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

[Liam50]

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!?

i'm pretty sure breeders skip out and just use hormones, not sure exactly how it works but they just breed despite the lack of correct conditions. also the shop i work at we buy around 40 commmons which i always suggest against buy we buy them at 0.16 of a Singapore dollar (or what ever currency) so they are by far the cheapest pleco as BN cost 1.4 dollars a fish. so you can see why shops do sell them.

 

[Tom499]

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.

I totally agree with this!

I also 1st thought Plecs were good as they cleaned the tank of algae. Luckily though, as I tend to google alot before purchasing anything (And I mean anything!) I was lucky to find forums and data sheets which made me realise the truth.

After much thought I realised that a Bristlenose plec was right for me, and I bought the food, bogwood, sandy bottom etc that they needed. Instead of the plec fitting to my requirements, I fitted to his/hers.

Now arguably the internet isn't always right, and not everyone will have access, but without it, I would have easily fell into the Common plec trap, or simply left my Bristlenose to live off the algae in my tank.

I have found even the better fish stores will still lean towards overstocking.

When looking for fish to stock my 10 gallon, the guy reccommended me a Green Spotted Puffer, before I hinted that It would probably get too big =/

 

[Larkspur]

It would be great for someone to ask questions, but unfortunately the person whose supposed to be asking them is often AWOL from fish stores, especially big company ones like PETCO. And the person buying may provide false answers. Seller: "You have room for this?" Buyer: "Yep."

I've lied here and there mostly for my little brother who wanted a fish or two that was going into a diminutive 2.5 gallon tank.

Most people don't realize that the common pleco gets HUGE. I didn't until recently. I knew they got big, but a lot of people are under the stipulation that fish won't outgrow their tank. And I know PETCO sells their common plecos labeled under small, medium, and large. This may confuse someone whose not paying mind to the details on the label.

I did a little research on the BN catfish before I got it. My tanks not large enough, but the fish is less than 2 inches long right now. When I upgrade to a 29 gallon this year then he will be in an appropriate tank. Even I should not have gotten it, but nobody was there to really talk me out of it at the time. I just knew they were a limited time special at walmart and I wanted the cute little albino BN catfish!

 

[Ian H]

It would be great for someone to ask questions, but unfortunately the person whose supposed to be asking them is often AWOL from fish stores, especially big company ones like PETCO. And the person buying may provide false answers. Seller: "You have room for this?" Buyer: "Yep."

I've lied here and there mostly for my little brother who wanted a fish or two that was going into a diminutive 2.5 gallon tank.

Most people don't realize that the common pleco gets HUGE. I didn't until recently. I knew they got big, but a lot of people are under the stipulation that fish won't outgrow their tank. And I know PETCO sells their common plecos labeled under small, medium, and large. This may confuse someone whose not paying mind to the details on the label.

I did a little research on the BN catfish before I got it. My tanks not large enough, but the fish is less than 2 inches long right now. When I upgrade to a 29 gallon this year then he will be in an appropriate tank. Even I should not have gotten it, but nobody was there to really talk me out of it at the time. I just knew they were a limited time special at walmart and I wanted the cute little albino BN catfish!

you are the exact kind of person that we are talking about! if you cant house the fish to its max size then dont buy it, simple. Loads of people say "but im upgrading to a bigger tank soon" and most of them dont

 

[Fishbore]

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.

This post made me feel better. I live in a small town and have an independant long standing LFS so when my hub and I decided on a tank there was surely no better place to go?? Long story short but ended up with 2 clown loach in a 120l tank, yup far too small tank and too small a family group but they are the 'experts'! its not until you have them and start to look them up do you realise the mistakes made.

Surely when first setting up everyone makes mistakes???

I did feel a bit like I shouldnt be here, maybe this forum was for experienced fisherkeepers with comments like:

'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 ?? '

But I read on and found this, so thank you.

I started out naive, yes, made mistakes, yes but I am correcting them not allowing the fish to suffer. Surely it's should be about newbies who dont care not those who care so much they kick themselves for making mistakes and have nightmares about their fish. And yes I have had horrid dreams and spent hours stressing about them so please dont judge, those that really care do that to themselves.

I have a Leopard sailfin pleco and if it turns out I have made a mistake I will correct it, and if I have my way by getting a huge tank!

 

[FWFishLover]

If LFS's would give there customers the proper advise there wouldn't be nearly as many problems. Most people first getting into the hobby go to there LFS think they can trust these people and thinking the know what there talking about. Some people probaly think of them like they would a police officer a teacher or any other professional there suppose to know there job. The sad thing about it is the majority don't know anything.

I agree but in defense of the LFS im sure its hard to remember facts about every single fish there.
and if they dont saled they get fired, but im still against them....they always give me bad advice

 

[Liam50]

at the end of the day tho fish shops are businesses and if fish shops told people about "proper" fish keeping i can bet that 50% of customers wouldn't bother thus putting the shops out of business. thats how we get fish so cheaply i mean without the fish shops we would have to go through a supplier and i believe it would be bad on wild fish. as if shops no longer bought in bulk as they weren't selling as many fish the suppliers would not make money so they would shut down. then there would only be wild caughts and big price tags. so basically what i'm saying is its not right but for us who take fish keeping seriously we need people to buy fish to keep the industry alive!

 

[Darkstar]

now my problem is people buying plecos and not knowing anything about them

And how does that change if you know one thing about them....or is it ok if you know two things about them...or do you need to know everything abou them before you'll approve of others of owning a plec?

Considering very little research has really been done with loricariids, I would guess that compared to what there is to know...we all know virtually nothing. In light of that, I would recommend working on improving your own fish keeping skills and knowledge before casting judgement on everyone else...

 

[dave_oddballs]

i think people should be asked serious questions about any fish not just pleco's, although pleco's are different in the way they produce a lot more waste (per inch) than other fish, there are a lot of fish that do more waste producing than plecs. so yes i see your point, but it should be done for all fish.

i can't get over you saying you payed £80 for a golden nugget, a bristlenose and 2 clown plecs! that would be £40 at the very most from my lfs!

 

[JenCliBee]

This subject works with every fish and every fish keeper. It also works with all animals in general.

Would you advise a 'new' fishkeeper not to get a platy becasue they no nothing about fish in general?, would you not advise somebody that has never had a dog to not get one?.

This sort of thread has been raised over and over and over again, the shops are there to make money, maybe yes they should perhaps label fish for potential size but come on who unless you are experienced and give a dam would take note of the labels. Isn't the consensus been brought up that fish only grow to the size of the tank?,we know that's not correct but do they?, would they listen if they were told the correct info?. why would new fishkeepers no any different if that's what they have herd over an extended period of time and then been told by one member of a fish store that what they have read or have led to believe is so wrong.

Ive been in aquatics shops where the advice (correct) has been given in relation to a fish getting 'so' big, for them to be given an answer back like, "ill still take it" or "im upgrading" or even ..." yes my tank is plenty big enough for this fish" even though probably 90% of the time it isn't and never will be.


If every shop said well im not selling you this fish becasue!!!!, then im sure the customer would go elsewhere and buy the same fish. End of the day the person/s will buy the fish if they want it , doesn't matter on the advice and doesn't matter where they spend there money.


Yes it may well be wrong, even annoying to know but getting all aggravated about something that's been happening for many many years and will do for many many more is pointless.

The whole point is why do so many people get so upset with store members for doing there job, there there to sell fish and make money to keep the store open. like every other business, it's there to make money, there to earn them a living, there to support there family. They lose that they lose everything.

If you feel that strongly about the subject then bypass the shops that do this sort of thing, the only problem is if you did that, there wouldn't be any place for you to buy fish or very few places.

Supply and demand comes to mind, as long as they sell these fish, they will supply these fish.

Seems know one ever seems to blame the importers for putting these fish on the import list but readily available to blame the middleman.

It's should be left mainly to the fishkeeper them selves to find out about any fish purchased.

 

[Miss Mayhem]

My boyfriend was sold a 3" common plec on Sunday for our 17l tank. The seller said he would be fine in that sized tank and that he would only live 3-5 years. Having done some research I am now horrified that the poor thing is suffering at our well intentioned mistreatment.
I am also really angry at the seller for not giving us proper guidance, though I completely understand why they didn't.

Such as shame as I'd love to keep him but obviously can't.

 

[feag]

just read this whole thread ( a year old i know ) but have just added onto the forum page for help and advice and feel reading this, so guilty we never did more research before now.