People and their pets

I just started reading all of this drama. WOW!!!! I know that you locked up the threads Mikey, but I just wanted to put in my 2 cents. Which is about all I can afford. Then you can lock this up before it gets crazy.

I currently have 10 large aggressive fish, and have sold or donated to Aquarium Paradise, easy a dozen more. Why do I say this? These 20+ fish were purchased by individuals that DO NOT do the research prior to purchase. They do not ask questions, they just see a fish and purchase it. A few months later and, OMG this thing is a monster. And they look to unload it. I can almost guarantee that many fish just get flushed when this happens.

When I go into a shop, I know what I want, and I know what the temperament of that fish is. If I get it home, and it kills, That is my fault. And I deal with that particular fish in my way. If I see a cool looking fish that I may be interested in, but dont have a clue on its temperament, I ask. If the store owner does not know, I do not purchase until I have researched. I have several rare and expensive fish, I do not want to find them dead.

I have 2 Delhezi Polypturus, sp' I heard stories that they are so aggressive and that they will kill everything in your tank. But I wanted some. I did tons of research and came to find out that they are very mellow and keep to themselves. Like the water cow. But the poly does not see well, they feed by smell mostly. So when the polys are small, they are a fun and cool fish to own. But as I have found out recently, once they get bigger, they will eat or grab anything if it is in their path or at their nose. My polys are both reaching 10", and its my fault that they have not been moved to a larger tank with larger fish. (in the last few days they have eaten a panamensis, cutterii, and ornatum)

Long story short. If you are in the hobby, you know better than to combine fish without knowing. You know to do the research. If you are an African guy and want to go S/C Am., you know that you need to do research. Case and point is Aaron (cookie mnstr), he started up a new S/C Am tank and he was full of questions BEFORE he combined his fish.

In my opinion should you have to educate your customers? NO & YES. It doesn't take much to ask a couple simple questions. If you have been in the hobby for a while you can tell who the beginners are and who isn't. If a customer is wanting fish that are not compatible or that grow very large. Yes, ask them what they are doing. If a customer comes into a shop and buys 2 Convicts and a Red Devil. All around the same size. He says thank you and leaves. Should you have probed into what he is doing? NO, those fish are OK together. He calls you back later and says these damn convicts wont stop breeding why didn't you tell me, or that red devil killed my convict. OOPS, oh well. It happens, and you should research it. Me being a very knowledgeable hobbyist, (at least I think I am), get annoyed, and I know I shouldn't, when individuals in the fish department start asking me what size tank I have, what type of fish are in your tank, what type of water, leave me the hell alone and let me buy my fish, if I have questions, I will ask. So as a store owner, (and I hope to be one in the near future) you probably can sense the individuals that need teaching and the individuals that dont. Like Rattle said, his example was spot on. The kid wanted something that he knew would probably get him shot. So he ask a question, and educated the guy. If the guy just wanted something that didnt raise a red flag to Rattle, I'm sure he would have done the tattoo and made his $100, no questions asked.

I dont know if what I just said matters or was even worth it. I just had to say my peace.

You never told me those convicts would breed! You are a bad fish dealer!

lol

I like to think I asked a ton of questions and picked the fish I wanted sensibly when I made the change to SA Cichlids. I have a cool group of fish now.