The Puffer Forum

Boy oh boy, have I got a story for you guys and gals,
Today I stopped by a LFS that I haven't been to for a while because I was in search of Bio Spira. I called my main LFS and they didn't have any, but this one did. I walked in and they did not have the instant ocean bio spira I wanted, but they showed me StressZyme. I wasn't too thrilled about that because I was looking forward to getting my hands on some bio spira. Oh well.

Then it goes downhill...

I was admiring their fishies in their fish room when I was approached by a salesperson. They asked me if they could help and I mentioned that I was trying to get a tank cycled with some bio spira. They suggested doing it with some "cheap" fish because it was "way better" and "more natural then with chemicals."
I wasn't too impressed; I told them I know it works but it just wasn't the way I wanted to cycle my tank. They kept suggesting some fish so me being bored, I went along with him and tried to develop the conversation some more.

He asked me what kind of fish I was wanting; I responded figure 8. I told him my goal was to have 1 figure 8 in my 20 gallon tank. I asked him what fish would cycle well with a brackish tank at about 1.008 SG. He asked his "boss" aka the fish-man-who-has-been-working-for-25-some-years-since-he-was-a-little-boy for some suggestions (this is a man he looks up to and goes to him for all his fish inquiries) First thing Boss told me was that my tank was super high to be brackish and that I should probably do more research before saying it's brackish. (I twitched a bit) However, I was then told black mollies or platys would do my tank well and at only $2.99 each that was " waaaaaa-ay cheaper than buying any bottle of no-good chemicals." (no good yet they carry this stuff mind you.) And lo and behold they didnt have any black mollies or platys at the time.

So they proceeded to try and sell me 2 GSPs!!!! (yea you read that right) They said that these were the hardiest puffers and they would cycle my tank in less than 2 weeks. I asked, "wont they eat my figure 8? and isnt my tank a little too small for all 3 of them?"

They said, "OH no, you can fit 4 of these guys in there, figure 8s only get a bit bigger than GSPs and the GSPs right now will stay that size (in the tank they were about 2 inches and looking very deathly) You can mix all puffers together but not with fahakas because they will eat everything else."

Then the first salesperson said this, "I have a 20 gallon tank with 47 fishes in them. I have 3 filters and I don't have to do any water changes. They are all fine."

Wow, I replied. That must be really nice to not do water changes.

I left the store feeling very queasy.

Just thought I'd share this story with you. I'm just glad I got out of there; I really didn't want to continue the conversation any longer.

The only thing they got right was that fahakas will eat everything else lol


So much FAIL, I dont even know where to start

Another huge FAIL: B-S isn't chemicals at all, it's the same nitrifying bacteria produced at the end of a cycled tank. Man, that place is totally shameful!!!

TSarasua wrote: I asked him what fish would cycle well with a brackish tank at about 1.008 SG...First thing Boss told me was that my tank was super high to be brackish and that I should probably do more research before saying it's brackish.

That's because their version of BW is 1 teaspoon of aquarium salt per 5 gallons.

Sometimes you just can't fix stupid.

i feel bad for those little GSPs and ANY fish in that crap shop.

Or all those fish overcrowded in a tank with no WC!

i would have told him hes an idiot and probably shouldnt be working in or giving advice at a pet store

+1, I certainly would have told them to go read the label on B-S & show me all the "chemicals" in there.

Ignorance can be treated with information. Unfortunately, stupidity tends to be permanent.

That is wonderful example of why fish-keeping is such a short-term hobby for so many folks. They foolishly believe that they can trust the LFS, or even, God forbid, the chain stores.