When Not To Take Pet Shop Advise

[lindanne]

i just took a trip to local pet shop
nearly died when she asked how often do i do water changes
i told her every two weeks 15-20 % or monthly 30-40%
she said my fish will die she only does a water change on her tank every six months
now i know definately not to take any advise from that shop
also i thought my fish had ick now i think its white spot i told her i had added aquarium salt and raised heat
she said ive made the white spot worse if it is white spot
and to lower tempreture and cover the fish in dark
also to only feed fish once every 3 days omg i think i will stick to the good advise from this forum
wonder her fish are alive lol

 

[coldcazzie]

once every 3 days is ok to feed your fish actually (just to play devil's advocate! lol)

 

[lindanne]

once every 3 days is ok to feed your fish actually (just to play devil's advocate! lol)

ok maybe the larger fish but forgot to mention she said the fry to lol
she said doing water changes more than once every six months is why we have fish diseases

 

[mattbleasby]

Thats some bad advice you have been given there like. Never had anything that bad from a LFS just the usual.

 

[Jamepsss]

Once a day feed works well for me, (well, my fishes, not me) but each to their own. It is possible to go that long without water changes in certain heavily planted set-ups but I wouldn't recommend it to your average fish keeper. I usually do 40-50% a week. Her white spot remedy sound very strange indeed.

 

[marieukxx]

Mine advised me to add 10 more fish! I've learned on here I'm already overstocked but everyone there insist I can add 10 more!!! nedless to say I didn't take that bit of advice

 

[anon02]

lol
Most members would advise a 20-30% weekly water change along with a gravel vac, although some of the planted tank guys have a stratospheric knowledge of water chemistry and have their tanks balanced with plants, substrate etc so they can leave their tanks for a good while longer
The treatment she suggested would be more suited to oodinium/velvet disease where the organism requires light to reproduce. I am of the opinion that formalin & malachite green preparations are the best cure for ich, though some members still swear by the salt method
In time you will get a feel for how much to feed your fish, a good rule of thumb for most fish is to feed as much as they will eat in 2-3 minutes once a day

 

[lindanne]

she obvoiusly not to bothered about the water treatment sales lol
i know the advise was bad and laughed my head off once id got out of shop door

 

[coldcazzie]

once every 3 days is ok to feed your fish actually (just to play devil's advocate! lol)

ok maybe the larger fish but forgot to mention she said the fry to lol
she said doing water changes more than once every six months is why we have fish diseases

Ok yes, fry should definitely be fed more than that!

 

[Ben M]

I used to have a heavily planted tank with a 50% water change every 6 months with no problems, but it was VERY heavily planted, and had minimal stocking. Some of the advice from fish shops is appalling.

cheers

 

[weezawoo]

My BF's nan has a 90litre tank which goldfish in, they are the babies from the pond and grow and move out there.
When I started my tank she kept telling me not to do water changes so often, she only does it every 6 months. Now the other day I saw her do a change and clean the filters, she washed them in tap water!!! I tried telling her but she didn't listen!
She was told years ago to do it like this, maybe this is the 'old-fashioned' way! haha

 

[tenohfive]

The one piece of advice I always give to people new to fishkeeping:

DON'T TRUST ANYTHING AN LFS SAYS. VERIFY EVERYTHING.

Which is why these forums are so helpful - you can find out for yourself if the advice is bad or good. It means resisting that impulse buy (unless you've got a decent internet phone and can check whilst there) though.

 

[Liamm]

A shop near where I live tells people they don't need a filter to keep goldfish

 

[c-dub]

report that woman to local authorities.

she will be killing innocent fish on a daily basis.

this is unheard of.

 

[micko]

My girlfriends uncle cleans his tank every 6-8 months.
Never changes water unless its taken from cleaning the tank.
He has 8 clown loache and had them for years in a 250ltr.

I have told him but he doesn't listen. I don't know how they survive.