Worst lfs/lps advice

This thread was initially started by armadillo but dissapeared all of a sudden so I'll start it again.

What is everyone's worst lfs or lps advice, mine would be wither to put a betta in with 3 gourami in a 15G or to put 6 bala sharks in a 12G. There are probably worse out there in internet land rofl.

Jack

 

Yeah, you're right: it disappeared. That's really odd.

I think the latest piece of advice you received, the one about the fact that 'plants are only meant to last up to 6-8 weeks in an aquarium' was a classic too!

So my worst ones that I can think of right now are:

• LFS - Just use kitchen salt in your tank, luv
• Hardware store! - Why don't you add a couple more common plecs to your 10G, which I had already advised you to stock with: 2 angels, 4 mollies, 3 common plecs.
• LPS - Just leave your tank with water for about a month and it will be cycled (without fish or food or any source of organic pollution)
• LFS - (this one to my dad) Of coooooourse 5 goldfish will be really happy in 12G.
• LFS - Just freeze your fish to euthanaze it
• LPS - Oh no, luv, you don't want aquarium salt. That's only if the fish are REALLY sick. DOH! I was asking for salt because I prefer treating ich with salt/heat than meds.
• Hardware store - Mollies are happier in couples!!!!
• Hardware store - That little betta's a male. I know because it flares a lot (of course, that was a female, and I knew because of the ovipositor)
• LFS - Just leave your otos without food for 2 weeks (after I explained we were going on holidays and the otos had eaten all the algae in that tank)

 

haha I lobe the kitchen salt one and the freezing one... maybe love isn't quite the right word, but they are quite funny, were they at a lfs or lps?

Jack

 

Good question, Jack. Just filled it in next to each entry. My hardware store has a LPS section, but only one person in there knows ANYTHING at all about fish, and she's absolutely no expert.

 

well, this was given to a customer at Petco by the manager, but we heard it and couldn't help but give her good advice.. anyway his advice to her question about a male betta with a bloating stomach was "maybe it's pregnant?"

 

Oh I remember you saying about that one. What a CLASSIC!

 

The worst advise I have heard isn't really advise, but a statement. It was 'What's a neon tetra?'. It is really sad considering it was a fish store and the person was standing right beside the neon tetras too. But this was a few years ago now, so I am assuming the person was either let go, or got more experience.
Tom

 

lol.. it's amazing just how dumb employees, including managers, can be about the fish when they really outta know given that they're selling them and a pet-related business.

 

I've heard so much dumb advice since I started fishkeeping I can't remember most of it, but one recent one does come to mind..."I don't know, but if it dies just come get a new one before the kids find out."
Or how about a dumb statement, "What's a sponge filter? Do you mean the sponge in a canister filter?"

 

I got some:
A lionfish will be fine with your Nemos
You can keep tangs is anything that is above 29ga. (That one made me mad, I'm not a tang police though lol)
Feed your fish twice a day, it will grow faster and bigger (The person had ONE clownfish)

 

..i'd say let's write a book out of the collection of bad and/or downright stupid LFS/LPS advice but i'm afraid many would adopt it as the training manual.

 

lol.. i'm surprised they didn't tell you to put your clowns in a freshwater tank.

I got some:
A lionfish will be fine with your Nemos

 

OMG OMG OMG. These are excellent.

I got some:
A lionfish will be fine with your Nemos
You can keep tangs is anything that is above 29ga. (That one made me mad, I'm not a tang police though lol)
Feed your fish twice a day, it will grow faster and bigger (The person had ONE clownfish)

 

I told the people that got this advice that the store was lying just to make money. I think The LFS may of been PO'd at me...I'm prepared to battle them!

 

isn't it kind of rewarding in a way, to have a LFS po'd at you for knowing more about the fish than them?

 

Oh, defitily "Oscars are sort of quiet, curious fish. They'll do fine in a community tank"....


yeah right... he eventually ATE all of the rest of the community tank!

 

lol.. well, he did fine -- for him.

Oh, defitily "Oscars are sort of quiet, curious fish. They'll do fine in a community tank"....


yeah right... he eventually ATE all of the rest of the community tank!

 

Yes, but did it do it quietly, and curiously? Perhaps that's what he meant. The oscar was fine in the community tank, you have to admit. Only the other fish weren't!

Oh, defitily "Oscars are sort of quiet, curious fish. They'll do fine in a community tank"....


yeah right... he eventually ATE all of the rest of the community tank!

 

Yes, but did it do it quietly, and curiously? Perhaps that's what he meant. The oscar was fine in the community tank, you have to admit. Only the other fish weren't!

Actually, the first time I saw him eat another fish I was on the phone with my mom. The oscar came up behind a small shark and bit it right in half, gulped down the back half, circled around and ate the front half before it hit the bottom of the tank. I will never forget it, I just stood there with my jaw hanging down, my mom on the phone going "hello...hello??" That's when I went and bought a book on oscars...

 

 

Ok... I went to Petidiot yesterday to get new fishies with my boyfriend and while we were drooling at the fancy guppies a lady that was buying a live plant pointed at the hatchet fish and told the employee:

"oh... I got a tank one week ago with some fishes and two of these... now one of them is dead. Is there something I should do for my tank? Should I get another one of these to replace the dead one?"

then, the employee replied:

"Oh? the hatchet fish you say? I wouldnt worry about it too much, it just happened... and they aren't schooling fish anyways."

for what I heard that tank wasn't probably even cycled... and the hatchetfish are schooling fish...

I tried to talk to the lady but she just left too fast... then, I went to the employee and told him "can I get please a male platy from this tank?" he attempted to catch a platy from the mixed tank and while I looked for some prime my bf got the bag with the platy. As we were walking out I looked at the bag and stared at the big bellied "male" platy. Then I told my bf "this is a no-gonopodium pregnant "male" platy...."

we went back and I told the employee: "ehem... excuse me, I think you gave me a female platy..." and he said "no, no... it is a male!" Then I was like "Listen, this is a pregnant platy and there is no gonopodium there!" and then he was like "What???"

he didnt even know what a gonopodium was :,(


Now, this situation made me curious... and I figured why not ask the fishlore people what sorts of crazy things they have heard in different fish stores around the globe! ;D

 

A few weeks ago the lady at the store told me snails don't contribute at all to the bio load and I could add as many as I wanted to my tetra tank!

 

How about... You only have to feed goldfish once a week because they don't digest their food well and they just eat their poo over and over until they get all the food out of it. nope I don't shop there any more
Carol

 

A guy at Walmart told me that I could put 5 male betta's in a 10 gallon tank... I laughed and told him straight to his face that he was an idiot and had no clue what he was talking about.

 

What about...'Overstocking? you don't need to worry about that if you have a filter in the tank. So you can get that beautiful oscar for the 36 gallon of yours. And you don't need to worry about it out growing the tank, it will only grow another inch before it is fully grown. I know books and websites say it can grow too 14", but those are just misprints, they only get to 5", so no need to worry.'
Tom

 

I've heard.. "a goldfish will only grow to the size of the tank you have"
and once, I was sold three silver dollars with about eight dollars worth of plants. The man told me that they only eat the tasty plants like swords. Less than an hour later I was pulling all the plants out..or at least what was left of them..

 

OMG... and I thought I had heard bad things....

 

I heard the manager of the Petco back home tell a customer who's male betta was bloated that "maybe it's pregnant".

 

I don't even give them a chance to show their ignorance.. I have limited patience, so on several occasions I've snatched the net from their hand, and while getting the fish I want (and not what some doofus wants to give me), I've given them 'the look' and schooled them!


I know the average clerk in any LFS anywhere in the world, is no bright spark when it comes to fish ( it's always cool when you do find one who knows though!).. and I've come to realise there are those who want to learn but have bosses who are fixed on profit and give a 'pwefen' about the condition and after-care of the fish they sell.. and then there are those clerks who bring the 'know it all' attitude and are doing the job so they can hold some cash at the end of the month.. I flame that kind occasionally when I've had a bad day, and get away with it because I'm a regular monthly paying customer.

Perks of living in the Caribbean and being a DJ at a pretty popular station?.. maybe.. but if I was living anywhere else on this planet, as long as I'm spending what I am on a monthly basis, and have to deal with deliberately dense LFS clerks, I'll flame them too.. or excercise my power of choice and shop elsewhere.

 

Since we have moved and don't have access to Dino and CWCs fish as easily(thanks for being good fish guys :-* ) we have finally found a LFS that has the motto "Run by Hobbyist for Hobbyist" all the employees have aquatic creatures either freshwater or salt. We really enjoy going in there, but this kind of store is few and far between.
Carol

 

I know! I finally found a place in chicago called "old town aquarium" and the people there are AWESOME! They don't let you take fish home unless you bring them a sample of your water so that they can test it to confirm is cycled! they have all kinds of awesome things you wouldnt find anywhere else and I'm happy that there is finally a responsible fish store out there...

(sigh) but going back to reality, I was at work today and some of my co-workers saw my fish pics in my cell phone. They were like "I'd rather keep goldfish if I were you... they are way easy to keep! just toss them on a bowl with water and you're done!" then I asked: "where did you hear that from?" -"the pet store employee... that's why I got me a bowl with three!"

:'(

 

unfortunately fish will never get the same respect that furry pets do people don't see them like cats and dogs.

 

I had a Wal-Mart cashier try to tell me that the betta I was buying was not safe to put in with any other fish, that it would kill them. She continued by saying, "Look at the price of the fish. If the price ends in blah blah number it is compatible with blah blah number, but not with this other number." If that were the case the pacu were compatible with guppies and mollies.

 

How about "There is a Mollie stuck to your filter." (me) the clerk replied "dont worry, it is just cleaning the side of it."

Also, when asking for a cory I had the same clerk point to a tiger barb and a danio before getting it right (there were only the 3 species in that tank).

Or how about "you need to put fish in the tank or it will never cycle. The only way you can start the cycle is by putting some fish in there."

I just don't ask them for advice ne more. I look it up on the net.

 

You know I can't stand the lack of knowledge at these places either, however its no different than say a homedepot or lowes. They hire these people for minimum wage or close to it, do a lousy job of training and that's it. Most of these people are there to pick up a paycheck and don't have the passion we do for animal life. They are usually young and probably thinking of what time they get off so they can get to there girlfriend or boyfriend or anything but fish. We are lucky, in that we do have a few fish store's locally run by hobbist. However my wife went off on a LFS guy yesterday about the betta's they had and the water quality and she was right. Of course his response was ridiculous and we just had to get out or I'd be buying 50 bookshelf tanks and saving hundreds of betta's. I guess my point is, for the $7.00 an hour they pay 9 times out of ten you'll get an undertrained person and that is unfortunate.

 

You know I can't stand the lack of knowledge at these places either, however its no different than say a homedepot or lowes.

You're exactly right. Businesses don't want to pay people who have experience and knowledge. The main difference is that the stock at Home Depot isn't living.

Plus, petstores don't want employees giving knowledgeable advice to people. That might stop a sale and they want them to sell fish to anyone who has the money. You want a cute baby Oscar to put into a 10 gal tank? Sure, that'll be fine! Pay now please.

In 25 years of fishkeeping, I've had ONE employee who knew something. I had gone to buy 2 rasboras to add to my school of 5. This woman started asking me how big my tank is, what else is in there, and that I shouldn't keep just 2 rasboras. I was smiling the whole time I listened to her.

I had the distinct feeling that had my answers been wrong she wouldn't give me the fish. Never saw her again. A manager must have overheard her, or a customer complained, and she was given the boot.

 

The only time I talk to the workers at petco is when I need to ask where something is, then I hurry off before they can share their "expertise" on the subject of fish.

Although when I was checking out with three male bettas and a 5 gallon tank (I already had two tanks at home), the man at the register said "Yup, that tank will be plenty big for all of those." I just stared at him in shock - I couldn't even bring myself to say something to him.

The other LPS here is owned by a husband and wife that are very nice and know quite a bit about fish. I have asked them questions before about suggesting food for my picky betta Ianto or which plant substrate they recommend and they've been helpful. It's a small store so they run it themselves which means I don't have to deal with an idiot clerk who's only there for the paycheck!

 

I mentioned the snails being the worst, but really, the worst has to be the garbage they tell you about bettas or when I see someone buying a brand new aquarium and standing at the tanks saying I'll take 4 of those, 2 of those, 1 of these with the clerk standing there just nodding their head and scooping the fish out.

 

Almost every time I go into the Petco near me the Betta bowls are stacked so that their air holes are covered. The person in the fish dept. always blames it on someone else. I've gone to the Mgr. several times. They probably hate seeing me, but I hope they are learning. My Petsmart has people that all have fishtanks and are very caring. One is from the Petco store, they had left it.

 

Speaking of bettas I was visiting my mother-in-law yesterday so I took that opportunity to check out a LFS and they were keeping their bettas in the glass juice containers... That was a new one for me but with such a small opening I don't want to know how they shoved all of those betta into them.