Readers Respond: What is the worst advice an LFS ever gave you?

The same person told us that Ich (a parasite) could pass from one tank to another through the air, which is why people put glass covers on their tanks... To keep the parasites out.

I'm sure that he meant well and was trying to be helpful, but...

What's the biggest LFS whopper that you've heard? What's Your LFS Whopper?

Dinner Time

I'm just gonna say it... I have a Fuzzy Dwarf Lion. So I go to the lfs and he tries to sell me shrimp and I try to tell the guy, hey... they won't make it. Seriously, they wouldn't last 3 minutes. "Nah, they'll hide. Just feed the lion when you turn the shrimp loose"

—Guest Rob

pennies!! what?

A "big box" chain lfs once told me: to keep my new coral frags happy is to put about 25 cents worth of pennies into my sump to get a copper dose into the system, she laughed and said they had about 100 dollars of coins in their systems..I handed back the drags and went elsewhere...PENNIES? REALLY?

—Guest deman

Feeding fish before purchase

One of the employees at our LFS was trying to sell us a massive goldfish for our feature pond, but the problem was; he fed the goldfish in front of us to show how 'friendly' it was. This is a big no no, the fish can't have food in their stomachs while being transported as it leads to stress on the stomach. The fish was dead the next day, we paid $50 for that fish....... No refund... This Is why pet shops feed their fish AFTER closing time. Don't buy a fish I it's just been fed; it's kinder on the fish (and your wallet)!!!

—Guest Water Bottle

Saltwater Salmon

A local pet shop said that keeping food species was fine in a reef aquarium, stating salmon would help eat pests such as crayon snails and such. Brilliant...not so much so.

—Guest Dr. Tim Eckel

For HI snorkeler Sam

Even keiki know no clownfish these islands brah. Maybe you confuse with Dascyllus? Maybe too much pakalolo and staring at inaccurate marine mural in your hotel lobby? The only clown in the water that day was you brah :)

—Guest Kimo

Power makes people crazy

I was on work experience at pets art many years ago. I wasn't allowed near the fish ad the manager took personal responsibility for them. This made what he did even more amusing....a fresh batch of Siamese fighters had arrived. The manager proceeded to unpack the individual bags and empty them all into the same tank. I pointed out his error and he told me they were fighting because they were stressed from transit. We argued for quite some time before I gave up and just started fishing them out into separate tanks. He made a complaint trying to get me kicked off the work experience....in the end he got fired and I actually managed to learn something about fish as I then got to take over for the remainder of my time there.

—Guest Petnotsosmart

"Tanked" stole their logo

I know this isn't about fish so much but a local pet store that is notorious for having dirty and dead tanks told a friend of mine that the aquarium TV show "TANKED" was modeled after them and that they even stole the store's logo. (Note: it's an LFS not a tank manufacturer and ATM, the Tanked company, is from a different side of the country and has had their logo for a long, long time.)

—Guest TheCajun

spanish dancer

I bought a spanish dancer from Lfs.. he told me that they are algae eaters... Hahaha... They feed of toXic sponges...what a sales Man...

—Guest rocky

continued

well needless to say the crab had eaten the fish and the water was a mess. The black ghost had a ripped fin and never recovered, it succumbed to fungus as they do all to often. What a mess. I was only left with one happy and fat Niglotone crab!!!

—Guest Nigolan Sr.

Nigtumis Crab and a Porcelain Dolphin

So I went to this local fish shop back in the 90's and saw this neat looking Nigtumis Crab which was freshwater. At the time I didn't realize there were freshwater/brackish crabs. Just like the below commenter, I wanted to purchase more than one aquatic animal. I also wanted a Black Ghost knife fish (for a different tank of course) and a Porcerlain Dolphin Fish (electric neobrytide type, similar to the neglectone knife fish family but not with dark caudal fins). And also a few freshwater mussels (i was into ecosystem style setups back then, no longer have aquariums sadly) Anyways I couldn't believe it they started putting them all in the same bag? What the hell? Seriously any fish dealer ought to know its common sense and courtesy to the fish to bag each specimen individually. I figured I didn't want to start an argument or bad relations with the shop owner so I let it go. Well I drove home probably 80mph to get the poor creatures separated as quickly as possible. Well needless

—Guest Nigolan Sr.

puffer and clown

when i was green i was sold a puffer and a clown in the same small bag. i asked for them to be seperated. i was told, no need, they will be fine.. The clwn was dead on arrival home. I took it back and he said" thats a different clown" mmm only one clown here lol

—Guest darren

Mantis shrimp and assorted fish

Once I went to the fish store and said I wanted a group of glass shrimp for my 30 Gallon freshwater tank with a group of neons, two bristlenose plecos, 3 kuhli loaches and a dwarf gourami and she said "no, sorry we don't have any of them, they do pretty much the same thing you know" and she pointed to a tank with some PVC pipe and a moderately sized mantis shrimp, to what I responded "could you order some for me, I'd like some, I'd like some freshwater peaceful shrimp" then had a quick all around and walked out. I wonder why the owner hirered her.

—flying_walrus

Clown Fish With Condy

They sold me a Condy to go with a cinnamon Clown, little did I know that clowns dont have anything to do with Condy's

—Guest Barbara

Dump it and start over

When my new tank was taking linger to cycle than I had the patience for, I asked the lady at Petsmart for suggestions on how to speed up the process. She suggested that I dump the whole tank and start over...I smiled and thanked her as I walked away deciding that patience was my best answer.

—Guest Surrounded by idiots

nitrate cycling

I once read in About that the only way to remove nitrates is water changes. Anaerobic bacteria live in DSB and live rock and convert nitrate to harmless nitrogen gas. Find a good LFS and ignore the 12 year olds on forums.

—Guest Tom