# Worst LFS gaffs??



## mok3t (Nov 28, 2008)

I'm interested to hear peoples worst experiences with Fish Shops.

Biggest contender for me was being sold some silver spotted tetras. They were around an inch long, quite round and silver with black spots. Anyone wanna take a guess at what they ACTUALLY were? Extra points if you can guess what they did to the Baby Discus they went in with?


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## Briguy (Aug 10, 2009)

Where they piranha? Wow! That is a crazy mistake.

I can't come close to that. I just bought a cichlid that I don't know what it is. I'm guessing in the Arechocentrus family. The girl at the LFS didn't know what it was, she must of kept me waiting for a half and hour while she looked it up and called her manager at home to find out. It was still misidentified. Then after all that messing about she didn't know how to charge me for it because it wasn't listed on the computer system. Finally I talked her into calling it a convict, the least costly of the cichlids, and just charging that price.

My story was pretty lame. 
But I will try to post a picture later to see if anyone can identify my new cichlid.


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## TheFishGuy (Apr 21, 2005)

My favorite was a friend and I were sitting out in the parking lot eating our lunch in the fish mobile. The fish mobile was my rescue car that had MFR all over it...

Some dude comes up to me while I'm eating and asks what kind of tank mates he could keep with his two year old Tiger shovelnose catfish.

I asked... "What size tank?"

He says... "125"

I said, "Well, honestly I wouldn't put anything in with it because your tank is too small as it is for a fish that gets five foot"

He says, "Oh, he's about two foot and hasn't grown for a year"

I say: "He's more than likely stunted, how often do you do water changes?"

"Well, we just top off the tank when it gets low"

"Is his stomach yellow"

"Yeah, it is"

"Those are urine burns, What you need to do is go home and start doing 25% water changes daily until you get yourself a larger tank or a stock tank to keep the catfish in. Big cats need supremely clean water in order to thrive"

"Oh, ok, well thanks."

Ten minutes later my friend and I go into the fish store where the emplyees are bagging up a 12" aligator gar.

So I say, "I guess you really didn't want my advice eh?"

He doesn't say anything and just rolls his eyes. The greatest part was all of the employees know who I am and what I do with rescueing and rehabilitating and I guess the employee asked the guy what I said, and the guy told him and laughed it off and proceeded to call me a wacko. This is a quote from the employee:

"Do you know how that guy is? He rescues fish from people like you and as amatter of fact he took our six big cats we had here and rehomed them to Newyork. He knows more about fish especially the big cats than most people!"

Then proceeded to refuse to sell the guy the gar. :lol:


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## Toby_H (Apr 15, 2005)

Thereâ€™s enough negativity in the worldâ€¦ So let me share a good LFS storyâ€¦

Someone came to a LFS near me a few years back with a couple Nurse Sharks and turned them in. They simply got to big for the personâ€™s home aquariumâ€¦

After three years of preparation and extensive work with the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources the sharks were re-released back into the oceanâ€¦

While it is a horrible idea for us, as hobbyists, to release fish into the wild. Please note that this store worked closely with state officials to coordinate safely doing soâ€¦

Here is the article in the local paper from a few months back - http://www.wbtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=10411564


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## Number6 (Mar 13, 2003)

Although not a LFS, still a big Oops from Mother Nature...

http://www.abcactionnews.com/news/local ... qiZXQ.cspx


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## Lunafish (Aug 9, 2009)

Number6 said:


> Although not a LFS, still a big Oops from Mother Nature...
> 
> http://www.abcactionnews.com/news/local ... qiZXQ.cspx


I heard that story on the radio! I didn't know if I should laugh or cry! I mean those people worked really hard and long with that dolphin just to have an ugly thing like "The Food Chain" get in the way.

Matt


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## jfly (Feb 17, 2009)

last week i went to my lfs and saw in a 20 gallon tank for 35 bucks..... a gar,, the pitiful thing and the owners were just trying to sell, sell, sell. . . that eventually will be devastating


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## Electrophyste (Aug 5, 2009)

this didnt happen to me but it did happen to my fish guy, he wnt to a shop and bought a false zebra pleco, turns out it wasnt a false at all, it was the 300 dollar zebra pleco not the 30 dollar false


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## TheFishGuy (Apr 21, 2005)

Nice........


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## Lancerlot (Feb 22, 2006)

I went down to Toronoto 3 years ago to get some cichlids that they didn't have up here in Sudbury. They had these less then 1 inch fish named Redhead cichlids. I was intrigued. 5dollors each. So I bought 6. Turned out 2 were pure breed red devils. 2 were blood parrots and 2 were Trimacs.

I freaked out. Cause that many species in the same tank. My guess is somebody either brought in fry and got them mixed up or the bad employes mixed the fry and didn't tell anybody.
The red devils I still have to this day. They killed the blood parrots. The trimacs I gave away.

Not very interesting. But I was upset cause I ended up with fish I couldn't handle...


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## vealboy (Jul 27, 2009)

I went into my LFS looking to buy ghost shrimp to help clean up my 55gal. I asked the guy if the shrimp would be compatible with my Clown Loaches. The guy said, "Yeah should be no problem at all. Loaches are strictly bottom feeders, and won't mind the shrimp."

He was right in that the Clowns didn't mind eating the shrimp at all. :lol:


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## Sarene (Aug 23, 2009)

This thread is to let us share the worst case scenario must be real you have related to NFS best to show some pics for proof. Let me start with my pics.

It was still not too bad, but it was a collector disc or was not?.


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## PhilR (Aug 25, 2009)

I stopped by a small chain store the other day just to pick up some supplies for a fry tank I was setting up, and of course I stop to look at the ciclids which at this place always look like ****. So I start talking to the guy working the fish section and I was commenting on how washed out his "red zebras" were. He then proceeds to show me a tank full of hybrids (auratus and something else) he bred at home and is now trying to sell in the store. I then made a comment about how I would never buy a hybrid and that I couldn't believe he was knowingly selling them. I put the items I had in my hands down and went to a different store.


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## TheFishGuy (Apr 21, 2005)

:lol: =D> =D> =D> =D>


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## rarefaction (Aug 6, 2009)

:x Bristol, CT wal-mart. enough said. soooo angry.... And there seems to be no one to report the dreadful conditions to. Imagine if I stuffed a puppy in a small box full of #$%! and put it on display. I'd be lynched! :x


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## PhilR (Aug 25, 2009)

lol, maybe that's why wally world doesn't sell puppies...

Luckily, in my area, there's about 5 or 6 LFS's that aren't chains. One even exclusively just deals with freshwater (although they do have a small collection of saltwater in the back). The people there are also extremely helpful andsince I buy all my fish there, they know what I have and always ask how they're doing. The only thing I'll buy from a chain is supplies since they usually have a better price.


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## TheFishGuy (Apr 21, 2005)

rarefaction said:


> :x Bristol, CT wal-mart. enough said. soooo angry.... And there seems to be no one to report the dreadful conditions to. Imagine if I stuffed a puppy in a small box full of #$%! and put it on display. I'd be lynched! :x


Now you know how I feel. No one gives a c.rap about fish. But if a dog rescue was sruggling to stay open everyone and there mother comes running to the rescue. :?


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