I am the co-owner of a store that focuses on plants and aquascaping. Thanks to
@CincyScaper for introducing me to this forum. I have a lot of mixed thoughts on the Aquarium Coop Brand.
Before opening my store about 5 months ago, my business partner and I had previously managed a different store where I brought in Aquarium Coop products. They do sell, and I attribute that to marketing more than anything, however we will not be selling Aquarium Coop products in our store. I sort of became disillusioned with many of their products, including their Easy Green which I used to use and recommend to customers and friends.
Cory's brand is responsible for getting people into the hobby and I respect that but I feel he is more of an old school fish keeper and doesn't adapt his views to the modern world. I don't get the disdain he has for canister filters and high tech planted tanks. One can run a tank with nothing but Coop products, but they will look like a Coop tank: cloudy, detritus filled, god-awful green sponge filters, algae covered plants. I recently saw a video of the Coop store in Washington and was not impressed by the aesthetic(or lack thereof).
I hope someone can overtake Cory's influence and popularity in regards to people first getting into aquariums. I've found It's hard to break the habits of Americans. At my store we sell ADA fertilizers (actually they just sit on the shelf, I think I've only sold a couple bottles since opening), 2 Hr Aquarist fertilizers (which I use myself and have been heavily recommending), and the Seachem line. Two days ago a customer grabbed a bottle of Seachem Flourish and I tried to push her toward the APT by informing her the Flourish isn't actually an all in one, but she was reluctant to change because her plants are alive an that's good enough for most people it seems.
