# Wow, a pet store employee actually knew about bettas!



## Lenalee Nilla (Oct 23, 2010)

So there i was, at the store, looking for freeze dried bloodworms for the new guy, and i overheard some old guy asking about bettas, and the clerk actually knew his ****. So much so that i doubted the myth that employees knwo nothing. He was like a fish guru XD

So anyone else have any pet store stories?


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## Oldfishlady (Mar 1, 2010)

On rare occasions you will find pet shop employees that have knowledge, however, often they are restricted by company policy/rules on what they can and can not say....the goal is to sell, sell, sell and make money for the company...even the knowledgeable employees have to give bad/wrong advice if they want to keep their job...pretty sad when money and profit is more important than the right thing.......


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## Lenalee Nilla (Oct 23, 2010)

Well there was a story somewhere where this guy said at his petco there was a fish guru who knew EVERYTHING about the fish they had and would always give advice on what to buy and what not to buy.


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## LikeDiscoSuperfly (Oct 18, 2010)

One time at a petco, yes a PETCO, there was this guy, who I thought was younger than me, but was probably my age (at the time 18) and he knew everything. he told me what not to put in my community tank, why not. knew what fish were actually marked wrong. .ect.

A close friend of mine that I worked with, had worked at a pet store previously. She really knows her stuff. She knows about alll kinds of fish too. So she would have given honest advice.
Her parents bred angelfish, discus.. and something else. and so she grew up with a gazillion fishtanks.

she is wanting to open her own store, and had the plans started, then her boyfriend got cancer and it was put on the back burner. so sad. 
she will have an amazing fish store someday.


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## Lenalee Nilla (Oct 23, 2010)

Aw bummer, though when it comes to diseases its best not to bring them up too much, insanely opinionated on sicknesses and life.

But hey, at least she has more motivation to start a shop right?


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## LikeDiscoSuperfly (Oct 18, 2010)

Oh of course, and yes, she has some motivation. She is quite lucky, a lot of people have donated tanks to her. 
We don't have any honest&clean non-chain store fish or pet stores here. so it'd be nice if we had one in the area.


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## Jupiter (Aug 30, 2009)

Nice! I don't seem to find any here...even when I went to Big Al's (fish store), the employee that helped me was a bit...um...yeah. ;-)


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## cballas (Sep 1, 2010)

Sadly ... NO.... I've had some who are honest when they can't answer a question,
and admit they are new & need to learn more. I respect those who try, the only stupid question
is one not asked.

The worst are the "know it all" boss types that get off on what scrap of power they have, and gave totally WRONG advice...

I'm like, "Um, no, you can't have just 2 females together in a 1G bowl sir...Quit telling
the customers this.." I know he told the employees to push the females he ordered,
because the next time they all were mimicking the "females can be together no worries" angle. LoL

Then there was the one who said it's "the wrong bacteria" that appears when you fishless cycle a tank w/ cocktail shrimp, and advocated using "hardy danios"... *sigh* All about the $$$$$ these people...


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## zelilaa (Jul 31, 2010)

hee hee! the guy who said there was an amazing fish guy at their store... that might have been me! 
i have the best manager at my petco. he came from north carolina. This guy is crazy informed about fish, he's so cool  hes very nice and respectful and helpful.


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## JKfish (Apr 8, 2010)

All the LFS people at my store are hopelessly misinformed


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## jeanclaudeasher (May 20, 2010)

I have found a fish store that is near my area that knows what they are talking about =) When you go to buy a fish they ask you how big your tank is and what other fish you have in your tank and then will let you know if the fish you want to purchase will work well in that tank or not.


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## LikeDiscoSuperfly (Oct 18, 2010)

I was at Petco yesterday, and I felt like I was a employee there.. three different people were looking at bettas all confused, and no one came over to even offer help. so I sure did =]
two people put the bettas back. bwhahha.


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## bearwithfish (Sep 29, 2009)

i was of the mind that Bog Box companies did not hire well versed employees as well until a recent trip to a FS about 2 hours away and the staff there not only knew ther stuff very well they assisted my in solving an issue with my own tank that i could not resolve through the use of boards or people i knew... it was very refreshing... perhaps this is a sign that more people are entering the field with care in their heart and attempting to make the hobby more enjoyable...


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## dragonfair (Sep 21, 2010)

I went to Petco a while back looking for a smaller watt adjustable heater (hard to find, btw). They didn't have any and the clerk was baffled as to why I would want to heat my betta tanks. She was also baffled as to why I would put just one fish in a 10 gallon tank and want to maintain it. She even said to me that it was kind of strange. I was offended and asked her nicely if that was a problem for her. Heh heh... 

But... I went to this local non-chain store and the people there seemed to really care. I liked that even though the place is so expensive I can't shop there. :-(


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## vaygirl (Sep 10, 2009)

Yeah, I got the same deal at Petco when I asked about replacing a heater from a sick betta tank. She was horrified that I was heating a betta tank. She tried to make me feel bad about it. I nicely told her "I heat all my tanks and I'm going to continue to do so." She rolled her eyes at me. I don't go there for fish supplies any more.


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## kaythenewbie (Aug 23, 2010)

There's a guy at my Petsmart who's a fish genius. He always tries to talk people out of buying betta bowls that are less than a gallon and is always explaining about heaters. When anyone buys a fish (any fish!) he asks about their tank, how long it's been cycled, what's in it, etc. It's awesome.

Unfortunately the employee that covers on his day off is a complete and utter moron when it comes to fish. :roll:


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## LikeDiscoSuperfly (Oct 18, 2010)

vaygirl said:


> Yeah, I got the same deal at Petco when I asked about replacing a heater from a sick betta tank. She was horrified that I was heating a betta tank. She tried to make me feel bad about it. I nicely told her "I heat all my tanks and I'm going to continue to do so." She rolled her eyes at me. I don't go there for fish supplies any more.


I hope you complained about her, for the eye roll. I don't care if a employee doesn't agree with me, but no need to be flat out rude.


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## jessiepbg (Nov 13, 2010)

I've met some great petmart/co employees and I've met some who were only useful for finding where things were on the shelves. I ran into this really knowledgeable guy at the Petsmart closest to me who I'm hoping to find again tonight. He walked me through the different types of tanks he had and gave me some good suggestions on what fish to put in with my Betta. He's the first good fish person I've met at that particular store though. The last one just looked at me blankly when I asked him if aquarium salt was a good idea in my circumstances. All he knew was where it was on the shelf. 
I got a pleasant surprise from a young employee at the Petco I rarely go to. I don't know what it was about him, but he didn't look like he had a clue about fish. Then I started asking him about Cories for my Betta tank and he was just so excited to find someone who wasn't trying to put something flashy in a tank with their Betta. He's going to try to order me in some Panda Cories with their next shipment and I'm all excited.


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## Ethan (Dec 3, 2010)

At mine they tell me you have to keep male bettas apart and I'm thinking duh because like 2 employes will tell me at each store and I'm about to say to them I have a lot more bettas then ya think!!!!!lol


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