Someone explain to me this!

[Aquattro]

Anthony, yes, in the early days, or as a blue moon check up, sure. But once you're in it, you need to own your own stuff.

[Reef Pilot]

Maybe you should have a poll... See how many freeloaders fess up...

[Scythanith]

I don't even care if people have their own kits. As long as they don't expect a free ride at the LFS. The LFS owner is paying for the supplies as well as the time it takes for their employee to do the test and analyze the results.

I think my LFS is something like $2 a test.

[christyf5]

I agree. I remember when I was doing FW and the LFS started charging for water testing. I had my own kits so it didn't bother me any but some people complained so loudly. Just buy the damned kits. At $2 a test why not buy the kit and make it 50 cents a test (or whatever the math is). I can see getting PO4 etc tested but the big 3 you should really have on hand.

[reefwars]

Originally Posted by Scythanith

I don't even care if people have their own kits. As long as they don't expect a free ride at the LFS. The LFS owner is paying for the supplies as well as the time it takes for their employee to do the test and analyze the results.

I think my LFS is something like $2 a test.

We entertaind the idea of charging $2 a test ...even posted the sign for a day but we decided we will do it for free but people have to wait until the next day to get their results , which i think its fair as we are often quite busy, I test water at the end of the work day when customers aren't around and it's quiet with more time i then email the results and what I find wrong or how to fix etc.

I have had customers bring me there water up to three times a week lol

For me to do a proper test , and discuss the issues or remedies can take quite some time , especially for a newer reefer and when a guy or girl is standing in line and has to wait for 20mins to buy his frozen food or heater while the lfs employee is testing someones water is kinda frustrating to the others waiting.

It's hard to please everyone but since it's a free service I think it's worked great .
I do push for people to buy their own kits and I always tell People what I think of a certain test or product........I'll flat out say its junk or bottom of the barrel if I feel this is true lol

[Chaloupa]

Couldn't agree more...it takes time, product especially if you're using quality test kits, and employee time. I own a small LFS....we were doing it allllll the time for one customer that was totally taking advantage of my staff....and taking advantage of my time and energy with using me to ask about product then buying it used from here or other buy/sell places.....it was a bit much and really drove me crazy...but my staff and myself just want to help people out...sometimes it never pays off.

[freeze]

I started off with the standard API when I was FOWLR. Now I have three different test kits for each.....I test twice a month on two kits. They should be close. Only took my water in once and that's when bad stuff was happening and I just couldn't figure it out. Tests are a must even if it's just an API kit. They aren't perfect but it's easy to tell what the bad colors look like. If your going to drop hundreds - thousands in fish and coral in your tank, 50-100 in test kits sounds like a decent investment.

[kien]

Even though the kits are cheap(ish), why not get the store to do it if they are free? People like free. It's a known fact. Some of the tests are also labour intensive. I can totally see why people would have a store test their water. And for those people, so long as the store facilitates it (with free or cheaper test) they will keep coming for them. And why not? It gets people into the stores where they can talk reef and maybe walk out with some new fish food, a net, that impulse buy fish, new skimmer or that fancy new plasma lighting everyone has been talking about!

Having said that, I have never had a store test my water. I'm too lazy to drive there every time I want a test. Now if I could just get Denny to come to my house to do water tests..

[lastlight]

Originally Posted by kien

Now if I could just get Denny to come to my house to do water tests..

Better free up a few hours