Ever just want to choke people...

[Kopix Nation]

DYED OSCAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!That oscar will die if it does not get that color supplement!!That is if it had been on it long enough!Oh poor oscar!At our fish store they have this starving oscar.It is so pitiful..I tried to let them let me feed it some meelie worms I bought for my oscars as treats. Those morons said "We fed him on friday"Ya was that friday of last year?The poor thing was stuffed into a 20 g even though he was 7" all ready! The same thing was happening to this 35$ arowana sept it was being fed.God those idiots!I am glade I don't work there. The fish place I work for has enough 125g and 60g and 70g for all those kinds of fish. And they know what they are doing too.
Unlike Icredapet (pet supply store) The place I work for is called Just Fish and all the people that work there have to tell the people what they need and everything. Most people just go there for advise not to buy anything . But they are doing well. The owner and all the other people who work there know so much about everything fish wize. The owner has a degree in marine biology. He is now fragging rare corals and making more and more corals!It is so cool. There basement is a breeding center were they breed rare fish. I wish I could have one of there frontosas but they are 250$ each. They also are breeding synodontus catfish. I love working there it is heaven. I love the smells and the fish and most the people who come into the store because they are not your normal fish buyer they have been with Just Fish for years and have stayed loyal customers. I wish I could work there everyday but summers are slower because the people spend more time outside then with their fish. Winters are busy. I love Just Fish!!!!

claire

 

[ncstater1919]

I WISH THAT ALL WALMARTS DIDNT GET THE RIGHT TO SELL FISH!!!! i was in a local walmart getting fish supplys (its alot cheaper in walmart) and i was looking at the tanks and there were about 50 or 60 fish in a 20 gallon! and these werent jsut neons or something small they were silver dollors! then i looked at a tank and they put angels with some other aggresive fish (im not sure the name) and were tearing the dead agels apart! i wish that i had bought all the fish in there to put them out of there miesery ( sadly not enough money or room or experience) i think that unless you live in a smaller town where there arnt 50 billion petsmarts and pet pros at every corner that they shouldnt let Walmart to sell fish!

 

[Kopix Nation]

I agree! I have seen people that have petitions that are trying to get walmart to stop selling fish. I tried to sing one but did not know how.

claire

 

[lljdma06]

My LFS got in a couple of high-fin banded sharks recently. Knowing they can get extremely large (if you can manage to keep them alive long enough,) I was hoping someone had special ordered them, but it turns out that was sadly not the case.
Today I saw someone purchase one of the unfortunate fish, after first asking what it was but not requesting any information about its requirements or adult size. My LFS owner knows her fish and I'm sure she knew these people weren't capable of properly housing it, but the LFS literally cannot afford to miss a sale, since it barely seems to be staying afloat at all, so the owner reluctantly bagged the fish without volunteering any information on it. The person also bought a dyed oscar the same day (it's a mystery why they had dyed fish at all; that LFS is not in the practice of purchasing them.)

I admit, maybe staying quiet about it wasn't the best move, but I didn't want to snatch a sale right out from under the owner's nose... It just makes me so sick sometimes that people buy pets without knowing anything about them! I mean come on, these are living things we're talking about, and they depend on us to take proper care of them!

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I understand your dilemma, regarding the situation. I can count on my hand the number of petstores in the town where I live, and if I eliminate major chains, it reduces the number down to two. And they're in opposite ends of town, so there isn't any competition, and they've been in business for years. But in Miami, FL LFSs are a dime a dozen, and most make or break in a matter of months, so they can't afford to lose a big sale.

 

[Ben]

"there were about 50 or 60 fish in a 20 gallon"
It doesn't matter how many fish they put into their stock/selling tanks because they all get sold with in a week

DD

 

[FishFun]

Yeah for me! I was in a large chain pet supply store today to buy dog food and I talked a lady out of buying 2 Oscars for her 30 gallon tank.

I made one of the employees pull a Pleco's head out of a Mystery Snails shell and put him in a hospital tank. (Why would a Mystery Snail be sucking on a LIVE Pleco's head?)

And I talked a lady out of buying neons to go with her Angel Fish, even though the lady at the pet store was disagreeing with me that Neon's are Angel's natural prey in the wild. (I kinda got snippy with the pet store person and told her to look it up before she went around telling any more people it was ok)

 

[azn1stknightsoul]

I had a friend of mine get a betta. She was really estatic about it, but would not agree to put it into a bigger bowl other than a dinky little fish bowl. She also refused to believe that it was a boy due to the long flowy fins. I tried to tell her that it was a boy and even took her to several websites, but she still flatly refuses to believe its a boy. She wont put any filtration in or an air pump, saying that it makes the tank look ugly. She gets angry at the betta because it sits at the bottom all day long. She says its being lazy. I say its just not getting enough oxygen. But of couse, she still thinks its lazy.

 

[Gill]

I feel Sorry for the Sharks.

I have been Lucky enough to have kept these Beautiful fish, they are very graceful to watch. And when they are in Full Color, Look Amazing.

I am fortunate to have somewhere that can take them on when they are big and start to morph into the Adult Form.

Alas, a Wrong Decision with a Fish Led to there Death. (Also a Peaceful fish Attacks them and Stressed 1 out too much - Weather Loach Attached itself to 1's mouth and Stopped it eating)

These Fish Grow so Slowly that they do not come onto the market very often. When they come back, Hopefully next year - I will be having 2, By that time My Tank Situation will have improved and I'll be back to atleast a 3footer.

 

[mattbeau]

" I like to poke them with my finger and watch them get all puffed up" employee at pet smart talking about DP's

!?!?!??!?!?!?!?!?!
next LFS please

 

[Synirr]

In fairness to newbies, a lot of people might think asking the pet shop manager does count as research, that a pet shop is a place where you can ask for advice about suitable buys. Not everybody can know by instinct a)that fish forums exist b)that they are often a more reliable source of reference.

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That's the thing... I think blame rests squarely on the shoulders of the employees if they are giving bad advice to customers, but the lady buying the high-fin didn't even bother to ask. If she had, the owner would have given her the correct information, but her policy is just to assume a customer knows what they're doing if they don't ask. I can understand trusting an employee to give you good advice, but not even asking is just plain ignorance!

DYED OSCAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!That oscar will die if it does not get that color supplement!!

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What?

 

[jungle king]

I wish we had a place like just fish. I would love to work there but as of yet 20 application forms sent out and no reply's. I think people may think that just because I have an illness. I would not be an asset they just see the illness not the person

 

[Durbkat]

Guess what? I just went to my lps and they have this oscar that is about 6" long and 4 to 5" tall its huge!!!!!!!! And they said that someone returned it. And its in a 10 gallon tank. They said if it gets any bigger it'll die of lack of oxygen if they don't get it sold soon. And in another tank which is maybe a 30 long they have a 7" to 8" pleco that was also returned.

 

[jacblades]

working at a lfs, you get used to it, even numb sometimes.

heres a story with a surprisingly happy ending

last week a woman with her little boy came up to me and asked where the goldfish were. i saw the goldfish bowl starter kit in their cart and asked if they planned on putting the fish in there. she said "yes."
i started educating her about goldfish and telling her that a betta would be a better choice for the bowl and she interrupted me and said, "look-i just want the fish and i can go somewhere else if i need to."
i said, "well i can sell you the fish but i can't give you the 14 day guarantee but i can guarantee you that the fish won't be happy."
this obviously pissed her off and she gave me a terribly evil look. just as she was about to turn away, her little boy tugged at her shirt and said, "mom, i don't want to hurt the fish. let's get a betta."
i think she realized her selfishness because she had an awe-inspiring look on her face and she asked me to show them the bettas.
she went home with a betta, a care sheet and happy little boy.

it's too bad it doesn't usually end like that though.

 

[Durbkat]

Dang that women was fiesty.

 

[FishFun]

Great story!
And that is all the we can do....educate as many people as we can when we have an opportunity! I've gotten really good at sideling up to people and asking stupid questions, then "inadvertantly" education them on a decision that they are about to make. Like the lady who wanted to get the 2 Oscars for her 30 gallon had no idea that they needed a at least a 55 gallon for 1 fish, or how messy they are, or that fish don't all die of old age at the same time right after a water change like her silver dollars did. Oi! People...

working at a lfs, you get used to it, even numb sometimes.

heres a story with a surprisingly happy ending

i started educating her about goldfish and telling her that a betta would be a better choice for the bowl and she interrupted me and said, "look-i just want the fish and i can go somewhere else if i need to."
i said, "well i can sell you the fish but i can't give you the 14 day guarantee but i can guarantee you that the fish won't be happy."
this obviously pissed her off and she gave me a terribly evil look. just as she was about to turn away, her little boy tugged at her shirt and said, "mom, i don't want to hurt the fish. let's get a betta."
i think she realized her selfishness because she had an awe-inspiring look on her face and she asked me to show them the bettas.
she went home with a betta, a care sheet and happy little boy.

it's too bad it doesn't usually end like that though.

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