Today I went to buy ghost shrimp for my Figure 8....when I overheard the salesperson telling a customer that she could put a kuhli loach into her brackish water tank...she just need to slowly acclimate him to the water. I thought that kuhli loaches were freshwater...am I mistaken?
At my LFS I overheard...
- Thread starter scourtneyb
- Start date
No, you are not mistaken.
The first rule of shopping fish stores: Believe nothing that you hear from a salesperson, no matter how experienced, nor the owner. Even if you want to believe it, check it out independently before you act on it.
The first rule of shopping fish stores: Believe nothing that you hear from a salesperson, no matter how experienced, nor the owner. Even if you want to believe it, check it out independently before you act on it.
I know first-hand that LFS employees aren't to blame. Chain petstores tend to have high employee/managerial turnover rates and low wages. Couple this with pitiful training, and you've got a "revolving-door" business of employees who never stick around long enough to learn more than the basics.
Some petstore chains like to eliminate their entire workforce when they switch management. This is an old-school approach to management, which really isn't too good for the sake of the livestock. The knowledge just doesn't get passed on...
It might also be fair to say not to believe anything you hear from anyone, unless they can show you some credentials.
Some petstore chains like to eliminate their entire workforce when they switch management. This is an old-school approach to management, which really isn't too good for the sake of the livestock. The knowledge just doesn't get passed on...
It might also be fair to say not to believe anything you hear from anyone, unless they can show you some credentials.
tricksterpup
It's SPRING!!! BUNNIE RABBITS
Dang, every time I go to the store the tell I am very good looking..RTR said:
Well yes, people believe that anything can be a brackish fish if you slowly acclimate them.
RTR gave the best advice take things with a grain of salt. I go to my favorite local petstore, the main knows his reef tanks but told me one time that platys lay eggs. I told him he needed a vacation and that he was working to hard after that. Sometimes at a LFS that isnt a chain, they get kinda confused cause they are so busy and having a milliion people asking tons of questions. well being off by a little isnt bad. But yes, there are those shops that get fish that do not know a single thing about that fish. That is why I always say Buyer beware and do your research.
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I'm not really being that argumentative, but if someone honestly does not know, there is for me no sin in saying that you do not know. I would much prefer that to a glib lie. Then it is up to the buyer to find out for themselves. The LFS I use has a significant employee turnover, and if they have been there some time I do not expect them to know the fish that they are selling. It is good if they do, but it is hardly a job requirement for an entry-level job.
OrionGirl said:
Better to keep your mouth shut and be thought a fool than to open it and remove all doubt. -- Mark Twain.
i just went to petsmart to buy some plants and i noticed they had a tank of mondo grass. it was definitely mondo grass, the same stuff that grows in my front yard! i asked the guy working the fish dept whats up with the mondo grass? he says his boss made him order it and they stock it as an aquatic plant. even though the clerk knows it's NOT aquatic. he told his boss that but his boss says if its in the sales catalog as being aquatic than it must be so.
he pointed out how full the tank is of it. because he wont sell it. i was glad, but what a waste of money. they're spending all this money on ordering a plant that they arent going to sell and it's taking up space when they could be stocking other real aquatic plants.
he pointed out how full the tank is of it. because he wont sell it. i was glad, but what a waste of money. they're spending all this money on ordering a plant that they arent going to sell and it's taking up space when they could be stocking other real aquatic plants.