Really?! Seriously?!

[McLumpy]

I'm looking to get a job at petsmart or petco soon you guys, and I will certainly be the only well educated fish seller there.
And I'm nineteen lol.
I'm not going to lie to people just to get extra money, or just be ignorant.

Good deal! I'm a firm believer that age doesn't matter when it comes to fishkeeping. I also found that I've learned a lot from the youngsters on this site. No disrespect to my fellow older fishkeepers btw... you're very knowledgeable as well. It just seems like our younger generation is more informed of the more up-to-date methods.

Heck, when I was 16 and got my first tank, I never checked the water parameters, inserted new filter media when the others got too "yucky", rarely did a pwc, (maybe once a month), never treated w/ meds when my fish got sick, etc. etc. But now that I'm back in the hobby, (16 years later), I'm learning from 16 year olds. I think it's great! I wish I knew all this stuff when I was that young!

 

[NODAK1979]

PETA does more to setback the public's perception of animal rights than anybody else. They're flat out crazy.

 

[jenatron]

Deep Seven: I was going to say the whole article was bad but I didn't want to go too far with the PETA's crazy deal, lol. Their methods don't really faze me anymore. The reason I realized PETA was crazy was they said some celebrity should die because they ate meat. Really? That's a little too far.

Bettababe: I'm the exact same way about researching. I research things for hourssss. I'm moving in 3 months to go to college. I looked for over a year for apartments, I visited some last summer. I plan so far ahead, I'm kinda creepy.

 

[subliminalanarchy]

This reminds me of my conversation w/ the cashier at Petsmart the other day.

I went up to the checkout lane and handed her the container w/ the Betta then handed her the bag w/ the 2 African Dwarf Frogs. Immediately, she gave me the deer-in-the-headlight look and asked, "you're not planning on putting these together, are you?". I replied, "yes, they're going in a cycled 10 gallon tank, why?" She then replied w/, "Bettas are suppose to be alone in a tank, in fact, you should never put another Betta in w/ another Betta". She continued to go on, and on, and on, and on, /sigh/ and on about her 'expertise' w/ Bettas.

I finally had enough and said, "yes, that is true about Bettas and that they will kill each other, however, you can have African Dwarf Frogs in the tank w/ a Betta... trust me, I did my research". I didn't want to argue w/ her, but I also made it clear that I wasn't new to fishkeeping and that I had an established 55 gallon tank, as well.

She paused for a moment, then piped up, "well that's cool, I didn't know that... I think I will add a few w/ my Betta at home". I then asked, "what size tank do you have the Betta in?" She replied w/, "oh he's just in a small fish bowl... I just got him and he is so neat!". After hearing that, I wanted to bang my head against the nearest hard surface!! lol I told her that it wasn't adviseable to add ADF's to a fish bowl and that her Betta should be put in a bigger tank w/ a heater and a filter. She, in turn, gave me a mean look, I paid for my stuff, and we left.

It just boggles my mind!!! lol

I hear this sort of thing all the time but I'm usually the person in the uniform. The other day I was helping some customers set up their first tank and I was giving them some tips about cycling it when this lady came up and tried to give them advice too. She was saying 'make sure you buy some of that bacteria supplement' (the one that's probably been on the shelf for 6 months). I didn't want to be rude so I just ler her continue but she saw my look of disapproval and then tried to belittle my opinion by stating that she has 30 years of fishkeeping experience. Really aggravating. I let the customers leave but then told her on the side how 95% of that stuff is a waste of money. I informed her that bacteria reproduces extremely fast, so even if there was any bacteria in that bottle, it would multiply to the point that it eats up all the food in there and then slowly starve in a matter of weeks. And that the only credible bacteria supplements are refridgerated to slow down their life cycle, and still have a very fast expiration date. She tried to feign superiority and politeness before leaving.

And yes, I also try to turn people away from fish bowls on a daily basis.

 

[RamCichlidLover]

my older sister is 19 and works at petsmart. she told all of the petsmart employees how i knew so much about aquariums. im already offered a job as soon as i turn 18. im 14.

 

[subliminalanarchy]

my older sister is 19 and works at petsmart. she told all of the petsmart employees how i knew so much about aquariums. im already offered a job as soon as i turn 18. im 14.

Lol there's this local kid that comes into our aquatics section all the time and is the same way. He comes in for hours at a time and we have conversations about random fish stuff. He's like 13-14 and is probably going to get a job with us when he's 18. It was weird at first but funny now.

 

[JOMA]

you gotta remeber though, they are big chains stores trying to make money. and if you keep telling people that they need bigger tank, no one is going to buy any fish stuff, then there are going to be no sales. poof, there goes your job.

 

[TheCrazyFishLady]

Yea, you want to be careful with how you treat the situation with customers. My boyfriend had issues with a chain shop and a local shop for not telling customers to buy a bunch of chemicals and all those other "money-making" things. Definitely talked me out of working at most pet shops.

 

[JOMA]

im not saying do stuff like that guy did with the .3 gallon, i mean dont tell them they have to set up a whole 10 gallon tank. tell them to get a bigger bowl and only have one fish (not great but better than the .3 gallon?

 

[Homedog98]

Ack. I see this a lot around here.
My thought is this:
Why in god's name would you buy a kid a fish? We've all (most of us) had fish as a kid that lived for 2 days and died. Why would you put your kid through that unless you were experienced with aquariums? Fish aren't cuddly, they're not "cute" in the typical sense, they don't play, and they're expensive. In my opinion, worst idea for a kid's pet ever. Unless, like I said, you are experienced with fish.

Also, I hate PETA. Just saying. I'm a vegetarian, have been for 10 years, and even went through a 3 year period of veganism. Since PETA has a bad rap, even with veggies and animal lovers, I doubt many people would be inclined to listen to a thing they have to say.

Hey! I'm only thirteen, and I still count as a kid! I love my fish and my little goldfish lived in a .5 gallon for two years when I was five!(I know I know) I loved it then, and I love my ten gallon i have now!

 

[Bettababe1011]

Hey! I'm only thirteen, and I still count as a kid! I love my fish and my little goldfish lived in a .5 gallon for two years when I was five!(I know I know) I loved it then, and I love my ten gallon i have now!

Yeah, I'm still a kid, thirteen. It's no problem IF the kid and the parents know how to care for the pet. But the misinformation is where people make mistakes. They don't think of fish like they do cats or dogs. Fish don't get equal consideration.

Courtesy of Dakota's iPod.

 

[Homedog98]

Ya but still. Some kids know there stuff and their parents don't! (me!) the only thing my mom believes is that a fish will only grow to the size of its tank, and that it isn't a problem... *face palm* I've still got work to do.

 

[jenatron]

I don't care what the subject is or who claims it, but age doesn't guarantee intelligence.

 

[Bettababe1011]

I don't care what the subject is or who claims it, but age doesn't guarantee intelligence.

Definitely.

Courtesy of Dakota's iPod.

 

[Homedog98]

I don't care what the subject is or who claims it, but age doesn't guarantee intelligence.

+3,00000000. my thoughts exactly!

 

[ejaramillo01]

I don't care what the subject is or who claims it, but age doesn't guarantee intelligence.

Totally agreed, both ends (young or old), age doesn't guarantee intelligence or common sense,

 

[George9]

That's terrible! I never but live anything at PETCO! no body should either. I went there to look at their fish and maybe have a laugh. I counted 23 fish with ich. And one had some kind of furry stuff on it. It's just SICK!

 

[McLumpy]

I don't care what the subject is or who claims it, but age doesn't guarantee intelligence.

I bet the 90+ year olds on this site would disagree. We have 3 of them on here, ya know. lol

That's terrible! I never but live anything at PETCO! no body should either. I went there to look at their fish and maybe have a laugh. I counted 23 fish with ich. And one had some kind of furry stuff on it. It's just SICK!

I agree about Petco and their unhealthy stock. Sometimes I'm lucky when I purchase fish from there, and sometimes I'm not. I guess, that's why I drove the few extra miles to Petsmart for my last purchase. Their store was extremely clean and I didn't see 1 deceased fish, (of course I didn't really look because I was in a hurry). But Petco ALWAYS has a few dead fish in various tanks. It's really disturbing, but NOTHING like WalMart!!

Oh and don't even get me started on PETA!!! Ok, I'm stopping right there, I don't want to get too upset. lol

 

[James_in_MN]

I agree about Petco and their unhealthy stock. Sometimes I'm lucky when I purchase fish from there, and sometimes I'm not. I guess, that's why I drove the few extra miles to Petsmart for my last purchase. Their store was extremely clean and I didn't see 1 deceased fish, (of course I didn't really look because I was in a hurry). But Petco ALWAYS has a few dead fish in various tanks. It's really disturbing, but NOTHING like WalMart!!

I believe that luck varies with the different chain stores. I've heard quite a few state that PetCo was horrific and PetSmart was much better. I've actually had the opposite experience where PetSmart seems to care alot less about the well-being of their fish than PetCo.

Both chains may have good prices on the various aquarium products, but for better-cared-for fish and aquatic plants, I go to a trio of good LFS in the area.

 

[silver_rose42]

All of my bettas have at least a gallon tank, get the water cleaned once a week, and have a plant to hide/rest in. It may not be the absolute best, but by the same token, I've managed to keep my older two alive for over a year and a half in a college dorm, where, on average, they live for maybe a month.


But I agree. Whenever I'm in a chain store, I've been known to give advice about what people should do with their bettas, even though I don't work there.