Random Discussion

[GaryE]

I don't think any sensible person thinks pet store employees are a problem. In most cases, it's their training, in the box stores. They're well meaning, but often totally unconnected to the hobby, and may never have kept fish. We had a good store that hired young offenders, and a dope dealer and sometimes burglar I knew from my class ended up catching fish for me one day. He was too stoned all through High School to recognize his old teacher, which may have been a good thing for me. I asked him a question and on the spot, he made up an answer, which showed his scammer skills were still sharp.

Almost every great aquarist I've known has worked in a pet shop or a wholesaler. They took it seriously and got really good at it.

There are four not very good aquarium fish selling pet stores in my small city, and two people total working in them who know their stuff. The others are nice people . The good ones will answer a question outside of their knowledge base by saying they don't know the answer. The bad ones will spout some kind of convincing sounding nonsense to appear like they're experts. And the one box store has people trained in bad advice - clearly the manager doesn't know fish and educates them in his image.

I don't let the kids in clothing stores pick my clothes for me, and I make my own orders in restaurants. Why would I ask someone else to pick my fish for me? Excuse me, I have to go to a used car dealership now and ask them which car I should buy.

 

[Back in the fold]

Interesting reflections between the internet’s advice on fish stores vs actually working at one.

I think the mantra of “don’t trust anything the employee tells you” overall does more good than harm. But that doesn’t mean it’s literally true. Fish store employees aren’t evil, and, at least at an actual LFS, are themselves almost definitely fish hobbyists (petsmart might be different). We just aren’t a replacement for doing your own research. I think the sentiment has an overall positive effect since it teaches people to be discerning.

The other observation is monster fish. Yes, we sell common plecos. But what surprised me was that so far, I haven’t encountered a single person who wanted a common pleco who didn’t a) know how big they get and b) have a tank big enough for one. I don’t like things like Jack Dempseys, Oscars, common plecos when they’re sold in a petsmart that doesn’t sell a tank big enough for them. But working at a store that caters to hobbyists, there are plenty of customers with big tanks to warrant selling these fish. I would say more than have of our regular customers have 75+ gallons at least, and many have ponds. Everybody that has pointed at a common pleco has had an employee warn them how big they get, and everyone either responded with either “oh ok I won’t get that” or “yeah I know I have a plan”.

I like that . I’ve known lots of guys and women that worked at the local fish and aquarium stores over the years and all of them were hobbyists themselves . They all knew their hobby and their business . A few at PetsMart weren’t dummies either and sometimes you’d ask a question and they’d say “ hold on , let’s go ask Fred “ .

 

[JackGulley]

A few at PetsMart weren’t dummies either and sometimes you’d ask a question and they’d say “ hold on , let’s go ask Fred “ .

The amount of times I’ve said “Lemme go ask ____” since working here is high.

 

[JackGulley]

Opinion changes of different fish groups after spending more time around them at work:

South American Cichlids:+++
I love the natural colors of these guys, and they seem to be the most intelligent/interesting to watch outside of predators. One of my favorite groups.

Angelfish:+
Very cool fins.

African cichlids:—
Don’t think I would ever keep these. They look cool in still photos, but they’re just so… nasty. The teeth on those Mbunas. They nip whenever you do tank maintenance, and have little behavioral charm to make up for it. Plus, the bright colors get old. Exception for tanganyikans, since they’re smaller and less piggish. Those I kinda like.


Tetras:~~~
Pros: the sheer variety of species available is cool.
Cons: their behavior feels dull compared to other small fish.

Predatory fish: ++
I like how vigilant they are of their surroundings.

Catfish(incl. Cories, plecos, synos):++
They come in fun and quirky shapes compared to other fish groups.

Loaches: -
I always really liked loaches online, but in person they just don’t excite me for some reason.

Gouramis: (+)
They’re cooler than I have them credit for, although I’m still not interested enough to take one home

Rainbows: —~
I still think they look really cool, but their behavior doesn’t really interest me; piggish eaters with a lot of energy and not a lot of awareness

 

[WhistlingBadger]

Opinion changes of different fish groups after spending more time around them at work:

South American Cichlids:+++
I love the natural colors of these guys, and they seem to be the most intelligent/interesting to watch outside of predators. One of my favorite groups.

Angelfish:+
Very cool fins.

African cichlids:—
Don’t think I would ever keep these. They look cool in still photos, but they’re just so… nasty. The teeth on those Mbunas. They nip whenever you do tank maintenance, and have little behavioral charm to make up for it. Plus, the bright colors get old. Exception for tanganyikans, since they’re smaller and less piggish. Those I kinda like.


Tetras:~~~
Pros: the sheer variety of species available is cool.
Cons: their behavior feels dull compared to other small fish.

Predatory fish: ++
I like how vigilant they are of their surroundings.

Catfish(incl. Cories, plecos, synos):++
They come in fun and quirky shapes compared to other fish groups.

Loaches: -
I always really liked loaches online, but in person they just don’t excite me for some reason.

Gouramis: (+)
They’re cooler than I have them credit for, although I’m still not interested enough to take one home

Rainbows: —~
I still think they look really cool, but their behavior doesn’t really interest me; piggish eaters with a lot of energy and not a lot of awareness

Interesting, insightful comments. I disagree about loaches, but otherwise I'm mostly with you. I would add that SA cichlids are predators in nature, so it makes sense that you'd like them so much. Predators do tend to be more intelligent and interactive with their surroundings, including their owners. I think that's why lots of people keep pet dogs and cats, and not too many keep pet sheep.

 

[Oldspartan]

We are now 8 months into the hobby and just as excited about it as day one.

Our fish inventory is rather staid I suppose as we started with what are considered easy fish, Mollies, Neon Tetra, Guppies, Endlers, (1) Angel, Swordtails and 3 Pleco. We have learned about water and tank ecology, (still wet behind the ears though).

We are now getting ready to put our larger tanks into use over the next several weeks, a 90 gallon and 44 gallon. When these are cycled our fish population will broaden. The angel will be joined with Parrot, (I know I know some here are aghast at the Parrot, but they are alive and need homes whether we like it or not) and some as yet to be determined species. The twenty-gallon tanks will be reimagined to single species tanks, the ten will continue to hold Blue the Betta, the 29 and 37 a community. Linda will continue to use the 30 to breed for the traits and coloration she wants in the Molly and Swordtails.

We will also move some plants from the pond to the aquariums after bleach treatment. Will also purchase some other plants one tank at a time after doing the necessary research. Our library continues to grow to this end and glass box books have largely superseded my former bedtime reading material.

Anyway this has been a fun journey so far and I have met some nice people both here and in person.

 

[GaryE]

We are now 8 months into the hobby and just as excited about it as day one.

Next week I'll be 66. I got my first tank at 8, and have had fish continuously since. And I swear, I'm just as excited about it as day one.

 

[gwand]

I started my first tank at 69. I plan on keeping fish until the sun sets.

 

[GaryE]

I had a mentor/friend who simplified his set up to one or two species of killies in his eighties, but who only shut those tanks when he went into assisted living at 95. He had started at 11, and at 18 had been the manager of the fish department in an upscale department store. He never got bored either. He was delighted to talk killies.

He also had a great story about how excited the local aquarists were when a new fish, called a zebra danio, arrived. And the first neon tetra shipment was mayhem.

 

[WhistlingBadger]

I just read a news article in which the author used "prolific" where he meant "proficient." There is no reason for a professional writer to make a mistake like that, especially in the era of google.

But it was interesting to find out that the F-35 is prolific at air-to-ground missions. One wonders how they find the time to reproduce, with all those air-to-ground missions going on.

 

[GaryE]

Of course fighter planes are prolific. Where else would drones come from?

 

[WhistlingBadger]

Just came across this quote in a book by Bernard Cornwell, who I'm really into at the moment:

"A man does not rid his home of the plague of wasps by swatting them one by one, but by finding the nest and burning it."

Words to live by.

 

[JackGulley]

Been so fascinated lately watching biotope footage videos of South American fish. I love that kind of biotope tank and it’s so fun that I have one now! Been really interested in figuring out all the different fish that I could potentially keep in it.

 

[JackGulley]

I personally am more partial to the flooded-forest type habitats, but hands-down the weirdest part of these videos is seeing a whole river full of normal aquarium plants. Hundreds of tiger lotus? A bush of Ludwigia? Whole bottom covered in water sprite? Forest of Amazon sword? It’s madness.

 

[GaryE]

Yesterday, I was kayaking on a shallow, muddy river. I was surrounded by scarlet maple trees, as the leaves have begun to turn. I realized I was into something rare around here - a hardwood habitat with no evergreens. So I started drifting the banks, picking up driftwood pieces for the tanks.
I found a beach on an island covered in maple branches. As water levels have dropped seasonally, a whole pile has been exposed.

Even this late in the season, there were Ludwigia plants all through the red mud shallows. Ludwigia, Elodea, Myrophilium and a couple of others that can't acclimate to tanks. @JackGulley , you don't have to go to the tropics to see common aquarium plants.
In Gabon, I saw maybe 2 or 3 individual Anubias in the water, and a Riccia-like thing, and that was all.