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

[NinjaSmurf]

Okay, I don't know if anyone has done this before and if they have, don't shoot me!! I just wanted to know what some of the lamest info/advice/plain old BS you've ever gotten from a fish store was. I know it's gotten bad when I get stuck in the store for half an hour telling the customers that No, you can not put those fish together without someone dieing while the owner of the store nods their head and says, really, I didn't know that....




My Story
Fish dude: 'Yes, that is a female betta.'
Me: 'Are you sure?'
FD: 'Oh yeah, that's definetely a female.'
Me: 'Well, I really don't want to screw this up, cause I want to get a male soon, and I don't have that much money to make a mistake...'
FD: 'No, I'm sure.'
Me: 'It's fins seem kinda longer than I though a female would have, but it's not as long as the males I've seen... Are you really really sure?'
FD: 'Yup.'
Me: *sighs hopefully* 'Okay, I'll take her....'


THREE WEEKS LATER......

Me: 'Mom, I can't wait, I finally got a male!' *puts the bag near the females tank*
Mom: 'What's with the gills?'
Me: 'That's what it was doing to the other males at the store....'
Mom: 'I think you got gipped.'
Me: 'That bastard!!!!'

 

[cutechic]

Oh, too much to say. The usual things like leaving the tank running 24 hours before adding fish, needing to change the filter cartridge every two weeks (oh, the money I could have saved if only I had known ), etc etc. They also told me I could keep a firebellied newt in a one gallon bowl providing I bought a 5 gallon tank in a year or two

 

[Teelie]

Males will flare at females as well. Females will flare as well. You may not have been gipped at all.

 

[my_fallen_angel]

feamles can be as agressive as males
Maybe you should put a pic up of 'her' and see what everyone else thinks

 

[NinjaSmurf]

I would send pics, but this was long, long ago.... But Trust me, I got gipped. It was a male alright, he just was of a shorter finned variety. His fins were about three times as long as a females, the other male I got had the usual long, long fins. It was cool though, I ended up getting more and had a grand old time...

 

[Fish Fingers]

Me: Do you have any Zebra Loaches?
Fish Store Guy: There isn't such a thing as zebra loaches.
Me: Ahhh ok what other types of loaches do you have then?
Fish Store Guy: There is only one type of loach and it is a clown loach.

It was extremely tempting to slap him...........

 

[NinjaSmurf]

 

[Eelzor]

Probably the fact that the cycling period was 2 weeks was the worst advice for me.

 

[CFC]

When asking about a new nitrate asorbing media that had come onto the market.

me: any feedback on how well this product works yet, id be interested in using it if its any good

store worker: thats only for saltwater tanks

me: no it says on the box that it is suitable for marine and freshwater

store worker: yes but nitrate doesnt matter in freshwater

me: it does, excessive nitrates are a cause of algea problems, since i have a hair algea problem and the nitrates come out of my tap at 50ppm id like something that will help reduce my nitrates since even doing twice weekly water changes doesnt and cannot reduce them.

store worker: thats the problem then, you should only change your water once every 3 to 6 months or you will upset the balance of the tank, i bet you have lots of fish die. You need to buy a plec to get rid of algea

me: no i dont have a lot of fish die, in fact in my 12 tanks i very rarely have any fish die, i can see that i am talking to a complete ammature and i'll take my business elsewhere i think

store worker: yeah what ever




i could go on and on about the conversations ive had with fish store workers over the years, ive been told everything from oscars are the most aggressive cichlid in the world to loaches are catfish not cyprinids, where they find these people i do not know

 

[aloaring]

ME: How big will this fish (a plec) grow?
LFS: only a couple of inches !!

The plec is now at 6 inches and still growing!! I was a very naive newbie at the time.

And on a regular basis i've ended up giving people advice when the spotty teenager knew nothing about the fish or was giving really silly advice!!

 

[Ben]

My friend:Could this juvie oscar live in a 20 gal

Fish Guy:Yep sure for about half a year or so

Me:Are u telling the truth

FG:Yep. just make sure u do water changes every week or so

My friend:COOL!I LOVE OSCARS! ill take him

Meude dont go crying to me when ur oscar dies

he was relly stupid

little oscar

 

[Doggfather]

When i was buying my tank...

Me: How long should i cycle my tank for?

LFS guy: You don't need to cycle tank, just throw a few fish in there when the temp gets high enough.

Me: So ammonia is not a problem to these fish if i put them in?

LFS guy: Of course not

Me: Can i pay for the tank now, i'v got an appointment in an hour

Gave the cash to the guy and he helped me take the tank to the car

LFS guy: Hope to see you again tomorrow!

I never retured to that store again!

 

[Fish Fingers]

Lol those are some funny storys. You have to wonder why fish shops would employ people like these!

 

[maskedrainbow]

some of thouse stories are kinda funny, especially the tank set up ones....
and to answer the question about where fish stores/pet stores get there people from, its simple...the youngest teenger that's left school as possible....well ok so i maybe being a bit mean here but that's what it seems like to me..
I work in a pet store, have done for well over a year now, and yes we do also sell fish, quite an assortment actually. Of all the newbies we've had i cant think of anybody over the age of 18!.
When i started, my training was like this 'here's the coldwater fish, here's the tropical fish, here's the marine fish....you bag a fish like this, you catch a fish like this'...That was all i got when i first started.
I'm learnt alot in the course of a year, i always try to ask customers about their tanks before i catch any fish. Also if there is any fish im unsure about i go find someone....its really not that hard.

I would suggest that if anybody gets a fish store worker saying that they didnt know what something was, or anything ask for the manager, that will soon scare their buts into learning something about the job (thats what happened to one of my work collegues).....

 

[tstenback]

I had a tank with 2 angels, about 5" at that time and was looking for some smaller fish that would go with them. Had no experience with small fish at that point.

Me: will these neons go OK with my angels
LFS Guy: yeah, the angel will really enjoy their company.
Me: they look kinda small
LFS Guy: They will grow a bit more and Angels dont attack other fish anyway.
Me: Ok then ill take ten

That was at 5PM
Next morning at 7AM
2 neons left, angels tummies bulging, huge smiles on their faces and that "have you got any more of those" look in their eyes.

I guess the angels truly did enjoy the company of the tiny little neons. Anyhow the rest of the story involved litigation so i wont go there.