Fish Keeping Manual

[Fishlock Holmes]

[I'm not sure if I'm posting this in the right section. If not, my apologies.]

I run the fish department at the LFS I work at, and I try my hardest to make sure my employees sell the correct fish to the correct people. There are several of us who are comfortable advising customers about fish, and the others are clearly instructed to come get one of us if they run across something they're not sure about. Despite my best efforts, from time to time a customer is sold the wrong thing, and that just burns me up to no end (for example, I learned yesterday that the new kid sold some 2 angelfish to go in a 55 painfully overstocked with comet goldfish). So, I've decided to work on a "manual" for my employees to refer to if they're not sure about a certain fish. By no means do I mean to make the Be-All, End-All Fish Keeping Bible, but I'd like to write up some short "basic info" pages about things.

My thought was to whip up a page on each of the main types of fish we have (FW only), with some quick stats about size, feeding, minimum requirements, and suggested tankmates for each. Here are some fish I'd like to cover:

*Livebearers
*Tetras--small and large
*Barbs--small and large
*Cichlids--dwarf, African, SA, CA, etc.
*Goldfish
*Pond fish
*Catfish
*"Algae Eaters"
*Cold water fish
*Oddballs

I'd also like to write a few pages about tank set up and maintenance:

*Starting a new tank
*The Nitrogen Cycle
*Testing the water (we offer free testing for anyone)
*Overstocking
*Daily, weekly, monthly maintenance
*Troubleshooting
*What to recommend for a 10g tank (what the majority of our customers have)
*What to recommend for "desktop aquariums" under 5g
*What can go in a bowl

I realize this is a lot, but I figure I can work on this for several weeks, and add to it as I see fit. I don't need lots of info on each topic, simply enough so that if one of my employees isn't sure about something, he can quickly flip to the right page so he knows what to recommend to the customer (another example: a while back a girl sold a fish without knowing what it ate... the customer had to come back the next day to ask me what to feed it!). I also realize it would probably be better to just stick a copy of Dr. Axelrod's Atlas on the fish desk, but let's face it, my employees won't care to read through such a huge book, and I know they'd be much more inclined to use a manual condensed down to just the very rough basics.

So, the point to my long-winded post is... Do any of you have suggestions on what to include in this type of thing? In particular, those of you who work/worked in a LFS? I'm open to anything!

 

[Fishlock Holmes]

Of course, if anyone knows of a book with concise but accurate info that would work just as well, I'm all ears! I just haven't ever found a book quite like what I'm wanting...

 

[dr_sudz]

A lot of the maintenance portion on what is to be done, or the cycle or new set ups can be done as hand outs, which the employees can know hands down and should before talking with a customer. Then it can be sent home with the customer so that they have the information at their fingertips and when things go horribly wrong you can say did you refer back to the info i gave you?
The rest comes from experience, and I would always have the newb employee stand with the client to learn as the customer when they are unsure of particular fish ect. Manual is soo hard to pin down every combination and there are things where people do what is in complete contrast to the "rules" and it works for them, so its just better to have good knowledge taught then written. Teach to think, not so much to know.

 

[Fishlock Holmes]

I agree, dr sudz. Like you mentioned, I have newbies follow me around and listen to my conversations with customers... That seems to help more than anything. And thankfully most are very eager to learn.

I do my best to educate the employees, I truly do. However, I have no say when it comes to hiring, and some of our employees, well... I'm sure you've dealt with that type of employee before. And I've come to the realization that, unless I come up with something they can easily flip to to double-check info, they will make an assumption and sell the wrong thing. Like I said, I'm not trying to make a Be-All, End-All Book of Fish Laws, simply quick info sheets providing accurate info on size, preferred water conditions, minimum tank requirements, and feeding info. Also, I'd like to add other bits here and there (i.e. No, GloFish are NOT dyed, or Yes, tetras ARE schooling fish).

I like the idea of hand outs... I think I'll definitely do that!