Post your lfs horror stories here (especially wal-mart)

[sky.eyes.woman]

do those guys get commisions or just are ignorant and want the people to get the heck out ?

We don't get commission at our store, and I'll bet it's like that in most places, especially Wal-Mart. I think it's just that there are so many misconceptions and falsehoods out there about fishkeeping, it's an uphill battle to educate people on how to do it right. Those same people out there keeping oscars in 10 gallon tanks, etc. would never dream of getting a puppy and keeping it in a shoebox it's whole life. They'd never buy a bird and not clean it's cage ever. I put it to people like this: cats, dogs, hamsters and other pets breathe the same air as you and are usually comfortable at the same temps as you. Making them happy and healthy is not so hard. Fish are totally different and it's up to you to create a healthy environment for them. They can't do it themselves and can't voice their agony when they are improperly cared for, so the fishkeeper has to make extra effort to keep them in a healthy home. That extra effort pays off hundredfold in a beautiful and relaxing tank you can enjoy anytime.

 

[El Barto]

go girlfriend!! you said that right. i hate to see people buy fish and not look for the long term or how they have to keep the tank clean and all. this gets posted 10 000 times a day

 

[tiger_oscar]

Walmarts first mistake is they have no one dedicated to care for the fish. I purchased a couple of fish for my sons aquarium and we ended up getting somebody from Gardening to get the fish. I've purchased fish there twice and both times they grabbed a bag and proceeded to fill it with water from the sink. I basically had to instruct them to get water from the tank the fish was in.They have dead fish in just about every tank. Also they sell Pacu's knowing that the average tank owner has a tank the size of 125 gal or less. These fish need 350 to 500 gal to live in.

 

[firefly]

Sigh. We were just given a test by our petcare manager abou aquatics. ANyone who pays even the slightest bit of attention in the departmetnt shoudl have aced the test. IT was a simple test. (what fish are live bearers? How large does an oscar get?, what are the minimum size tanks for the following fish? etc.) BUt there are at least two people who found the test VERY hard! YIKES!! (of course we all knew the two who would find it hard, and thats why we took the test, so hopefully those two can be weeded out of our department.)

I also had a not so pleasant experience with a customer yesterday too. He had a ten or twenty gallon tank (he wasn't srure which, but after we showed him the tanks, he still wasn't sure and finally decided it was a twenty because we wouldn't have sold him any fish if it were a ten). In his tank he already had three tiger barbs and two redclaw crabs. He wanted some more crabs, some angel fish, and I'm not sure what else (I wasn't directly helping him). Well, the person helping him refused to sell him angels, after asking me if the red claw crabs woudl hurt them. (she was one who had trouble with the test, but at least got it into her head that we weren't supposed to be selling fish to bad situations). I said that a) 10 or 20 gallons are too small for angels, b) the tiger barbs will rip them to shreds and c) so will the crabs! Well, the guy was very upset that we wouldnt' sell him the fish he wanted and ranted about how he would go ellsewhere to get his fish--somewhere that would sell him whatever he wanted. Of course anywhere that would sell him fish would be a very bad store, and his fish would likely die soon. Actally, the only place around here that would sell him any fish would be our competitor chain, and right now all their tanks are under quarrentine because of a fungus. (thats at one store, the other stores are still selling fish, but they are all fungussed too!), so his fish would likely die very soon. Even the psycho fish lady at wal mart, with all her faults, understands minimum tanks size and woudld not have sold him angels. ACtually, she wont' sell angels for anything less than a 75g tank, so she goes a bit overboard... (she also refuses to sell feder fish for anything less than a huge tank where they will not be eaten by anything... but thats o.k., because our feeders are cheaper anyways.)

Emily

 

[led_zeppelin]

i went to one of my LFS and saw a 1 1/2 foot jacknife fish in a 15 gallon tank, the poor guy couldnt even move, he just sat thier layin down doin nothing. :sad:

 

[gman52]

i dont go to this particular lfs anymore because im mostly in to saltwater now and i go to a lfs that specializes in saltwater, but anyway, i bought some platys, and when i got home i realized one had ich, and one had a small patch of fungus. so i took them back to the store, and asked for a refund. they gave me the refund, but the stuck the infected fish right into the tank were ppl buy the fish from.

 

[razor]

one time i was at a pet store called exoctic pets and half of the tanks were green they had a 12 inch oscar in a ten gallon tank with no filter or gravel at the bottom or sand

 

[seesaw65]

i went to one of the local pet shops last week and they had a tank of blue tailed fish for sale ie injected albino corys. I also saw a siamese fighting fish with practically all its fins bitten off as it was in the same tank as a shoal of Serpae tetra!!!!

 

[Liz]

I was at a LFS and there were some large fish there, I forget what they were called, with weird scale designs on them. The main guy working in the fish department told me that they had been tattooed. He seemed fascinated and excited about it. I didn't say anything, but I was kind of surprised that he apparently approved of this, since he is the lead of the fish department and an ex show guppy breeder, and in past experiences he has seemed very experienced (Except when he told me there is no such thing as dwarf puffers and anything sold as a dwarf puffer grows atleast 6", but that's excuseable IMO).