Where Are The Tang Police When You Need Them?

[jk1nole]

True story at the LFS today where I buy my water from....

Customer: "How much are your small yellow tangs there?"

Employee: "$29.99"

Customer: "What size tank do I need for one?"

Employee: "Well... that size would be fine for a nano."

Customer: "Really? I only have a 12 gallon. We don't have anything in there yet though."

Employee: "He might outgrow it in a year or so... but as long as you upgrade some then he will be ok..."

I couldn't believe what I heard... I am very new to the hobby, so I thought maybe I misunderstood. Then as I am waiting for my turn the guy and his girlfriend decide to just get a "Sexy Shrimp"

Employee: "Are you sure that's it? We have a lot of good fish for nanos... All of those tangs over there."

Then he named off several more fish after I lost concentration on what he saying. Granted I am new to this hobby... it just didn't seem right.

[MAMGM]

Get used to the uneducated answers in most LFS. Their not all like that but most of the time you need to research what you are going to the store for befor you get there

[RGC]

I once saw a LFS selling pairs of different angels and tangs to a couple that had a new 300ish tank that was setup the weekend before. They had many hundreds of dollars worth of soon to be dead fish bagged up. the store closed 6 months late...

[Octoshark]

I don't even bother to ask my LFS questions anymore.

[Johnny C]

Wow, I feel for the customers at that store! I wouldn't give them my business knowing that they are giving people that kind of advice. I work part-time at a LFS here in NY, and usually I'm the one having to explain to customers why they can't put 'Dory' in their biocube.

[ssublime1]

Trying to move product guys. It's not right but to alot of places fish are just another commodity. The best thing to do in this situation is begin a discussion about how everything you've read suggests an aquarium of "X" size minimum. At least the customer can then make an informed decision.

[jrod4422]

Back when I was in like 9th grade, I didnt know much about what size fish could go in certain tanks. I had a 55 gal at the time, I saw a beautiful Sailfin Tang at the LFS for around 80 bucks, it was probably 7-8 inches long. After I told the guy that I had a 55 gallon tank and just a giant hermit crab in the tank, he told me the tang would do fine. 2 days later I found the tang in my hermits mouth. Forget the fact that he said the giant tang would do fine in the 55 gal tank. Idiot. Some people that work at LFSs are either really dumb or desperate for sales.

[acoff87]

for the record strawberry basselets do eat shrimp, lol. and lots of them! never trust the "it should be fine response", do your homework.

[lougotzz]

Originally Posted by jrod4422

Back when I was in like 9th grade, I didnt know much about what size fish could go in certain tanks. I had a 55 gal at the time, I saw a beautiful Sailfin Tang at the LFS for around 80 bucks, it was probably 7-8 inches long. After I told the guy that I had a 55 gallon tank and just a giant hermit crab in the tank, he told me the tang would do fine. 2 days later I found the tang in my hermits mouth. Forget the fact that he said the giant tang would do fine in the 55 gal tank. Idiot. Some people that work at LFSs are either really dumb or desperate for sales.

Well a tang isnt going to just drop dead because it was placed in a small tank. Either the fish was sick or your water wasnt up to par.