fishlover78

here's the place I go to, the people are amazingly nice and know their stuff. it is nice and small, they have different people who run different areas of the store (reptiles, fish, bunnies, birds etc.) I highly recommend it. they take you thorugh the whole cycling process, and they explain which fish can go with fish. they are a very good pet shop. here's the link: http://www.animalcrackersnj.com/aboutus.php I am pretty lucky to not have to puke every time I enter petco or petsmart (which I never do!). and the bettas there are kept in clean 10 gallon tanks with plants, filters, and heaters. A+ place.

Lucy

CHoffman

I was recently at a Walmart and I noticed that their Molly tank had fry in it..I said ohhh wow...You have fry in this tank...He said..."HUH, what's fry??".

Red1313

I do my best not to talk to the LFS people. Mostly I just go in there to browse and they're busy since I don't have any small LFS near me anymore.

robz

My girlfriend works at a local pet store, and she's their "fish specialist". She has worked there over a year and knows VERY little about cycling a tank. But she knows which fish are able to be kept with eachother, feeding info, mating info, she knows FISH. These local stores only focus on FISH, they do not care about a TANK. That is their problem....

The sad thing is, she doesn't want to learn anything about fish that she doesn't have to, its just a high school job for her. And her managers don't care about it either. Their employees don't know much about the fish, and I can guarantee they know nothing of cycling tanks. Local stores need to educate their managers in order to have the information trickle down to all their employees.

But, no one working at these stores seems to care.... It doesnt make sense... Any other specialty store you go to, such as Lowes, Home Depot, Carpeting/Tiling stores, Electronic stores, most of the employees know their stuff, or have a good idea at least. As my girlfriend as a prime example, being the "fish specialist" for over a year, these stores just aren't training their employees or managers well enough. Just enough to sell their fish, then their job is done...How depressing
: (

sirdarksol

Minnow, where the heck did you get Alpha? There's another store that should be on the ballot for "worst fish store," and an incredibly rude employee. I've written to pet stores to complain about people like that. (I've also written to pet stores to praise people who have done a good job, but, sadly, that doesn't happen as often.)

Minnow

I got him at the PetCo closest to our house, in Del Mar. The other one is a long drive, but it has a wall of tanks, which are relatively clean and well-cared-for, and I know that at least one employee has a tank at home. I went to the closer PetCo because I just needed some supplies, and I was surprised that they sold bettas, since they "no longer carry fish."

They had a small selection of tanks and decor, and half of the tanks were little betta torture chambers. They had vases, bowls, half-gallon plastic cubes with bright cartoon characters, and the dreaded hanging betta bowl. They also had sharp plastic plants advertised for bettas, and no silk plants.

I agree that she was rude. She treated me like I was stupid, thoughtless, and risking Alpha's life to get him out of that cup as soon as I could. I think I will write a letter, thanks for the idea, sirdarksol!

sirdarksol

Thank you for writing a letter, Minnow. Petco has a horrible reputation when it comes to betta care, and every letter they get is another reminder that we are the customers, and if we care about how they keep their bettas, then they should, too.

midnightwolf

It really does kill me to see the conditions some pet stores keep their bettas in. every day that i visit petco all of the air holes are covred up and the bettas are kept in small half a cup containers with no plants or food, also most of the bettas have fin rot or ICH. ITS HORRIBLE!!!

midnightwolf

in a couple of days i may go to the petstore and for fun i want to ask them a stupid question and see how they reply to it

any ideas for a stupid and obvois answer question about fish?

Minnow

How about, "I want an algae eater for my 10g tank, will this pleco be a good choice?"

Or maybe, "I set up a tank a few days ago with some neon tetras, but they all died! What could have happened?"

Or just about anything regarding bettas.

midnightwolf

ok i think ill use some of those and then ill share them with you guys
im sure these will have some interesting results

Nick G

I bought a male and female Platy for my 20 Gal tank about a week ago. They're on their own in there and the male is constantly harrassing the female,(for sex I presume!). I read on here that I should keep 2 or 3 females to each male so today I went to the LFS to get a couple more females. The Employlee there told me to buy 2 more males so that they can fight over the female! I left without buying anything and am going to get some females from another LFS this afternoon

midnightwolf

what a dum a** does he want your fish to get hurt

agabr123

While I agree with everyone that employees need to be educated about what they're selling, and management needs to ensure that, I think that the responsibility falls on the purchaser. People just don't consider fish to be as important or on the same "level" as dogs or cats or other animals. Most people that decide they want want fish and go to a store and buy a tank and some fish and throw them in I would be willing to bet would spend a lot more time and effort if they were getting a dog. Fish are living animals just like everything else, and deserve the same care and attention.

In the spirit of the thread, I was in a pet store (not a chain but not just fish either) just browsing as it was one that I had never been to before and just recently found. A woman came in wanting to buy a betta (which were kept in tiny glass bowls no bigger than the cups they normally come in). One of the employees came over to help her, and informed her that she could put the betta in a vase with a plant and she wouldn't need to do anything with it. He would eat the plant, and that would be enough food for him, and the plant would also keep the water clean, she might have to change it once every six months. She could just fill it with tap water and put him in there. I attempted to inform the woman after the employee had left that no, a vase would not keep her betta healthy, that he would need a heated, filtered tank and she would need to change the water once a week, etc. She, in a very rude manner, promptly told me that the employee had told her that that wasn't true, and I didn't know what I was talking about. After all, I didn't work at a pet store!

People never cease to amaze me....

Fish Addict

agabr, I agree and disagree with you. While I do agree that most people take more care when keeping dogs or cats as pets than with fish, I do think that it is not the buyer's fault for what they get. They come in expecting to go to a place with knowledgable employees, and expect to be able to keep the fish in the best possible way. I think it is the employee's/company's fault for not taking care and knowing about their products, and working just for the profit.

I mean, if you were to go into a Home Depot, and ask about building a deck, you're expecting them to know enough so you don't have a crappy (pardon my french )deck that breaks right away.

Chris123

I had guy tell me that corys are the worst tankmates
i never went there again

prairielilly

Most crazy stuff heard at lfs to date:

"Marineland doesn't make a tank called the Eclipse System. I've been here ten years and I've never heard of such a thing."

"Bettas live in elephant footprints full of mud in the wild, so they don't need heat or very much water. As long as you keep him wet, he should be fine."

"20 gallon tanks can easily support 30-40 fish. That's how we keep them here."

"You should only change your water when it turns green."

"If your ammonia readings are a little high, you should definitely add more fish." *This was before I'd learned about cycling*

Me: "You have a dead frog in your tank." (Upside down on bottom and bloated - the same position as he'd been in three days earlier when I had decided not to point it out). Clerk: "He's okay. That's what they look like when they're sleeping. Do you want to buy him?"

As someone who spent a few years working in retail in a past life, I'd agree that training is minimal to nonexistant and any clerk that tells customers things that discourage immediately spending money (like say, Wait with buying fish for your new tank, you should cycle it first, come back in six weeks) will be not only discouraged from doing so by management they will possibly be fired. If it's their rent on the line they'll do as they're told. So aren't we so very fortunate to have internet forums with ppl who know what they're talking about to help each other out?

TFA101

Never had I heard such nonsense in my LFS. They keep their tanks minimally to just barely stocked and they have a hugeshow room full of planted, lightly stocked tanks filled with colorful healthy fish. And to this day ever since I found out about my wonderful LFS, I have counted only one dead fish which was promptly removed.

But the chainstores are a whole different story...

Petsmart:

Me: [Playing dumb] I'm looking for some platies, do you sell them here?
Employee: uhhh id unno, did you see any?

Me: Why do you sell fish that grow to such a large size such as the ID sharks? Nobody has a tank that will accomodate their full size of 3 feet.
Employee: They're captive bred, so they only stay 6 inches long.

there was a recent ick and fungus outbreak in the central filtration system that I was not aware about. I complained to the manager and she told me that she had told the employees to warn customers about the problem. After I told her I hadn't been warned, she gave her employees a good talking to.

I think this store gets the idea that they are poorly established. They often recommend their customers try the LFS downtown (the one I go to)

Petco

Me: I'm looking for bristlenose suckermouths. Do you sell them
Employee: Let me go check. *Checks in the MARINE tanks* Nope all out
Me: [Sarcastically] Why don't you try checking in the freshwater section?
Employee: Oh! They're freshwater fish?
Me: *rolls eyes*


On the bright side, some people are lucky to run into me at the chain stores. Recently I helped a family set up a six gallon fancy guppy tank (males only) at petsmart. Got them plants, water conditioner, fertilizer (that doesn't intterupt the cycle that I also told them about), good fish food (omego one treats and aqueon flake foods)

heartsongsinger

This is more a saw than said. I believe that I saw a fish (spotted african leaf fish) that I think is predatory sold as semi-aggressive.
Petco in their ad has this thing that says all community fish 5 for 5. One of those fish is a tiger barb.

inuyasha_lover_21

I saw a helpless fish in my LFS slowly dying and I told the guy and he said "I dont care, I did not pay for him." I asked if he could discount him so I can take him home and let him die in a loving home and he said no you have to pay full retail. I did not have $70 in my pocket. I think it was a lionfish.

TFA101

You know, somebody should print this thread out and send it to the chairman of the big chain stores and whoever's in charge of small family owned buisnesses and have them do something about it. I mean, petsmarts adds and pictures that they have around the stores and in the newspaper adds reflect nothing on their stock. I got a petsmart discount coupon in the mail and it pictured a happy family watching their happy healthy swordtails, platies, neon tetras, and cories swimming around. I even brought that up one day when I complained to Petsmart and the manager was shocked to hear a complaint at such a level from a 13 year old kid

fishlover78

Lol, they were shocked at me too, I will NEVER enter a petco or petsmart again, I have found an honest local mom and pop store, hey I'm even friends with the employees!

Fish Addict

Aren't tiger barbs able to be in community tanks? I just thought that when they were nippy when they didn't have a school...

fishlover78

good point, I think you could approach the store manager about that, its misleading!

mjordan

our lfs who r very good with there customers used to have 1 guy in particular that was an airhead. he was also the manager. its like he didnt care about pleasing his customers when they come in there 2 times a week. constantly yelling to the whole store when u did something to unplease him.

MagpieTear

When someone asked the clerk a technical question, she got a look of terror on her face showing she had no clue, she spied me looking at the driftwood and exclaimed "I don't know, but I bet he does! He's here more than I am!"

mjordan

i love that thats so funny

prairielilly

When buying platies from Petland (some time ago and definitely not my best idea), I asked the clerk if they took fry. He made a weird face and asked me "Why would we fry the fish?"

Fla_Larry

It is unfourtunat that many LCPS ( the petcos, and petsmarts etc ) people simply do not know, but a surprising number of "aquarists" are equaly to blame.

as one or two have said on here, when they see or hear misinformation being given out, they attempt to correct the situation by speaking up, on the rare occasion where you will get someone to pipe up with " the LCFS guy told me blah, blah blah..." simply counter with, well im sure he/she knows more than i, after all i have only been into this hobby for 25 years or so, and made all the mistakes they will make eventually" of course this only works if you happen to be "ahem... older", but it generally shuts them down, now if you know of what you speak, i dont feel there is any harm in a little white lie ( maybe you have only been into the hobby for 2 years).

Now if it is the know it all clerk, well if you know they are wrong, there is nothing wrong with having a little fun with it, i generally shut them down with a simple, "Please... i have tanks that are older than you". It is effective and eliminates the rude confrontations that may be called for.

Now as to the self-righteous individuals that would rather complain then act, well... to me anyways, i hear nothing but babble, if you hear incorrect information being dispensed, politly correct it, dont just shake your head and walk away. You are helping no one that way, and certianly are not helping the fish, in fact your silence directly contributes to their harm through your inaction.
as i posted on a differant thread, there is not a person on this or any forum, that got into aquariums knowing the whats and hows, we all had to be LED, we all had to make our mistakes, So now you are in possessin of some of that knowledge, share it, DONT JUST SHAKE YOUR HEAD AND WALK AWAY, you may be that one particular fish's sole remaining advocate.

And BTW LCFS do not include the likes of KMart, Walmart, Stewarts, Ames etc etc, they are department stores that sell fish, people that go there either do not care ( the bulk ) or are there for a specific item only. Over all if you actually stopped and asked a customer in say Walmart or Kmart " do you think this sales person , or the sales person at the LCFS is more knowledable, with out even knowing the persons at the LCFS that would be the choice pick of 80+% of them, They do not expect that Kmart or Walmart employee to know, but they do expect the LCFS store employee to know.
so yes you see neglect at the big chain dept stores point it out, you see it at the chain pet store, let them know in no uncertian terms

( getting down off my soap box now)