I didn't realise lfs advice could be sooooooo bad!

[Ickletas]

One of my friends has the fluval edge and has had it 6 months ( I had no idea as I had never been to her house until recently). In this tank she has 10 head tail light tetra, 5 serpai tetra, 1 neon tetra, 2 coris, 1 clown loach, 1 siamese fighter and a few snails + plants!! Now for me at least the clown loach was my first "heads up" that this wasn't right, so out came the i-phone lol. Went through the whole lot, loach needs company and is too big anyway, neons schooling blah blah. Her response (drumroll please)... "The guy at Pets at Home said it was fine,I haven't lost any fish and it looks awsome" Ever felt like your on the losing team?

 

[Rosenweiss]

Yeah, definitely. I really hope she takes that clown loach out. They need 75 gallons. The others will probably survive.

 

[titchrules]

I think the fact they work in a pet shop should mean you could trust there advice. But more recently I've learnt you obviously can't!

 

[Ickletas]

Yeah, definitely. I really hope she takes that clown loach out. They need 75 gallons. The others will probably survive.

I hope that that is the least she does, but I won't hold my breath I pointed her in the direction of Ebay, Gumtree and Freecycle (cl doesn't seem to have taken off in my part of the UK as yet) and offered to go with her to check out the tanks, move it, set it up and (fishless) cycle it but I just get the feeling it's falling on deaf ears

 

[Ickletas]

AND she made me feel like fish nazi!!! Booo at her!!!

 

[Rosenweiss]

I'm so sorry... it hurts not to be able to do anything and those poor fish... :-/

 

[Ickletas]

It just really gets my goat that she won't take the advice!! She won't even pretend to take the advice imo. Maybe this should be in the venting thread cos she has made me sooooooooooooooooooooo angry. I don't think this is even really about the fish anymore (even though I DO care about the crappy conditions that they are being kept in, dear god I hope she's doing water changes but then again......if she is it's probably straight from the tap!). Maybe half of it is that she has just completely disregarded me (selfish I know). GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

 

[Ickletas]

Feel free to ignore me, I am clearly on a rant lol

 

[Rosenweiss]

She should know better even ignorant, cramming so many fish into 6 gallons, so don't worry, I agree with you.

 

[Ickletas]

I think the fact they work in a pet shop should mean you could trust there advice. But more recently I've learnt you obviously can't!

Comes straight back to the first rule of fishkeeping : Do the opposite of what your lfs tells you

 

[librarygirl]

That's too bad Maybe you could find some articles online that tell the parameters needed for the fish she has and some articles on the cycle and proper tank maintenance. She may or may not heed them, but sometimes having concrete research to back up what you're saying will let her know that maybe she (and the people at the pet store) don't know everything.

I went into a local lfs fairly recently and saw a whole tank of angels just floating, not moving, and gasping at the top. Another whole tank of tetras had ich. Other fish were gasping. I really wanted to start screaming at the guy who worked there (who was giving this woman and her daughter AWFUL advice) "can't you see those fish are suffering?!" I didn't, and I kind of wish I had. Although he would probably think I was just crazy and didn't know anything. Another lfs owner told me recently that my tank will "never" cycle fishless and to just get some "insignificant fish" to "throw" in and use to cycle it. ARGH!!!

Sorry, I get mad too lol

 

[Aquadestroyer]

I know the feeling lol, but not all of us who work at pet stores are completely ignorant, but a lot of people who come into the store are, not all of them are willing to take advice too.

 

[Ickletas]

Thank you guys You have made me feel way better and less like a "nazi". Maybe I'll just go round there when she not at home and kidnap the whole tank, doubt she'll notice for a few days lol. See I'm not a nazi, just slightly partisan

 

[librarygirl]

Thank you guys You have made me feel way better and less like a "nazi". Maybe I'll just go round there when she not at home and kidnap the whole tank, doubt she'll notice for a few days lol. See I'm not a nazi, just slightly partisan

LOL Take one fish at a time, and start with the clown. Maybe she won't notice for a while lol

 

[Ickletas]

*enters ninja stealth mode*

 

[Aquadestroyer]

Please do take the fish one at a time that would be so funny

 

[alLexX]

Comes straight back to the first rule of fishkeeping : Do the opposite of what your lfs tells you

what if they tell you not to pour bleach in your tank?

 

[WendiDell]

I think sneaking a fish out at a time would be a great idea. When she finally notices, just tell her that they must have converted to cannibalism in order to get more territory to breath and swim in.
It sounds mean I know, I hate even thinking it let alone recommending it. But she may think twice about replacing them, which she would do if they just disappeared. And since she doesn't seem willing to listen to someone who knows more about overstocking than she does, a little white lie will save a lot of fish lives.

 

[Aquadestroyer]

Well said

 

[Cdepriest6009]

I don't even know everything about fish and am still learning everyday but I even know to research before buying fish.