Ignorant People Buying Fish

[RobberyinCSharp]

Oh man, I was at Petsmart once and a group of twenty-somethings came into the fish section. They purchased three angel fish, then wanted to buy a few SA cichlids and a bunch of neon tetras and black skirt tetras.
Luckily the woman working there was well experienced in fish keeping and told them that all of these species were incompatible. She said they'd null and void their fish warranty if they bought them because they'll all kill each other in a heartbeat.
Those stupid you-know-whats didn't listen and bought all of them. No doubt those fish were dead, except for the cichlids , in a matter of hours. Maybe less. I just glared at them the whole time. Regardless of the LFS repeatedly telling them all of them will die, they still bought them!!!! Ugh

 

[MisssMarie]

My first "fun" fish was a red bellied piranha. I saw him at my local LFS and asked if he'd be suitable for my 10 gallon tank and I got told "ABSOLUTELY!" so I bought him. Needless to say as soon as I got him home and did research, I was floored. Instead of returning him, I gave him to my friend whose last piranha in her 55 gallon had just died (husband tried to clean the tank... With soap...) so, not the best LFS workers... Another time, I asked if they carried Guppies, and they asked if it was a kind of shrimp?! Needless to say, I avoid that shop!!

 

[fluttermoth]

My first "fun" fish was a red bellied piranha. I saw him at my local LFS and asked if he'd be suitable for my 10 gallon tank and I got told "ABSOLUTELY!"

I've heard some pretty appalling statements from LFSs over the years, but that one tops the lot, I think!

Mental

 

[MisssMarie]

My first "fun" fish was a red bellied piranha. I saw him at my local LFS and asked if he'd be suitable for my 10 gallon tank and I got told "ABSOLUTELY!"

I've heard some pretty appalling statements from LFSs over the years, but that one tops the lot, I think!

Mental

Yeah, it's completely nuts! I'm so glad I did my research!!

 

[Prime Ordeal]

a fight with camalanus.

I just can't describe the picture I have in my head at the moment!

 

[Prime Ordeal]

Seriously though, imagine what your reaction would have been back when you knew nothing about fishkeeping if you had gone to buy your new fish and associated gubbins from your local pet shop and some weirdo comes up to you and starts laying down the fishlore to you (however polite and well intentioned), when the 'knowledgable' pet store staff have just given you the exact opposite on the subject. I know I, for one, would have looked upon this stranger and their advice with a certain degree of scepticism.

 

[XeroTolerance]

I mostly throw away the information I get from the LFS (petsmart). Although every so often there is a person who knows a surprisingly amount of good information.

 

[Blubble37]

All 6?!!!?!!!!?
I overheard a sales guy at a local petstore tell some guy he could get 2 clown loaches for his gravel filled 15 gallon tank for probably 7-8 years or longer because they grow slow. Then he said corys would go good too. I also chimed in and said, clown loaches really need a 75 gallon tank I'm afraid and should be in groups of 6+ and them as well as corys need either very fine gravel but prefer sand. He went home with 3! Clown loaches and 6-8 Cory cats.

i would rather have thrown the assistant out the door - stolen his uniform then took his place and actually gave out GOOD ADVICE for once

 

[mtbdean]

Best one for me has to be a woman, setup a new aquarium yesterday, her kids like the Fighting Fish, so she bought three, Shopkeeper said that they need to be seperate, but she already has 8!!

 

[XeroTolerance]

^ So that makes it okay .

 

[Frazzledazzle]

This happened to me the other day. I went into my local pet shop, had a browse then saw they finally had some Peppered Cory in stock. 3 left, perfect. I've got three originally, so it would bump my numbers up nicely in my Cory only tank. I asked a young lad if he could fish them out for me and he went through the usual questions but when i told him my stocking, 3 Cory, he stopped and said "i wouldn't be happy selling you these, the floorspace they need would mean really you should only have 1 in there". This being my brand new 110 litre! So i politely informed him exactly what the price tag stated 'best kept in groups of 4-6'. He read this but still said "no there is not enough floorspace in your tank for 6, you're over-stocked already". At this point i was getting frustrated due to his obvious lack of common sense/knowledge. His manager was passing and the lad called him over to get his opinion, the manager asked the questions and went "yeah, that's perfect for these, have you got fine gravel?" I've got sand in all of my tanks so this made his bell ring and he had them fished out and bagged up in no time. He gave me a 30% voucher for purchases over £50 in future and i wasn't even kicking off, but he also said he'd be shopping the staff in for extra training. I've taught my self about fish keeping so surely if you work in a pet shop a bit of research of what you're selling isn't hard?

 

[savvy]

Everyone makes mistakes in the beginning, that's a given. I just don't understand the people (like Walmart chick) who admit they don't know much about fish or fishkeeping, but think they don't need to ask questions or take advice from anyone. Admittedly the pet store workers often provide incorrect info, but newbs don't know that.
Actually I would have appreciated random weirdos giving me some suggestions when I was figuring all this stuff out...

 

[adamlawes13]

Actually I would have appreciated random weirdos giving me some suggestions when I was figuring all this stuff out...

+1

 

[Cossie1111]

My lfs works like this: ask for a fish, you get it, no questions asked.

I cant imagine how many fish have been sold and taken to unsuitable homes.

 

[Bignose]

Guys,

Ultimately, it is a business. Those businesses are there and available to sell you fish and supplies because they make at least some money. If they don't make money, they are closed, and then no one -- the 'knowledgeable' or the 'ignorant' -- can buy anything fish related.

Which is worse? No fish or supplies at all, or a large portion of those fish sold to the 'ignorant'?

Lets say that only 5% of the people buying fish aren't 'ignorant' (I'd wager closer to 0.5%, but lets just use 5% as a basis for discussion). That means for a fish shop to make the same money they are making now and only sell to the 'knowledgeable' customers, each and every price has to go up 20 fold. What you're paying $1 for now (a neon tetra, for example), would you pay $20 for? Would you pay $100 for a $5 tub of food? $1000 for a tank that now costs $50?

I'm not saying that I like that fish are being sold to homes that don't care for them like I do, like most of us forum members do. But, I accept it as part of the business. I inform people about how to properly care for fish if they desire to know the info, if not, I let it go. Ultimately I know that I would not be in the hobby at 20x the current prices, so I accept that sales to 'ignorant' people are necessary.

And, in the end, this is an old problem. There are threads just like this from the beginning of this forum, and I am sure that this same topic has been kicked around fish clubs for years and years before the Internet even existed.

I guess what I am saying then is: rather than just complaining about it, what do you think should be done to remedy the situation? What solutions do you guys have that are feasible and not too costly? What can drive real change? I am hoping that you guys will really think about solutions to this problem rather than just preaching to the choir of an Internet fish forum.