Why don't people just clean their tanks?

[eveliens]

Quite honestly, some days, I think customers are the bane of working at a petstore (right after the coworkers). But, you've got to love it when you actually educate and help someone out! I have "stalkers" who will only come in when I'm working because I gave them good advice that worked and they know I'll be happy to help them if they have problems. I think it all comes down to picking your LFS carefully and finding a good employee to help you out.

On the other hand you get:
Lady: I need a sucker fish
Me: how big is your tank and how long has it been set up? Do you have any algae or is the water cloudy.
L: It's all white. The tank is like that size *points in the direction of the fish wall at a top tank* It's been set up awhile... like a week?
M: is there any algae on the glass or decor?
L: what's algae?
We went round and round that adding a "sucker fish" wasn't going to clear up her tank, just make it worse, and that the "sucker fish" had nothing to eat in the tank and that she would need to feed it. And, no, it didn't eat flakes. Finally, I gave up, talked her into a rubberlip pleco instead of a common, and said a short prayer for the poor fish. The sad thing is the tank will have cleared up in a few days and the lady will think it's because of her "sucker fish."
Next customer who had been watching the transaction: some people just don't listen, do they? That pleco ain't going to clear up her tank.
Me: nope.

I don't know about hugging a hamster though, spirals. I like my body parts unpunctured, LOL. I prefer to play with the rats or the hand-fed conures or the skinks.

 

[spirals]

lol! well i would say hug a rat but most ppl get squeamish on me when i suggest that I don't know why, i love my rattie babies. we can't hug skinks around here because the last time one was taken out of its habitat it was stolen

 

[ScottyNorq]

I would appreciate it if the employees at my local petsmart knew what they were doing. I now go to a small mom and pop place for most my stuff and go to petsmart when im in a hurry cause its right down the street from my place. When I first got into the hobby I didnt know what I was doing at all. I ended up with a 20 gallon tank with a electric yellow cichlid, a tiger oscar, two clown loaches, a bala shark, a common pleco and a crab. This stocking was on advice from petsmart employees. I had an ich outbreak and my tiger oscar was the only surviver. He is now my favorite fish and I hand feed him daily but after that first experience I now do a lot of reading and get my advice from a smaller local store.

 

[Star_Rider]

well I wouldn't put so much blame on the employees nor the customer/consumer.
much of what they know is based on old information..the funny thing..what we know now may eventually be THAT old information..bottom line..education...

funny tho..if you read some of the older books..much of what we practice now is not all that different ..it's just information that has been 'tweaked'.

 

[AnnetteG]

Well, I'm far from an expert, but I am learning a lot from this site and others and reading as many books as I can get my hands on. I sort them by publishing date when I request them from the library though, so I only read the ones published in the last 5 years. I just try to give my customers the best advice I can and if I run into a spot I'm not sure about, I call one of the managers we have who is a fish keeping guy, I refer to a book in the department, or I give them the address of this site. :grinyes:

I try to hug a hamster or a guinea pig every time I'm at work. The rats squick me out a bit still. A mouse bit me, so I'm a little shy of them. We have a female albino leopard gecko who is a sweet thing, I visit with her whenever I can. All our hamsters are super sweet though. Except one we keep in the new arrivals room. She was a customer return and she hisses at anyone who gets near her. I can't wait till my kids are old enough that I can bring home some hamsters and/or guinea pigs.

I think the other thing to look for in people in a petshop is someone who is happy to be there. If they enjoy being around the animals & fish, most likely, they've educated themselves at least a little bit. I had a customer catch me talking to the Oscars one day. LOL I thought I was alone when I was feeding the fish. :laugh: Kindof embarrassing but I was like, "well, look where I work? I'm here because I love it!" and he seemed to think it was pretty funny. Or he just thought I was nuts and he was humoring me. :crazy:

 

[wataugachicken]

there's no excuse for people who have been given information and choose to ignore it, but some people just don't realize that they have to clean their tanks. i was onew of those people - 10g guppy tank, topped off evaporated water, took fish out and broke tank down every two months to clean it completely and rinse the gravel in nice warm tap water, had no idea about cycling/testing water/beneficial bacteria. . . even when i bought fish for a second tank the only information i got was "buy these zebra danios and keep them in the tank for a couple weeks, then come back and trade them in for the real fish you want". heck, i went out and bought a goldfish for a 6g tank because i wanted to put the goldfish in there, let it poop a whole lot, then return it and grow some plants in my newly 'fertilized' Eclipse tank. well, the goldfish started swimming funny, i went online and found AC, and it was like a mental revolution. now the goldfish is 6 inches long and living in his own 30g tank, and all 5 tanks get 50% WC's every week or so.

 

[rey1rey]

keep passing on the advice you learn to those who are willing to hear you. for the rest of the people that do not want to hear, just provide a good strong warning...

"Don't get attached to your fish, they are going to suffer and die if you do not make some serious changes. You will not enjoy them, you will resent all the work you have to put into trying and keeping them alive. So, let them go, sell them, bring to the lfs, something, but do not attempt to keep them if you are not going to respect thier needs.""

Other than that, you can see when someone is truly interested by how they engage in the conversation and keep talking and sharing as long as possible, because I know first hand that we can never know too much... I have been in this a little while now and just as I think I can elevate myself to getting the hang of it... I do something to one of my tanks that messes up the environment and KILLS MY FISH!!! that sucks... just lost 6 fish in one of my tanks that I made changes to!!! NOT HAPPY

 

[wataugachicken]

110 gl fw corner tank cichlids and sharks
125 gl cw 11 beautiful goldfish
75 gl fw cichlids 6 blood parrots 7 mbuni 2 jd
30 gl fw 2 mated kribs 4 cardinal 5 msc platys
30 gl fw cilchids and gouramies
125 gl fw lake tank 3 12 inch oscars 2 red ear sliders 1 soft shell turtle 5 blue gill 2 convicts
60 gl fw breeder 2 angel with 20 + fry

did those six deaths have anything to do with the interesting and unique stocking of your tanks?

 

[Dwarf Puffers]

People do take it forgranted sometimes how little good is said about pet stores, although I have to admit sometimes I find it hard not to flame them

did those six deaths have anything to do with the interesting and unique stocking of your tanks?

:lipssealedsmilie:

 

[eveliens]

Yes, there are people who are ignorant and honestly don't know any better, but you shouldn't just walk into a store and get a tank. And a lot of people do, not knowing a thing about what they're doing. That's why there's a lot of tanks on CLs and in garage sales. There is personal responsibility attached to this. Also, a lot of people are lazy and are under the impression that you can just throw fish in and never have to do anything again except feed them.

OT:

AnnetteG, are you a male or female store? I've heard males are sweeter because female hamsters are demons for the most part (there are sweet syrians but we don't carry them anymore in our store). I would never let my kids have one unless they were prepared to be chomped. And I talk to the fish when I catch them; people think I'm nuts. It took a new manager a month to realize I wasn't talking to another human being when I was in the backrooms feeding the small animals

spirals: I have 12 rats and several other rodents, including a "Panda" hamster, lol, but I see your point. We used to have just tanks set up for reptiles and several tortoises were stolen. Now we have a locking habitat for them. Most people are afraid of skinks because they look like snakes anyway.