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

Phew long day today. Picked up some knew stock. About 700 or so fishes. Handpicked them all too. I went with the local distributor this week. Took about 4 hours or so to acclimate them all. I did it my way this time and only lost 2 bala sharks (i think it was just poor stock though).

Also set up a semi display for some chiclids, Kind of a trial to see how things will place b4 i get the chiclid eco_complete. In it are peacock chiclids, 3 convicts a checkerboard barb and 6 guppies(left over from the tank cycle). The barb came in with the peacocks, i guess he was chillin in there tank when i scooped em up.

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Looks pretty good!!! I understand about being a one person show. I work for PETCO and I pretty much do everything. About 6 months ago we got a OEM that at least knows about aquariums. I have learned from him and vise-verse. I have been lucky when I took over the dept the store was only 7 months old so the tanks didn't look too bad. I get comments all the time that the tanks and the fish look good. I tell you it makes my day especially since like today I was cleaning all day. (today not all in aquatics but about 3 hours). I go to other PETCOs and I can't believe the mess. One Petland by us is not bad but the other one is so so. I have people that call for me and will only talk to me. Some know me by name the others call me the fish lady. I guess I can live with that. I'm sure people who come in for fish are loving that they have a person they can finally talk to and trust. I ask people a lot of questions about their tank before I give them fish. I also give out this web sites and others to try and inform my customers.

My only problem is that starting next week we will have only two people in the store until about 2-3pm. So that means that I will have to have all the animals feed by 9am and then I will be the cashier until I go home at 2-3pm. If I get backed up I can call the GM to help me. So I hope that I won't have a customer at the register and one in the fish dept or any other department for that fact. Sorry I got off topic there.

Keep the pictures coming. I really have enjoyed watching how your aquatics department have come to life again.
 
katschamne said:
. I ask people a lot of questions about their tank before I give them fish. I also give out this web sites and others to try and inform my customers.
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This is my opinion in that, if you tryed to deny me fish, i would go elsewhere.

Its the average fishkeeper that keeps stores in business guy buys fish, fish dies, goes and buys more fish. So trying to educate is fine, But saying no you cant have this etc... Is also bad practice. Especially for small not so big time fish stores. Its the repeat business that keeps them going.

Not because everyone stocks the tank perfectly and never kills a fish in less then a year.. If this were the case, I can guarentee locally Most if not all local small shops would be shut down. And perhaps most stores would also get rid of their fish department all together, if at the end of the day dog food is supporting the store, and the fish department is spending more then its bringing in, thats alot of realestate to put other more profitable items .

My two cents imo
 
hey kryptic - katshamne never said that she ever denied anyone a fish, just that she asks a lot of questions about the customer's tanks. I assume this is doneto 1)gauge how knowledgeable the person is and 2)whether she could provide a better alternative if need be.
 
mdwalt1 said:
hey kryptic - katshamne never said that she ever denied anyone a fish, just that she asks a lot of questions about the customer's tanks. I assume this is done to 1)gauge how knowledgeable the person is and 2)whether she could provide a better alternative if need be.
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Exactly. I have people come in and I ask questions about their tank. I try my best to educate my customer. Not to say that people can't over stock their tank, as long as they understand how to maintain and have proper filtration and they still have a successful experience. There are times that if you don't educate the customer and then they have nothing but problems that they give up and you lose a customer. I have had people come in wanting a pleco and after I ask them questions about their tank I find out that they have a 2.5 gal tank and they already have a 3 platys and 4 guppies and they wonder why their fish are dieing. After I explain everything to them most times they will decide that they will pass when I tell them how big the pleco we sell gets. I don't think I have ever denied a fish but I strongly will discourage it. Plus think about it this way they are a living thing it is cruel to subject these animals to some of the conditions that people want. I have had people tell me that they don't care it's just money and they are just fish. It's like putting a great dane in a chihuahua cage. The anti-cruelty would be knocking at their door if they did that but that is my opinion.

In my store most of the customers that come in for freshwater fish are usually beginners. When you ask them how big their tank is, they tell me "it's a really big tank" and when I ask the size, usually they point to a 10 gal. it's fine to start out with small tank, I can't tell you how many of my customers have upgraded their tanks or now have multiple tanks. One guy that comes in all the time for saltwater at first was looking at a 29 gal tank but after asking questions I found out that he really wanted a 55 gal tank. I gave him a lot of info, great websites to do research on before he made made up his mind. He was going to buy the 29 that day and he could have taken the info I gave him and went somewhere else but he didn't two days later he came back and bought a complete the 55gal setup. He tells me that he is addicted and want to get a 90 gal tank.
 
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