Beware of advice from the LFS.

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Que

I wish I was a fish I wish.
Feb 15, 2007
2,449
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Southern Berkshire county, MA
Real Name
Ken
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I really feel I have to tell my story.
I had a wad of money burning a hole in my pocket and I wanted to get an aquarium for my sons benefit. He's 2 1/2.
I went to Walmart and picked up a 46 Gal. bow front with the stand and hood for $200. Another $200 got me all I needed to get it set up with a filter, plastic plants and a heater. I let it run for a week before I went to an LFS to look at some fish. The water was cloudy so I asked the guy for a product to clear things up which he of course had. He also told me I could put fish in my tank just 24 hours after I set things up. That weekend I bought my first fish for the tank. 2 Dalmation Mollies, 6 Cherry Barbs, 6 Tiger barbs and an Albino Cory.
Of course the cory died and I thought it was because the guy in the store injured it when he netted it. All the other fish were fine though.
The next week I bought 2 Siamese algea eaters and a dozen Neons and a new Cory. I had to set up an emergency isolation tank for the Tiger barbs because they were nipping the neons. The Cory lasted a week and the Neons dropped off one by one till only two were left. 5 Cherry barbs and 5 Tiger barbs died.

I finally found a guy in a different LFS who set me right and talked with me for over 1/2 hour about all that was doing wrong and what needed to happen for things to go right. He's a hero to me.

The bottom line here is you can get what you think is good advice from people you think you can trust but by all means get advice from many sources and read, read, read. Take the time needed to get things set up right and tell everyone about forums like this one if they have an intrest in going into this hobby.

I wouldn't have lost so many fish if I had taken the time to find good advice.
I feel badly about the fish that perished. All of them were fine one day and dead the next. I will not be getting any more fish for another month or 2 but when I do I'll be consulting you guys to see what you think about my choices.

Q
 

Marinemom

AC Members
Apr 8, 2006
3,478
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It is a hard lesson to learn and unfortunately there are people in the LFS that just want to sell you something wheather you need it or not. However, not every employee in the LFS is this way. I work in an aquarium store and I would never tell someone they could put fish in the same day or the next day. The temp. in the tank needs to stabalize first and then you have to add the fish slowly so the filter has time to catch up with the bio-load in the tank. In your case the tank needs to go through a cycling process first too which can take a good bit of time. The amount of fish you had and the combinations were a definite problem. I commend you for finding this site and trying to find out what to do next. How big is this tank anyways?

By the way, welcome to Aquaria Central. There are a lot of people here that are more then willing to help you out in your reserch for the right fish for your tank.

Marinemom
 

liv2padl

cichlidophile
Oct 30, 2005
2,686
0
0
north carolina
it's an unfortunate truth that while 'some' LFS employees have some knowledge of the fish they sell, most couldn't find their hand if you showed them their arm. they don't work at the LFS because they're smart or because the have a love of fish ... and they sure don't work there because they make alot of money. most of them work there because all the jobs at McDonalds was already taken.
 

echoofformless

Peat Advocate & Defender Of Snails
Oct 1, 2005
2,142
0
36
49
Phil Uh Del Feeya
www.myspace.com
Your last mistake is also your latest teacher. Think of it as a trial by fire.

The unfortunate thing in this hobby is marketing, augmented by the fact that a lot of people who work in fish stores either don't know or don't care and will just sell you whatever you ask for. As for the marketing it's these package deals and what not which attract people who are unfamiliar to the hobby with the promise of easy and simple setup. It gives people the false notion that you just get the equipment, plop in a few fish, feed them, and let nature take its course.

Nobody would approach repairing their car in such a simplistic manner. That is because most of us know ahead of time that repairing a car is serious business. Aquarium keeping seems so easy...and the fact that people at the LFS will sometimes just let you run with your mistake makes it all the worse. I've seen it too many times while I'm shopping. Often I will step in and be "that guy" but I don't care. It's nice to help people out of wasting their money and time. You'd be shocked how many people you meet while fish shopping you have no clue about such basic things as the nitrogen cycle, water changes, water testing, fish compatibility, etc and yet they have a big aquarium and they're buying huge bagfuls of fish. (Which are of course replacing the many fish who died on them the other day.)

Thing is a lot of people don't know how seriously complex and involved this hobby is until they either get interested and crack open the books, or make the honest mistake that you made. Then they either get mad at themselves and give up or they make the move to set things straight. And this a great place to be when you have questions. People on here are plain awesome.
 

brads

AC Members
Jan 29, 2007
189
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0
Spokane, WA
most of them work there because all the jobs at McDonalds was already taken.
Yeah, I been waitin' for years to get a job there. Anybody else? :joke:
 

Marinemom

AC Members
Apr 8, 2006
3,478
0
0
it's an unfortunate truth that while 'some' LFS employees have some knowledge of the fish they sell, most couldn't find their hand if you showed them their arm. they don't work at the LFS because they're smart or because the have a love of fish ... and they sure don't work there because they make alot of money. most of them work there because all the jobs at McDonalds was already taken.
Maybe it is your truth but it is not mine. I work there because if I can help maybe five people not screw up thier fish tanks and the fish in them then maybe I have done something right in this world. Besides the little bit of money that I manage to save from this job will help me get the better job later. Your comments about most people in the LFS is simply rude. Why do you have to lump sum all of them in one group that apparently is your view that they are all brainless? This is just simply not the case. Believe me, there are some of us out there that really do know what we are doing and try to impart that knowlage onto others.

Marinemom
 

liv2padl

cichlidophile
Oct 30, 2005
2,686
0
0
north carolina
'some' LFS employees have some knowledge of the fish they sell
i'm glad that "you" are among the 'some'. if you read through these forums however, you'll find that the bad experiences number in the thousands, while the good experiences can be counted on one hand.
 

echoofformless

Peat Advocate & Defender Of Snails
Oct 1, 2005
2,142
0
36
49
Phil Uh Del Feeya
www.myspace.com
i'm glad that "you" are among the 'some'. if you read through these forums however, you'll find that the bad experiences number in the thousands, while the good experiences can be counted on one hand.

This is true, however one must consider the fact that few good experiences are going to be posted. We mainly post on forums like this because we have issues that we wish to get help with; not so much just to tell relatively unimportant stories. There really is no reason to come home and want to post something like:

"Went to the LFS today because I really wanted tiger barbs for my betta tank, but the girl there told me it might be a bad idea so she suggested corys instead; and that's what I bought. All of the fish are getting along just great. Oh boy aren't LFS employees so helpful sometimes?"

It's just not natural to tell of the often decent experiences. Nothing to be learned from it. For example two weeks ago when I bought cichlids, I never mentioned that the guy who helped me was a cichlidophile himself and was most helpful in assisting me with sexing them and deciding who would get along best. He also suggested a specific synodontis cat which has been keeping in his mbuna tanks for many years. No, I whined to you all about how some of the fish ended up having a fungal issue and died on me. No mention of the very friendly and helpful employee. See what I mean?
 

Rbishop

Administrator
Staff member
Dec 30, 2005
40,727
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Real Name
Mr. Normal
Que...sorry for the hard lesson.

There are some good LFS employees out there and it is great when you have an LFS that you can trust. They seem to be a dying breed with all the big box stores and availablility of on-line shopping.

It is great to have a forum like Aquaria Central to get the much needed assistance!

:cool:
 
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