this is not easy with a 6 year old....

8

8isenuf

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Nov 11, 2007
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My son really enjoyed doing the fishless cycle in the tank, helping with all the water testing etc. He is thrilled at having fish in the tank finally, and, seemed to understand the limits to which and how many fish he could have, but, whenever we go to the lfs, the staff there keep telling him he can have neons, glass cats, rasboras, gouramis,hatchets, plecos.......along with his already 6 red phantom tetras and 3 kuhli loaches....I have told him what we learned on here...but....they KEEP telling him he can have more. I want to be careful how I tell him they don't know what they are talking about, because he is not very discreet.....how can they encourage overstocking to people who don't want to?? I mean, do they really not know?...or do they really not care??

Wendy
 
I am sure most know....but they also know what they need to say and tell thier employees to say to make $$$
 
just tell them if they keep nagging you to put more fish in your tank than when you want you'll take your buisness else where.

at least the large chain store employees will tell you when to stop adding fish even though they still use the horrible "inch per gallon" rule.
 
I am going to be dealing with this with my son in a couple of weeks (he got a tank for christmas). What i did was make up several different stocking lists for him to pick from. Then when we go to the store we don't need to ask the employees what fish, we can just let them know what we want and inform them of our tank size, etc. If you go with a set plan, perhaps the employees won't be so "helpful".
 
Maybe the employees themselves don't know any better. (I've often found better information on hobbyist boards like AC than I have in an LFS.) The best thing is to tell the LFS employee that you don't want to overcrowd the tank, and "surely you don't want to, either?" (Be sure to give an innocent look when saying this.) Just tell your son the store employees are a little too enthusiastic.
 
msjinkzd said:
I am going to be dealing with this with my son in a couple of weeks (he got a tank for christmas). What i did was make up several different stocking lists for him to pick from. Then when we go to the store we don't need to ask the employees what fish, we can just let them know what we want and inform them of our tank size, etc. If you go with a set plan, perhaps the employees won't be so "helpful".
Click to expand...

:iagree:

I always go into stores knowing exactly what I am going to buy (although sometimes I buy things unexpectedly:grinyes:)...that way if an employee asks if I need "help" with anything, I can tell them that Im "just looking" ;)
 
I guess that is what we will need to do, but, as he looks into other tanks and says" I wish I could have those too"...of course the lfs people say "sure you can".....maybe I just need to keep the kidlet out of the store and go buy what we need on my own.

Wendy
 
Try finding a lfs with employees that you trust. I'm lucky because i have 2 in my area that have been set up 15 years plus with fantastic staff. Each lfs is different just try and find one thats suits you. All the best.
 
I would use the opportunity to train the LFS Manager and staff the error of their ways. Mention to them the boards here and that what they are telling you and your son is being discounted by hobbiests from around North America and the globe. If they try acting superior and get defensive then I would start shopping for a new LFS. It is all about the delivery. My LFS will even ask me questions when I am in there about plecos so that they learn. That is what makes a good employee and store.
 
Are they being far too pushy about it or are they just trying to be nice and not realizing their error? While a lot of stores do like to sell fish, most also like to have a good rep among their customers. If the same employee is being pushy and you have already informed him "i have this size tank with this many fish and i don't need to add more thank you very much" then talk to a manager about it. if not then tell the employee "oh we're just looking at the fish, we're fully stocked already".
If i hear a little kid at work going "oooh look at the pretty neon" and then am told he has a tank with other tetras i would probably also go "oh well those could live together" unless i knew otherwise. communication is the key :)
 
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