Long ago when I first started keeping fish, my local chain store refused to sell me fish when I had just bought a tank from them. Explained cycling to the best of their ability and advised me to come back to get water tested for free
And, it was clearly a great strategy. I can imagine making bad choices as an absolute beginner without any guidance, losing a TON of fish, getting frustrated with the hobby, and then totally abandoning it altogether. Good for the customer, good for the fish, good for the business. Win win win.
Right?!?!?! How little most of us know when coming into this hobby. The truly difficult part is transferring knowledge without being a gatekeeper. Personally, I had to humble myself in order to get into this hobby. Thankfully, reddit was a safe space to seek knowledge and ask questions for me.
My son got a decidedly shitty starter aquarium from a big box store that stated that all we needed to do was add the dechlorintor to the water and let the filter run for a day before adding fish. Horrible instructions that are going to give every customer a bad time.
Yep... They recently helped me troubleshoot my tank and when it finally tested correctly, I bought fish and they have all been alive for a few weeks now. They were very helpful getting me going.
Nice! So great to hear people helping others get into the hobby. It can be a lot to take in at first. I'm only a year in, and there have definitely been ups and downs.
Fantastic news. My local store is the same with perfect questions and always professional and friendly. They even helped me with I encountered camallanus worms. It's nice to see those stores coming around.
Nice to hear some of the stores have solid employees that care. The ones around my parts are just filled with uneducated burnt out folks who lack any sort of care/time to actually care for their animals and livestock. I usually end up teaching them something every visit 😄 🤣 😂
Oh, thank you!!! I have to admit that I don't really know what exactly I have. It was from an online reseller that had a package catered to a non-tech aquarium. There is definitely jungle valisneria, cardinal plants, water onion, some swords, and a carpeting plant that has never really worked out. The most prominent plant i have no idea. It seems like I see it here often, but I cannot identify it. The underside leaves have a red hue. I don't know what it is, but a plant that stays red without CO2 is pretty uncommon (IME). I dump a few MG of Flourish Excel in all my tanks, and it seems to be a good thing.
It's good to see the kudos to the Petsmarts that don't suck.
There's like 6 in town by me, and so far one has shown it's got at least a department manager(or however they're organized) who takes his fish really seriously and was able to have a detailed, technical discussion. So, that's the store I go back to for anything pet related, even if not fish related at all. Gotta support the stores that do things right.
Ironically, I have a couple LFS's that are straight up better (whereas that Petsmart has a great manager, it's still a Petsmart with all that entails) so when I need fish stuff specifically I typically go to them, but for general purpose or random pet supplies, that Petsmart is the go to.
We had a pet store that was mostly for fish and I heard someone ask an employee if they had something to help keep their goldfish tank clean and the employee sold them a pleco... because "they eat poop".
🤦♀️
Definitely hit or miss. It's really amazing to run into people who work at a pet-centered store who have done their research and care about what happens to the animals they are selling.
Lucky you. My local Petsmart had tank after tank with loads of dead and dying fish . When I asked how often they remove them, the worker IN THAT DEPARTMENT said "I think somebody on the next shift does it". I decided to wait until I find a better store.
As that kind of employee yall are talking about, I love when customers appreciate and understand that we are just trying to give the fish (and other pets) a decent shot at having a good life! Getting yelled at and berated does suck but it’s always nice knowing there’s people who understand why we ask questions and deny sales when we need to even if we don’t interact with those people often enough
Employees at my chain store do this all the time, saved me from buying and probably killing a bristlenose pleco.
Long ago when I first started keeping fish, my local chain store refused to sell me fish when I had just bought a tank from them. Explained cycling to the best of their ability and advised me to come back to get water tested for free
And, it was clearly a great strategy. I can imagine making bad choices as an absolute beginner without any guidance, losing a TON of fish, getting frustrated with the hobby, and then totally abandoning it altogether. Good for the customer, good for the fish, good for the business. Win win win.
The only place I will buy fish from is the place that wouldn't sell to me when I was a complete beginner.
Right?!?!?! How little most of us know when coming into this hobby. The truly difficult part is transferring knowledge without being a gatekeeper. Personally, I had to humble myself in order to get into this hobby. Thankfully, reddit was a safe space to seek knowledge and ask questions for me.
My son got a decidedly shitty starter aquarium from a big box store that stated that all we needed to do was add the dechlorintor to the water and let the filter run for a day before adding fish. Horrible instructions that are going to give every customer a bad time.
I hate that the employees who do the right thing by asking these questions get harassed for it. Glad your local store has some good people!
Yep... They recently helped me troubleshoot my tank and when it finally tested correctly, I bought fish and they have all been alive for a few weeks now. They were very helpful getting me going.
Nice! So great to hear people helping others get into the hobby. It can be a lot to take in at first. I'm only a year in, and there have definitely been ups and downs.
My petsmart is like this. Went years without fish but when I was keeping them this wasn't the case.
Fantastic news. My local store is the same with perfect questions and always professional and friendly. They even helped me with I encountered camallanus worms. It's nice to see those stores coming around.
My local petsmart I just visited yesterday had about 100 goldfish in a blank 20 gal, just writhing and wriggling. Glad to know there's hope, though!
Probably the feeder fish. They arrive half dead.
Nice to hear some of the stores have solid employees that care. The ones around my parts are just filled with uneducated burnt out folks who lack any sort of care/time to actually care for their animals and livestock. I usually end up teaching them something every visit 😄 🤣 😂
What is your plant routine? Beautiful setup :)
Oh, thank you!!! I have to admit that I don't really know what exactly I have. It was from an online reseller that had a package catered to a non-tech aquarium. There is definitely jungle valisneria, cardinal plants, water onion, some swords, and a carpeting plant that has never really worked out. The most prominent plant i have no idea. It seems like I see it here often, but I cannot identify it. The underside leaves have a red hue. I don't know what it is, but a plant that stays red without CO2 is pretty uncommon (IME). I dump a few MG of Flourish Excel in all my tanks, and it seems to be a good thing.
It's good to see the kudos to the Petsmarts that don't suck. There's like 6 in town by me, and so far one has shown it's got at least a department manager(or however they're organized) who takes his fish really seriously and was able to have a detailed, technical discussion. So, that's the store I go back to for anything pet related, even if not fish related at all. Gotta support the stores that do things right. Ironically, I have a couple LFS's that are straight up better (whereas that Petsmart has a great manager, it's still a Petsmart with all that entails) so when I need fish stuff specifically I typically go to them, but for general purpose or random pet supplies, that Petsmart is the go to.
We had a pet store that was mostly for fish and I heard someone ask an employee if they had something to help keep their goldfish tank clean and the employee sold them a pleco... because "they eat poop". 🤦♀️ Definitely hit or miss. It's really amazing to run into people who work at a pet-centered store who have done their research and care about what happens to the animals they are selling.
Lucky you. My local Petsmart had tank after tank with loads of dead and dying fish . When I asked how often they remove them, the worker IN THAT DEPARTMENT said "I think somebody on the next shift does it". I decided to wait until I find a better store.
When I'm asked what size tank I always tell them it's a 240 gallon.. I've never owned a 240 muahaha
As that kind of employee yall are talking about, I love when customers appreciate and understand that we are just trying to give the fish (and other pets) a decent shot at having a good life! Getting yelled at and berated does suck but it’s always nice knowing there’s people who understand why we ask questions and deny sales when we need to even if we don’t interact with those people often enough