[brimac40]

It would not pay for me to own my own Fish store , I would go bankrupt because I would refuse to sell various fish and supplies to people who would not listen to me or take my advice . Here's why I say this ....

I was in a LFS looking at their stock , when in came this young woman . She asked the employee who was chatting with me if they had any full grown Oscars (which they didn't) . She stated that one of her three Oscars choked to death on one her young 2" Convicts she just introduced into the tank . I stared at her with my mouth agape . She asked , with a little attitude , if I had a problem ? So I ask , was these young Convicts supposed to be feeder fish because an Oscar will try to swallow any small fish that it thinks will fit in it's mouth . She stated that they were not feeders , she just wanted to fill out her , and now wait for this......., 45 Gal. aquarium ! I was livid by then , I asked her how she thought she could stuff three full grown Oscars in a 45 gal . tank and then put young convicts in with them and if she had studied up on Oscars or fish period ? She argues with me that 45 gal. is plenty of room for two or three Oscars and then walked off , with myself getting in the last word , I told her to do some research and read a DAMN book . The store employee told me she is always buying different cichlids to put in that tank , but the Oscars keep eating them or just beats them to death, and then she laughed . I asked her why the store continues to sell fish to her , just to die (or suffer as in the case of three, now two , Oscars) , she stated her money was good .

My wife tells me that I need to mind my own business when in situations like this , but I can not hold my tongue .

 

[flyin-lowe]

I often times thought that a person could start a lfs and do it the right way. The problem is for every 1 good fish owner there are ten who don't know or care, don't want to wait, and will try any combo of fish. The responsible owners would love you but they won't be needing to buy new fish every week or so.

 

[Sweet Tee]

OMG, I would have been pissed too LOL! I'm a research fanatic, so seeing others buy things on impulse drives me a little crazy...especially live creatures. It all boils down to people not realizing the time and effort of keeping something not only alive, but healthy. Some don't think to do the research on what they want to keep because they don't think it'll be that difficult to begin with.

The unfortunate thing is that many pet stores need the business, and that great line in business..."the customer is ALWAYS right!"

Sorry to hear you witnessed that, maybe she'll take interest to what you said...

 

[Mikolas]

Sorry to hear you witnessed that, maybe she'll take interest to what you said...

Hopefully, but probably not. People don't respond well to offensive type conversations even if they know the truth of the words.


Personally, I think many people who decided to start a small business were originally genuine. "There are a lot of b.s. businesses out there, I want to do things right, I want to cater to the customers as best as I can, etc". But the combination of stress, competition, and most importantly money, usually wins and people begin to lose focus as to why they started the business in the first place.


I agree though, it does get frustrating to see people do things in ignorance of the situation.

 

[Sweet Tee]

+1

 

[brimac40]

Hopefully, but probably not. People don't respond well to offensive type conversations even if they know the truth of the words.


Personally, I think many people who decided to start a small business were originally genuine. "There are a lot of b.s. businesses out there, I want to do things right, I want to cater to the customers as best as I can, etc". But the combination of stress, competition, and most importantly money, usually wins and people begin to lose focus as to why they started the business in the first place.


I agree though, it does get frustrating to see people do things in ignorance of the situation.

I wasn't offensive at first (I just gave a very abbreviated description of what happened) , when I asked her if she were using the small convicts as feeders and related to her that the 45 gal. was to small for one full grown Oscar let alone 3 , I was rather nice . Didn't dawn on me that someone would NOT think that a small fish would NOT end up in a large fish's mouth , I thought that would just be common sense . I only started getting hot under the collar when she stated that I was wrong , all cichlids would get along no matter of what size difference they are and that the 45 tank was perfect for all her Oscars and I didn't know what I was talking about . And the statement she made after that was what sent me over the edge , she stated that "who care's , they're just fish" . I hate that , I hate hearing "it's just a dog" , "it's just a cat" or "it's just an animal" . I have friends who make fun of me for the care I give my dogs , my dogs get the best holistic food I can afford , the best vet care , I keep the yard free of *ahem* waste everyday so my dogs do not have to play in it , they are brushed and combed everyday etc; etc; . I give my fish the same care also (I don't brush/comb them though , for some reason they don't like that ) . I have taken it upon myself to keep and care for my wet pets and furry friends , so I do the research so I know their wants and needs , I'm always open to suggestions and corrections , so I guess everyone should do the same . Humans can be a very frustrating lot .

 

[Sweet Tee]

I know how you feel brimac40, just this weekend I was discussing a disease breakout in my quarantine tank and my friends laughed replying "just flush them down the toilet!" Sure, because throwing them out like that is humane and risking infecting natural waterways with what they had sounds like fun (EXTREME sarcasm.) I wanted to say, so why did you ask about my hobby if you didn't care to hear about it! This dialogue was coming from someone that has a jump/dressage horse barn! I would have thought she would have had the most respect