What NOT to expect from your fish store

**Lady Hobbs** · 06-13-2011, 02:37 PM

If you buy a rump roast from the grocery store, do you ask a worker how to cook it? If you buy your first car, do you ask the saleman how to drive it?

Fish stores are hired help that stock shelves, dip your fish and check out customers. It is not their job to tell you how to cycle your tank, what fish to buy, what size they will grow and what size tank they belong in. Not only do they not have time to spend hours with each customer that walks through their doors each day, many of them simply do not know themselves and possibly never kept a fish tank themselves.

And seldom does anyone know about every kind of fish in every fish store and it's requirements. If you wish to keep fish it is your job to do the research yourself rather than blaming the employees at fish stores for everything you did not take the time to learn.

It's no different than asking a waitress how your meal was cooked. Her job is to deliver. The cooks job is to know.

You are the cook! Learn these things yourself and stop placing the blame on every fish store in the world.

Research, research, research!

**fishnewbie1** · 06-13-2011, 02:46 PM

+1 on what Lady wrote.

**Taurus** · 06-13-2011, 02:48 PM

Very well said.

**Grangers710** · 06-13-2011, 02:59 PM

I agree to some extent, but I think this is a bit extreme. This puts ZERO responsibility on their end to know anything? I agree that they probably shouldn't know everything about every fish and whatnot, but I don't agree that their only job is to scoop the fish and bag them for you. You should know about what you are selling. does a car dealer just take you for a test drive and know nothing bout the car he's in? Or a Butcher know nothing about the meat in the counter? Or your tax accountant know nothing about what's behind your tax return? Or most important, you go and adopt a child, but the adoption agency knows nothing about the baby? I mean lets get real here. Yes the local high schooler at Petco or Petsmart or wherever is most likely not going to know the breeding habits of every fish in their tank, but they should at least have a clue about things to answer a question. There is definitely a degree of acceptable knowledge, but to take all responsibility off of them, I find a bit ridiculous.

I get the point of your message Lady, and I'm not saying you're wrong, but there is a degree here to this claim. You can't sell a product and know zero about it.

**Cliff** · 06-13-2011, 03:18 PM

Great thread Lady Hobbs

After all, if you (as the fish keeper) are going to be a responsible pet owner, caring for a living animal, you need to know how to provide that care BEFOR taking the fish home. In this day and age, there is no reason for not being able to find the information you need to properly research and learn how to care for fish

I don’t mean to come off as implying all the employees at LFS do not know how to care for fish, but they certainly will not know your tank or completely understand your level of knowledge. Therefore, even the best and most knowledgeable employee still will not have all the required information that you have and may be limited to how much they could help you.

**aya** · 03-19-2012, 12:35 PM

yey i know it :D i spend time doing a research its fun actually im not really into this hobby but when i found out that my goldie lay eggs i dont know but its a challenge and so i guess so far i did a good job for still keeping them alive

is that really necessary to put a snail in goldfish tank?and yeah what i want to learn is about the chemicals/dechlorinator and blah i really dont know how to use it

**sheamurai** · 03-19-2012, 12:40 PM

Welcome to AC aya.

You might want to post your questions in the proper forum, you won't get as many people reading this thread as you would posting your questions in your own thread.

Snails aren't necessary to tanks, but they add some variety and are interesting to watch and can be beneficial to have.

If you could be more specific about what you don't understand - the directions on the bottle are generally pretty simple but we can help you out if you tell us which aspect you don't get.

**Brhino** · 06-13-2011, 03:19 PM

Originally Posted by Grangers710

I get the point of your message Lady, and I'm not saying you're wrong, but there is a degree here to this claim. You can't sell a product and know zero about it.

They can, and they do. I agree with everything you said from a "should be" perspective. But there's a difference between what SHOULD BE and what IS. Hobbs isn't trying to make excuses for fish stores and the employees that work there, she's trying to prepare new fish keepers for the reality of the situation.

Frankly, I just wish employees would admit that they don't know things, rather than giving out terrible advice. When I worked in a lumberyard I didn't know anything about home construction, and I didn't pretend to. If someone asked me where the 2x4s were, I helped them. If they asked me for tips in building a deck, I didn't make something up, I referred them elsewhere.

**Grangers710** · 06-13-2011, 03:29 PM

Well said Brhino....this is the problem with this world. Its all about the $. No one cares cause they know that people will keep coming thru the doors. Maybe not you or me, but someone else. And once that person has a bad experience and doesn't come back, someone else will be coming through. The nature of the beast.

**wooferkitty1** · 08-20-2011, 10:55 PM

Originally Posted by Grangers710

Well said Brhino....this is the problem with this world. Its all about the $. No one cares cause they know that people will keep coming thru the doors. Maybe not you or me, but someone else. And once that person has a bad experience and doesn't come back, someone else will be coming through. The nature of the beast.

In total agreement. money does rule the world and when you don't have lots to spend no one seems to care