[cyclesnipas]

Wandering around a lfs I couldn't help overhearing a clerk telling a woman that its "PERFECTLY FINE" to feed her fish EVERY 1-2 hours! :shock: I couldn't believe my ears! What ridiculous advice have you folks heard that made you go WHAAAAAT???

 

[Austin]

At least she'll probably get lazy and feed once or twice a day anyways

 

[jentralala]

My LFS sold a red tail catfish to a lady with a 55 gallon -__-

 

[rsskylight04]

Told my wife angelfish are livebearers.:roll:

 

[jay0884]

I overheard an employee tell a customer they could house any type of cichlids together. They were all compatible because they were all cichlids. Smh.

 

[Flint]

Cardinals are the best source of live food for oscars. (At $4.50 a pop, that's just a money gimmick)

At Petsmart the other day I watched a man carrying around a gallon bowl and the employee direct him to the feeder tank.... I left before I got myself kicked out.

 

[Agent13]

Wandering around a lfs I couldn't help overhearing a clerk telling a woman that its "PERFECTLY FINE" to feed her fish EVERY 1-2 hours! :shock: I couldn't believe my ears! What ridiculous advice have you folks heard that made you go WHAAAAAT???

Lol! You don't even feed newborn human babies like that ! Well unless you have a preemie .


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[Flint]

Lol! You don't even feed newborn human babies like that ! Well unless you have a preemie .


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-runs to voice fears of mommyhood in Ali's thread-

 

[Sharky1234]

Some of the worst advice I've heard was a Betta and a Cory can live together just fine in a tank, they won't fight at all and the Cory will just sit around happy all the time!

And Serpae Tetras are completely peaceful fish, you can have them with anything and have no problems.

One time someone had a question and was waiting for an employee so I gave them the advice they needed, and showed them how to tell male and female livebearers apart :-D

 

[Agent13]

Some of the worst advice I've heard was a Betta and a Cory can live together just fine in a tank, they won't fight at all and the Cory will just sit around happy all the time!

That advice was given because generally it's true. Bettas and corys are one of the safer mixes that could have been suggested . Sure there are some unusually mean bettas that will not tolerate that but that's not the majority. Assuming you have the proper tank size of course.
My male betta has lived harmoniously for something like 2yrs with corys .. Other fish too now but started with corys . He actually seems to like them really . Sinks his food to eat with them , schools with them and even most often will be found sitting in the sand on the bottom of the tank with them . I call him my Bettadora. He's now with something like 20 corys .

However I don't just talk from personal experience . When you have a decent sized tank it's a very nice stocking .



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[RSVBiffer]

That advice was given because generally it's true. Bettas and corys are one of the safer mixes that could have been suggested . Sure there are some unusually mean bettas that will not tolerate that but that's not the majority. Assuming you have the proper tank size of course.
My male betta has lived harmoniously for something like 2yrs with corys .. Other fish too now but started with corys . He actually seems to like them really . Sinks his food to eat with them , schools with them and even most often will be found sitting in the sand on the bottom of the tank with them . I call him my Bettadora. He's now with something like 20 corys .

However I don't just talk from personal experience . When you have a decent sized tank it's a very nice stocking .

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Phew it wasn't just me then, I was wondering what was wrong with that. Must admit I have known fighters kept with Corys and have never known a problem. As you say you may get the odd rogue but on the whole this seems to be (near enough) the perfect combination and is frequently recommended.

 

[Flint]

I think the point they were trying to make is most people keep bettas in 1/2 gallon tanks or, at the best, a 2 gallon and try to shove cories in there because the betta can live in a cup-sized amount of water, he should have plenty of room and friends in 2 gallons!

 

[Agent13]

Perhaps flint.. But it's a perfectly good recommendation for suitable tank mates. It's not the stores fault if that person didn't tell them it was a tiny tank.

There is a good degree of responsibility on the owner to research as well that's being missed here. Chain pet store employees are not specialists . Often times they are understaffed and you have a cashier bagging up fish for you. You don't ask a grocery clerk.. Or even the manager there how to cook lasagna or apple pie from scratch.. If you want proper sticking advice you go to a specialty fish store where they most often are experts to some degree. Where they don't have to look at a tag to tell you max size of a fish THEY ALREADY KNOW .. Where they can tell you behaviors diets and websites to join for further help.. Like TFK . I don't like seeing $8/hr kids being blamed for stuff they weren't even trained about unless it's plain absurd advice. Like idk.. You can keep clown fish in freshwater lol. Of course it's a different story if they claim to be a fish expert(but if they're in a chain store .. Still double check their advice ) .


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[henningc]

I heard a customer ask why there were dead fish in the tanks and the employee said it was because they just don't live that long! If you buy them there he was likely correct! I've also heard them tell people the African cichlids will only grow to the size of the tank and this has no ill effects on them. Common plecos, need I say more??

 

[Agent13]

Lol.. Sorry henningc. Em when you mentioned about African cichlids growing to their tank size all the sudden my metriaclima estherae got scary to me while 30mn ago the way he attacked me was cute lol. OMG if that fish grew to even half the size of my 72 id be wearing crazy gloves to do tank maintenance haha. He bites and it hurts yet I love him but a 2.5ft version of him would change my opinion.


Maybe I'm lucky and my area has a large enough market that I haven't run into much bad advice at all from the stores .. Any of them .. And there are tons from small family owned fish stores to custom tank stores that sell great fish all the way to petco /petsmart . Even those last two I ask advice to see and I'm impressed . They do know enough.. Some know enough to write a book! Heck... Even my dragons exotics vet office treats fish .. Including surgery like removing tumors .
Only time I recall bad advice was when a woman was discouraging me from getting so much filtration. I wanted either an AC110 and 1 nice canister for my 75 or 2 canisters . She said that wasn't good for the fish .. .. Uuuhh yes it is . If you are only guessing don't word it like an expert . more often I notice their reptile care is deadly off.


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[Flear]

Henningc, thanks for a memory

i remember as a kid asking why there were dead fish in the tanks at the pet store, ... long enough to be 'cloud fish', the fungus on them enough to make them fluffy.

'they're not dead'

... so ... they just got tired of doing the backstroke, got tired, and are now resting on the surface of the water ???

as a kid i knew better

 

[Flear]

Agent13,

i hate hearing "the fish only grow as large as their tank"

i gave up that fairy tale when a common pleco in a 20 gallon tank (high) i had was exceeding 8" and still happy to keep growing. and i still hear it all the time

definitly newbie stage for me, ... i had no idea they reach up to 18-24" or so (at that size, i just won't get such fish, so no need to remember how large they can really get)

at 8" ... ya, still growing fast, still so young, ... like any child 'growing like a bad weed'

... also where i ignore peoples advice of "you have to change water because fish hormones buildup, and these tell the fish to stop growing if the concentration is too high in the water"

sure LFS advice can be BS, (like hearing kuhli loaches eat snails - still have 2, yes they're lonely
sucks when common rumors are no better

 

[Agent13]

Hormones are true.. They do build up in the water. At what level do they effect the fish ? Idk.
They effect reproductive systems/ activities and impede growth . Not something is worry about though really . There are myths built around this truth though .. Lots of them and done pretty weird ones at that.


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[Flear]

agent13, yes.

i'll agree, myths have started from truth, ...

but this (cartoon or not) is closer to the truth than high growth hormone levels in the water will inhibit fish from growing

not good

looking for that i like this though

oddly, not overstocked
(if holding a single Paedocypris (Paedocypris progenetica) 7.9mm - from wiki, smallest fish)

 

[Agent13]

And that itty bitty "tank" is planted ? How cute. I want a micro tank now . Haha


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