Ignorant Pleco Sales Or Nieve Buyers?plecos A No No For Newbies?

[roadmaster]

My mum was sold a "cleaner fish" for my sons tank, she explained to the assistant it was for a small tank with guppies in and what was best, Mum being in her 70's and never kept fish before took the assistants advice and purchased a lovely gold plec. This was our first plec and I was horrified when I researched it and found it was a common and would grow far too big for a 30" tank. I phoned the shop but they wouldnt take it back. The more I looked into the common plec, the more I fell in love with them and my pride and joy are my common and gibby. But yet I dont think these beautiful inteligent creatures should be so cheap and readily available, but business is business and most LFS dont give a hoot about the fish so long as their tills keep ringing.

And therein lies the biggest misconception. Many folks believe they need a "cleaner fish" for algae or bottom duties when in fact, they are adding to the total amout of waste due to large amount of waste created by the larger species of plecos.
Many of these fish are actually quite poor at eating algae once they discover that fish food is much easier to come by. Others require special diets for some are herbivores ,some are carnivores,and some are omnivores. not all plecos will get along if housed together in anything but larger tanks and indeed,,,some will kill other plecos.
Have kept or am keeping many species from bulldog pleco ,snowball pleco,rubber lipped pleco, clown plecos,chocolate pleco,gold nugget pleco,royal pleco,whiptail (farlowella), candy stripe,bristlenose,and common pleco to name but a few.
Nearly all have different characteristics which must be realized BEFORE purchasing from my perspective.
Sadly, even with the info at your fingertips,, few seldom bother.

 

[plecostomus-mad]

sorrry but i dont really see a point in even discussing this as newbies dont really care for research and that will never change!! So why moan about them not doing enough research ??

just raising the issue, maybe those who dont research or those looking to get a pleco might stumble across this?

isnt this what a forum is for? to raise points and discuss them?

freedom of speech is a luxury we have.

 

[plecostomus-mad]

I also believe that you should research pleco's too - but people shouldn't state that newbies are too thick to do this BEFORE buying.

i wasent trying to state that newbies are too THICK to research, naive yes, as we all are when just starting out.i think if the lfs would put the name, common and scientific, there diet, adult size and recommended tank size needed it would help out alot. i was going to put minimum tank size but recommended would be far better.

 

[Liam50]

where i work we post maximum size on the tanks. me personally i never even suggest them to people who have tanks under 300l tanks but i say the same for my co-workers who happily sell them as there is such a massive profit margin on them. also customers are lazy wanting something that "cleans up the tank" or "only grows to the size of the tank" its frustrating telling people that simply need a to big a tank but its like banging your head against the wall. so blame both parties.

 

[plecostomus-mad]

where i work we post maximum size on the tanks. me personally i never even suggest them to people who have tanks under 300l tanks but i say the same for my co-workers who happily sell them as there is such a massive profit margin on them. also customers are lazy wanting something that "cleans up the tank" or "only grows to the size of the tank" its frustrating telling people that simply need a to big a tank but its like banging your head against the wall. so blame both parties.

if you take a look at my posts i am blaming both the seller and buyer. both are as bad as one another.im not saying ALL lfs worker and ALL buyers are the same but it seems most of them are ignorant or looking at profit margins.

mark

 

[rebrn]

sorrry but i dont really see a point in even discussing this as newbies dont really care for research and that will never change!! So why moan about them not doing enough research ??

No offence is intended but I would have to disagree with this statement. As a newbie it is not that I am unwilling to do the research, or don't care about the research, it is that many newbies, including myself, don't know where to go so we go to LFSs and trust that they know what they are talking about. Even if you try to do the research your self via the Internet there are so many different views about what is "the right thing to do", it can become very overwhelming and frustrating you don't know which opinion is the right opinion. One example is with cycling, for every site/person that promotes fish-less cycling there is one that says it is bunk. Even on this site the various opinions of what is "right way to care for fish" vary tremendously. So as a newbie who do you trust, which opinion is the right opinion? Sure there are books but again, even in the books opinions vary significantly from author to author. I do agree that some people, new to fish or not, don't care for the research and are not interested in learning at all, "they are just fish" is a statement I hear a lot from my husband, which is why the tanks, and fish, are mine and not his; but to lump all newbies into this category is just untrue. In a perfect world there would be only one correct way to care for fish, and all the LFS staff would be fish experts and things such as questionnaires, home visits or some other method to ensure the person has the proper set up/knowledge to care for fish is present. Unfortunately this is not a perfect world and I realize the the idea of questionnaires is virtually impossible but it would still be nice to see.

 

[AdamM]

Well when i went to one of my LFS (quite a bad one, but my parents were shopping next door) they had plecs for sale labeled as BN plecs which were actually commons! i couldnt believe it and the store staff didnt care

 

[fishnovice]

YES pet shops should be compelled by law to hand out a Care Sheet for all pets sold including fish, which will state adult size, size of tank needed, feeding etc.Big chain stores are a business and only care about profit so if common plecs sell the buyer will simply order in more plecs next month.As someone sugested, we need to educate and tackle the buyers of main stores. AND don't just stop at plecs but include ALL mis-sold big fish like sharks and goldfish too.

Why are common plecs so cheap?I would go a step further and campaign for a a £1 "rehoming tax" aded to the cost of all large fish to pay for a suitable "retirement home" to be provided for them when thet grow too big for most tanks.Putting the price of common plecs up will persuade most naive people to go for another species like BN or bulldog plec.

I've been keeping fish for 8 months now and have really learnt a lot, mainly from this forum. I understand how newbies feel though. Ashamed to admit that I used to think goldfish only grew to 2-3inches, like orange mollies!Luckily I didn't get any.Sadly most newbies rely on petshop staff for advice -I did at first and was shocked to discover via this forum that lfs staff sometimes deliberately give wrong advice -to me it was totally unprofessionaland unthinkable like a lawyer suggesting criminal activity or a chemist dispensing a poison instead of cough medicine!I used to think plecs were hideous and primitive, like something out of Jurassic Park. Now I've grown to love them and think they are cute in an ugly sort of way, like bulldogs. I have 6 baby BN and and adult L001 I adopted as he needed a home (did lots of research about maximum size before deciding to adopt him)He's gorgeous and I'm totally in love with him - in spite of all the poo.

 

[Ian H]

I havent read the whole thread, only skimmed through a couple of posts so not sure if what im about to say has been posted. Personally i think common plecs/gibbies need to be phased out of fish stores and bristle nose plecs sold as the main/only plec. If people want them for a "cleaner fish" they do a better job of eating algae than most others (even though they probably cause the algae with the huge amount of waste plecs produce )Then the obvious fact they dont grow silly sizes! But then what about other fish such as SAE? they grow fairly big and can be aggressive but they are considered "ok" too.

Fish stores really need to sort themselfs out though, most of them are just trying to make a quick buck. You goto any other specialised shop you get professionl advice goto a fish store you get sold any fish and multiple other useless products because it makes them money.

 

[ajs2294]

I got my first Pleco today, a Albino Bristlenose, after asking on here and determining it was right for me. But before I got into fish I always use to see the little ones at the petshop and thought they stayed little. I feel that's the same for most people, as a result I think LFS should be require o label each tank with the stock and potential size of the fish

 

[back2Fish]

Well I am a little too new to the forum to officially vote, but I must say I agree with you Mark. I think to expect new fish keepers to know exactly what is best for fish is asking a lot, even if you are not new to aquariums you might be new to a specific type of fish and it is impossible to know what is best for a fish you have never kept before. The problem with the aquarium hobby is that there are so many different opinions as to what is the "right" way to keep an aquarium is. I have been keeping fish on and off for about 20 years, now it has been roughly 4 years since my last aquarium, and I can't believe how many things have changed with respect to what is the accepted norm. I mean I remember the days when water changes were unheard of, and if you were someone who changed your water on a regular basis (as is the norm today) you were considered to be doing the "wrong" thing for your fish. So while I like the idea that people would be educated regarding thier livestock choices before they buy I fear it is impossible for 2 reasons. First, the "correct" opinion at one LFS would be the "wrong" opinion at another LFS. Second, unfortunately the days of the mom and pop shop are gone, and the majority of fish are being sold at large pet store chains and the only opinion that counts at such stores is the opinion that makes them the most money.

 

[Assaye]

Whenever any animal is bought, sold or traded, the right information about their needs and husbandry should also change hands.

That goes for everything from horses to stick insects.

 

[stoneagedinosaur]

A series of questions - no. Some good impartial advice - yes! I was very lucky and had a very knowledgeable fish enthusiast sell me my bristlenoses after pointing out how big the common plecs will grow. They didn't make as much money from me BUT they did get a returning customer who has spent quite a bit with them now.

A canny LFS will give good advice to get your loyalty. Shame they didn't refund when one keeled over after 2 weeks for no reason! Hey ho - you live and learn...

I got my first Pleco today, a Albino Bristlenose, after asking on here and determining it was right for me. But before I got into fish I always use to see the little ones at the petshop and thought they stayed little. I feel that's the same for most people, as a result I think LFS should be require o label each tank with the stock and potential size of the fish

Excellent idea - fully agree with this one

 

[snowflake311]

Wow people are wright some books on this topic.

Yes they should ask how large is your tank going to be. Or say " you do know these fish grow fast and large." but they are the cheapest plecos for people to buy.

I agree it is not just plecos many other fish are bought small and people don't knows how big they are.

It happens with dogs too. People get a boarder collie for an apartment work all day and wonder why the dog chews up the couch.

 

[Ian H]

but they are the cheapest plecos for people to buy

I dont understand this bit with fish stores, breeding common plecs needs huge tanks with man made river beds or wild caught. BN need a 30g tank and a cave? surely it would be easier/cheaper to breed and sell them!?