Work Rant (The Woes of a Pet Store Employee)

[Nomi]

I have a nasty cold and all the fun people one excects when it must be a full moon or something... this entire month. Bear with me, I'm just venting ^_^

Me to Annoying/Daft/Abusive Customers (all what I want to say to real life events):

"I'm not trying to just get you to but a bigger tank from me when I tell you how big that oscar/goldfish/pleco/angelfish/ect will get, and I do have the ability and authority to refuse you the fish or at least refuse the health warranty if you insist upon keeping that goldfish in a bowl, that oscar fry in a ten gallon or seven angels in a 20. If you tell me that you're buying those bettas/cichlids to fight I will have you leave the store or call my manager who will tell you to leave the store. No you cannot put the auratus ciclid in with your angels. No you cannot feed your oscar peanut butter, sausage, toast, ect, and feeding live goldfish and minnows only/too much can seriously damage the health and even kill your predator. Piranhas are not the indiscriminate killer you are looking for and I'm not going to sell you one if you just want to watch it kill goldfish (see above about predators and goldfish). I am not telling you that these tetras/ect need to be in groups of at least 6 to make you buy more fish. Yelling at me when I give you advice you asked for if it's not what you wanted to hear is not helping anyone in any way. Professing to be an expert on goldfish because a goldfish you have lived two years in a bowl is not impressive when they live to 10-20 years on average. Do not let your child open up the tanks, stick their hands in and GRAB fish while you look on and laugh (some of our fish have spikes and teeth, not to mention the damage your kid does to them). I will not feed *insert fish here* to *insert fish here* just for you. Yes that is how big plecos get (in reference to our two long-term pleco dudes) and just because yours died before it was even half grown does not mean that's how big they get. Do not take our bettas out of their betta barraks (one gallon per fish with weekly %100 water changes) and put them in the tetra, barb or cichlid tanks."

Sorry about that. For the past few months I've been working in the aquarium section I would say that 99% of the customers have been wonderful and a joy to work with, making my job great (besides getting to work with fish, reptiles and invertebrates all day <3 ). However, these past few weeks.... All the crazy ones have been crawling out from somewhere.

Seriously, this one guy came in asking why his oscar died. Apparently, he was keeping it in a 50 gallon and feeding it peanut butter, table scraps, chips and just feeder goldfish (nothing else). *facepalm*

 

[laurie31]

Wow, some people just shouldn't own pets.

My DD has a cichlid, and the thoughts of someone fighting them are nauseating. I couldn't stand to see something so beautiful be injured. I never even thought about people doing that. I knew about roosters, and dogs, but people fight fish too? Anything to bet on, I guess...

Thanks for trying to help people make good choices for their pets.

 

[Nomi]

Honestly, my favorite thing is when someone comes in who has done even the smallest bit of research. I could hug and kiss them on the spot. Research before you get a pet is the best, best, BEST thing you can do.

But yes, some people have the gall to tell me about their fun little game of fighting bettas or cichlids (that was a new one to me too) *gag* We had a gorgeous adult cobalt blue mbuna, and this one guy came in who at first seemed to know what he was talking about, except he slipped up and admitted (almost bragged) that he was fighting them and wanted to buy him just for such a reason. Needless to say, my manager and I threw his rear out. The cobalt soon after went home with one of the customers we know and see a lot of, who knew his cichlids.

 

[Mellie2162]

My nephew had an Oscar when he was a teenager. That thing kept growing and growing. When it finally got too big for his 55 gallon tank he sold it to a pet store because he knew it was too much for him.

I have a question about goldfish. My ds got one from his teacher and we bought him a 1 gallon tank to keep it in. We took good care of it changing the water, etc. (I know cuz I had to do it) but it didnt live more than a month. Do they need more room than 1 gallon? Also does well water need to be treated or something? I used to get his water out and let it sit for like 24 hours before changing him over.

I have since gave the 1 gallon tank to my beta and he is loving life in there.

 

[Nomi]

My nephew had an Oscar when he was a teenager. That thing kept growing and growing. When it finally got too big for his 55 gallon tank he sold it to a pet store because he knew it was too much for him.

I have a question about goldfish. My ds got one from his teacher and we bought him a 1 gallon tank to keep it in. We took good care of it changing the water, etc. (I know cuz I had to do it) but it didnt live more than a month. Do they need more room than 1 gallon? Also does well water need to be treated or something? I used to get his water out and let it sit for like 24 hours before changing him over.

I have since gave the 1 gallon tank to my beta and he is loving life in there.

I'm afraid that goldfish get quite, quite large (around 5-10 inches full grown for a fancy and 10-15+ for a single tailed) and do have a high bioload. The suggested number of gallons per fish for goldfish is 10-20 gallons per fish as a bare minimum, with filtration of around 100 GPH to keep up with the bioload that coldwater fish like goldies have. I'm very glad to hear you are doing water changes (A+!!) If you don't have a tank available, rubbermaid containers with a filter make great makeshift 'indoor ponds'.

As for the water, I would test it after the 24 hours to see if the chlorine/chloramine is gone. Some areas have more of these in their water than others and may need more time to age. Well water, however, should have significantly less chlorine and chloramine than tap water and should be quite safe to use (again, depending on the chemical/mineral content). Goldfish are generally quite adaptable to different water hardness levels and even PH level (though generally speaking a PH of 7.5-7.8 for goldies is best).

I also have a few links to some goldfish care sites, if you would like them.

 

[minkydog]

Wow! you sure know your fish! I'm impressed.

My DD16 is applying for a position at a local pet store. We never had fish so she doesn't know a thing about them. She knows a heckuva lot about gerbils(raised them for 10 years), cats (volunteered in a no-kill cat shelter for 4 years),small birds(parakeets and finches) and dogs (ours and all teh neighbors'). She pet-sits for a family who keeps bearded dragons, too.

Do you think her lack of knowledge aobut fish is going to be a huge negative?

 

[Mellie2162]

wow 10 gallons per fish! I would have never imagined that. I promised to get him another one but now I will have to get a 10 gallon tank and set up too. oiiy. can you use chlorine strips that you use to check pool water to check for chlorine is there something other kind that need to be used?

 

[inkkognito]

Good lord, I never thought people would be nutty enough to buy fish for fighting. I had a betta ('rescued' it from my young nephew) and can't even imagine doing such a thing. I'm glad you put people like that in their places.