FL CommunityFans

It's only fair! It was bound to happen!

Went in to Petland this morning to see what "henry" had in for the weekly shipments. He's talking to me as he's unpacking some green phantoms and an older woman comes and interrupts me, but I just kept talking anyhow. "Henry" winked and I grinned and quit and went to 'look' at some festae while I waited. Well this woman starts asking how many goldfish would be ok for her sons 20gallon aquarium she was in the process of checking out at the front counter. He just stared at her then glanced at me then answered her with, "Are you sure you mean goldfish mam, because if that's the case then none would have to be my answer. A goldfish can grow to absurd lengths depending on the type we're talking about. On top of that, you just bought the tank. It's not got any abcteria yet in it to sustain any fish. if you purchases just 1 goldfish for your sons new 20gallon then it'd likely die in the long term due to exposure to high amounts of ammonia. How often do you plan to clean the tank."

Ok here's the good part. she says, "Never. I was just going to put some goldfish and some of those big algae eaters in there. Those you have there will do fine actually" I jumped in at this point with a "No ya won't mam, I'm buying those. She then got rude with me, again, and proceeded to tell me how I hadn't bought them yet so anyone could buy them. While this bickering ensued, "Henry" had gone over to get some books. 1 on proper tank care, 1 on goldfish, and 1 on plecos in general. He interrupted us and handed them to her. "Have your son read those, then you ask him a few questions out of each book, meaning you should read them too so you can know the subject yourself." She got irate at this point and started to huff off. She yelled back that he would never get any of ehr business again and would be leaving the aquarium at the checkout counter. He made sure she heard him say, "I'm not in this business to make a sale mam. Come back when you're ready to learn about proper fish care and I'll be glad to talk with you and your son."

Kicker here is, she ends up buying the tank and equipment. I didn't see a heater or thermometer so not sure i she had those already or just wasn't getting them. Anyhow, I got ready to leave and "Henry" said "Hey you said you were buying these green phantoms." I looked at him witha dumb look on my face like I didnt mean it though! he just laughed at me and knew I was kidding.

Anyhow, went from there to petsmart to get our dogs their monthly diet and treats and who do I see? The same dang woman and she had bout 7 koi and goldfish for the 20gallon tank. I made sure I got behind her in the checkout line and before she left, I said to the cashier, "You'll be refunding her money on at least 4 of those goldfish in the next few days" since petsmart here as a 72 hr policy on fish death/returns.

I know I know, I was bad, but this woman was a pain in the rear. "Henry" made my day when he went and pulled the 3 books off the shelf and helped her to 'self educate' herself on proper fish care.

Hypnox

"a mandarin dragonet is a poor choice for a 10 gallon tank."
"Ma'am, tell your child to stop shaking the betta cups. It's bad enough they're in a tiny container too small for them."

prairielilly

this is great, but it's a duplicate thread...there's another one that's getting really long

FL CommunityFans

I know there's the 'worst of' thread, which is what inspired the post.

there's a 'best of' thread? I'm missing it if so, searched for it also and not seeing anything.

prairielilly

You're right - my mistake Sorry! Wish I had something to add here...all I've heard is the yucks.

pinkfloydpuffer

First time I went to a fishstore, it is a little place called Fish4U, I went to look at their puffers. I talk to the guy, he tells me all about cycling, that you could use biospira to speed it up, that the GSPs need brackish water.
Basically, everyone in that store knows their stuff.
I got my nerite snails from there. They actually knew that they are good for any salinity. FW to SW. And that they eat algae like crazy.
Basically, best store ever.

Jess

LFS suggested SAE and actually sold me the right variety. Plus they really do clean the tank.

Red1313

Mentioned I was looking for a paradise fish and a girl at petsmart warned me that they were getting a new shipment in the next day so better to take one now while they were healthy.

MeGustaUnaPez926

A guy at my LFS recommended a woman not to get 4 dwarf puffers to put in her 5 gallon tank with a betta. She wanted them to eat the snails, and they suggested a cucumber!

pinkfloydpuffer

That would have ended great... first the betta is de-tailed, then little chunks start missing... then you find the puffs having a buffet. Next, the weaker puff gets picked on until there's only one left, which dies from the stress of it all.
Yep, that's how it'd go down.

MeGustaUnaPez926

Thank goodness for good information! The woman was kind of ticked off, like "It's my tank, I think I know what's good for it!!" but they wouldn't sell them to her.

pinkfloydpuffer

Wahoo! You go lfs! lol

Lucy

Ummmmm I'm still trying to think of something good. lol

Mike19

wow lucy, one LFS told me you have slight ammonia in your water, do a water change lower your pH and come back maybe next week to buy some fish.

another one told me tiger barbs will nip at your community fish (was told the opposite at another place.

Mike

pinkfloydpuffer

Yeah, at Petsmart once the lady there told someone that really tiger barbs should just be kept in groups of their own kind.
I like that lady, she actually knows what she's talking about. And she keeps her own tanks of cichlids.

Annadvn

I think i'm lucky with the fish shop i go to, Its a 90mile one way drive so i don't go their often but their advice is always correct (even if i go on the internet to double check things) they helped me get rid of a cyano bacteria problem in the salt water tank and they breed their own cichlids for sale so he knows how old each one is who its parents are etc..

I love cichlids and salt in springfield, MO.

Anna

FL CommunityFans

So much hate!

Mike19

These are the fish you can add in the tank with your current fish, LFS points to other side those are the fish you should avoid.

agabr123

maybe not so impressive, but i heard an employee say that no, you cant add all twelve of these fish into a 20 gallon tank since you're buying the tank TODAY...

CHoffman

LFS wouldn't sell a baby Arowana to a guy who wanted to put it in his 20 gallon, Actually you had to prove you had a big enough tank for the guys!!!!...The same LFS wont sell discuss to just anyone. They let you know they are hard to take care of..I was pretty impressed.

Lucy

LOL, I was joking.

agabr123

that's awesome...every LFS should do that

KyWildFish

I started talking to a fellow fish bum and she was full of good info. Had MTS and knew about the local fish club here in cincy. She bagged on the info she was forced to give the uninformed and helped me locate some other stores in the area that have more rare selections of fish. She was great help and even recognizes me when Im there.

(they have a "fish of the month" card so I browse to see if anything new comes in, which occasionally it does).

FL CommunityFans

As Little Nicky would say, "Release the good.. Release the Awesome!"



At Petland yesterday returning glass top that turned out to be a few cm too small, a fellow was trying to purchase a terrarium as an aquarium. The employee was about to go in to a fit of rage because the guy could not grasp that the terrarium was not made to be used as an aquarium. He kept saying,"Is it all glass? Good then it's an aquarium." I left before the end of that convo but it was amusing while I was there.

Mike19

wow, i spoke to a LFS and asked out of curiosity how much were the baby arowana the only thing they said was $2,999 and above but this LFS is pretty good im sure if they knew i was serious they would have questioned me, or i would have hoped so.

pinkfloydpuffer

There's arowanas for sale all the time around here. I could get like a 2 footer for $60

CHoffman

Yup they are all over here too..It's a shame. Why not stock a more suitable fish??

pinkfloydpuffer

I've only actually seen one in a store... but tons in local classifieds!

MeGustaUnaPez926

Oh, there are pretty run down stores around here that sell them. Breed them I think too. And the people who run them don't actually speak English, so I'm thinking they sell them to just about anyone. They have 3 or four to a ten gallon tank, and they go for 20 bucks a pop. So sad....
I guess I should add this to the 'worst thing ever heard at a fish store' thread!

Alessa

Me too, Seriously.