Lost a little faith in my lfs today

Okay so today I was at my lfs to purchase my other oscellaris clown to make my pair, when this lady was there before who kind of had that trophy wife vibe going on if you know what I mean. Anyways I was like alright this can't take to long, I overheard misses talking about how her and her husband bought a 180 gallon last year and this was how she described it " Ya we have two little clownfish and two of those dories ( the lfs lady corrected her 1+), a yellow tang and then she listed a couple more fish that I kind of stopped listening because it wasn't that important to me at the time. This lady then proceeds to buy the biggest fish order that I have seen and if I was the one working there I wouldn't of sold it to her on the basis in my belief I don't believe she had enough room for it. This is the list of what she bought from what I can remember 2 desjardins sailfins, another yellow tang, 3 watchman gobies, and every single green chromis that the store had ( which I think was 10). I understand for some of you that isn't a lot of fish but we're a small province and this is our only store and we only get fish orders about once a week or once every two weeks and they're not that big and she literally bought all the fish. Now to the part that irritated me, the lady working called the owner because I asked about some credit for a light he had at the store and when she was talking to him she gloated that she had a 550$ fish order I was just thinking that this isn't the kind of thing that I want in a lfs, I'd rather have someone who would let me know if I was doing something wrong instead of just milking me for my money.

 

The saleslady may have not known that there was anything wrong with adding too many fish at once. You really have to do your own research when dealing with a LFS.

Have you ever looked into J&L Aquatics on-line store? They ship livestock within Canada. I'm not sure how close you are to a major airport, but it may be worth your while for selection. They have very good prices for equipment and supplies too. Free shipping over $100.

 

Yup, this happens all the time lol.

most of the LFS' I've been in, the owner would sell you the shirt off of his back if the price was right ... and I've visited plenty from California to Northern Manitoba.

You'll find the rare gem where you can trust what they say, but as a responsible hobbiest its important to do your own research.

Heck, with how fast smart phones are ... no one should ever be blindsided anymore. You could probably know a lot about your purchase by the time the guy even grabs the nets at the store lol

 

Perhaps gov rationing is in order?
Everyone gets one fish until they are gone, a perfect society.
And when the guy in front of you can't even afford to pay for only 1 desjardins sailfin tang, he will only pay what he can and you as the next customer will inherent the difference on top of your one fish only purchase. A perfect utopia...

 

If the tank can handle all of those fish, I don't see a problem. If she can afford to buy all the fish and the tank can support all of the fish, I say let her buy all the fish.

 

We're talking about a well established 1 year old 180 gallon tank here. If they've waited this long to fully stock the tank, they've been insanely responsible.

I'm all for not causing our fish misery, but it doesn't pay to be too judgmental every time someone takes a path slightly different from your preferred one.

Is it possible you started out a little unfairly calling her a trophy wife and were disposed to be disagreeable?

 

Unfortunately this type of thing happens far too often. I feel pretty lucky because both of my LFS will strongly discourage their customers from these types of purchases. Obviously not all stores are like this. Would you feel comfortable talking to the manager about this situation?

FWIW, several weeks ago I was at a major chain store that sells just about everything. With the enthusiastic agreement from the employee, four college boys bought five glowfish (freshwater) for a ONE GALLON AQUARIUM. :''(

 

Information taken from Drs. Foster and Smith, Live Aquaria
This is for ONE sailfin tang.


Sailfin Tang (Zebrasoma veliferum)


Due to variations within species, your item may not look identical to the image provided.
QUICK STATS
Minimum Tank Size: 180 gallons
Care Level: Moderate
Temperament: Peaceful
Reef Compatible: Yes
Water Conditions: 72-78° F, dKH 8-12, pH 8.1-8.4, sg 1.020-1.025
Max. Size: 1' 3"
Color Form: Blue, Tan, Yellow
Diet: Herbivore
Compatibility: View Chart
Origin: Fiji, Indonesia, Sumatra
Family: Acanthuridae

What do these Quick Stats mean? Click here

overview
The Sailfin Tang, also known as Pacific Sailfin Tang, has an oval body shape with several rich, distinctive bold markings. It is brown in color with light freckles on the nose. The body has five, vertical yellow stripes with intricate markings within each stripe. Its tail begins with bright yellow ending with blue highlights. Its appearance can practically double in size at will by raising or lowering its tall dorsal and anal fins.
A 180 gallon or larger aquarium is necessary to provide plenty of swimming room. It is aggressive towards its own species and conspecifics at times, but peaceful towards other fish in the tank. Introduce like species at once.

Although Tangs will eat meaty foods along with the other fish in the aquarium, it is important that they are offered plenty of marine based seaweed and algae. This will strengthen their immune system, reduce aggression and improve their overall health. Offer dried seaweed tied to a rock or use a veggie clip, and feed at least 3 times per week. Sea Veggies, Seaweed Salad and Ocean Nutrition are all ideal products and are very easy to use.

 

Hi sorry I didn't respond I gave up after 5 days of no replys and didn't bother checking after. I'm aware I may of been a little bit predisposed and a bit quick tempered when it comes to blind greedy sales in the fish store. And it would be a completely different story if she had a quarantine tank ( multiple I think) but when I called her a trophy wife you have to understand I was doing it with good reason, I don't know about you but when I buy a fish I'll research to make sure I can handle it and it won't get to big on me/ be compatible with my other fish. Now I'll add I didn't do this at first but I learned from my mistakes and it certainly didn't take a year. But she clearly didn't have a quarantine from the words of " I can't wait to get home and get these in". But also when I was in line you could tell she was walking around the store looking at which ones were "prettiest". I wanna compare it to dog breeders, I think fish store owners should be more like that.I don't know about in the states but here no dog breeder that has any respect will sell you a dog without interviewing you first to make sure you have a good understanding of it. Now obviously it wouldn't be nowhere near that. But then again maybe they don't care because they're the only saltwater fish store in the province.. I have to stop now could carry on forever

 

While I may not describe it that way, I do tend to pick the prettiest fish. I'll ask my wife, but I doubt she would describe me as much of a trophy.