Need Help Bringing Balance To Our Tank

[This Old Spouse]

I agree with you. It would just seem to me that the LFS owner should train their employees in basic fishkeeping practices. I know it's impossible for anyone to know all fish breeds, their habits and needs, etc., but the basics should be taught to the employees so they, in turn, can teach their customers. 
 
I'd love to go into a LFS and see that when a new customer invests in all the equipment to start up the hobby, they would also be handed a sheet explaining the cycling process and maybe a link to a site that shows fish compatibility. In that start-up kit would be a supply of mature filter media. Just think how many loyal customers you'd have, and happy, healthy fish. 
 
I can dream, can't I? 

 

 

 

[eaglesaquarium]

You certainly can.  Many compatability charts are extremely limited as well.  For example, they say that tetras are peaceful, but some can be extremely nippy.  They say that barbs are semi-aggressive, while some can be straight aggressive, and others can be quite peaceful.  Each distinct species would need a blurb regarding it and that costs money. 
 
 
What I was thinking was that they could offer a link to a webpage, maybe one that they sponsor, and then they could keep the information as up to date as possible.

 

[CezzaXV]

It's also the case that a fish's aggressiveness or otherwise can be highly dependent on them having enough room to swim and grow, territories, proper sized shoals, water conditions, objects in the tank and so on. There's much more to fish compatibility than can be shown on a simple chart.

 

[This Old Spouse]

But it would be a start. In a perfect world, the LFS staff would know everything. 

 

[eaglesaquarium]

In a perfect world, every fishkeeper would know everything.

 

[This Old Spouse]

Gotta leave room for education! LOL!

 

[eaglesaquarium]

I see you've thought about this a lot more than I have.

 

[This Old Spouse]

That's the problem with this much time on my hands. 

 

[CezzaXV]

The trouble is, how many other shops do you go in and expect the employees to know everything about the products they sell? Not many, I'd bet.

People just don't research, or they think that asking the bloke in the shop constitutes research, because he works in a fish shop so he must know what he's talking about, right?

It's customers and employees that are equally to blame. Customers don't do their own research, and employees, either through ignorance or bare-faced lies (I really don't know which) give out completely erroneous information. I don't know how they do it. I'd love to work in a fish shop. I like to think my knowledge is reasonably broad, but it would hurt my pride to be guessing information I didn't know, I'd ask someone. And I sure as hell wouldn't be able to sleep at night knowing I had caused someone to have such terrible tank compatibility as we hear all the time around here.