I've joined the dark side. Soon to be manager of the Petland Lancaster fish dep.

[OldMan47]

Congrats, I hope this will mean a better experience for the fish keepers in your area. I would add a bit of info to the compatibility guide on the cards. An angel card should warn about how they can eat very small fish. A tiger barb card should caution about keeping them with slower moving peaceful fish, etc. For each size of tank you sell, it might be a good idea to post a typical stocking list or even 2 or 3 of them so newbies can avoid some of the more common compatibility errors. It would also help them avoid overstocking right out of the gate.
A thing that can be hard for a new hobbyist is to get set up and cycled. Maybe you could offer some jump start media for new tank setups, something like go set this tank up with dechlorinated water and come back with a coupon you give them to get a sample of bacteria from a store filter. I am sure any store filter will have huge bacteria populations the way they tend to overstock sale tanks.
Something that can be hard to find for a fishless cycle is suitable ammonia. It might be something you could carry along with a card explaining how it is used.

 

[TLT]

Congrats on being in a position where you can make a lot of difference! I think all the suggestions have been really good. I love the layout of your prototypes but I think that the information on the phyla might be a bit overwhelming for some people and that the scientific name should suffice for most people's fishkeeping purposes.

Some things that I'd suggest from my own experiences:
1. Include whether the fish need to be in groups
2. Breaks my heart to see the bettas and feeder fish living in cramped and dirty conditions, reflects badly on the store's fishkeeping ethics
3. I hate it when the employees are unknowledgable or, even worse, don't care. There's this great thread at fishlore.com where people list all the things they wish LFS employees knew. I think you'll find it very helpful:

http://www.fishlore.com/fishforum/g...things-fish-stores-employees-should-know.html

Edit: Oh yeah, may fishy enlightenment be with you! Hopefully you can brighten up the dark side a bit

 

[00Smurf]

Thanks for all the replies. I'm on my way in now. I'll give more in depth responses to everyones question and advice after work. But number 1, 20 mins into the first day i had already thrown out all those small Betta cups and had the bettas in there own separate tanks.

 

[Lupin]

The altums should have their own information different from scalares. Three species exist currently and they are quite different in terms of temperament, tank size requirement, body size, etc. Pterophyllum leopoldi is the last.

Congrats!

 

[paradisefish]

That's awesome that you are going to try to educate people about fish and make sure they are well tended. I hope it works out!!

If your store is going to be selling saltwater fish, I would suggest trying to see if you can stock mostly captive-bred fish for that department. You could put up signs explaining to customers why captive bred saltwater fish are better (like the fact that they're already adapted to artificial foods and tank water quality, so more likely to survive once they get them home, as well as the environmental impact of taking fish from the ocean).
I really hate it when I see wild-caught saltwater fish who are often not even suitable to captivity sitting in tanks at these chain stores. It's such a waste.

 

[sschind]

The altums should have their own information different from scalares. Three species exist currently and they are quite different in terms of temperament, tank size requirement, body size, etc. Pterophyllum leopoldi is the last.

Congrats!

Exactly what I was going to say. In fact I would simply forget about the altum info all together. I don't think there is a petland in the world that is going to get altums and and if they do get some by accident I seriously doubt they will keep them alive. There are not that many people who have successfully kept his species let alone been able to spawn them. I have been looking for three years (not real seriously because I know they are difficult) and I have yet to find anyone who has spawned them.

Like Lupin said, they are not like the common angelfish in any way other than appearance.

Otherwise, I like the cards and good luck.

When I was considering closing my shop someone from the petco that was just opening up asked if I would be interested in coming to work for them as fish department manager and I said no way. There is no way I would work for someone else and have to follow their rules about what and how to sell. If I ever close the shop my next job will be something that has nothing to do with animals.

Good Luck.

 

[xDetroitMetalx]

Dude, grats! I’m jealous! I tried for a chain just as an associate and they were scared of my knowledge even though I really don’t know much. Re-doing the whole fish department? That’s awesome! I’m excited just thinking about it. Those pics you have look nice and it looks like you’re going to be very busy for awhile. I’m sure you’re going to do a great job and they hired the right person!

My 2 cents is:
For the angels I would say a min of 30 gallons. The experience level I would say is hard when they are only 1” because they are so fragile. When they are adult they get pretty tough.

 

[LeahK]

Congrats again! I agree with the suggestion to set up gorgeous display tanks that are in 5 - 20ish gallon range, so that people can get tempted by tanks that are actually manageable for them, as opposed to being tempted by the stock in tanks that are way too large.
Here's two great articles on AC that are devoted to stocking suggestions for smaller tanks. I really wish I'd received information like this when I was first starting out:
http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=97203
http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=120192

 

[jm1212]

you have ALOT of tanks to work with.

go with the standerd stock (guppies, platies, angels, neons, etc.) and then get some less common fish, such as festivum, congo tetras, and different types of rainbows.

try to stay away from stocking ID sharks, common plecos, or pacu. there are much better alternatives, namley silver dollars and bristlenose plecos.

try to stay away from selling cichlids that get big to anyone. oscars are great fish, but only when they have the 75 gallon tank they need.

 

[Digital]

Congrats on that new job! I'm glad to hear someone with actual knowledge working at a Petland now. As far as the cards, I think they look great. I'd suggest you change the font for the description and content from the Times New Roman, to say Arial, or verdana. Something clean and easy to read. Remember not everyone can see well.