How come people just don't get it?

It comes right down to the fact that people just don't listen. I work at a lfs, and no matter what I tell people, well some of them do listen, they will argue with me and tell me they have done it before. You can only present the correct choices and information to people, you can't make them choose them. Or I will get "Well the guy at the other pet store told me it would be ok." Some people want to understand, and others just want.

Sometimes it's hard to see other people making choices we wouldn't make ourselves, I've had experiences at LFSs like that too.
I've got one LFS that I go to when I'm desperate, for supplies only - it's open late and walking distance from home, so it's great for those times when my air pump suddenly dies or I need filter media - and their fish are almost always sick. I've seen them sell fish that are obviously infected with ich or fungus, and they have no qualms about selling people common plecos to clean the algae in their 10g tanks... I've tried talking to the owner, but some people care more about the bottom line than the health of their stock or giving sound advice, and I accept that I can't change that.
It is frustrating to see someone making a bad choice or getting bad advice from the store, but one thing you can do is hope that people learn from the experience - I know I had to learn some things the hard way (when I was 16 and got my first tank no one told me that plecos get 12" long, those little white spots on my fish were a parasitic infection, or that oscars can break heaters), but I DID learn.

When I worked in a LFS I had a guy come in with his granddaughter. Purchase everything I suggested to set up a new tank. With all of the stuff on the counter, he then wanted me to catch fish and I refused and explained NTS. He stomped off in a huff loudly exclaiming he was on his way to our nearest competitor who "Know that the customer is always right."
You can imagine how my manager like to hear that!
The good(?) news is he came back about three days later and his little granddaughter's eyes were red from crying. He told me, "Sir, I was in the Navy during WWII and I never saw that many burials at sea. I'm ready to listen to you now."
When I left the business, he had the bug (MTS) and his fish was thriving.
Some learn quickly, some learn slowly and some never learn at all!

Heh, I just had a job interview today at a LFS. It sounded very positive, and I'm pretty sure I'll get the job... I'm sure I'll have some stories of my own if I end up working there.

I am afraid I'll end up getting another aquarium though let's pray that I don't get an employee discount or my addiction might get out of hand...

I was at an lfs one time and I heard an employee talking to some people who had an algae problem in their 10 gallon with "two fat fancy goldfish" and a 20 gallon with an assortment of other tropicals. The employee recommended "one pl*co for the ten, and I think you might need two for the 20 gallon." and explaining that "They'll grow really fast at first until the algae is gone, then they'll automatically slow their growth until there is more food available"

Chico, thats how it works, lol. I aquired several tanks since starting to work at the lfs. Funny how that one works out huh?

Sadly some people don't get it. these are the same type of people that buy Jack Russel terriers or aussie blue healers and keep them in an apartment and only walk them twice a day. Some fish need more space, and it is important to know what the needs of the species. I agree it should be obvious for things like Oscars, but it isn't to some people.
Dave

Part of the problem becomes a logisitics issue. The stores have smaller tanks so that they can make sure to keep a larger selection of fish. So you have 10-20 gallon tanks with 10 small oscars or 50 tetras. People walk in and think they look cool and wonder why they can't too have that many fish. But if every fish store had an appropriate stocking level in each tank, fish would cost a fortune. Add to that porrly paid student employees that don't often care and it is easy to see why people cram those big plecos in their small tanks.

But as was mentioned it isn't the people that screw up a couple of times that are bad. It is the people that replace their fish every month or so and then become tired of the whole thing that are the real problems.

TKOS said:

The stores have smaller tanks so that they can make sure to keep a larger selection of fish. So you have 10-20 gallon tanks with 10 small oscars or 50 tetras. People walk in and think they look cool and wonder why they can't too have that many fish...

It is the people that replace their fish every month or so and then become tired of the whole thing that are the real problems.

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When my manager realized I knew what I was doing she gave me the run of the store and allowed me to set up large display tanks. In the front window I put a huge tank with 2 oscars and a pleco. People could see what those cute little guys would grow up to be.

I also 70 & 125 community tanks set up. That way folks could see what went together and what didn't. It helped a little but I still had those that I honestly wanted to stop selling fish to. I felt like an accomplice to murder.

TKOS said:

So you have 10-20 gallon tanks with 10 small oscars or 50 tetras. People walk in and think they look cool and wonder why they can't too have that many fish.

Click to expand...

Good point! I was at the LFS the other day and saw a tank STUFFED with teeny baby angels and thought to myself 'no wonder people think you can keep five angels in a ten gallon tank - there must be 50 in here, and no full grown angels in the store to show them just how big these guys grow'.
I've often thought each tank should have an outline showing the approximate size of the fish when full grown drawn on it for comparison.