Anyway I went to AE and was nosing around.  They got new bulbs one the sale tank finally.  Nice upgrade.  Anyway I saw they had a remora.  The fish not the skimmer.  Foot long cleaner fish, good as dead, all ready sold!

What numb nuts would buy that.  I chuckled to myself probably same moron that bought the nurse shark.  Kept shopping.

Got to talking to the employees and asked who bought the remora?Â

Guess who?

Yep it was the moron that bought the shark.

So I ask them how big of a tank does he have?

"Like a 75G.  He said it all ready ate his snowflake eel. He got it on tape.  He's got a bunch of other fish in there too."

What kind of skimmer does he run?

"None just some penquin power filters"

I need to find this guy and hit him with a stick

What a idiot. I would like to see the video of the shark eating the eel.

The bad thing is the employees at this store sold it to him, so in my mind they are just as guilty as the "numnuts" is. He probally didn't no any better. JMO

 It reminds me back 10 years ago in a store.  A kid asks the clerk "Is it true that if more than one Betta is in a tank they'll fight to the death?"  The clerk " Yeah, that's true."  Kid " Cool,  I'll take four."  So, the clerk sold him four.

i am not condoning the actions but, at what point do you draw a line and stop protecting people from themselves.  some have more money than brains or ambition to learn on their own, and take the path of least resistence to find the answer.   it  will  take  more  than  an honest fish flinger to change ones mentality.  we are creatures of habit.

Well, what is going to happen is his tank will crash and everything will die and he will no longer be a paying customer. So I think it is in the best interest of the shop, if they were smart, to be helpful and knowledgeable to their customers and help them make good choices for their tank so that the customer continues to be a customer in the future.

Well as an exretail manager I must say I told people no all the time. My store also had a 50%,60% and 35% growth over 3 years. People like being told no if done correctly. It shows that the employees care about the customers overall experience with their products.

i couldnt care less about the customer.

and some people would argue this with me but the real question is, does one animal have a greater worth than another?
is it ok to knowingly put an animal in a tank to die a bad death either by being eaten or die from bad water conditions.
people would be up in arms if a puppy were found living in deplorable conditions, say with its leg chewed off by another dog, and someone would probably be jailed.

in my book it is the responsibility of the seller to insure humane treatment, at least to their knowledge of whats going on.

i truly beleive that i would not sell the guy anything even if i got fired for it, if i knew it wasnt gonna go to a good place, i just wouldnt.

im not preaching to you or anyone else for that matter, its just my opinion.

i guess its just an opinion and theres no right answer except your own, someone could get really mad at someone who buys goldfish to feed to their oscars, or im sure theres alot of people out there who think owning a reef tank is a terrible thing because its bad to take living things out of the ocean.

''in my book it is the responsibility of the seller to insure humane treatment, at least to their knowledge of whats going on.

i truly beleive that i would not sell the guy anything even if i got fired for it, if i knew it wasnt gonna go to a good place, i just wouldnt.''

Cognitive Dissonance
a psychological term describing the uncomfortable tension that may result from having two conflicting thoughts at the same time, or from engaging in behavior that conflicts with one's beliefs.

i am sure there is a small percentage of sellers that follow these ethical/responsible practices. however; in this type of business, the business of ''hobbies''[ie. collecting- rare coins, art, sports memorabilia, livestock] many dealers were at one time hobbyist themselves, who then ventured into dealing.

here in lies the problem. a person went from spending their disposable income to obtain fish, coins, art, etc...to selling fish, coins, art, etc..in order to put food on the table.

it is very difficult to be/amass a great collector/collection or to be an ethical and successful dealer when you have your hands in both cookie jars.

most dealers who once shared the same passion as their customers have had to separate themselves from their wares. if they didn't they would wouldn't be dealers for very long.

in my other hobby, 90 percent of the people i deal with are vest pocket dealers/long time collectors who deal for the sole purpose of passing along great wares to benefit/give back to the hobby that has given them much joy/satisfaction. it makes little difference whether it's fish, coins, or art; like all hobbies, they share the same, relative, business models and pit falls.

there are always bottom feeders preying on ignorance. it is up to the customer to perform their due diligence/or learn from their mistakes and to spread the word about said predators [especially today, with ability to obtain information almost instantly] . eventually/hopefully over time the predator will no longer be able to subsist and be forced back to be coming a collector.


''and some people would argue this with me but the real question is, does one animal have a greater worth than another?''
 
sadly, yes; in the eyes of a dealer it all depends on what someone is willing to pay...supply/demand...they [animals] are just another commodity.

edit to add - the contents of this post are not my beliefs nor opinions, but simply my observations.

I guess my opinion is different. I'd also have to say some animals are worth more than others. I feed mysis shrimp to brainless corals/animals 2-3 times a week. I laugh every time my coral eats a hermit crab. Although I do not like it my hermits also eat my snails.

On the other hand. I'd find it wrong of me to purchase an animal soon to be threatened in the wild to use as food for another. As a human and a hobbyist I feel it is my responsibility to practice good husbandry of the animals I keep. I would not expect a fish store to deny someone a purchase but maybe educate them into a better purchase. Many of the corals and fish in peoples tanks and in the trade will only be in books in 50 years. A customer should consider this when buying something.

Well said Ben.Â

its his tank his money his house he can shit in tank if he wants to not our place to tell him what he can have