LFS won't stock CA/SA Cichlids

[joe jaskot]

Stores stock what sells. If South and Central American cichlids were selling, stores would stock them. Simple as that.
Years ago all the stores had South and Central American cichlids. Along came the African cichlids and the demand for S & C American cichlids dropped. But IMO, they are regaining popularity.

 

[Montelboom]

If I remember correctly a guy named Cory that owns both his own shop and a store in Washington called Aquarium Coop. He said that SA/CA cichlids aren't that profitable, take up a fair bit of space in store, sit for a long time which the space could of been used for something that really sells, and generally most people don't have a strong interest in them. There was some other points he made too, but I forgot exactly which video he said that in to show you all. I'll see if I can find it.

 

[krichardson]

I gotta admit I have not been making many store rounds lately but the places that I did frequent did not carry very many Africans.Also,there is very little discussion of Africans on MFK.

 

[ragin_cajun]

My LFS has 2 tanks for CA/SA out of 40.

And now they say they won't take trade-ins from me anymore. They sell JD's and Oscars, but they won't take a 10 inch Bifa? I offered to GIVE it to them, they said no. I'd think they could get $40-60 for that, I have 2 anyway.....they didn't want it. Midas? They won't take 'em--"too mean".

It's just baaaaddddd over here for SA/CA cichlids.

 

[Vukmir13]

In these crazy times of supply and demand, it's excellent to know that my LFS is Monster Aquarium in Flushing and they basically have anything and everything I could ever want. I also am an avid Rapps customer so between the 2, there isn't much I don't have access to. Unfortunately, this isn't the case for everyone.

 

[cichlidfish]

I agree with everything said here.
A LFS near me currently list 202 African cichlid and 90 CA/SA cichlid species. You go to the store, and they really have less than half of either. But you can always count on them having more African cichlids. They have display tanks that are African or other fish. They could easily do something for CA or SA.
There was a few other small ma and pa shops, but they only carried small community fish, but went out of business.
There is one left, and they never have any CA/SA cichlids at all.
I think part of their failure is competing w/ chain stores like Petsmart or Pet co.
Maybe if LFS found a more niche market or diversified a little, maybe they would be more successful.

 

[darth pike]

If I remember correctly a guy named Cory that owns both his own shop and a store in Washington called Aquarium Coop. He said that SA/CA cichlids aren't that profitable, take up a fair bit of space in store, sit for a long time which the space could of been used for something that really sells, and generally most people don't have a strong interest in them. There was some other points he made too, but I forgot exactly which video he said that in to show you all. I'll see if I can find it.

Cory's store is pretty small, and when he does bring in things like Geo's and even some Westies they do sit there for a while (I visit his place fairly often despite the drive, it is well worth it). But he will order in anything for people. One local cichlid guy recently got festae and dovii through Cory so that helps alleviate it.

Only one store in the area focuses on SA/CA, which is why people drive the 100 mile round trip to it. But since the owner switch they've been sadly declining.

 

[superrob750]

I have pretty much given up on my local stores. They make it hard to trade in or give fish away. I still stop in to buy my selection of frozen food and other odds and ends. I now use the local Facebook fish pages for selling and trading.

 

[azmtns]

Remember that you can also put in two to thee times as many african cichlids (mbuna, haps) into a tank compared to centrals or south americans. Even if the sizes are the same at maturity... overstocking works well for africans and not as well with SA/CA cichlids.

 

[cichlidfish]

This thread reminds me-I've been unable to sell or even give my large male syn away. I just decided to keep him as he's a great fish. It just means I'll hold off on stocking plans or get more tanks.