What is the worst advice you have ever gotten from a pet store?

Question

I am saying pet store in general, but mostly fish Also, I am not saying all pet stores are bad, but there are a lot of bad ones out there, and I know all of us have fallen for their faulty advice one time or another! I have 2 times to tell you about

1-(This one is not about fish) At an exotic pet store they said you could keep baby pac man frogs in a fish bowl with some water filled up a few inches and some rocks! WTF NO WAY!! Just from the look of that I did not buy it!

2-Oscars can live there whole lives in a 30 gallon tank! I already knew about oscars and knew they need a 55 gallon tank and did not follow that advice!

3-Ghost knife fish can live in a community tank! Well, my tetras where gone after a week and I took that fish back!

What is the worst advice you have ever gotten from a pet/fish store?

Are there any good ones in your area?

Answer 1

The worst advice I suppose was when I was stocking my first tank (a 29 gallon), and since I knew you could keep Angelfish in them I went to  pick one up. The "aquatics specialist" told me that since angels were semi agressive I needed to put them with other semi agressive fish, and I was recomended tiger barbs. Hurr. One google search later and a freaked out hiding angelfish later, the tiger barbs were back into the store's tanks. Bad, bad, bad.

Today though, I was pretty much amazed. Apparently this lady got a 10 gallon tank, without a heater, and she said that she wanted more fish because her fish were dying. She got 29 neon tetras, 5 bala sharks, 3 colombian sharks, 3 goldfish, and a malawi cichlid. O___________O Why do pet stores allow this??? for a 10 GALLON TANK. Oh my.

Answer 2

i can keep 2 comets in 7 litres

bettas can eat goldfish food

bettas can live in 1 litre

but other than that i have had alot of good advice from the same guy at that petshop

Answer 3

Goldfish advice makes me cringe everytime.

No petstore has ever known **** about these complicated animals.

-They sell bowls

-encourage over stocking

-Do not know how large the fish actually grow

-mishandle the animals

-clueless about proper diet

-misinformed on common illnesses

-do not encourage proper tank matinence

-sell them as "beginner fish"

-sell feeder goldfish as pets

-mislabel breeds/confuse varieties

Answer 4

The worst thing I have heard from a FISH store (specialized in fish, this is not from a PetCo/Smart/Supermarket)

  "Yes, this Green Spotted Puffer can live in a community tank. Puffers however require a small amount of aquarium salt every week to stay happy."

First of all... GSPs are notorious fin nippers and can sometimes be downright mean to other tank mates. Not a good community fish.

Second, GSPs are born in marine estuaries... they require brackish water. Brackish water is not regular freshwater with aquariums salt added in like the OWNER told me. It is actually the same process as making water for a marine aquarium, with less sea salt.

Just in case anyone is curious, green spotted puffers move out to the ocean once they mature, so if you get one be prepared convert its tank to full marine conditions.

Answer 5

Hmm.....one time I was at a petstore and they said that cycling with Angelfish is the best way to do it. They said this after I told them I was doing the fishless cycle and it was only a 10 gallon aquarium. That was the last time I ever went to that store!

Answer 6

they can live in a 30 gallon tank, not their whole live though, its not that they give me bad advice, some of them need to, be smarter,she said can i help you? i said one minute*right when i go there!* and she sarted following me i got a hermit crab, then the lady was like.. do you have a tank for it?? and.. uhm are your parents here??do they know youre getting all these fish?and then before i even said i was done she already bundled my fish, so i made lazy get the others..i said.. thanks, she said.. yeah

Answer 7

It really depends on who you are talking to in the pet store. One guy told me that the aquarium pet shop has no ich inside of the tanks because they have carbonated filters. That is the most ridiculous thing that I ever heard of. In all my years of experiences, I've never heard of anything like that or water parameters along with carbon prevents ich. There is no way that water parameters or carbon will ever prevent ich.

So it really depends on whom you are talking to in the pet shop. Some are really inexperienced and uneducated, they need to do their research before giving answers to potentially buyers. Luckily, that I have the experience and knowledge, that is why, a lot of pet shop sales people doesn't ask me any questions or gives me any advice, because I told them off. And I made them look really inferior in front of other customers when I explained to them how to get rid of marine ich.

Anyways, here is my answer and I hope you get your answers in a better sense from someone at a pet shop whom is knowledgable.

Answer 8

That goldfish or betta's are happy in little unfiltered bowls.

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