Texas Holey Rock ????

[Jaclin]

Re: Texas Holey Rock ????

GREAT rock! Wow.

If the catfish ever comes out (and stays out long enough) could you try to snap a picture of him? I'm really curious! Oh, and the little fish that came with the shrimp, too. Surprises are great!

Hi.  The catfish came out when I had to move things in the tank to put in the Holey Rock.  It does not not not like to be in the public eye!  It ran to hide as soon as it could.  I'd probably have to move the Holey Rock to get him to come out of hiding.  If I ever do see him messing around, I'll grab the digital camera.  I did just go in and get this picture of the little fish.  It isn't that great as the lighting is just not right and maybe my digital camera could be better.  

What the heck is it?  lol

xoxoxo
Jaclin

[rrocket2002]

Re: Texas Holey Rock ????

Molly?

[Jaclin]

Re: Texas Holey Rock ????

What ever it is, he is a survivor and I plan to try to rescue him and put him in another tank.

xoxoxo
Jaclin

[Ellen]

Re: Texas Holey Rock ????

Looks like a platy or sword to me.

Ellen

[Jaclin]

Re: Texas Holey Rock ????

Hey yall....  Look in the album.   :)  I've got some little fish!!!!!  I have some electric blues, yellow labs and some red empress!!  :)  Got the electric blue and yellow labs from our very own Lumpy.  I bought some pink convicts from him, but ended up trading to someone else for some red empress.  Lumpy sure does have some purdy fish.

xoxoxo
Jaclin

[Ellen]

Re: Texas Holey Rock ????

Yay! It looks like they like that piece of THR! I think that's the nicest piece of THR I've ever seen.  

Ellen

[Jaclin]

Re: Texas Holey Rock ????

Hi Ellen!  :)

Thank you so much for the compliment on the THR.  Yes, they seem to really love to swim in and out of it and to even hide in it a bit.  They are all over the place in there and they are all playing nicely together.  :)  We ordered some Pseudotropheus SP  Our fish have been in the tank for about 26 hours or so now and all seem happy.  I just hope they stay that way and I do all the right things.

Image is below of the Pseudotropheus

xoxoxo
Jaclin

[Jaclin]

Re: Texas Holey Rock ????

Oops

[Jaclin]

Re: Texas Holey Rock ????



Trying again to insert that image!  lol

[MikeWhoTruong]

Re: Texas Holey Rock ????

In response to your expierence at my store,

I am truly sorry that you have had a bad expierence at my store. However I do feel that your comments about the store were not fairly judged, and frankly insulting without merit.

First off, I do feel that it is wonderful that other members of this website would mention my store to be a place of intrest in response to your thread, but it does not constitute a sale price or advertisement that my store has posted.

I am sure that many members of this forum would agree that I will try my best to make your expierence in this hobby as pleasant and informative as possible, and that your expierence at my store  wasn't based on any fault of my store or of mine. From what i've read, everything that went wrong in your day had nothing to do with my store, other than "ugly rocks" " and rocks that you thought were over priced which came out to be a good price. I am not in control  of the traffic you went through, the distance you drove, the weather, or even that you floated through and intersecion to get to my store. And Quote,

" My husband is not sure who he talked to at Sunny's.  Hubby was just pissed at the price of the nice looking holey rock...  It was his first time ever in there and he drove a long way in the bad storm today.  Even floated through an intersection to get there.  Bummer......   "

I also do make better deals with my customers when they mention that they are a member of The Houston Fish Box. The person you were talking to was my brother, and he did ask me about the prices on the rock. And I can agree that he does not have the best customer service skills. However,  maybe if you asked to speak to me directly or shared what  you have been looking to accomplish, or even that you were reffered by a member of this forum; I would have been more than willing to help you get that rock at a much better price. I do not beleive that just walking out of the store after hearing $160 for a rock was any way to accomplish that.

And to put into perspective, the rock did weigh 78lbs at $160, that comes out to $2.05 per lbs, which isn't more than what you ended up paying. So how would that be too expensive??? If you stayed a little bit longer we could have figured out that number for you, and even worked out a better deal for you. Many members of this forum would vouch that I would have worked out somthing the both of us could be happy with, if you just didn't walk out. I am more than fair!

In my opinion, your expierence of my store was based more on the frustrations of driving through a stormy day across town to get to my store, with the hopes of finding a nice piece of rock at a good price.
I would find it more reasonable to say that your trip to my store was at most dissapointing. I really do believe that your comment was very unreasonable and not very well thought out. And I quote,

" Oh, I forgot to say...... It would have been nice if Sunny's had a sign that said...... Ugly Holey Rock .99 per pound.... Pretty ones are way more expensive......."

I do remember you there, it would have been more reasonable if you said the rocks I had for .99 cents were not what you were looking for. The batch of rocks were in their last week before the next shipment of rocks, that means that most if not all the nice rocks were already picked out. Whats ugly to you might not be ugly to someone else. Some people like big holes, small holes, few or alot of holes in their rock, what makes it ugly? Again neither my store or I had anything to do with your choice to go across town on a hunch on a rainy day with the frustrations of running all around town looking for the perfect rock. Then walking out before we can even try to help you, so that you would not have a wasted trip.

Everything aside, I think it is great that I can sell THR for .99cents a lbs to  the hobbiest, but my supplier does charge me a differnt rate for the larger nice pieces. In return I do have to charge more for them. I do not feel that $2.05 per lbs is too much to pay for the nicer pieces. And also I do feel its better to have two differnt prices on the rock quality than having them all for $2.05 per lbs.

I think I proved my point......


Mike

[Ramius]

Re: Texas Holey Rock ????

Hey Mike,

I've never heard a bad thing about your store, in fact, the guy I bought my tank from says you are the #1 guy to go to.

After reading your response, I'm inclined to agree with his statement and should I ever happen to be on that side of town during business hours, I will make it a point to come in and say hi.

Thank you for your response, and letting us see the other side of the story.

I do agree, the Original poster seemed stressed to say the least, and that was probably the cause for the bad experience. Hopefully they will be able to give your shop another chance when they are not under so much pressure and get to walk away with a better experience.

On that very day I had a bit of a moment too, I needed a 20 gallon tank to use as a temporary house while rennovating my 135, I went to petsmart(or petco whatever they are called) off of bw8 and wallisville, they were out of the 20Tall, and had them marked at $28 a piece. I asked if anyplace else had them, and they said the closest one was the Humble store.

That day, in the rain, in the traffic, pressed for time and in a car whose window would not roll up because I was angry at it and pulled it off the hinges I drove  to humble, to find that the $28 sticker was outdated, and the real price on those tanks was closer to $40.

It would have been easy to get upset and stomp out, because trust me I was not happy, but I also understood that since the other store had not stocked that particular tank for some time, it was easy to understand why the price would be off.

In the end, I got the tank, used it, still using it, and I wouldn't have a problem going back to there again should the LFS I frequent not have the ability to accomodate me.

Just thought I'd share, that one shouldn't let one bad experience sour you without taking a moment to see the situation from the other side of the coin with a bit of understanding.

[SCOTT]

Re: Texas Holey Rock ????

I must say, I have shopped at quite a few of the local stores in the Houston area, and by far Mike's is my store of prefference. Granted the customer service isn't always the best, but Mike does make an honest attempt. It can be difficult to run an entire store by yourself, and trust me, even when Mike's sister and brother are there, he is still running the store alone. With that said, I have witnessed Mike make more than one "special" deal for box members. It is not uncommon for asst rock to be a different price than display quality rock. Just as with most other things in life you can expect to pay more for the visually appealing than you would for "filler".
I have to admit it upsets me to see someone with obviously limited experience in the hobby making such libelous statements about a truly hobby friendly store. Look around, do some comparative pricing, and you might realise that Sunny's prices are about the best you are going to find short of dealing directly with his suppliers. I can't even beat his pricing on the net, before adding in shipping, much less after.
Mike consistently beats my direct suppliers prices, Lone Star Pets. I think that alone says something for how competetive his prices are.

[Ellen]

Re: Texas Holey Rock ????

If this is going to turn into a rating of Mike's store, I'm going to chime in. I went in there and I have to tell you, first impressions are everything. The place smells like a stinky fish store. Its really not good. That was the first thing to turn me off. Second, the tanks looked....dirty. Like they just hadn't been cleaned in awhile. Not all the fish were looking their best, but then again I don't know the back story on this...Had they just arrived? I dunno! Were they getting used to the place? Again, I dunno! I just know that alot of the fish were things I wouldn't buy. And in that same category, he didn't have fish that I would buy. This must be a great place for people looking for tankbusters or africans, but was lacking in the fish I like. Again, nothing wrong with that, many stores are that way, but thats the kind of thing that makes me say, "OK, I've seen it, I can move on with my life." I don't think you should have to be buddy-buddy with the store owner to get good deals. He shouldn't have to make the experience better for some people. When I look for a LFS, I look for a place I can breathe in, with clean tanks, healthy fish, and a good selection. I didn't find that a Sunny's.

I agree with the Jaclin also, if its not all the same price then seperate it or at least have some signage showing that all things are not equal.

On the other hand, its good that Mike makes deals for Box members, thats a really great idea. Also, he must have what many people are looking for, otherwise he wouldn't get such rave reviews here.

Ellen

[Philistine]

Re: Texas Holey Rock ????

I agree with the Jaclin also, if its not all the same price then seperate it or at least have some signage showing that all things are not equal.

last time I was at Sunny's (a few weeks ago) the big pieces of rock had price stickers on them

the tanks weren't dirty and it didn't smell either

edit: it's one of the only LFS that my wife doesn't complain about the smell  :wink:

[HFBfounder]

Re: Texas Holey Rock ????

I'm sorry. I think this is way out of hand and off topic for the most part. If I had seen this sooner I would have split the topic into two relevant topics, but they are so far intertwined now, I'm going to just lock it down. This is why I brought Mzungu in to help me!  :wink:

For anyone, please don't attack or leave feedback here if you've had a bad experience at a local store until you've addressed it with the store. It's only fair. These stores can be great for us as hobbyists. As you've seen, Mike is willing to go the extra mile for us and would have taken great care of you had you spoken with him, which I think is the same for everyone I've dealt with at any of our sponsor stores, or for that matter, any local store I've been to.

Thanks