Drea

they should know to add stress coat to the take home bag, and just how many fish should go home in the bag.

COBettaCouple

lol, i'm happy when they manage to get the fish IN the bag rather than on the floor or in the sink or on the counter...

armadillo

Good point, that!

armadillo

They should know to ask people if they have bottom dwellers before giving them medication with copper in it.

0morrokh

Hmm, that may be asking a little too much of them. I'm just happy if they can get the fish out of the tank at all, especially if they actually happen to get the fish you want.

I thought of another thing, they should be able to sex their fish (I don't remember if someone else said that already). I get really irritated when I say "I want that female Platy" and they catch me a random male.

COBettaCouple

lol.. true.. when we were about a week into fish keeping, we went in for some female platys and they didn't have a clue how to tell which ones were female so we had to tell them.. i think an employee at a pet store should know more than someone who was 1 week into the hobby.

armadillo

Yep, that's how I ended up with my livebearer tank out of whack. I wanted to buy 2 new females to have a ratio of 1 male to 3 females, but instead I ended up with 2 males and 2 females...

Mike

First - thanks for all the ideas and suggestions. I've compiled them into the article here: Things Fish Store Employees Should Know

I've included a link in the article that points back to this post if anyone reading it wants to continue the discussion. I hope I paraphrased your ideas and thoughts accurately in the article and hopefully this will help a fish store somewhere.

Thanks,
Mike

0morrokh

Are we going to do anything with the article? I wonder if there's any way we could send it to places like Petsmart/Petco, like a "we are concerned customers and here's how you could improve your fish area" kind of thing? (they probably wouldn't read it, but worth a try I suppose)

MagpieTear

My guess is to be the most effective, print out copies for your next trip to the LFS. Give copies to managers, let them know that paying, repeat customers want to see our finny friends treated better. And we want to give good word of mouth in these days of doom and gloom. End it on a positive note.

swords3711

They should learn how to catch fish quicker and get rid of the dead fish quicker.

swords3711

Our Petsmart already has that

0morrokh

Yeah Petsmart does have pamphlets on different types of fish(Petco too) but you ever read them? In most of them the only thing they get right is the picture of the species.

swords3711

True that. Its the same for all fish!

Gozer_1

I thought I'd post this here as it deals with a suggestion that people in the pet business should learn what they can from the regulars who shop their store. Last week I was wandering around the LFS when I over heard the owner talking to a customer behind a small shelf. (I swear I wasn't eavesdropping) The customer was trying to describe her filter and the media she was looking for. I immediately recognized she was talking about the filter I was currently debating substitute filter media for. A Rena Filstar. The LFS didn't carry filstar stuff so I was looking into something else to avoid shipping online. The owner was clueless as to what the customer was looking for so I peeked around and asked if the ladies filter was indeed a Filstar. She said yes and I knew what she was looking for. The same thing I was. lol A quick search in the API section of the owners ordering book and I pointed out exactly what the owner needed to order. Well, today I went in and voila, there were the filters. They were priced about what I pay online after shipping but at least they were only a few blocks away. At the register she asked me what I thought about the pricing and told me "Oh, well I'd like you to get them cheaper than you do online." So now I get 2 bucks off those filter pads. I get a little "Thanks for helpin me out" discount. I know where I'll shop for a long time to come. lol She even let me take home some frags on an IOU.

Fish_adicted

i wish that they would tell you about the simularities in african dwarf frogs and clawed frogs (they look almost identical when they are small)many fish dealers who give them to the little not so popular fish stores get them confused and the clawed frog ends up getting bigger and eating your fish..they should warn you of that possibility so you know what to look for. the difference is that when they are young the african dwarf frog has webbed feet

0morrokh

Yeah there's a huge problem with most stores identifying their livestock. All the time I see things like female swords labelled platys, cory species labelled wrong, etc....you'd think the store should at least know what they're selling.

asymmetry

Read, learn and be a responsible employee. Don't give advise about something you don't know about. Almost all fish stores employees I've talked to contradict each other on how to care for fish, water changes, cycling process, etc. If you're not passionate about fish, you're in the wrong field. Lastly, the best advise you can give to an amateur fish keeper is; research before buying.

Tio

before i bought any thing i shopped around for my tank and equipment.then a read up on cycling my tank and what would be a good community tank then went into the store and asked more questions you should beable to find at least one employee that knows their stuff.i like to see if their answers are close to what i already found out.you should research something before you buy it if you are uncertian it would be nice if the store clerk knew the answers or at least no enough to to say "i don't know"lets talk to Mack he knows.they should sell books there and point you in that direction if you are uncertian and if they are uncertian also.i asked a clerk what the difference between FW MW and SW was she had no idea and walked away from me.the one good thing is they do mark their tanks for community fish and solo but iy would be nice to know the size they are going to be and what size tank is best.hows the saying go?Customer beware.

MissMTS

I have had a horrible experience with chain retail fishstores like Petco, Petsmart, etc. When I got my first tank ever, I set up the tank the night before and went into the store to get fish. I had not read anything on fishkeeping yet and I assumed that the employees would know enough to give me propper guidance and point me in the right direction. I had a ten gallon tank to work with and the obvious thing to do would have been to sell me two small fish to cycle the tank with. However, the guy talked me into taking home 2 dwarf gouramis, 1 molly, 2 rosy barbs, a catfish that I found out would grow to 15 inches, and a male swordtail!!! Of course I bought a couple of fish books while I was there and I got home and started reading up on my stuff and realized that I had a tank of fish that was completely wrong. I had to find a privately owned LFS to take the fish off of my hands. I wanted a larger selection of fish so I ended up purchasing a 29 gallon tank, and the 10 gallon ended up in my closet for a couple of months until I decided to set it up again. WHAT A DISASTER! Also, many of those stores have tons of dead fish laying at the bottoms of the tank and the other fish are eating them! It is like a cemetary. I would never purchase a fish out of a tank like that. Anyways, at my small LFS the employees are great and they have to pass a test to aquire a position. If the larger retailers made sure their employees knew more of the basic information, they would have a lot more sucess with customers. Also, at Walmart I have seen a tank with oscars, an angelfish, a gourami, and tetras.........WHAT??

kra-z-fishmumm

Being a newb, I know that being told about cycling, the benefit of salt, and the need to do water changes more often than once a month or so would have saved me a lot of money not to mention the true emotion pain from loosing so many fish. No one told me. My luck changed when I found a small store in the next town. They taught me how to get what I had going. But of course I'm always learning (and wanting) new things!

petz

petco,petland and petsmart

Faye Rod

My husband and I bought a used 55 gallon aquarium five weeks ago. I have been to all of the local stores and encountered employees who are selling products without a clue of my situation. We live in a hard, alkaline water area but our water is treated by the community and is very soft. The chains - local Walmart, Pet Smart and Super Pet were all the same - young employees who know the products and in the beginning I was listening and adding lots and lots of chemicals. Last week I started reading in this forum and it's been a great place to get a much needed education. And today - excitement - I went to a Walmart where the employee has kept aquariums for 31 years and he gave me a wealth of good info on fish types and behaviors and needs. It was heaven! He is a lucky find and I will be going back....to Walmart!

Faye Rod

angelfish220

I think before they even sell you anything they should ask
1- the size of your settup
2- how long it has ben settup
3- what fish are already in the tank

Then they should know what to do with this infromation

monkeyfish

i went into my LFS and asked if they had any clown loaches. they looked at me like i was insane and they didnt have any idea what i was talking about. then the employee looked it up in her fish book and said something like "oh, we gat those all the time. we've just been calling them tiger catfish." i pulled my hair out. employees should know what their fish are actually called, and if they dont know what something is, they should find out. if the employees dont know what a fish is, they cant help at all. and in this case they might just make something up and give false information.

by the way...
clown loach then tiger catfish (dont you see how she became confused?)

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COBettaCouple

What a smart store they are!

monkeyfish

yeah, they really know their stuff! i've all but stopped going to that store.

happy valentine's day

mychl717

I had a long talk w/ the lady at PetSmart today. I had spent a lot of time reading about the plants they sell in the plastic tubes.

I explained to her that only 2 of the plants they currently had would actually survive in water.....

She said, "oh, no wonder all my plants at home keep dying"...

She was actually very appreciative to know this, and said she was going to speak w/ her boss about it.

So add that to the list, knowing the plants that are sold.

seedy

My recent experiance was having the stores brine shrimp recommended for danio fry.
Not only were they too big to fit in their mouths , they were BIGGER than the fish !!! lol

SereneReyn

well, in addition to all this, and to having labels for each fish... i would suggest something on the label as to the difficulty of keeping a particular fish... imho, certain fish should be labeled "NOT FOR BEGINNERS"... or something to that effect.

i almost think that they should request a water sample to test before they sell you fish, lol.