The Lamest fish store advice you've gotten was....

[Vip]

Me: I love that red devil, can i put another in my tank and will my oscar be ok with them?

lfs: Sure you can there good company

Me: cool i will take one!

My House: The red devil grabbed onto the bag that the other devil was in, i let the devil in the tank and all hell broke loose. But i still have them both in differnt takes.

 

[Nina7777]

wait till you hear this one....I went to my lfs where i never buy a fish for this very reason.....and just to prove to my boyfriend why i would never go there I decided I would play dumb and ask the associate for a little advice. Now keep in mind I have 3 balas and know how big they get and their requirements etc.

Me: Excuse me sir......I really like these little guys, what kind are they?

Fish "Specialist": Oh those are tetras, they are a new variety and are extremely aggressive.

Me: Really? Well since I have a new tank would they be able to make it?

FS: Oh yeah they are very hardy and can live through anything.

Me: Well I have a 10 gallon....how big will they get and How many can I put in there.

FS: Oh they'll only get about 2 inches MAX......Do you have anything else in the tank?

ME: Nope

FS: well then you can have 5

ME: well what else can i put in there?

FS: how about a algae eater (pleco)

ME: shoudl I wait untill I have algae and how big will that one get?

FS: He won't get any bigger, and no you don't need to wait, just feed him bloodworms once a week and he will be fine.

ME: Oh ok.....well I have to go home and think about it. I'll come back tomorrow.

FS: ok well if your sure.

ME: Yeah I'm sure, oh and by the way.....Those are bala sharks not tetras. they can grow to a maximum of 12" the minimum size tank that 5 of them should go into would be over 200 gallons. They are gentle giants and are not aggressive. Also the plec can grow to 24inches and should not be in anything under 100 gallons. Oh and by the way they need vegetables and greens in their diet. and this is why I am sure.

FS: Huh?

ME: yeah thats what I thought. See Ya!


So if i hadn't known better I would have gone home with 5 bala sharks and 1 plec in a 10 gallon tank!

Now my boyfriend knows why I don't go there and make him drive an hour to the "good" store!

 

[1bennet1]

When I bought my new 8 gallon fish tank I wanted goldfish...So i asked the guy at the store how many I could have . Well I went away with 1 common 1 shubunkin 2 fantails and a stone loach and was told that I can put them all in at once!!! Well I read up on the internet put the goldfish in our pond and have never been to that LFS again!

 

[CrenicichlaJr]

I once had a FS employee insist that a sea apple would be "just fine" with a Queen Trigger I had just bought. I wanted to slap him. Then again I have seen them sell a Pacu for a ten gallon tank saying they get no bigger than 3 inches.

 

[wrs]

when I got my first tank a 5 gallon the lady at the store said that I could keep 3 goldfish or 10 of anykind of fish in there. But she did tell us about cycling. But we bought a goldfish anyways, and its still alive today, and hes pretty big.

 

[Phantom Thief]

Haha, this thread really cracks me up!

My lfs are great liars. They say plecos dont get big when they have a tankful of the big ones. They say clown loaches remain at that adorable 2-3 inch size. They will tell you that any fish combination is very good, even if you suggested an angelfish and a neon. That is why i just buy the fish and never ask for their advice.

P.T.

 

[luxum]

My first tank as an adult (i can barely remember the tank from childhood, i'm sure it was a real horrorshow and i'm blocking it out) was a 3 gallon Eclipse, the sort of tank that is fab for a betta but not much else. The employee (large chain store) said i could keep a fancy goldfish and a single cory cat in it, never explained cycling, etc. I learned my lesson. Never, ever take the LFS's word on ~anything~ without confirming it. It's a real shame that in this hobby you can't trust the people who should be a good source of at least basic principles and info.

I enjoy messing with them now and i'm always surprised to my toes when someone gives out accurate advice when i ask innocent sounding newbie questions. I actually met a LFS employee the other day who did not scoff when i explained my fishless cycle! That is now my new favorite store.

 

[Pleco-Heaven]

Nothing serious, just that a Pakistani loaches are alright with just one, I soon found out they need to be in groups

 

[nene]

Lfs: in process of selling a novice 3 females and one male betta for a 55 gallon tank

Me: I don't think you can keep male and female bettas together in the same tank can you?

Lfs: Sure, as long as it is 55 gallons or larger. The guy had a 55 gallon tank that had been running for a week and the Lfs employee proceed to sell him 55" of juvenile fish including 3 juvenile Bala Sharks (Geez!)

 

[Teelie]

Not all LFS are like this though from the way some of you go on about it, it's like you can never trust anyone selling fish. I used to sell fish and the guys I worked with never tried selling people fish they couldn't handle and we always asked tank size, how long it's set up, what other fish they have, etc. and suggested whether or not to get the fish, or they had certain requirements.

Though on the track of untrustworthy and ignorant employees from other stores, both chain and individual, I can say I've heard some stupid things. When I had first started out and knew nothing, and the little book that came with my 5 gallon said wait 24 hours to set up the tank, I got all kinds of fish for it that shouldn't have gone in there and not one employee (at the time, mostly Wal-Mart) said these are a bad idea save one guy. He said Pictus were tropical, and the goldfish were cold water but figuring he didn't know what he was talking about, which it turns out he didn't beyond that, I put them together anyways.

Since then I've picked up a lot of knowledge and seen no improvement in the intelligence of the average chain store employee though local and mom and pop types have better quality employees. Probably because they can't afford to give bad advice and keep refunding on dead fish or bad advice.

 

[CFC]

Unfortuately the majority of fish store workers only have very limited knowledge of one or two species of fish if any at all, i firmly believe the reason for this is that anyone who is serious about fish just cant afford to work within the fish trade on the poor wages they offer, fish keeping is a expensive hobby and to keep multiple aquariums and hundreds of fish going takes a lot of money being paid from a decent job, until the fish trade comes into the 21st century and starts paying a wage that is worthy of working for we will contnue to get shops with useless uninformed staff.

 

[Teelie]

The main guy at my LFS knows a lot about fish of both fresh and salt variety but only owns one saltwater tank at home. He's kept a lot more before but you don't have to keep the fish to know about them. Reading up on their requirements is enough.

I know a lot about some species of fish I've never even seen in person let alone kept but I can pass that knowledge onto others that do have the fish but not the knowledge.

The major problem with fish employees is no one trains or teaches them about the fish. They're told the basics, sometimes not even the entirety of them and then off they go to help people. Some of them pick up bad knowledge, not knowing it and spread it, others try to be helpful even though they have no clue and others lie or say whatever it takes to make the sale.

 

[wrs]

oh, one girl at an lfs said that ID sharks and Bala sharks only get as big as you feed them. And we all know thats not true. sadly i didnt at the time. So now I have a bala shark in a 15gallon tank, well its not mine its my brothers, but still we have it.

 

[appleblossom]

Me: excuse me, all the puffers in your puffer tank appear to have white spot
store guy: no they dont, thats just their markings
Me: No its all on their fins and everything
store guy: No they are supposed to be like that they are spotted puffers
Me: Yes, but they are green spotted puffers, which are green and black, no white spots involved
Store guy: Look we have just got these puffers in and they are completely healthy or we wouldnt be selling them
Me: ok fair enough I'll know where to come next time I want diseased puffers


I hope noone bought any and ended up infecting their whole tank....

 

[dixaisy930]

I just read in an aquarium design book you can keep 16-17 tiger oscars together in a medium tank! WHAT?!?!?!