Just A Rant About A Local Petstore

[Man of fish]

I went to a local petstore in my area yesterday( I'm not going to say which) and I decided to ask a few questions while I looked around, and she asked me about my setup she told me my 3 mollies will be lonely and I'll need at least 6 because that are "schooling fish" where did that info come from? I told her they weren't schooling fish just so she didn't tell anyone else that false info. Then I commented on how I like oscars but don't have the 75 gallon tank to house them in, and she said oh they only need 25 gallon tanks, but they'll need to be kept alone because they will kill absolutely anything you put with them no matter what it is. I knew this was wrong so I told her that there is certain tankmates they CAN live with but Im not sure which ones. Then finally she starts to argue with me that I do water changes too often I only do a once a week 25% change. She claims you're only supposed to do a once a month 30% change like she does. I was tired of her wrong knowledge so I bought a fish and left like i intended to do originally. Ok rant over. Still wondering where she got her info.....

 

[mike455555]

to be honest i have heard worst info. at least she does water changes. some tanks can get away without waterchanges full stop.
she seems more knowledgeable than some fish shops

 

[Man of fish]

She knew a few things but most of her info was weird or incorrect. I told her I had some platy fry that I'd need to rehome eventually and she said shed take them and gave me her number. I don't think that number will ever be called by me.........

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Well to be honest, if you were this put off by this woman and wouldn't sell your fry to her, why did you buy the fish from her? Giving business to the stores that don't do things "the right way" or at least the way you'd like to see them be done, just continues to keep them in business while a "better" store might be struggling. (Just food for thought.)

 

[Crossfire]

When I first was cycling my tank and deciding what fish to get, I asked some girl at petsmart if sparkling gouramis and dwarf gouramis could be in the same tank..she said sure, why not
Thank god i found this site or else my tank would've been a bloodbath

 

[Man of fish]

I only bought a fish because I knew how to properly care for it even if she doesn't, and they have 1 person that I've seen before that really knows what she's talking about. This wasn't the normal store I go to I usually go to another one with much better staff. My usual LFS has much less variety but great staff for a petco.

 

[soybean]

Her info is free, you can take it or leave it, you still bought something and from her perspective that's all that matters, she's there to make money from her business.

You say "I have three mollies". She tells you you need 6. A less informed person buys three more off her. Bingo, sale.

 

[Man of fish]

I wouldn't have bought it but sadly that store is the only one within an hour of my house that sells otos.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

I understand the quandary, but you vote with your wallet and in this case your wallet said, "thank you, keep up the good work."


It is a difficult thing to choose between... Like I said before, I wasn't pointing this out to put you down in any way. Just pointing out the facts. The fact here is that she wanted to sell you a fish. (Hence the comment of needing more mollies, not needing a 75 gallon tank for the oscar, etc.) She was trying to make a sale. She got one.



Looking at it from the other side, I can't imagine how difficult it must be to run a pet store in this economy. Pets are luxury items. It has to be hard.

 

[Liamm]

A local store near(ish) me tells people you don't need a filter to keep goldfish lol

 

[Man of fish]

It's the stores like that I don't like. This stores bags have a printed "how to care for a goldfish" label on the side.
Get 2 gallons or more to house your goldfish.
Keep temperature at 65*
Feed goldfish granules once a day.
Add 1 goldfish per gallon of water
Enjoy your goldfish!!!!

Sigh* why, just why.