"NetMax" wrote in message
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"swarvegorilla" wrote in message
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"El Roberto" wrote in message
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"swarvegorilla" wrote in message
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your lfs are idiots
platys and neons like different water so ya gotta comprimise anyway
I'd chuck a little bit of shellgrit on the bottem
and the bit of wood
and start stocking
pH is never a problem if you keep up small regular water changes

Yeah, that's what I thought! If my pH is 7, then according to
fishlore.com (which seems a reliable source, no?) then tetras will do
fine between a pH of 5-7.5, whilst platys will take 7-8 (which suggests
that an alkaline pH is actually better for them!).

Tell me - is it quite common for people to have misinformation and
problems like that with local fish stores? I assumed they'd all be
experts,
but is this not the case? I mean, that is TWO different shops who have
told me that my pH is too high - what gives?!

cheers

Rob

I have worked in a lfs for many a year now.
Before that I was a breeder of everything I could get me hands on in the
hobby scene
the learning curve is bloody steep if no one helps you out
I have always done my best to give my customers the start I never got
I mean I really cram the nitrate cycle down their throats some days
they don't get sea horses in winter if they don't have a chiller yet for
the coming summer
no oscars for smaller than 4 foot tanks
but it's hard
many customers are used to people going after their money first and....
well they lie.
My favourite customer is one who doesn't tap on tanks
controls their kids
Has done a bit of research and asks for advice on every little thing that
they are unsure on.
It can be hard when we are busy, sometimes you can't give 100% to one
person, just too many to serve.
sometimes you have to tell people to get kids outta tanks
people steal stuff, mess with filters
The lfs can be a stressful work environment
with hostile customers, a million things to do....
AHHHHHHRG!
but those are the rare days
I say check out all the shops in your area
ask to speak to the 'fish person' or when is best to meet them
each area usually has a store with someone with a sorta clue to chat
with
but yea short answer
90% of industry has no clue
and at least 50% of big fish kills are caused by cleaning filters in
tapwater in my experience.
THE PROBLEM is that in the olden days pH was such an important ritual
the nitrate cycle pretty much made it obselete
for day to day tank maintenence
if partial water changes are kept up
I treat every customer tank as a unique experiment
that way we work it all out with tests
no guesses, and over a few tests so the customer can SEE the process in
action
I figure at our store we build better aquarists
I don't say that lightly or with a big head but I turn goldfish keepers
into marine aquarists with 6 foot marine octopus tanks.
And I do it by building up their confidence, yes I sell them the
equipment and livestock.
But I also do my best to keep them in the hobby and loving it.
That way they can put food in my mouth for years to come.
Often I will have a mouthful of Malawi fry that I have no where to raise,
a customer may come in after suffering a tank wipe out.
finished with the hobby and very upset.
the mere fact of letting them watch you milk a few fish
giving them a cycled air powered sponge filter
and sending them home with a few for free
can bring them back into the hobby
What I mean to say is, find a good fish person
when you do find them
be nice
flattering and don't ask for a discount at first
you usually get it in time, our get service worth it
These days people buy all there **** on the net, and bring it in if they
ever have problems with it
sigh
hard to know enough and be willing to do it for the usual wage
be nice when ya find a guru
and your set
otherwise read read read
oh and Netmax is a good start
cluey dude

I'm reading this and nodding my head. I didn't expect to see my name at
the bottom though, thanks. I had a customer come in who had a complete
tank wipe-out (didn't quarantined the wrong fish from a big box store) and
he was really discouraged (and feeling guilty cause he knew he should of
quarantined). He wasn't a real regular, but he'd been in often enough
that I mostly knew what he had lost. This guy didn't have much money
(which is why he would buy cheaper fish than I sold).

If you work in any fish store, you know that some fish bring in
foot-traffic, other fish bring in sales, and then, scattered all around
the fishroom, there are fish which are just not pulling their weight. The
still eat and need their gravel cleaned, but they aren't selling and they
aren't attracting people to the store. Sometimes they're odd balls, or
gifts from customers, or the local market was just saturated (and I might
have a tank of them and their fry growing up)....only so many Keyhole
cichlids you can sell.

These fish were perfect for charity cases like this (or the 10 year-old
fish fanatic with no money, or the desperate mom trying to stock her kid's
tank for xmas with money she really couldn't afford to spend). Maybe I
was a pushover, but I helped out quite a few people, and it really didn't
cost the store anything, but it gave a lot. Life in the LFS was a real
mixed bag of stuff.

cheers
--
http://www.netmax.tk
http://groups.google.com/group/The-Freshwater-Aquarium


Mate you have helped me out on a heap of little things that always bugged
me.
Kinda strange to take some ones thoughts and they never know you were there.
But I try to pass on whatever I learn, where ever I learn it.
If only so by talking about it I remember it......

It truely is insane the fish-info-brotherhood, works on so many levels
If you can find someone who likes fish to talk to
you are on your way!