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...that more petstores cared about their fish? So, I was talking to my hairdresser, and fish came up. She mentioned how she had "six little goldfish" in a ten gallon.

And that they all died.

Of course, I thought to myself, the tank was never cycled, or cleaned, and all of the fish were put in at the same time without her knowing how big they'd get. Certainly, it wasn't her fault, because no one said, "Sorry ma'am, but those fish are gonna become huge poop machines."

I couldn't tell her all that though, it would just be uppity and rude, so I just kindly suggested easy trops like platys, and to change the water sometimes.

Isn't it too bad that petstores just don't inform people about these things? I'm sure lots of people just buy fish assuming that they won't get any bigger than the size they bought them at...

Yes it is a shame. But there are good employees out there. So of which are from this site. Most fish employess tell you the wrong information if anything. And they always tell you that your tank is ether too BIG or to small they never tell you that its a nice size. One time i bought a fish and he asked me if i new any information about it. I think i saw him writing the things i said down Wat i tho is my mom believeing wat the employe said. I want to say mom chill the employees a jerk if i need to know something i wont ask him ill ask fishprofiles.

Haha, yeah, but sometimes petstores being dumb can be a great thing. Like my senegal bichir that was "freshwater eel," who I got for $10 (of course, the lady told me he wasnt gonna get any bigger than 5 inches, too), or the doubletail copper betta I got for $2.50, the average betta price...

Lucky! I got mine for the "everyday sale" of $3.49..]

I was told that my longnosed cories would reach five inches. Certainly not in this universe!

Some pet store employees just don't care enough, and are only trying to sell as much as possible. If someone wants a goldfish for their one gallon bowl, the employee won't tell them how big goldies get (if they even know). They will just sell the fish, and probably some 'magic cleaning' chemicals, too. It bugs me, really it does.

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And when he gets to Heaven, to Saint Peter he will tell: "One more Marine reporting, Sir! I've served my time in Hell."

Granted there are a lot of pet stores out there that could take better care of not only their fish but all the animals they sale. Unfortunatly I think a lot of this is caused by employees not being properly trained on how to take care of them. But the 1 thing to me that just as a bad is when you see a parent in the pet store wanting to buy 10 gold fish and a 1 gallon bowl they refuse to listen to any reason and the poor salesperson just can't make them understand that 10 goldfish can't live in a gallon bowl. They simply have to have the fish and will not accept no as an answer.All because they've got to make "junior" happy no matter what.

i work at petsmart and most of my info comes from threads here on fp. i always tell people to come to the website. i do research every day, because no matter how long and experenced you are there is still endless amount of info you can learn.

but there are alot of employees out there who are miss informed some just care. so instead of me complaining about them i decided to become one.

most private owned stores will tell you anything you want, just to get sales. but at some stores there are plenty of employes that spend more time caring for pets at the store then at there own home.

there are good employees and there are some bad ones. just like there are good fish keepers and there are bad.

but at petsmart we cant refuse to sell, so the other day i had to sell two koi to a 55usg.

some lady asked for two plecostomus for a bowl, but i told her about them and she got a betta.

its not so much the employees falt but the employeer

It is ashame, that most lfs's won't give accurate information. I know the other night I was at Wal-Mart, and here was this woman buying a 1/2 gallon bowl, 4 "small" fan tails, and a nice size comet...I asked her if she was planning on putting them in the bowl together? She looked at me and said "No, I have a ten gallon at home for them." When I tried to tell her that her ten gallon wasn't big enough for them, that they would stunt in size, and end up dying, because of it, she just walked off muttering about how some people should mind their own business...My boyfriend who was on hold (bless him) just told me there wasn't anything else I could do...All we can do is try to educate those around us...Heidi

"I've got a great ambition to die of exhaustion rather than boredom." Thomas Carlyle

how about petstores handing out caresheets on popular fish i know petco does

The caresheets are nice. I worked at petsmart for a while-- my petsmart is actually really good and educated and all. Except that I was sold 3 columbian sharks for a 55 gallon freshwater tank... I was a newbie and had no idea that they'd be like, 12 inch whoppers for a brackish tank... anyway!

I've also noticed that some of the smaller stores care more about the fish. Like this awesome place in PA, Frasier Zoo, I like, love it. They wouldn't let my sister buy fish until she cycled her tank She was mad and bought them somewhere else and 1/2 of them are dead now... hmmmm

I think people are just too used to looking at fish as a low-maintenance ornament, instead of an animal that'll take way more money to take care of than an average cat or dog.

oh yes, hmlaird: Yes yes, good idea to try to tell her, but most people just really don't care, and will only learn from their mistakes. When I worked at petsmart, I saw someone let a lady walk away with danios and a baby oscar for her new 10 gallon aquarium... I like, died.

Last edited by smantzer at 05-Dec-2004 16:02

Last edited by smantzer at 05-Dec-2004 16:03

The info sheets are gret as long as they are accurate, I saw one once, that was so off, it was sickening...

And smantzer what would be wrong with a bag of danios and a baby oscar? It would be equivalent to the killer whale that I keep in my empty coke bottle wouldn't it? And he's doing fine, just fed him the little kid down the road who was being obnoxious...guess it would be time for a water change now...

Heidi:%)

"I've got a great ambition to die of exhaustion rather than boredom." Thomas Carlyle

Water changes?? Baaah, you don't need 'em!!

Last edited by smantzer at 05-Dec-2004 23:19

so many people have no clue what a gravel vac is
or how to achieve water changes and many more bad habbits
its hard to joke about how many fish are mistreated

Smantzer you could do a contra deal and offer to clean the tank for services.

Win win situation.



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~~~ My fish blow kisses at me all day long ~~~