With several holidays on the horizon, we know that the broader holiday ‘shopping season’ is imminent and with it, offers of screaming deals on lots of necessary and desirable aquarium gear. We don’t have to tell you that it’s been an incredibly tough year for almost everyone, the home-based aquarium hobby has had an easier time of it, especially the online retailers, but it’s a much tougher situation for the retailers, including the local fish stores.
Black Friday is around the corner, followed by Small Business Saturday aka #LFSSaturday, with Cyber Monday not far behind, but we want to encourage you to support your local fish store. Amazon doesn’t care about your local reefing community, and neither does reef depot or saltwater marine supply, but the better saltwater aquarium stores in your area certainly have a stake in supporting your local events, clubs, and organizations.
If we share any shred of the same reef aquarium DNA then one of the best things in life is dropping into the LFS, and finding a coral frag, a colony, or an aquarium fish that you can’t see yourself living without. Furthermore, being able to pick up one last critical piece of equipment for a build, a medication for a sick fish, or fresh Chaeto for your refugium from your local fish store is a luxury that is easy to take for granted.
We all probably go out to eat much more often than we go to the local fish store, so a lot of effort has been made to support neighborhood restaurants and eateries. However we’re here to make some noise on behalf of the great institution that reef shops and aquarium stores have become in our larger aquarium communities. We practice what we preach, making a habit of picking up some basics like fish food, additives, or filler invertebrates that we don’t absolutely need, but know will collectively go a long way to supporting our LFS.
Your local fish store doesn’t need just financial support – as a 10+ year veteran of working the aquarium retail scene, it can be hard to find the motivation to go in every – single – day to make sure the fish are fed, and all the water is flowing in the right direction. Simply showing up and buying something simple is a great gesture to encourage your LFS owners and staff that you value their establishment, and appreciate their services.
