for an hour to a new customer about SW, almost appearing to try and talk them out of it. seemed anti-retail, but either they went to freshwater fish (i still made sales and had a happier customer), a well informed SW customer that knew what they were getting into, or i lost a customer. (maybe a good thing). after my little disertation, and they wanted saltwater fish, they could only buy one thing on their initial trip. a good book. yes some wanted to buy right then and there, but it was a book only. after time went by, we had a strong following and grew by word of mouth. i actually had to have new to SW orientations. tuesday nights at 630, i still remember it well.

now wholesalers,,,hmm this is a rough trade to be in. they are at the mercy of suppliers for quality and selection. they are at the mercy of airlines.(bumped flights, boxes left sitting in the sun for hours, failure to call on arrival) they have overheads and losses, they need to recoup and profit. most are very good at this, if not they soon go out of business.

as expensive as this hobby is, i would gladly pay more if the cost would give a greater shipping survival rate of animals. this is the weakest link in this hobby, fresh or salt. transportation! we need to to get them beyond the sticker "Live Animals". many employees there just dont care. its a box. they need to have a penalty for failure to follow schedule. as of now, most only refund the cost of shipping...big whooptydoo. hit them with a fine of retail value of the shipment. this would hit them hard and i would wager, expitited, preferential treatment of "Live Animals".