Eddie's

[ChrisBuono]

So we've discussed Swamp Bottom quite a bit, I'd like to hear people's opinion of Eddie's (and Something Fishy, Davey Jones, and/or Union for that matter, but mostly Eddie's).

My general impression from reading posts and talking with members is a general dislike of Eddie's. Why is that?

I frequent Eddie's about once every two weeks. It's the closest LFS with, in my opinion, good stock. Not great, but good.

I like the people. I find Matt helpful, Jess, Kim, and others whose names I don't know. Not all are able to answer the questions I have, but I have other resources for that (All Hail ReefCentral!).

The fish I've purchased there are generally healthy. When one did die, they replaced it for free. I find the soft and hard corals there to be mostly bland, but I have seen (and bought) a few nice pieces.

Prices are mixed (again, in my opinion). I've gotten some good deals and I've seen other prices that shocked me.

I have noticed that most fish are sold quickly. That doesn't leave time to verify their health first, which I find disappointing. And when I've placed specific fish on hold, they've been sold by the time I return (I hate that).

I have seen dead fish in the tanks for extended periods of time. That disturbs me.

All in all, I'm satisfied with Eddie's now that I've lowered some of my expectations. On a scale of 1 - 10, I'd give them a 7.

I'm interested in hearing other's experience with Eddie's, Something Fishy, Davey Jones, and/or Union).

Thanks,
Chris

[Ken668]

I'm all for discussing experiences we each have had for the several LFS, but if anyone has had a negative experience with a LFS, please do not post about it.

In previous discussions, we have decided as a club that any negative remarks about LFS should only be discussed in private. Owners and employees of these establishments have access to view these threads (and do). So in an attempt to not alienate these businesses that support us with donations, discounts, etc. we try to keep any negative comments off the public forums.

[jallard]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8169080#post8169080 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Ken668
I'm all for discussing experiences we each have had for the several LFS, but if anyone has had a negative experience with a LFS, please do not post about it.

In previous discussions, we have decided as a club that any negative remarks about LFS should only be discussed in private. Owners and employees of these establishments have access to view these threads (and do). So in an attempt to not alienate these businesses that support us with donations, discounts, etc. we try to keep any negative comments off the public forums.

yes......ditto

Matt @ eddies has been great to many of our members also. They also contributed as a club sponsor to our frag event.

[Dave ESPI]

I've never had a bad experience at any LFS in the entire world....


EVER.


I really don't know what all the need for discussion (or lack there of with out any contrary discussion) of LFS......


oh wait, cause noone likes negative press right ?

oh.


hum.


nifty.

I wish all of life worked like this..................... :D

[deepblue836]

I disagree. If I have a bad experience with a local fish store and want to post about it, why should I be worried that someone from the store may read it. If I want to solicite feedback from other club members about my experience and my post is not disrespectful to the lfs where is the problem? Negative feedback, is a very valuable tool that should be looked at objectively and viewd as a way of evaluating the over all service it is providing to it's customers. Many companies pay a lot of money to other companies just for obtaining feedback from their customers. I would think that The owners of our local fish stores SHOULD read the feedback left about them in this forum. I feel that as a sponsor of this or any club, a lfs sholdn't feel as though they are doing the club a favor.

I also feel that my motivation for leaving feedback is important as well. Personal opinions and axe grinding is not the same as posting for the purpose of informing others of experiences.

Some Reef Central Sponsors host their own boards for the purpose of monitering the service they provide their customers. The relstionship between lfs and the customer shouldn't end when the cash drawer is closed and you are handed your receipt.

I have spent a lot of money in lfs and have received outstanding service from some, and really bad from some. Those that I was not happy with don't get any more of my business and it is pretty unlikely that I would refer any body to them.

My two cents....
Michael :)

[ChrisBuono]

Very well stated Michael!

If as a club, we've decided not to post opinions about LFSs, I can abide by that, but then I think we should keep the rule the same whether the feedback is positive or negative.

One of the major reasons for belonging to a club such as ours is to share information. I can hardly see more important information to share than the source of our equipment and livestock.

Plus, as Michael said so well, I would hope any business would want the (constructive, honest, and respectful) feedback, so they might improve.

Lastly, to withhold such opinions because these LFSs donate to us seems more like extorsion to me than donation.

Thanks,
Chris

[jaze36]

For those of you who are new to the club, this comes up every six to eight months or so and the responce has always been the same do not bash, or give negative comments on this board. Long ago there were a lot of negative comments put on the board about a lfs and it really harbord some bad relations. Since then the relations have been fixed and that store has helped us as a club since then. It has always been said there is no problem talking about experiences at meetings or in person but do not post them here for the good of the club. This is another good reason to attend meetings, you can get a better picture of peoples feeling from a conservation than reading a few posts. Remember once it is writing it is ther for good, and a negative post or two can speak volumes for the club as a whole. This has been the policy of the club for almost 2 years now.

By leaving positive comment you can seperate the good store from the bad. It does not hurt the club as a whole to leave a good comment. Don't worry if you attend meetings regulary you can figure out the stores to go to.

I think we need to post a set of rules for on etiquet for the club and keep it at he top so we do not continue to run into this problem.

[Ken668]

Michael,
I do agree with you. But we have already been here on several occasions. And we have decided to not publicly post negative feedback. You are more than welcome to speak openly at meetings or between other members.

Unfortunatley, not all of the LFS in this area share the same opinion. Bad publicity is bad publicity. It would be unfortunate to lose sponsers, donations, etc. just because someone had the need to tell their story here. If you really want to get it through to the LFS, you always have the right to tell them personally about your bad experience.

[Ken668]

Hehe, looks like Steve beat me to it.

[Dave ESPI]

I neverrrrrrrrr have anyyyy problemsssss... :angelface:

:halo:

[vmiller]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8170142#post8170142 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by deepblue836
I disagree. If I have a bad experience with a local fish store and want to post about it, why should I be worried that someone from the store may read it.

Well, because not everyone is mature enough to discuss criticism without going crazy, especially on the internet. What starts off as as a simple complaint ends up being a war of ugly insults not even having anything to do with aquariums. It snowballs and reflects very poorly on the club. PLEASE believe the people that have been around here for a while when we say that these discussions get UGLY.

If you really want opinions on local stores, come to meetings and talk to people and you'll probably get more opinion than you wanted in the first place.

[deepblue836]

I am a reasonable person and will respect the rules of the club. However, I am left feeling a bit uncomfortable. I was unaware of the clubs official rules regarding feedback left about lfs. I do feel that the rule should go both ways or that maybe the lfs should nolt be mentioned by name. I also would like to know if there are any rules sponsors agree to follow and what their obligations are as a club sponsor.

Michael

[jallard]

at this point there are no rules for sponsors to follow. If a lfs donates items for the benifit of CDMAS they are concidered a sponsor. Both Eddies and Swamp Bottom are our local sponsors...our ONLY local sponsors. As for future requirments...I have some Ideas which will reshape the Sponsors Page a bit and they will have some requirements. I just want to wait till the new year to impliment them with councils consent.

[jon575]

DONT BITE THE HAND THAT FEEDS YOU!!!! IF you have a problem with a LFS, take it up with them, dont ruin it for everyone else.

[Lakeside518]

I agree with jon575

If there is a problem take it up with the LFS at which you had that problem. If the problem isn't addressed by them, then please bring to members attention at a meeting & not on the forum.

Best place to openly discuss such things and hear, not read other people's opinions on the matter.

[jallard]

It would be different if we had our own forum and could designate a members only section. But on RC everything is public.

[ChrisBuono]

DONT BITE THE HAND THAT FEEDS YOU!!!! IF you have a problem with a LFS, take it up with them, dont ruin it for everyone else.

Wow. I couldn't disagree more. "Hand that feeds us." Um, no. They're a business. And like any business, without customers, they don't exist. We are the hand that feeds them.

Ruin what for everyone else? A free frag every once in a while. While such donations are greatly appeciated, it's not worth it (to me) to suppress anything.

The irony here is that I started this thread with mostly good stuff to say about Eddie's. So, in the spirit of our rules, would people please post about their postive experiences with any LFS?

[jaze36]

This is what it always degrades to. Don't say "ruin what for everyone else..." what might not mean much to you might mean something to others. Remember we are a group and we need to work for the good of all. We should try and constantly improve relations, our negative comments here online do nothing but make the store want nothing to do with the club. You can catch more flies with honey than you can with vingar.

I guess if you would like to know the inside scoop on a store before you go there as to not waste a trip start a thread saying"please pm me your experinces with xxxx lfs" that way you get some feed back on the store without starting a thread that could turn into something negative.

[TA]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8172281#post8172281 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jallard
It would be different if we had our own forum and could designate a members only section.
This has been brought up before. Personally, I've always liked the idea. I wouldn't be surprised if this is the direction the club will eventually take as the club 'matures'.

Just my 2 cents

[jallard]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8174197#post8174197 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by TA
This has been brought up before. Personally, I've always liked the idea. I wouldn't be surprised if this is the direction the club will eventually take as the club 'matures'.

Just my 2 cents

Maybe... It has its postitve and negitive points

[ChrisBuono]

...what might not mean much to you might mean something to others...

Freedom of speech means a lot more to me than a $100 worth of coral, and I hope it does to everyone else as well.

That aside, I openned this thread and would still like to hear about your positive experiences at various LFSs.

[Ken668]

Chris,
It's not a matter of suppressing anything. It's about when and where to express your opinion. I'll be the first one to tell ALL about my experiences, but unfortunately a public forum that is frequented by our sponsors is not the place for it.

A free coral here and there might not mean much to you, but those corals help us to raise money for the club to do activities, more raffle items, etc. But it goes beyond that. Wouldn't it be nice if several of the LFS you go to would always give you say.....10% off all your purchases? That can add up to a lot of money in this hobby! Well I can tell you, bad mouthing them won't ever get us there, or any kind of perks to speak of.

But the point is, there is nothing to gain from posting negatively here. Honestly, don't take anyones word for it. Go to all the LFS and make a decision for yourself.

[Dave ESPI]

BANANAS FOSTER


A quintessential New Orleans dessert, and a favorite among most locals.

4 tablespoons butter (1/2 stick)
1 cup dark brown sugar
2 bananas
2 oz. banana liqueur
4 oz. dark rum
Ground cinnamon
Vanilla ice cream (optional)

This dish cannot be prepared in the kitchen. It must be performed, in front of your guests. Use a chafing dish, and some kind of portable heat like Sterno. Don't be sloppy, and keep a fire extinguisher handy. There's no need to burn the house down just for dessert, but this really must be done right. I learned to cook this dish from Chef Joe Cahn at the New Orleans School of Cooking, and he spun dire tales of what befell those who dared sequester themselves in the kitchen when making Bananas Foster. Seriously, bad gris-gris will befall you if you deprive your guests of the spectacle. Plus, they'll talk for years about how cool you are to have made this for their dessert.
First, you should make some preparations. Peel a thin strip of peel from the bananas, and use your knife to slice the banana crossways into coins. Then replace the banana peel so that it looks untouched (as best as you can, anyway). This way, you can pretend to "peel" your bananas, and dump them into the put already cut, as if by magic. Cheesy, you ask? Well, it still looks cool, particularly if you're really nonchalant when you do this in front of your guests. If you insist, you can slice the bananas the classical way, quartering them by slicing thm lengthwise and then in half. I still think the other way is cooler.

Put your ground cinnamon into some kind of non-standard container, or even a little muslin bag, the better to "convince" your guests that it is, in fact, not cinnamon but voodoo dust, scraped from the tomb of Marie Laveau at midnight on All Soul's Day ... some kind of delightfully corny crap like that. Also, I recommend taking a cinnamon stick and grinding it fresh in a spice or coffee grinder instead of using pre-ground cinnamon. Sieve the result through a tea ball strainer to remove the larger pieces which won't grind finely. This will maximize the fresh, aromatic cinnamon flavor. If you use your coffee grinder, it'll also make your coffee taste great.

Now, to business ...

Melt the butter and add the brown sugar to form a creamy paste. Let this mixture caramelize over the heat for about 5 minutes. Stir in the banana liqueur. Heat until the liquor is warmed, about three minutes. Add the bananas, add the rum (preferably warmed), then ignite with a flourish and cook for about 1 - 2 minutes. Here's the showiest way to do this:

Using a long, bent-handled ladle, scoop up some of the warm liquor. Hold it a foot or two above the chafing dish and ignite the liquor in the ladle. VERY CAREFULLY, pour the liquor into the dish. A column of flame will descend from the ladle into the dish, which will ignite with a marvelous *poof*! Keep a pal nearby, subtly wielding a fire extinguisher. Try not to become a human torch in the process.

Otherwise, if you're too chicken (and I would never make fun of you for being too chicken to mess around with flaming alcohol), just ignite the rum in the chafing dish. It's safer.

Agitate to keep the flame burning, and add a few pinches of "voodoo dust" to the flame. The cinnamon will sparkle orange in the blue flame, and looks really neat.

Let the flames go out. Serve over ice cream if you wish, but some hardcores like me like it just like it is. Yum.

Variations: one may substitute any fruit for this dish that has a correspondingly flavored liqueur -- peaches, pears, whatever.

[jaze36]

Can I request a council member have this closed before it get out of hand.

Dave:lol:

[ChrisBuono]

I've moved past this healthy debate, I hope you can.

I openned this thread and would still like to hear about your positive experiences at various LFSs.

PS - Dave, thanks for the recipe. I love to cook and Bananas Foster is a fantantic dessert.

[jaze36]

Please Chris don't make this a personal thing, all I have try to do is explain past club policy. I asked the council to close this thread before it became personal thing.

[ChrisBuono]

Huh?

Dude. I'm past this. Yet you keep hanging on.

I would still like to hear about your (or anyone's) positive experiences at various LFSs.

[vmiller]

This seems like an appropriate time for a reminder of the primary reason why we started a governing body for this club in the first place:

To maintain a civil and respectful environment Nice and simple!

While everyone discusses fairness, free frags, and freedom of speech, it seems this primary goal has been forgotten. Regardless of why people think this "rule" is wrong, talking about local stores has PROVEN time and time again to go against our main goal:

To maintain a civil and respectful environment

I agree with deepblue, maybe we should not talk online about the stores at all. Once someone says "I get great fish from Eddie's", there is going to be huge temptation for people to respond with "I got a sick fish from Eddie's and it crashed my tank", or "I was in Eddie's yesterday and their fish were covered with Ich". Most of us know what happens next.

[ChrisBuono]

maybe we should not talk online about the stores at all

That sounds like a good, fair policy to me - especially in light of donations, advertising, etc.

[Dave ESPI]

I like E-bay.

eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee baaayyyyyyyyyyyy

[xian]

I'm going to try to help this thread out although it may already be beyond repair.

I frequently buy fish from Eddies. My 5 year old Hippo tang came from Eddies. Matt has always been generous and fair with me and helped out with my school tanks.

[Lakeside518]

I agree with Xian

Matt is always very helpful & great to work with. I often visit, sometimes to just trade a fish that no longer fits in or frag corals for discounts or credit. When in a pinch they stock most dry goods, frozen foods, bulbs you name it.

When i got my halide fixture w/ a bad 96w actinic Pc bulb and desperatly in need of one ASAP! Sure enough they had one;)

Never a bad experience with Eddie's.

Thier 155 gal Bow is Awesome for a FO tank setup. Looks great.

[DanConnor]

The problem with having our own forum with a private section is what to do about employees of the local stores, exclude them? That wouldn't be right.

Maybe the best rule is to talk about the store as you would talk to the owner of the store face-to-face.

Even if the stores aren't really doing anything specific to support us, it's still nicer to be on good terms with them. I don't really buy the philosophy that they will improve in any way through a public flogging. Most can be reached by email if you want to tell them something.

That said, I've bought most of my fish from eddies, and have good experiences with them. I think Matt has always been good in his assessment of the health of the fish, and I can tell you his eye is better than mine.

I don't buy that much coral there, but mostly because I like the harder to find stuff that can only be gotten online. They do often have a nice selection of ORA corals, and the proces are competitive on those.

[Krazy]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8174720#post8174720 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Dave ESPI
BANANAS FOSTER


A quintessential New Orleans dessert, and a favorite among most locals.

4 tablespoons butter (1/2 stick)
1 cup dark brown sugar
2 bananas
2 oz. banana liqueur
4 oz. dark rum
Ground cinnamon
Vanilla ice cream (optional)

This dish cannot be prepared in the kitchen. It must be performed, in front of your guests. Use a chafing dish, and some kind of portable heat like Sterno. Don't be sloppy, and keep a fire extinguisher handy. There's no need to burn the house down just for dessert, but this really must be done right. I learned to cook this dish from Chef Joe Cahn at the New Orleans School of Cooking, and he spun dire tales of what befell those who dared sequester themselves in the kitchen when making Bananas Foster. Seriously, bad gris-gris will befall you if you deprive your guests of the spectacle. Plus, they'll talk for years about how cool you are to have made this for their dessert.
First, you should make some preparations. Peel a thin strip of peel from the bananas, and use your knife to slice the banana crossways into coins. Then replace the banana peel so that it looks untouched (as best as you can, anyway). This way, you can pretend to "peel" your bananas, and dump them into the put already cut, as if by magic. Cheesy, you ask? Well, it still looks cool, particularly if you're really nonchalant when you do this in front of your guests. If you insist, you can slice the bananas the classical way, quartering them by slicing thm lengthwise and then in half. I still think the other way is cooler.

Put your ground cinnamon into some kind of non-standard container, or even a little muslin bag, the better to "convince" your guests that it is, in fact, not cinnamon but voodoo dust, scraped from the tomb of Marie Laveau at midnight on All Soul's Day ... some kind of delightfully corny crap like that. Also, I recommend taking a cinnamon stick and grinding it fresh in a spice or coffee grinder instead of using pre-ground cinnamon. Sieve the result through a tea ball strainer to remove the larger pieces which won't grind finely. This will maximize the fresh, aromatic cinnamon flavor. If you use your coffee grinder, it'll also make your coffee taste great.

Now, to business ...

Melt the butter and add the brown sugar to form a creamy paste. Let this mixture caramelize over the heat for about 5 minutes. Stir in the banana liqueur. Heat until the liquor is warmed, about three minutes. Add the bananas, add the rum (preferably warmed), then ignite with a flourish and cook for about 1 - 2 minutes. Here's the showiest way to do this:

Using a long, bent-handled ladle, scoop up some of the warm liquor. Hold it a foot or two above the chafing dish and ignite the liquor in the ladle. VERY CAREFULLY, pour the liquor into the dish. A column of flame will descend from the ladle into the dish, which will ignite with a marvelous *poof*! Keep a pal nearby, subtly wielding a fire extinguisher. Try not to become a human torch in the process.

Otherwise, if you're too chicken (and I would never make fun of you for being too chicken to mess around with flaming alcohol), just ignite the rum in the chafing dish. It's safer.

Agitate to keep the flame burning, and add a few pinches of "voodoo dust" to the flame. The cinnamon will sparkle orange in the blue flame, and looks really neat.

Let the flames go out. Serve over ice cream if you wish, but some hardcores like me like it just like it is. Yum.

Variations: one may substitute any fruit for this dish that has a correspondingly flavored liqueur -- peaches, pears, whatever.


Yummy!!!

and I've had very Positive experiences at Swamp Bottom :D

I like e-----bayyyyyyyyyyy too !

and Matt over at eddies is a good guy, I like to chat with him and he seems to know alot as well !!

other then that all points covered :p

[fd235158]

Tony over at swampbottom was great to talk with and deal with. EVERYTHING I have bought from him has been problem free and doing well in my tank

[Coral007]

I want the recipe for those chocalate chip/chunk chocolately tasty yummy delicious cookies from the last meeting! :p

[ChrisBuono]

Me too.

[Lakeside518]

Jill (Powderblue518) has it. She made some the other night! :)

Very Yummie. Maybe she will post it later.