Lfs Advice Queary

[jonnyf84]

Hello,
 
I work in a reputable pet shop with a large aquatics section, my job is centred around the freshwater fish and in terms of fish room staff i would be the guy to go to for freshwater advice.
 
So i had a customer who asked me how many water changes he should do, he told me he had a 50-60 litre tank with six 2-3 inch comets running off a 100 litre per hour internal filter. I told him the tank was a bit overstocked considering the potential size and dirty nature of goldfish and that because the filter is on the small side he should aim for a 20-30% water change every week. The owner of the shop who was stood next to us at the time then butted in and told the customer that it isn't necessary to do such regular changes and that 20% every month is more than enough. After the customer left the owner told me that the customers would never do a weekly water change and that he knows this because he's "been doing this for 30 years" and that small monthly changes are ample.
 
Does he have a point or is this bad advice?
 
Opinions appreciated.

 

[Wills]

Its bad advice - in all honesty. And judging by the tanks in your signature I think you know this
 
Only times its really suitable are if the tank is massively planted or the tank is lightly or understocked.
 
Unfortunately though what your boss is saying is - if you tell people they have to do weekly changes rather than monthly the amount of people who will buy fish or tanks from the shop will drastically fall. People want to be told what they want to hear which is that fish tanks are easy and can be left for ages and this will help a proportion of people that are on the fence as to get a tank or not.
 
Wills

 

[This Old Spouse]

Flat out, it's bad advice, especially for a beginning fishkeeper, and really if he's keeping goldfish, which are notoriously dirty. I'd be cleaning that tank at least once a week by 50%. Not that I'd ever keep goldfish, but if I did, I'd try to keep it as clean as possible. Hopefully the keeper isn't tossing out his filter floss once a month as well. 

 

[CezzaXV]

That is terrible advice. As you know the tank is way overstocked, and that filter barely gives the tank 2x turnover an hour!

I would be doing even bigger/more frequent changes than that.

Customers not doing something doesn't make it the right way to go about it.

 

[Zikofski]

its bad news for a good fish keeper but i have gold fish and they are not mine to touch and ye they don't even get a water change monthly more like 3 months which i kill my self every time i look at the tank fish are fine tank water parameters are ye high in nitrate but fish seem fine to me, but ye the tank it self its like a car window after driving for hours in mud you cant see in it, so technically you can leave a gold fish tank for months and months, but ye its not nice for the fish not nice for your living room and if it was my tank i certainly would be doing a weekly water change on it its just good practice in my eyes

 

[jonnyf84]

bump

 

[DreamertK]

Tell your boss to test his NO3 levels, and then tell him to convince you once a month is OK.  

 

[frapadoodle]

Well it seems that one, the owner is cynical about his clinents.
Two, he is stuck in 'old school' fishkeeping.
Three, has no problems with people replacing fish more often. He wants thier money.

 

[MBOU]

Its the downside of working FOR someone in the trade, and one I know well!
 
It's difficult because you cant openly disagree with your boss, no matter if you know they are in the wrong and no matter the consequences for the customer... not if you want to keep your job...
 
I have found that it takes a lot of practise to explain to the customer exactly why you are giving your advise.
 
So I have found when I give advise like weekly water changes and the boss interrupts and says otherwise, i will either wait for boss to move away or wait until i can move away with the customer to the till or move them to show them range of foods etc... away from boss and then will say something along the lines of "in this hobby, there are a lot of differing opinions... and as our knowledge of fishkeeping expands, we need to use the knowledge to improve our care of our fish. The reason I suggested weekly water changes was because goldfish are particularly messy! If you change the water every week, it takes out a lot of the mess and not only makes the water a lot better quality for the fish but it stops it getting so green and smelly and dirty looking as well! Which is always good as everyone wants their tank to look good! It doesnt have to take too long to just take out some water and add nice fresh water with the chemicals too and all done..." .
 
That way you aren't seen to disagree with your boss as that isnt good for relationship between you and your employer nor you and the customer as it isnt good for customers to see people with such different opinions as they dont know what to believe! But if you explain your point in a way that makes your advise make more sense and doesnt patronise the customer!
 
If the customer has that many goldfish in such a small tank and needs to be told about water changes, they will really need everything in real simple terms that they will understand, make it too complicated and they will run a mile and not want to do the work! Hence pointing out that waterchanges not only are good for the goldfish but make the water look and smell better... i mean... who can complain with that? You dont have to explain to them first off about the ammonia and nitrates making the tank smell and look dirty... because they wont process so much information in one go... but get it right and they will come back straight to you next time as well

 

[techen]

I can't see why you should blame the boss for this, Clearly he loves fish but he's also living of his company. To play the fair cards here, If you depending on your company to take a income would you try and give out something that may harm/effect it.
 
I know I wouldn't and though I understand that the fish may suffer and it's wrong to do so. I would only blame the fact that fish keeping is more profits than fish keeping itself.
 
Everyone is struggling for money nowadays, Even though fish sales are rising yet again

 

[This Old Spouse]

I don't understand how the owner suggesting doing only a tiny water change once a month is helping his business, especially when it's in direct conflict with what his employee just told a client. That's bad business. I'd like MBOU as my go-to fish guy at an LFS. As a fishkeeper I'm always looking for shops who have a wide range of knowledge about the business. If I suspect they're trying to sell me on something just to get money out of my pocket, I'm off to the next shop. I've found a couple of reputable shops and some terrible shops. The owner of the shop in question here should realize that the more he knows about fish and dispenses good and accurate information, the more loyal and greater in number his clients will become. IMHO of course. 

 

[jonnyf84]

Some good points, thanks.