Was I lied to by my LFS

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JosephM

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Hello,

One of the biggest problems with this hobby is people don’t do there own research. How hard is it to google something. This may sound bad, but the person you should be mad at is you. They are a business and you hold the money. They are not going to do the work for you. I don’t think they are lying to you. But your tank is small, and fish will become aggressive because of space. It’s okay to go slow in this hobby, in fact it’s ideal.
This thread is quite old. I’m learning as I go, thank you though. I barely have any data connection in their store though so not really an option, many people have already said the same thing as you, I know now not to fully trust them :)
 

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One of the biggest problems with this hobby is people don’t do there own research. How hard is it to google something. This may sound bad, but the person you should be mad at is you. They are a business and you hold the money. They are not going to do the work for you. I don’t think they are lying to you. But your tank is small, and fish will become aggressive because of space. It’s okay to go slow in this hobby, in fact it’s ideal.

Bit harsh, the OP was probably thinking asking the LFS was doing his research, if I go into a DIY store and ask about paint, get told it’s suitable for the bathroom then find it isn’t, do I then blame myself for not googling it?

I do agree people trend to rely on their LFS too much at the beginning but until they know better they will do as they know no better, if the LFS doesn’t know the answer then they should say so, seems a lot just say anything to make a sale, if they are going to answer a question then it’s also down to them to ask the relevant questions on tank size etc.

But yeah, on your general point, people should know a lot more before even stepping into the LFS before buying a live animal.
 

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I know this is an old thread, and I'm jumping in here, but can we expect an employee at a fish store to know everything about every fish?

My LFS sells both saltwater and freshwater. They have fish, corals, inverts, freshwater plants, and a lot of turnover of livestock. It seems like a lot to ask that they know everything about everything. I agree that we as hobbyists need to do our own research, and I agree some LFS just want to make a buck, but maybe we need to work together to be successful.

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Reef.

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I know this is an old thread, and I'm jumping in here, but can we expect an employee at a fish store to know everything about every fish?

My LFS sells both saltwater and freshwater. They have fish, corals, inverts, freshwater plants, and a lot of turnover of livestock. It seems like a lot to ask that they know everything about everything. I agree that we as hobbyists need to do our own research, and I agree some LFS just want to make a buck, but maybe we need to work together to be successful.

ThankfulRelievedGentoopenguin-size_restricted.gif

The answer to a question you don’t know the answer to is not ‘yeah it’ll be fine” it’s sorry I don’t know. That is just basic human interaction, no excuse for that, seems we hold LFS up as either the fountain of all knowledge or let them of the hook with “they are only a business”.
 

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Bit harsh, the OP was probably thinking asking the LFS was doing his research, if I go into a DIY store and ask about paint, get told it’s suitable for the bathroom then find it isn’t, do I then blame myself for not googling it?

I do agree people trend to rely on their LFS too much at the beginning but until they know better they will do as they know no better, if the LFS doesn’t know the answer then they should say so, seems a lot just say anything to make a sale, if they are going to answer a question then it’s also down to them to ask the relevant questions on tank size etc.

But yeah, on your general point, people should know a lot more before even stepping into the LFS before buying a live animal.
Hello,

Wasn’t trying to be harsh but just honest. The difference between your examples is, a life isn’t involved. One can always re paint etc. I should have seen the thread was older that’s on me. But regardless even myself who has been in this hobby for a while, knows to look things up because I don’t know everything. As a trauma residency er doctor and god knows how many hours devoted to education, I still come across as oh that’s new. The other issue is the op is young and so he may not have tons of cash just to throw away. (No I’m not saying age matters but even I’m 28 I know I didn’t have money to throw around at a young age. So it’s discouraging when they save up and see it gone in a week. It’s the number one way to get people out of the hobby. It’s fascinating to read about reefs, and unlimited knowledge. In addition the whole point was trust and honest issues. As you pointed out I was hash and I had no intent. I post often but I’m not known to be. But this may be why lfs don’t put up a fight. They don’t want to be labeled hash etc.
 

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I know this is an old thread, and I'm jumping in here, but can we expect an employee at a fish store to know everything about every fish?

My LFS sells both saltwater and freshwater. They have fish, corals, inverts, freshwater plants, and a lot of turnover of livestock. It seems like a lot to ask that they know everything about everything. I agree that we as hobbyists need to do our own research, and I agree some LFS just want to make a buck, but maybe we need to work together to be successful.

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Definitely , I just get frustrated when they don’t admit a lack of knowledge and just suggest something to get a quick sale. I’m totally cool if they say “I’m not too sure tbh let me ask someone else or you can do research”
 
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I know this is an old thread, and I'm jumping in here, but can we expect an employee at a fish store to know everything about every fish?

My LFS sells both saltwater and freshwater. They have fish, corals, inverts, freshwater plants, and a lot of turnover of livestock. It seems like a lot to ask that they know everything about everything. I agree that we as hobbyists need to do our own research, and I agree some LFS just want to make a buck, but maybe we need to work together to be successful.

ThankfulRelievedGentoopenguin-size_restricted.gif
My LFS does sell all those things but they hire people for each section, often times 6+ employees at any time. The guy that told me that was the manager of the saltwater section. Even after I told him about my research and returned it he swore that they paired up. But then again he does have an ego and probably doesn't like being wrong.
 
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Hello,

Wasn’t trying to be harsh but just honest. The difference between your examples is, a life isn’t involved. One can always re paint etc. I should have seen the thread was older that’s on me. But regardless even myself who has been in this hobby for a while, knows to look things up because I don’t know everything. As a trauma residency er doctor and god knows how many hours devoted to education, I still come across as oh that’s new. The other issue is the op is young and so he may not have tons of cash just to throw away. (No I’m not saying age matters but even I’m 28 I know I didn’t have money to throw around at a young age. So it’s discouraging when they save up and see it gone in a week. It’s the number one way to get people out of the hobby. It’s fascinating to read about reefs, and unlimited knowledge. In addition the whole point was trust and honest issues. As you pointed out I was hash and I had no intent. I post often but I’m not known to be. But this may be why lfs don’t put up a fight. They don’t want to be labeled hash etc.
I totally get what you're saying. It has been disheartening lately with the fish I've been losing. I do not make a lot and even losing 1 fish that is $100+ sets me back a lot. At least I figured out the cause of the deaths and am working on dealing with it. At least my corals are thriving so I'm not so discouraged I want to quit :)
 
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Definitely , I just get frustrated when they don’t admit a lack of knowledge and just suggest something to get a quick sale. I’m totally cool if they say “I’m not too sure tbh let me ask someone else or you can do research”
RARELY do I ever go to a fish store where an employee will admit to not knowing something. They'll just try to throw some crap knowledge at you that you know isn't right. I wish more stores would be honest and realize that we know they won't have all the answers.
 

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I mean my LFS has been around forever but still can't ID fish right sometimes and such.

A lot of times LFS are not sitting on forums researching and just spewing out what they knew 20 years ago. Some of which is out-dated.

IDK I just never ask any questions about livestock at a fish store.

Ask your questions here, then go shopping. That way you walk in making an informed decision and already have the knowledge to go find what you're looking for. If you can't find the answer here, no one knows.
 

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Wasn’t trying to be harsh but just honest. The difference between your examples is, a life isn’t involved. One can always re paint etc. I should have seen the thread was older that’s on me. But regardless even myself who has been in this hobby for a while, knows to look things up because I don’t know everything. As a trauma residency er doctor and god knows how many hours devoted to education, I still come across as oh that’s new. The other issue is the op is young and so he may not have tons of cash just to throw away. (No I’m not saying age matters but even I’m 28 I know I didn’t have money to throw around at a young age. So it’s discouraging when they save up and see it gone in a week. It’s the number one way to get people out of the hobby. It’s fascinating to read about reefs, and unlimited knowledge. In addition the whole point was trust and honest issues. As you pointed out I was hash and I had no intent. I post often but I’m not known to be. But this may be why lfs don’t put up a fight. They don’t want to be labeled hash etc.

To be fair, the comparison was a good one, the point you made was the op should have done their own research, the shop was only a business so the op shouldn’t expect them to do it for him, if your point was it’s a live animal so the onus is on the op to have researched then I agree but that equally goes for the LFS, they are selling live animals.

I feel your frustration as I also feel people need to do more before buying, people coming on here and asking questions such as “I’ve just bought this starfish what do I feed it” etc...I just feel your post came across as defending the LFS at the expense of the op, as you said he’s young, more reason why we should be holding those LFS up to a higher standard then we seem to do.
 

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I get what you're saying, but ultimately they made a suggestion and your lack of research prior caused the mistake. It's easy to blame someone else when you took their advice, but ultimately it's your decision and your mistake. Everyone here will tell you to do your research before adding any livestock. You didn't research the fish, added it to your tank and had negative results. It sucks, but the fault is yours.
 

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