gongora maculata

[LJA]

"Aquarium clients": do you guys have an aquarium store? I used to set up and maintain reef tanks for customers when I worked at a pet store in Virginia years ago....

[tnwren]

hey louis,
virginia... wow i grew up there! grew up in richmond, did my undergrad work in charlottesville, and my post grad work in glouster (williamsburg). what part of va are you from?
we would not have the patients for a retail shop, if you used to work in one then you know all the dumb questions and ignored advice that goes with a retail operation. dawn and i specialize in maint and set-up of large reef or planted fresh tanks. our clients are advised to never even get their hands wet, they just kick back and enjoy (and sign a cheque once a month). our systems surpass public aquaria because we have an unlimmited budget (hey, someone has to pay for all that grad school!!!)
good growing,
skip & dawn

[LJA]

Skip..

Small world--I spent about 10 years in Charlottesville from '85 to '95--great place. I worked for Pete Delis at Pet Forum. Of all the tanks I set up and maintained, only 2 were owned by folks who were willing to throw an "unlimited budget" at them where I had complete control. Even so, a lot of advice was still not taken; I'd say, "No fish without asking!"; they'd see some huge Emperator Angel that just came into the store, buy it when I wasn't working, and throw it into the reef tank. You can imagine the disaster I'd find, and the complaints that came because of it.

I think that "ignored advice" occurs in every field of human endeavor, not just retail. River Valley Orchidworks is a retail operation; what makes me feel good about running it is when people ask questions and really learn from them.

It's pretty gutsy, I think, to ask a question on a public forum where anyone can read your post, especially when you're a beginner. I haven't heard one question yet that I myself didn't ask when I was just starting out. I may have been "dumb" in some particular area, but I'd have stayed that way if I hadn't asked. And when someone writes or calls thanking us because of advice we gave that they followed, and now, they're growing better because of it, well, for me anyway, that makes running this particular retail operation all worthwhile.

I can't imagine that the situation isn't the same with you guys...