Is It Right

[atmmachine816]

I was just wondering if you guys think it's right for a small petstore to be selling 2 6" silver arowanas when nobody ordered them and a 8" florida gar?

I don't think it is since most people can't care for them properly what do you guys think?

Austin

 

[ghent_3rd]

Think it depends on what type of fishkeeper there is in the area. if the store has had success with these fish in the past then why not stock them. If howvever they just have them in for no reason at all then that might be a bit different.

My LFS sometimes gets the odd really strange or really large fish in and I think to myself "He's never going to sell that at that price", yet when I go back a couple of weeks later they are usually gone.

Word of mouth in the fishworld, or the internet for that matter, can help people track down fish that they have been looking for and would be prepared to travel a lot of miles for!!

 

[Jox]

I have a florida gar. Of course its goin in a bigger tank. If you think about it name a petstore that doesn't sell pacus. IN my area its almost impossible

 

[JJ1234567]

for that matter every Wal-Mart and Meijers Store in the country seems to sell oscars. My Wife works at Meijers and is constantly telling people that they cant expect to house an oscar and a gold fish and a guppy in a ten gallon tank. Most people just tell her to mind her own business. The sad fact of the world is that most people dont care. its really too bad.

 

[cane76]

i bet a BIG percentage of silver aros end up in tanks far too small

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

I was just wondering if you guys think it's right for a small petstore to be selling 2 6" silver arowanas when nobody ordered them and a 8" florida gar?

I don't think it is since most people can't care for them properly what do you guys think?

Austin

What prices are they? If they are for a suitable price(which i would expect to particualy expensive for arrowanas), then less people are going to impulse purchase them without thinking twice than say other fish that usually for between 1 and £5's. Does the lfs sell tanks above 100gals too though? If so i don't think its that bad, the problem i have with the most is lfs's that sell large fish but not the tanks that go with them to any decent degree.
My main lfs for example sells plenty of bala sharks, sailfin/common plecs and plenty of large growing agressive cichlids but it does not sell tanks above 40gals and does not order them either- considering its the only lfs/lps in my town thats pretty bad as most people that live here won't have even seen the sort of size tanks these fish need before.

 

[bunjiweb]

I don't see it as a problem. I would only see it as a problem if the shop is unwilling/incapable of giving the correct advice about these potentially monsterous fish. Do they have labels on the tank advising that they will grow to at least 2 foot long, if not 3 ft? If they don't then i'd suggest that you go and suggest to them that it would be worth doing to stop people buying them for tiny tanks.

Ben

 

[atmmachine816]

The arowanas are 40$ each and the gar I think is 30$. The largest tank they sell is a 125gallon, 90Gallon 75Gallon and so on but the 125 is 450$ just for the tank stand and hood. And no there are no labels saying how big they get. And I have been going to this lfs quite frequently for almost a year now and they have never had aros or gars and now they do and they have about 20-30 common plecos ranging from 2-3" for sale and large cichlids and oscars. What I don't get is why they sell aros when they have large cichlids like jack dempseys, pirhanas, and lots of other cichlids(i know pirhanas aren't cichlids) that have been there for over a month and they haven't been sold. I am having second thoughts about supporting this lfs anymore.

Austin

 

[Nevergone815]

i'm still debating what to vote, but in the end i think it all depends. if the lfs has people that they know has huge tanks and are setting up tanks for just these things than i think it is ok. but if they are selling them to uneducated people and telling them that they don't get much bigger or what. as always i encourage people to buy these fish ONLY after extensive research.find out all that they need and make sure you can set up a tank that can house them properly.

i made the mistake of not researching common plecs. i figured that since they sell them so commonly in EVERY lfs that i have been in, i assumed that they only get like 5" or so, turns out that they can get to nearly 2 feet.

another time this happened (around the same time as buying the pleco) i bought a CAE, the lfs didn't tell me that they are only suitable for tanks above 30 gal. i was looking for a nice algae eater to clean up my tank. turns out when they get bigger they don't even eat the stuff hardly.

well i rehomed the CAE to a friend, the pleco is still in my care for now, my lfs won't take it back so i am left with nothing.

i agree lfs' should have print ups of all the dangers of every fish (i.e. proper care, size, potential risks, etc...)
this will negate a lot of poor purchases. if people know that common plecos get 20" long people will be less inclined to buy them. another problem i see is the selling of giant guoramis and kissing guoramis. i know the kissing guoramis get to around 10" but the lfs gets them as juvies and look to only grow to like 6" max, most people can't house these cute fish. as for the giant guoramies, well all i know is that they get HUGE and the lfs sells them at like 2-3" and doesn't tell people that they are a monster of a fish full grown. even the sell of oscars is outrageous. i was going to buy one (i thought they were cool looking-like everyone else), but i did research this time, and found out that i didn't have no where near proper housing and would not have so in anytime soon. so i didn't buy them, but again the lfs just bags them and sells them w/o asking questions. DAM CAPITALISM!

i think that lfs', if they are selling these monsterous fish, should be obligated (maybe even by law) to educate their potential customers and provide the essential living housing and care for these fish in their shops.

but that is just my opinion

 

[atmmachine816]

That's what I think, and why does this same lfs sell a baby american alligator. I may only support them so I can get a job there and when I have a job there maybe I can tell them all this stuff, but they won't really listen to me now. I asked the guy what they are going to do with them if they don't sell them he said that they should sell them and didn't really respond when I asked him that most people can't house them properly, he just finished bagging a fish and ingnored my comment.

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

I have never seen a single lfs put up labels on how big their fish grow, and its not like you can type out fact sheets to give to all the people that can't be arsed to buy a book or go online to research their fish. A lfs that does this kind of stuff would be an awesome lfs, unfortunatly there are very few awesome lfs's out there.
But i'm willing to settle for a good or great lfs.
As to the original question;

I was just wondering if you guys think it's right for a small petstore to be selling 2 6" silver arowanas when nobody ordered them and a 8" florida gar?

I don't think it is since most people can't care for them properly what do you guys think?

Austin

Just because it is a small lps does not mean it should be confined to selling cheap common fish like the vast bulk of other lps's out there, i don't think the size of the shop should be an issue.
I also don't see a problem with a lps selling 2 relatively rare large growing fish without anyone specifically ordering them, the vast majority of the fish the lps sells will be unordered fish that it has just stocked itself- so taking this into consideration, i don't think there's anything wrong with it ordering an arowana and gar- the price tag should make anyone think twice about impulse buying them and shoving them in a 10gal.
The lfs also sells rather large tanks at decent prices, although florida gars and arowana's need at around 200gals(i think), at least it is making an effort to sell large tanks, and i'm sure if they can stock a 125gal, they can stock a 200gal if somone wanted one.
In the end you cannot force people to research their fish's needs, even if the lps stocked gigantic tanks, put labels on every fish tank with detailed info and gave out fish fact sheets to every customer and the staff were trained and experts on fish keeping and willing to help out any newb at any time of day etc, "pause", i am 100% sure there will still be plenty of morons who think they know best, or generally can't be arsed with looking after fish properly, that will still not take proper care of their fish.
Overall, although the lps doesn't sound amazingly desirable or anything, it sounds better than most i have seen so i would say overall i don't have a problem with it selling gars or arowanas- i think its fine .

 

[atmmachine816]

Well I have been in there and I have heard people say "O lets get johny a 10cent goldfish for his tank and oo we can get him a albino clawed frog" and the people don't always do anything since I think they are hurting for help and only a few people know about fish and they let people buy anything. I am going to see how long they stay there though.

 

[bunjiweb]

But, would you complain if a shop was selling Oscars? Probably not, and yet so many people are ill-advised to buy one for their 2 ft tank, only for them to see it eat all their neons and then consequently live out a cramped, shortened life in a tiny tank....

Or how about the humble common plec! They get such a raw deal! Bought at only a couple of inches then forced to either move out or die once it can't turn around in the owners tank.

People should research the fish they are buying. They should at least have some idea how big it grows to! You wouldnt get sold a saint bernard dog without realising that it might get a few times bigger than your average terrier...

Ben

 

[atmmachine816]

Exactly, why do people do more research on dogs then fish, their no different and they have special requirements to. And yes I made a point that that lfs shouldn't be selling 30+ common plecos along with other types and 10-20 types of oscars and 10+ red bellied pirhanas. It's not right, there aren't going to be that many people in my city that are going to have enought tanks and the proper conditions to house all these fish, especially with multiple lfs's in one city.

Austin

 

[prankster705]

Depends on the knowledge of the staff, the city/village/town if they have a shop where youcan get big aquariums...