Take What You Get

[cane76]

i just hand the net over and say help yourself when ive had enough
and i try my best to avoid serving you again

 

[Davo86]

Luckily most customers where i work just give you a general idea of what they want i.e biggest, smallest, most colourful etc. and then leave you to get on with it,

 

[Ludwig Venter]

when i was working couple of weeks ago, this man came in and asked for 5 handpicked goldfish out of about 100-150 it took me ages and it was ridiculous for a cheap fish

Especially goldfish....here's one that I can get fanatically choosy about.... I look him in the eye and check out the body & only when the "vibes" are right, I select me Goldfish...

The point is, I don't want to waste available space..... When I take a fish out the pet store, I wan't to have the feeling that I can set them up tonight and have my first brood tommorow.... know what I mean.

 

[trojannemo]

most of my purchases have been made at two LFS, one being a Petco and one a Pet Supermarket. i have since stopped going to the Petco 'cause it's no longer in my way for anything, but the guys at PS know me so well, that they'll spend any amount of time to get me any fish i want. most of the times though i dont pick out a specific tetra unless it's a cardinal over a neon, but when picking german blue rams, or my dwarf gouramis, i'm picky because they're sensitive fish and i want the best one possible.

i think the most important post in this thread was the one that mentioned it was too stressful on the fish to spend 20 minutes chasing one of them. is it worth it to get the perfect guppy after 20 minutes of him running for you to have him die on the way home because you stressed him out?

when i see the guy's having trouble, i also offer to do it myself. at the LFS i frequently visit they've always been able to do it, but i went to a small one once and the guy got tired (really difficult display tank we were getting my cardinal from) and he let me do it after i offered

 

[Ludwig Venter]

Yea!! Trojan... you touched on it there.... I think it is a skill to catch a fish and often I've suggested to the guy "do you mind if I try".... mostly reluctantly, they've surrendered their nets and in a "jiffy", I'll have the selected specimen in the "Jiffy" (sic).... You have to know the anticipated movements of the species and the angle of approach which also varies with species.... Most of them just dumps the net in there and start the chase.... (So wrong!!)

 

[pixiesandfairies]

If you really want a fish and i am not run off my feet i will get it for you if i can do it fairly quickly, I won`t wave the net about the tank. We are not allowed to let anyone but employee's catch fish. /but if the fish get stressed. Then i stop trying to catch ome fish and catch any fish if they don`t like it they can go else where, but i do try my best.

 

[TigerLotus]

I usually just take what they catch. Only once have I asked for specific fish.

It was with red glass barbs. I wanted males and there was only 3 in a group of maybe 15 females. I wasn't going to say "get whatever" in this instance because I wanted males, period. It took the women about 3 minutes for one and 5 mintues to try to get the other. She was really nice about the whole thing. Another associate(who also said something to me about it that was very inappropriate and not professional at all) came and tried to get the male I wanted and it took her 30 seconds. Biggest difference is that one knew how to catch fish the other dumped a small net in there and chased them all over the place.

I didnt have a problem selecting specific fish. I'm paying money for it and I take almost all my business there, I should be able to get the ones I want. I just wouldn't do it unless I feel I have to. I also wouldn't if they are busy.

 

[shelaghfishface]

i choose,when i feel its practical (only a few in the tank) i chose the oscars, but that wasnt big deal,and the lfs were happy to oblige, but ten they usualy are

maybe ill have a go and go in choose a guppy he has about 200 of those in a tank, he would go mental

 

[Dorkhedeos]

You must get a lot of employees pissed off. Ive done that to someone at petsmart just for the hell of it to see them struggle, but when its done to me, I just tell them im not going to do it. If its any small quick schooling fish like zebra danio, I dont let the customers pick individual ones. They can request the biggest one or the smallest one, but if they demand that they get one specific one out of like 50, thats not going to happen. I dont mind catching specific corys or slower fish, but any of them quick ones are a no go.

 

[tangokitty]

I really would prefer to catch my own fish if they will let me. I've been to stores where to workers where so stupid they didn't even know which fish were which!! Even though there was a picture of the fish with the names on the front under the tank!

 

[dthoffsett]

I'll admit I'm picky, and like someone else said, if I'm paying for it I'm going to pick which one I want. I mostly buy mbuna though, and while they are very fast, they're a bit bigger than neons.