Bad advice?

[Eightfoot]

Hi all, just a quick Q and wonder if any of you can offer a bit more specialised knowledge and experience? I'm brand new to the hobby and set up a new tank for my daughter. When it was fully cycled (5.5 weeks on) and readings were bang on I ventured to the fish shop with my daughter to pick some new fish. We quite liked the look of some mollys and the shop keeper advised us to get some cherry shrimp also. 1 week on and the mollies have eaten all the cherry shrimp. Now, my question is, do you think it's a little wrong for the shop keeper to advise this as a good combo? A quick Google search seems to suggest that this is an extremely common occurrence and probably something you shouldn't be advising people to do? I rang the store and they weren't fussed at all... No apology, just a "I've have cherry shrimp and mollies before". Perhaps I'm overreacting. Any opinions on if you think this is good advice to give a completely new fish keeper would be greatly appreciated? Cheers

 

[anewbie]

Not the best combo though if the tank has sufficient hiding places the shrimp can make it - is it bad advice - well it isn't good advice in your case but it is more dark grey than black (black being bad and dark grey it can work but in many cases does not work).

I'd chalk it up to experience and move on - very few shops have broad experts and you will receive worse advice (both from the shops and internet) in the future. The best thing is to read (though be sure to verify the source of the material you read about) and also be aware even in the case of good advice when mixing fishes in a small container behavior can be unpredictable.

 

[Eightfoot]

Not the best combo though if the tank has sufficient hiding places the shrimp can make it - is it bad advice - well it isn't good advice in your case but it is more dark grey than black (black being bad and dark grey it can work but in many cases does not work).

I'd chalk it up to experience and move on - very few shops have broad experts and you will receive worse advice (both from the shops and internet) in the future. The best thing is to read (though be sure to verify the source of the material you read about) and also be aware even in the case of good advice when mixing fishes in a small container behavior can be unpredictable.

Thanks for getting back to me. Appreciated

Ill definitely do the research myself in store next time (it's a shame I have to). Such a short sighted response from the store though imo... Could of had a new customer for life but their reaction has just rubbed me up the wrong way. Shame.

Thanks again

 

[FranciscoB]

If enough shelter, it could work (soft of, as over time some cherrys will be eaten). To a new aquarist and in general, bad advice for sure. Unfortunately this is typical of many stores, either from ignorance, or from malicious intent to sell no matter what. Fortunately there are better shops, just not everywhere and not so easy to find. Sorry it happened to you, and good luck work your new tank(s)?

 

[Back in the fold]

I think that shopkeeper wanted to make a sale .

 

[anewbie]

I think that shopkeeper wanted to make a sale .

Depends - also the advice you get depends on who you talk to. I know at our local 'fish' store there are about 5 regulars and the owner. The owner is knowledgable but the 5 regulars range from total moron to knows some things and knows what they don't know.
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Anyway it is what it is and what it is is what it is but don't judge a store from one employee and realize that almost no one really knows that much about fishes.

 

[Eightfoot]

I think I'm more annoyed at the reaction when I called them. I understand mistakes can happen but he just didn't understand why I was frustrated... I was advised to buy a fish and some shrimp and they've been devoured in a few days and most of the internet advises against the pairing. Just a simple sorry would have secured me as a continuous customer despite the "error". What a moron.

 

[GaryE]

I was a teacher, and once had a wild year with a class of teenaged delinquents (more than half the class with juvie records). One of the most messed up was constantly drugged, and barely attended. A few years later, I met him in... a local chain pet store dispensing advice about fish. He'd been there a week, and was no longer there 2 weeks after. He'd never kept a single fish.

It's usually a minimum wage job. It can be hectic, some people treat you like a servant, you get wet and most stores expect you to dispense advice. I find it interesting that at one time I expected expertise from fish stores, but I would never ask a shoe store to pick out my shoes for me.

The seller in question may not have known the answer to your question, but is in a business where we expect people to know things.

5 years before that incident, employees of the store in question had a weekly quiz on fish, with a library of fish books available in the break room. If they answered the questions in the quiz correctly, they got a small raise. If customer asked a question they couldn't answer, they had instructions to run to the library shelf, get a book and find the answer with the customer. The store had a stable staff and a good reputation. Then they got a new owner who didn't give raises, and a new manager. It sounds like that manager could have emigrated from Canada to Wiltshire...

 

[Innesfan]

I've gotten myself into trouble at some of the big box stores when I overhear appalling advice being given and I make an intervention. Sadly, with the demise of 'mom and pop' aquarium shops run and staffed by informed hobbyists, the general level of advice at these places is more often than not terrible. You've already come up with the solution--do your research and educate yourself and seek counsel elsewhere.

 

[Back in the fold]

There was once a mythic time in my little burg when we had a locally owned and staffed tropical fish and aquarium store , The Tropical Shop . The owner and his two employees knew everything and what they didn’t know they brainstormed amongst themselves and figured out . The two employees both raised fish at home and had large numbers of aquariums of their own . One was a rotund fellow who still lived at home and therefore didn’t need much money . The other was a cook who worked there part time and mostly did repairs for customers and maintained the shop’s aquariums . The owner wrote for a tropical fish magazine occasionally , I think it was FAMA . This shop was around for about ten years and finally closed due to few customers . It was the last shop we had that had BIG display aquariums and unusual fish . The smell and the warmth and humidity in there was intoxicating and I would hang out for hours sometimes . I really miss that place because I know I shall never see its like again .

 

[GaryE]

I've found a genuine old school aquarium shop about four hours from here, owned by a man who retired early and just wanted a fishstore all his life. It has half a dozen well trained employees and about 80 tanks. Shockingly, the employees aren't afraid to say when they don't know.

I got talking with the owner and he offered me a retirement part time job. It would be a bit of a commute, but if I lived there, I would have gone full circle from catching fish as a teenager. I might actually have taken it, as the place has such a pleasant atmosphere and the staff know their stuff.

 

[Back in the fold]

I’ve wanted a fish store all my life too but I need a place where I could run it from home . There were once two in my town that guys ran from their basements . They had separate entrances too so nobody would be traipsing through their house . That’s the only way it would work . That or a separate outbuilding . Running it from home you don’t really need to make money . It could be a hobby that sort of pays for itself and if you’re someone like me that never goes anywhere it’s ideal .

 

[gwand]

I’ve wanted a fish store all my life too but I need a place where I could run it from home . There were once two in my town that guys ran from their basements . They had separate entrances too so nobody would be traipsing through their house . That’s the only way it would work . That or a separate outbuilding . Running it from home you don’t really need to make money . It could be a hobby that sort of pays for itself and if you’re someone like me that never goes anywhere it’s ideal .

Sounds like a plan!

 

[emeraldking]

Bad advice coimg from fish store staff seems to be a worldwide issue. Most jobs like this have low wages which makes it more interesting to employer. But sadly that comes with mostly (so, not always) low relevant knowledge. And yes, the majority of such stores have a bigger focus on sales than seriously good advice. I myself don't care if the name of the store hold "specilaist" or not. How often is that name used while the relevant knowledge is not present. Even if the store is packed with lots of fish, tanks and all the things that matter... That doesn't make the store a specialist. The "know-how" will tell if we're dealing with a specialist or not.

Yes, it would be a reasonable advice to say that it's possible to combine shrimp with mollies if the tank is large enough with suffcient hiding spots. But if those criteria aren't there, then it would be a bad advice. Or the customer should've told the tank situation beforehand or the employee should've asked for the current tank situation to make an estimation of the combo chosen is realistic or not.

But as a novice aquarist I can definitely imagine that the advice given by a store employee seems reliable. And there are employees who can certainly deliver it with great conviction without having the correct knowledge.