The Puffer Forum

I didn't until that day when they told me my GSP would be fine in a community tank. If I had problems with fish from them before, I blamed myself (well, I was to blame at least partially I'm sure). We got a dwarf African frog from them (he was so cute!) and he did well (considering my ignorance of the subject) for nearly a year. He died because of my neglect But now I know not to get fish from them, and I really feel sorry for the fish that are there.

Boxermom wrote:Why would an LFS tell you about cycling? I know my does but it seems to be an abberation as far as LFSes go from what I hear from everyone else. If you buy a bunch of fish from the LFS to stick in an uncycled tank and they all die, you'll just go back and buy more. So why bother instructing you on how to keep them alive?

I really resent that remark. I am an LFS employee and I take my job seriously. All these gross generalisations on the quality and educations of LFS employees is really pissing me off. Post after post I find that my job is being slammed.
Often I don't discus cycling because I believe it to be common knowledge. When a customer has an issue with a tank cycling should be the first discussion. I'm sorry many of you have such negative experiences. Considering how many think of their LFS's it's a wonder that they have fish at all and haven't just quit the hobby.
One more suggestion and I'll take a breather. If you have issues with one LFS go to another one that's better.

Cycling isn't common knowledge. I didn't know about it until reading this forum and I've had fish for years (once again...my apologies to all the fish I've had in the past). My thing with Walmart is not the fish themselves, but the service. First of all, whoever was in the Live pets dept. didn't come over, so someone else from another dept. did and she apparently didn't know too much, just that "they had sold a lot of puffers". She said that the GSP would be fine with the tetras and put them all in the same bag. When I got home, one was missing, one had a big chunk out of its belly, and one was missing an eye. And there was Puffer, fat and happy. I called up there and talked to a guy in pets and he said "yeah, he'll eat the tetras" What the he**??! It was nice to know that they (WM) don't seem to care who sells the fish, whether they have knowledge of it or not. I mean, I admit, I sold some things at Lowe's not knowing what I was talking about, but it wasn't a living creature. I should think that when dealing with animals, people would care a little more and get whatever training they need. Sorry about the novel

sstimac while I understand your frustration, you also need to consider Boxermom is correct in 90% of the cases. Every once in a while you will find the co-called "Diamond in the rough" that have employees that are actually informed.

When you look at the big chain pet stores their #1 Goal is making a dollar. That's just the way it is. This is why I prefer to pay 20-30% higher at the local "Mom & Pop" LFS.

Also, and very unfortunately, Cycling is far from common knowledge. I just started up an aquarium service business a few weeks ago for some extra bucks. You wouldn't believe the kind of things I hear from these people haha.

sstimac wrote:I really resent that remark. I am an LFS employee and I take my job seriously. All these gross generalisations on the quality and educations of LFS employees is really pissing me off. Post after post I find that my job is being slammed.
Often I don't discus cycling because I believe it to be common knowledge. When a customer has an issue with a tank cycling should be the first discussion. I'm sorry many of you have such negative experiences. Considering how many think of their LFS's it's a wonder that they have fish at all and haven't just quit the hobby.
One more suggestion and I'll take a breather. If you have issues with one LFS go to another one that's better.

Sorry that pissed you off but you know what? If you're going to be an LFS employee and post on fish forums where experienced people post, you're going to have to grow some thicker skin and learn to deal with it. Disparaging generalizations happen in pretty much every field. All lawyers are sleazy crooks, all priests are pedophiles, all construction workers are stupid, the list goes on. If you are doing what you should be doing, then you shouldn't take offense. If you do take offense, its likely because something I said struck a nerve. Rather than get pissed at me/us, review your own thoughts and practices and see if you think any of it needs to be appropriately adjusted.

I happen to frequent a very good LFS. Knowledgeable staff, very well cared for livestock, etc. However, after participating in a number of various fish forums, I have come to believe that my LFS isn't the "norm" and most people don't have access to one as good. If you and yours are, great. If its not, maybe you should think about trying to help it become one.

Often I don't discus cycling because I believe it to be common knowledge.

Absolutely not true! I worked in several LFS for 8 years. I never once came across a customer that knew anything about cycling or ever did their own research! Most folks were of the attitude that if the fish died, they'd just replace it. That's why I quit & went on to dog grooming. Most of my customers listen to my advice now. I still hang out at my LFS & come across the same attitude I did all those years... They don't know & they don't care.

sstimac wrote: I really resent that remark. I am an LFS employee and I take my job seriously. All these gross generalisations on the quality and educations of LFS employees is really pissing me off. Post after post I find that my job is being slammed.

Why would that piss you off? Nobody is talking about you or your job. Of the 8 or so fish stores near me, I wouldn't trust anything an employee told me without doing my own research, and I'm frankly disgusted by the lack of knowledge and care of most of the employees & owners. Granted, at one store, some of the people seem to care more and are at least open to learning more (even from me!). But that's not a very good ratio.

I don't think anyone's making gross generalizations, just calling it like we see it.

I never knew about cycling either...and I've been exposed to aquariums for a while now...

>.> seriously...I thought "Put water in tank, put water treatment in water, wait 24hrs, go buy fish and pray"

It wasn't till I met my husband till I learned about what cycling was and that cycling was "Cycling with some cheap fish before you get your good stock" and didn't know about fishless cycling till my husband came across this forum in preparation for getting our GSP.

No one from a LFS ever told me about cycling. I owned betas, I had a fishbowl with a cory and a guppy in it... (Please forgive me...I didn't know any better, and no one told me) Then I had two goldfish in a 3 gal PetLand aquarium in a box...UGF and the whole death trap...both lived...but....I think they are happyer in the little pond we released them in.

It just goes to prove that If you wanna do something right you have to research it yourself. with the advent of the internet there is no excuse not to. Too many people think fish are disposable pets, no matter how expensive the fish is....Just pretty eye candy. *sigh*

My apologies. I've been keeping aquariums for eons now and I've known about cycling for almost the entire time. I don't recall whether i was informed of it from the start or not I was young teen and I don't remember. Perhaps I'm abnormal by researching the things I'm interested in. What I need to do now, apparently, is figure out the most tactful way of approaching the subject with my customers.
I'm sorry that approx. 90% of you have such horrible stories about your LFS's and their employees, but mine is great. It's the only one I'll buy fish from and that's not just because I work there. We only sell healthy fish and I know exactly what I'm buying. I believe that my customers could vouch for that.

I've noticed, at least in this area, that the mom and pop fish stores tend to give better advice and have healthier fish than the larger fish stores and department pet stores. It seems like the smaller stores have true hobby enthusiasts working for them and the larger stores tend to have people that work there because they need a job. I would never buy a fish from a department pet store because 1) I've seen the quality of the poor fish they sell (one store in particular - whom I won't mention by name - always seems to have ich in their saltwater tanks yet they don't seem to do anything about it and would gladly sell anyone a sick fish, and 2) they usually give awful advice (they are trained to "make the sale" and don't know that much about the hobby). Yes, the smaller fish stores tend to be a little more expensive, but IME, its well worth the price.

The second fish I ever bought (a yellow tang) came from a larger fish store. I bought him and acclimated him into my tank (before I had a QT tank). The next day, I went back to the fish store to pick up some additional supplies. I happened to look at their SW fish again (they had just received a new shipment) and started talking with one of the employees. I saw a fish I liked and asked him about the fish's requirements, and he told me "Don't buy a fish from us. We've had an ich infestation for a week now." I told him that I had bought a fish from them the day before and that they didn't mention that to me. He said I should go home and check the fish and told me what to look for. Sure enough, I had introduced ich into my system, and it was a nightmare (not to mention, very costly) to get rid of. I have never bought a fish from them again.

Yes, there are good stores out there with knowledgable people. I'm fortunate enough to have two very good stores in my area (and several I haven't even tried yet). Unfortunately, not everyone has access to these types of stores and are stuck with the larger department pet stores. It's just fortunate that there are places on the web like this forum that can help educate people. I know this forum has saved several of my fish.

Anyway, sorry for the long winded message. Puffernovice 2006, how is your puffer doing?

Dan