Dumbest thing anyone’s said to you regarding fish…Go!

[Anonymous Fox]

me: *shows friend my 10 gallon tank*
friend; cool, what are you using it for
me; an betta
friend; thats WAYYY to big

 

[ThatFishGirl6231]

i’ve also been told my 5 gallon tank is too big for bettas. sad thing is, the lady who told me that is my moms friend and in college she studied ichtheology (study of fish). and her husband was my marine biology teacher.

 

[azvictoria]

This wasn't directed at me, but I witnessed it at the LFS store the other day. A woman was hogging up all the fish store guy's time by trying to convince him that she could care for 4 electric blue hap cichlids and several platties in a 30 gallon tank. He refused the sale. I only needed a few nerites and had to listen to this debacle for 30 minutes. That LFS guy deserves a trophy.

 

[AbbeysDad]

There are so many myths in the hobby .... https://mjvaquatics.com/fish-hobby-myths-vs-truth/
For me, I was in Petsmart one time and an Employee that I knew to be an experienced fishkeeper told a customer that she could not use sand in a planted tank. I was really surprised, but decided not to correct her. (I would agree that you don't want really fine sand as it can compact and impede root growth, but not all sand is created equally and in general, many/most sand works very well.)

 

[ThatFishGirl6231]

There are so many myths in the hobby .... https://mjvaquatics.com/fish-hobby-myths-vs-truth/
For me, I was in Petsmart one time and an Employee that I knew to be an experienced fishkeeper told a customer that she could not use sand in a planted tank. I was really surprised, but decided not to correct her. (I would agree that you don't want really fine sand as it can compact and impede root growth, but not all sand is created equally and in general, many/most sand works very well.)

i have sand in both my tanks and both are planted

 

[GuppyBreeder180604]

i’ve also been told my 5 gallon tank is too big for bettas. sad thing is, the lady who told me that is my moms friend and in college she studied ichtheology (study of fish). and her husband was my marine biology teacher.

that they know about fish anatomy and inner workings doesn't mean they know about domestic fish care

 

[GuppyBreeder180604]

There are so many myths in the hobby .... https://mjvaquatics.com/fish-hobby-myths-vs-truth/
For me, I was in Petsmart one time and an Employee that I knew to be an experienced fishkeeper told a customer that she could not use sand in a planted tank. I was really surprised, but decided not to correct her. (I would agree that you don't want really fine sand as it can compact and impede root growth, but not all sand is created equally and in general, many/most sand works very well.)

I have natural river sand in my tanks and plants grow great! granted there are large pieces that stop it from fully compacting

 

[Anonymous Fox]

'you should try a sweetwater tank!' (mixing saltwater and freshwater fish)

 

[GuppyBreeder180604]

the dumbest thing I have been told so far was when I bought a pair of otocinclus from a really dirty fish shop (they were the only ones that had them at the time).
there were multiple dumb things like:
1. I asked about a really large channel catfish, and they told me "it can live in a 55 gallon no problem"when i asked for tank size
2. there was a dead fish and they told me it was sleeping
3. once they admitted the fish was dead they just stood there and didn't take it out saying there was no problem and the other fish could just eat it.
4. once I got my fish home I saw one of them had a tumor, and at the time I didn't know it was a tumor so I called the store and told them that the fish might have an infection and they should check the otos tankmates and the told me "oh don't worry its definitely not an infection since the most expensive fish in the store were in that tank, and since I don't want to lose money it is the only tank I clean and do water changes on" he told me that as if it was a good thing!!!
I never went back to that store and it went out of business a few months later due to covid. Turns out that when I went the original owner of the store had died just 8 months ago and the ones running the store were his incompetent greedy sons that didn't care about the animals well being, and before the original owner died the store was one of the cleanest most professional fish stores in the whole city with good advice, great stocking and healthy fish.

 

[ThatFishGirl6231]

'you should try a sweetwater tank!' (mixing saltwater and freshwater fish)

oh how i love discus with clownfish.

 

[ThatFishGirl6231]

the dumbest thing I have been told so far was when I bought a pair of otocinclus from a really dirty fish shop (they were the only ones that had them at the time).
there were multiple dumb things like:
1. I asked about a really large channel catfish, and they told me "it can live in a 55 gallon no problem"when i asked for tank size
2. there was a dead fish and they told me it was sleeping
3. once they admitted the fish was dead they just stood there and didn't take it out saying there was no problem and the other fish could just eat it.
4. once I got my fish home I saw one of them had a tumor, and at the time I didn't know it was a tumor so I called the store and told them that the fish might have an infection and they should check the otos tankmates and the told me "oh don't worry its definitely not an infection since the most expensive fish in the store were in that tank, and since I don't want to lose money it is the only tank I clean and do water changes on" he told me that as if it was a good thing!!!
I never went back to that store and it went out of business a few months later due to covid. Turns out that when I went the original owner of the store had died just 8 months ago and the ones running the store were his incompetent greedy sons that didn't care about the animals well being, and before the original owner died the store was one of the cleanest most professional fish stores in the whole city with good advice, great stocking and healthy fish.

that’s so sad. the poor old man who died must be watching over his sons in disgust. i’m glad that store shut down.

 

[GuppyBreeder180604]

that’s so sad. the poor old man who died must be watching over his sons in disgust. i’m glad that store shut down.

i agree, i can not imagine being the old man knowing your legacy was ruined in less than a year by your own family

 

[Waterbabe]

Mom " for the love of god girl, that tank is way to deep for those fish they may drown"

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

That Corydoras can only live on sand

To be fair, you're deliberately mischaracterising what has been said.

People have said that they can only practice their full range of natural behaviours on sand (sifting sand through their gills to find specks of food) and that there's an increased risk of damaged barbels and infections by keeping them on gravel. Not that they cannot survive on gravel, or that problems are inevitable.

 

[Herpin Man]

i agree, i can not imagine being the old man knowing your legacy was ruined in less than a year by your own family

At least I had the courtesy to destroy my family legacy while they were still alive.