Push Cart @ thomson Plaza

[desideria]

Hey guys,

I can't help it but I have to highlight this... was at thomson plaza over the weekend and guess what I saw at the atrium being sold at one of those push carts.

Dymax IQ5 Setups of both Freshwater and saltwater.

The setup for the freshwater had chichilids ( I think I have spelt it wrong) and had black substrate with some decor in it and the freshwater plants. though it looked nice, in my opinion it was already too crowded as I could at one glance count at least 6 fishes inside the IQ5 and from my rough knowledge, this sort of fish do grow quite big.

But being a salt water enthusiast, my attention was naturally diverted to the supposedly SALT WATER setups of the IQ5 on "sale" for.. get this $250 to $300 .... And what did it entail?

1 Gornio, 2-3 little rocks, another hard coral ( I think it was common zoos) and 3-4 fishes which was always a BLUE TANG, damsel , firefish or a clown fish..( a mixture of these 4 kinds).

In one of the IQ5 setups, I saw 3 tiny blue tangs in there.

Needless to say, our jaws dropped. A Blue TANG in an IQ5, not to mention clownfish.....

We casually mentioned to the gentleman manning the store that Blue tangs grow quite big and the guy said : "yeah they grow but in this small tank, they won't grow at all because restricted by the environment..."

and we walked away before I could explode with indignation.

so please, if any novice is reading this.. please do NOT buy from that pushcart!

Or at least in my opinion, please do not buy as not only is it a complete rip off, it is totally irresponsible to market to the public saltwater and freshwater setups like that!

[iskay]

Cichlids.

"the earth does not belong to man, man belongs to the earth. All things are connected like the blood that unites us all. Man did not weave the web of life, he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself." - Chief Seattle.

[Ketchup]

yalor... pay me 250/300 i do nice nice pico for u! LOL

[poomoon]

Hey guys,

I can't help it but I have to highlight this... was at thomson plaza over the weekend and guess what I saw at the atrium being sold at one of those push carts.

Dymax IQ5 Setups of both Freshwater and saltwater.

The setup for the freshwater had chichilids ( I think I have spelt it wrong) and had black substrate with some decor in it and the freshwater plants. though it looked nice, in my opinion it was already too crowded as I could at one glance count at least 6 fishes inside the IQ5 and from my rough knowledge, this sort of fish do grow quite big.

But being a salt water enthusiast, my attention was naturally diverted to the supposedly SALT WATER setups of the IQ5 on "sale" for.. get this $250 to $300 .... And what did it entail?

1 Gornio, 2-3 little rocks, another hard coral ( I think it was common zoos) and 3-4 fishes which was always a BLUE TANG, damsel , firefish or a clown fish..( a mixture of these 4 kinds).

In one of the IQ5 setups, I saw 3 tiny blue tangs in there.

Needless to say, our jaws dropped. A Blue TANG in an IQ5, not to mention clownfish.....

We casually mentioned to the gentleman manning the store that Blue tangs grow quite big and the guy said : "yeah they grow but in this small tank, they won't grow at all because restricted by the environment..."

and we walked away before I could explode with indignation.

so please, if any novice is reading this.. please do NOT buy from that pushcart!

Or at least in my opinion, please do not buy as not only is it a complete rip off, it is totally irresponsible to market to the public saltwater and freshwater setups like that!

yes i've seen that as well ... this is their site --> http://www.pocketocean.com/

[TayHongSiang]

we r generally living in a fast-paced, inpatient, nano society, who dun really give much tot about the larger community...and one good eg, are drivers who changed lanes w/o signalling or just park their car in a narrow road and expect other drivers to squeeze their way thru...n trust me there will be some pple who will buy and put them on their table...its just like hamsters, rabbits, dogs n cats...after they get bored with it...they just dump them somewhere...

[poomoon]

it's like the news about the chihuahuas ... because of celebrities owning and showing them off, plus films like beverly hills chihuahua, the population of these dogs in LA grew to a staggering 60,000 ! and now more and more are being abandoned especially by newbies who thought it was easy to take care of them ... good that there are still samaritans out there who are rescuing them and finding them new homes, to as far as edmonton canada ...

[TayHongSiang]

we r also damaging the reefs by demanding more corals and shipments...every week, 300 boxes of corals from sulawesi goes to US and less than 10% are aquacultured...no one is a saint down here

[peacemaker]

I'm not surprised if they are members of SRC.

[TayHongSiang]

I'm not surprised if they are members of SRC.

lol!...funny

[Gouldian]

I'm not surprised if they are members of SRC.

If they are members of SRC then that will be a shame. Was there a few months ago and chance on the "advises" they have given to potential customers - holly cow!!!! I walk away shaking my head.

[pokmingsheng]

i've brought this up before but didnt do a write up on it...

my mum knows the boss.. its a family business...

they got their stock from one of our sponsors here..

i've asked them before if they frequent SRC,

and apparantly they do.. sadly...

[TayHongSiang]

i've brought this up before but didnt do a write up on it...

my mum knows the boss.. its a family business...

they got their stock from one of our sponsors here..

i've asked them before if they frequent SRC,

and apparantly they do.. sadly...

they r not the ones who invented IQ1,2,3,4,etc..though...they r merely repackaging the product and reselling them...chopping their business will not solve the root of the problem....someone has to educate dymax that this small little tiny tank cannot sustain marine life in the very long run...u know wat i mean

[MarcoVan]

i've brought this up before but didnt do a write up on it...

my mum knows the boss.. its a family business...

they got their stock from one of our sponsors here..

i've asked them before if they frequent SRC,

and apparantly they do.. sadly...

I think when money comes into the equation of a hobby, the hobby is no hobby. It's called business.

That's why in business, you do away with ethics, culture, societal views and perceptions.

As a businessman/woman, your equation is always X - Y = Z, given X is your earnings from the business, Y is your supply costs and Z is of course, your profit! So a bigger X with a smaller Y ie higher turnover rate of how many Dymax IQ3 you sell a week will assure you a fatter Z. So will anyone doing business care about Mother Nature etc? To me, very unlikely. if there's a likelihood they will, those idiots in China will not add protein chemicals into baby milk powder and similarly, alot of big nations will sign that Kyoto Protocol, and reduce greenhouse gases being released into the atmosphere, or stopping overfishing of blue tunas, preventing the polar ice caps from melting, saving many many of other wildlife and creations of Mother Nature. This really sucks

Period.

[Ketchup]

AhSiang, I don't think it's dymax's fault. I think IQ3/IQ5 etc is great if it's in the right hand. For instance, a friend of mine is using it for his freshwater shrimps. Desi and Comycus also use it for PICO without any problems. The problem lies with the seller (by selling a non-sustainable system) and the owner, who don't do research. It happens everywhere.

Even if you give a irresponsible reefer a 6 ft tank, he may ended up keep a hammerhead shark...

[Ketchup]

Sadly Marco is right... However, i do feel that responsible seller will reap the rewards in the long run. For example, whoever bought the systems from them will most likely not patronise them again in future.

Hence, this type of business will usually not last long.

[TayHongSiang]

AhSiang, I don't think it's dymax's fault. I think IQ3/IQ5 etc is great if it's in the right hand. For instance, a friend of mine is using it for his freshwater shrimps. Desi and Comycus also use it for PICO without any problems. The problem lies with the seller (by selling a non-sustainable system) and the owner, who don't do research. It happens everywhere.

Even if you give a irresponsible reefer a 6 ft tank, he may ended up keep a hammerhead shark...

i dun mean to pinpoint anybody...i ever tot of using IQ5 to keep a emperor angel...but i think if this product does not exist, then this problem would not have come about...that's wat i'm driving at...

anyway...relax abit...look at this british bulldog...enjoying classical bach music...take it easy guys...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIO_ZHdPasU

[desideria]

actually I think it's a great product provided the ppl who buy it know what they are doing

it's like now I have it in my office a number of colleagues ask me about it and they ask me : easy right so small?

I proceed to tell them the details and the work required and they realize it's not easy. And the only reason y it looks easy to them is because I have a 4 footer at home to take "matured" water from. even with my 3 yrs of experience, I tell my colleagues that I barely touched the tip of the iceberg of reefing knowledge lol

sadly we all know a biz is still a biz and that's the way the world is... buyer beware la

[iskay]

It's a responsibility of conscientious hobbyists like us to try to spread the word on how to pursue this hobby with the least amount of impact to mother nature.

The shop targets impulse buys which is hardly a sustainable business model. Consumers are a clever lot - once bitten, twice shy.

To make their business more sustainable, they should learn, practice, and convey to their customers the sustainable ways for running those tanks. Blue tang in such tanks = NOT Sustainable. Ich the next day - dead fish soon after - sobbing child - angered parent - disgruntled consumer vowing not to patronize again.

I think the business owners would like his business to be sustainable rather than a fad that goes bust after a while. (their business capital goes up lorry)

So if he (they) are reading SRC, they are welcome learn from the combined years of reefing experience in this forum that can go upwards of 100 years!

[Gouldian]

AhSiang, I don't think it's dymax's fault. I think IQ3/IQ5 etc is great if it's in the right hand. For instance, a friend of mine is using it for his freshwater shrimps. Desi and Comycus also use it for PICO without any problems. The problem lies with the seller (by selling a non-sustainable system) and the owner, who don't do research. It happens everywhere.

Even if you give a irresponsible reefer a 6 ft tank, he may ended up keep a hammerhead shark...

Agree! It is not impossible to keep saltwater fishes in IQ3 its a matter of choosing the correct livestock and knowing how to maintain the parameters.

[poomoon]

actually I think it's a great product provided the ppl who buy it know what they are doing

it's like now I have it in my office a number of colleagues ask me about it and they ask me : easy right so small?

I proceed to tell them the details and the work required and they realize it's not easy. And the only reason y it looks easy to them is because I have a 4 footer at home to take "matured" water from. even with my 3 yrs of experience, I tell my colleagues that I barely touched the tip of the iceberg of reefing knowledge lol

sadly we all know a biz is still a biz and that's the way the world is... buyer beware la

unfortunately, because of the business, they can't seem to say things straight to the interested newbie buyers. when they first opened i even saw in an IQ3 2 blue tangs, a clown, a BTA, Zoas, and what seemed to be a bad state of health gonio ... and the corals were not even frags for nano / pico ... but in the eyes of newbies and specially kids, they're cute, i want them ... now !

[Gouldian]

i've brought this up before but didnt do a write up on it...

my mum knows the boss.. its a family business...

they got their stock from one of our sponsors here..

i've asked them before if they frequent SRC,

and apparantly they do.. sadly...

Even is faulty clock is right twice a day.

I believe most here are not condemning their business but hoping to create more awareness towards the proper husbandry of saltwater aquariums.

Kiko, since your mum knows them you may want to share with them more. If need help, I can volunteer.

[mopiko]

bro Goudian, i like this phase from you "If they are members of SRC then that will be a shame. "

It is even more shameful that there are some old timers LFS in town who give out such advices too.

I'm not familiar with butterfly fish. Imagine I was told by a LFS that ornate butterflyfish is super easy to keep, take pellets readily and rare!. Luckily, consulted an experience bro and was told otherwise.

[TayHongSiang]

I'm not familiar with butterfly fish. Imagine I was told by a LFS that ornate butterflyfish is super easy to keep, take pellets readily and rare!. Luckily, consulted an experience bro and was told otherwise.

LFS will,...most of the time tell u its easy...

some examples..."is marine fish and corals easy to set-up?" - standard answer: easy

"is sps easy to keep?" - standard answer: easy

"is this fish easy to keep?" - again the same answer: easy

"is it easy to maintain a marine aquarium?" - again the answer: easy

"is it easy to get this fish to feed?" - yawning away....n the answer is...easy

[pokmingsheng]

unfortunately, because of the business, they can't seem to say things straight to the interested newbie buyers. when they first opened i even saw in an IQ3 2 blue tangs, a clown, a BTA, Zoas, and what seemed to be a bad state of health gonio ... and the corals were not even frags for nano / pico ... but in the eyes of newbies and specially kids, they're cute, i want them ... now !

they started out 1-2 months after the world cup last year.. did anyone notice the mini octopus they placed in the IQ3?!

Even is faulty clock is right twice a day.

I believe most here are not condemning their business but hoping to create more awareness towards the proper husbandry of saltwater aquariums.

Kiko, since your mum knows them you may want to share with them more. If need help, I can volunteer.

my mum dont know them personally, but knows them cos she has a pushcart at thomson plaza as well, and she knows i'm into the marine hobby, thats why she went to talk to them and they exchanged numbers.. haha..

i dont know them well, if not i would have told them off already.. they might just tell me to mind my own business while they mind their own if i bring this up.. hahahhaa

[desideria]

lo siangz.... "easy" that sounds familiar from the first LFS I got stuff from 3 yrs ago.