local fish stores lie too

[B_IN_SD]

Its the responsibility of the LFS to educate themselves on fish identification.

And to educate the customer. A happy customer is a repeat customer, if you don't like what you hear from a certain lfs go to another or go on-line.

I would say you need to inform yourself before any trip to your lfs. Do not let the lfs or a impulse lead you to purchase any livestock.

 

[bigbadfish711]

It might not be the lfs with the issues.
It could be the supplier they deal with.
Honestly, I know pretty much nothing about festae (so yeah, I would use the internet there)
but the lfs could be ordering festaes and know nothing about them.
The supplier sends them something that somewhat looks like a festae and they don't question it.
A lot of mistakes happen with suppliers. Heck, I ordered OB red zebras and they sent me red zebras. When I asked about it to the supplier it was pretty much, sorry, we sent you OB red Zebras, you must not know what they look like, or they will gain different colours as they grow...

big difference between this

http://www.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=...a=X&ei=LfWBTe-FCqmP0QHtk43PCA&ved=0CEYQ9QEwBA

and this

http://www.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=...h0gGSo4m9CA&page=1&ndsp=24&ved=1t:429,r:4,s:0

literally, in any store, it normally comes down to the buyer knowing info they need about their fish.

If the buyer knows what they want, then there are no problems.

+1

Looks like the LFS did not know what they had and neither did you. Sorry but return the fish.

 

[SimonL]

A large part of the problem is supplier related. I can't tell you the number of times we've gotten things labeled incorrectly, like getting Tiger Motas listed as Umbies (repeatedly). Also, the LFS workers are only human, they aren't omniscient, all-knowing fish gods. If you're not a CA cichlid fan, a Uro looks pretty similar to a Festae. Easy to simply assume the supplier knows what they're selling.

Its the responsibility of the LFS to educate themselves on fish identification.

I know a lot about fish. However, I can't name every locality, sub-species, colour-morph, regional variant, etc, of every fish the store might possibly get in the future. It's impossible for one person to know everything about the thousands upon thousands of fish/plants/inverts/etc that might show up in the store.

Best thing you can do is call the store, explain the issue and if they're decent people they should give you a refund or store credit (or if you want to keep the fish, give you a credit for the price difference).

 

[dogofwar]

There's a difference between lying and not knowing. I'd bet that the LFS - and the person who bagged them - didn't know that they were selling uros as festaes.

If you want quality, properly identified fish, best thing to do is to join your local fish club...

Matt

 

[Red_Belly_Pacu]

Even a reputable LFS in my area, would label a mayan cichlid a red terror. It would be better if they wrote a false red terror but it is usually the buyer's decision on what it actually is since a real red terror and a mayan cichlid look very similiar.

 

[Stramn]

The issue is the store has a no returns policy. The tank listed the species on the tank as being ex.C. Festae and the owner is more of an angelfish kinda guy. Still he can id almost every pleco and African cichlid by image alone, and has been in the fish business for over 30 years. You would figure since it was he who bagged said fish could have at least looked in the bag from the shipper and saw the big ass tail spots and been like wait return to sender I ordered Festae not mayans. Had the tank been "red terrors" I could see how it would be my fault but it wasn't. And the mayans he sold me... met a tragedy of am end. One devoured by my clown knife the others death by power head inlet tube. Sad but true. That's why today I put sponge filters on my powerheads just in case other fish suicide. Still 25 bux wasted in my mind

 

[dmopar74]

if you can tell the difference between the fish, why did you buy them in the first place?

you took a gamble with an unfamilar species to you, you lost. $25 is a drop in the bucket with this hobby, live and learn.

 

[Crazyfrontosa]

LOL @ Komodo182

 

[smarchant22]

where i live i have two lfs. 1 is super small, he has 90 percent saltwater, and doesnt special order. the other is huge, but a 20 min drive. needless to say i tend to go there for selection problem is, they BS me all the time. before i go i tend to do a ton of research both on google, and a lot on MFK. i called the lfs store out last time i went for telling me that a discus with out pure R/O water will NEVER survive. when i called them out(the owner) one of the other employees who is usually quiet and doesn't help me pulled me aside. he told me he only uses tap water, and explained his technique and went on to tell me about the BS the owner tells ppl to keep himself in business. funny how the guy has to lie when hes the only LFS within like 100 miles. the whole point of this is, not everyone is trying to BS u lol

 

[SimonL]

been like wait return to sender I ordered Festae not mayans.

Return to sender? You kidding? The fish aren't even worth the cost of the shipping. Best they'd get is a credit on the next order.

Also, the fish died regardless of whether they were Uros or Festae...