"The Pet Store said THIS IS OKAY" | Fish Tank Review 116

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#Shorts

[@BerserkGorilla]

At my Petco there's a guy named John. He has a planted 240 gallon aquarium, and he's been in the hobby for longer than I've been a live. He's very knowledgeable and gives good advice too. Every Petco needs a John :)

[@cockatoode705]

John is underpaid. Every petco needs to raise their wages so more johns work there :)

[@BerserkGorilla]

I gotta go talk to John, gonna see if he can get some alternanthra species in stock.

[@MyNameMojo]

The two petcos near my house each have a john. And there’s a 3rd john that shows up at the two stores from time to time. It’s so nice to have a john

[@themute9354]

Everyone needs a John in their life

[@Casual-Chaos]

I used to be the "John" at Petco in Freehold NJ

[@katherine7938]

Went to a local pet shop yesterday to get plants. Some lady in there wanted to set up a small fish bowl without filtration for a Betta, the shopkeeper straight up told her that keeping a fish like that is an abuse, made me proud to have a store in the area where ppl know their stuff and are not afraid to tell the costumer :)

[@pjp9383]

I was at a LFS with a really good reputation yesterday, and a lady came in to buy a betta for her classroom. Unfortunately, she was planning to put it in a bowl. The employee hinted around, but didn't handle it the way I wished he had. He did steer her to purchasing some kind of plant to add to the set up though, to help with the water quality. I had to leave, they were still talking things through when I left, so hopefully he at least built enough rapport that she'll come looking for help when she runs into trouble.

[@nourhanateout7187]

Dude same if I see an associate saying false stuff I will literally interpret them and be like NO bettas definitely need filters 💛

[@screamingfrog3863]

Unfortunately working at a pet store right now the biggest problem usually is not the employees but the bosses trying to make a quick buck. We’re technically not supposed to deny a sale of fish even if they plan on putting in a bowl. However I let the customers know to the best of my ability that they need a filter and heater and that I do not recommend it. Some people listen and care some people do not and there is not much you can do about it. With the other animals thankfully we are able to deny sales more when the care is not adequate.

[@H0N4M11]

W shopkeeper

[@rat_dragon]

My Petco's actually really cool! A year ago they drew the nitrogen cycle on a chalk board with a betta. On the goldfish tanks they wrote "Goldfish need large tanks as they can reach up to a foot long!" The new manager has also been bringing in unique fish such as gold neon tetras, pea puffers, sparkling gouramis, peacock gudgeons, pearlscale goldfish, flowerhorns and the occasional arowana. Never in 8 years of shopping at this Petco have I seen it this cool :)

[@FishForThought]

pretty darn awesome sounding

[@mariewakahisa3916]

Same with my store! We get a bunch of cool stuff like discus, arowana, and wild fish like African butterfly fish and lungfish.

[@joelabraham6834]

Lucky bro. Here in New Zealand all the cool fish are illegal to own.

[@Bella-ib9fu]

This sounds like my store! They drew the nitrogen cycle on the side of our plant take and all of the other tanks have fun facts about the fish written on the glass 😁 its awesome to hear that they arent all bad.

[@rat_dragon]

@@Bella-ib9fu Seems Petco is getting betta (pun most definitely intended)

[@VaxTax]

I was kicked out of a pet store for correcting an employee, she told me she knew better she was the one with the job. She was telling a mom of a 6 year old that bowls were the best for a fish because they are the easiest to clean and the smaller the better for children to do themselves.

[@creeperYT9824]

Bomb that pet store (before bombing that take all fishes and stuff)

[@moekitsune]

@@creeperYT9824 hey let's not encourage violence

[@creeperYT9824]

@@moekitsune i was just joking but those people need to be put in jail for telling false information and making some fishes die

[@idekwtfqqq9524]

Feels like she’s not thinking about the fish well-being but what’s easier for the kid…

[@janethesnow2080]

I mean...how she was describing it sounds like she had the people in mind rather than the fish so technically she was right if you don't count for the actual fish in mind

[@bekahpainter8156]

I about died of shock in Petco yesterday. I was looking for substrate to start a planted tank, and mentioned your videos. She ALSO watches your videos, and while bagging up my new guppies, explained how she takes what you advise others to do in order to better her own tanks. FFT for the win!

[@JamItOut44]

before i found this channel, i thought a tank upgrade was moving my goldfish from a critter keeper with ONLY an air stone to a 10 gallon tank. now he’s in a 55 gallon long with a friend i rescued from the pet store i started working at. they were both sitting at the bottom of their tanks before i got them into the 55 gal. now they seem to never stop swimming and exploring :) i know more about fish now than i will ever know about another animal and i advocate for them at the pet store the most 💖

[@FishForThought]

ay let's FREAKIN GOOOO!

[@hidden_jem_]

This is so freaking sweet! Kudos to you for learning and growing!

[@KelasKakapAnimation]

I was a dumb teenager when I first started fish keeping, the fish store offered me a tank exactly like 0:57 and 6 comets with 20% discount. I fell for it, a few days later I gave 5 comets to my friend and bought a 25 gallon for the one, which I still keep until now. Can't believe I spent a lot of time and money just for one comet, but it was worth it 😂

[@rat_dragon]

25 gallons is certainly better than 1 - the largest Comet Goldfish was around 24" long!

[@piercecowley255]

I'm just hoping that your friend knew about comet goldfish

[@iLikeDEERz]

Yes, started off with a 3 gal. Now I have a 40 gal. With no fish yet, I would like to keep one goldfish in their, is that too small for a goldfish??

[@투루-l3e]

@@iLikeDEERz i think you could maybe keep one betta, might be pushing it though😳

[@iLikeDEERz]

@@투루-l3e oh.

[@piercecowley255]

The best thing I have ever heard in a pet shop was unfortunately very simply an employee saying goldfish need at least 100 litres( a little more than 20 gallons) and another 40 litres ( around ten gallons) for ever other goldfish you add, then started suggesting mollies when the family said they can’t afford such a large tank

[@silllykitten329]

Mollies do best in at least a 20 tho, tell them to get a betta lmao

[@piercecowley255]

@@silllykitten329 unfortunately I'm way to nervous to speak to random people

[@sidthompson9538]

The last time I heard a customer talk about a goldfish was when she was trying to purchase another ‘friend’ for her child’s goldfish. The fish was in a 1 gallon tank, and she didn’t want him to be lonely due to the other goldfish she had dying. But oh no no, she wasn’t asking the employee for advice on why the last fish died, she was asking if there was a special tank in the back she could pay extra to get a goldfish from that hadn’t been in the display tanks yet (since the display tanks for feeder goldfish always have dead ones in them) she thought it was gross and didn’t want to get her fish sick. That was the only time I’ve seen a petsmart employee absolutely shocked, and I was behind the customer’s back struggling not to burst out laughing from the absurdity of what the customer was saying. Of course the employee kind of nervously said that she wouldn’t recommend getting another fish for the tank, and then suggested moving the goldfish to a minimum of 55 gallons or donating it to a pond if she couldn’t get a tank that large because of “the sickness” already present in the water. The lady huffed off without buying anything else and without a fish. All of their fish have ich anyways so it’s not like they’re trained enough to genuinely care for fish at a professional level, but they’re being trained better in asking tank size/equipment before selling live animals at least.

[@kereksfishies7621]

The lady that sold me my blood parrot asked what I was putting her in qnd I said my angelfish tank while her tank cycles, the lady got the biggest sign of relief and started explaining how someone came in a few days ago trying to buy the beautiful little BP to put in a predatory tank. She was one of the few gems 😄

[@ghxst.girl_]

I remember when I did a water test for a customer who had a huge tank with native (Australian) River fish, his ammonia result came back blue, literally dark ass blue. All of his fish were alive and thriving, I was shocked.

[@jeffalbillar7625]

Fish can handle alot if the changes are gradual. They won't live for too long if it stays that way.

[@qtrek985]

AUSSSSIEEE AS WELLLLLL OVER HERE, my step dad's turning his 6x2x2 into a native tank we're gonna probably go for smaller natives but like gudgeons and a stuff like that we're also making it planted to the sh*t house

[@yunge9482]

@@jeffalbillar7625 what about with tap water? My uncle had a 9inch Oscar he would feed live and change his water with tap water fish lived for three years true story

[@jeffalbillar7625]

@@yunge9482 well, like I said, it won't live long. 3 year's for an Oscar is not even half it's normal life span.

[@yunge9482]

@@jeffalbillar7625 I mean it only passed cause my uncle went to jail and he had no one to care for it

[@zmeyaborchardt8773]

Man, I wish I still had a picture if the two koi in a 3 gallon? my grandpa gave me when I was little. Chris would hate that. I remember being alarmed by how cramped they were. They survived the winter, I gave them to an uncle on the other side of my family that spring. Last I checked they are still living in his outdoor koi pond.

[@spookydad7389]

I have to explain to cheap parents that .5L bowls aren't fit for any fish nearly everyday at my Petco job, and the looks of shock and anger i get really do hit different since they're mad i had the gall to correct them when they literally asked me what they need for the fish

[@thesacredlobo]

I don't even get the anger considering a lot of these people seem to go to Petco which run a $1 per gallon sales on 29 Gallon Tanks and below every now and again. Though admittedly it's been a while since I've last been to a Petco so maybe they've changed the rules on that promotion or don't have it anymore.

[@spookydad7389]

@@thesacredlobo we currently have 50% off all tanks, but that doesn't matter cause "oh but we don't have the room at home for a big tank!" If you don't have a big backyard, don't get a big energetic dog, if you don't have room for a proper tank don't get the fish. I don't get why people think they can cut corners like that, honestly...

[@thesacredlobo]

@@spookydad7389 - My problem with setting up a fish tank is that my room is pretty loaded up on tanks for my Hamsters, Gerbils, and Mice at the moment. Though, I'll admit I probably should have gotten a smaller hamster for my 36 x 18 x 12 tank since Sakura has managed to escape twice. I've basically had to take most of her stuff away at this point so she can't reach the mesh screen cover since she can easily chew holes in it. Oddly enough I have a much smaller dj hamster in a 90 Gallon Turtle Tank, but the last time I tried switching them around Sakura was trying to chew at the tape covering the space for a filter. So, I really can't keep her in there for fear she'll escape again. And I only caught her the last two times due to sheer dumb luck. The first time she escaped she taped my foot while I was recording a Let's Play episode and second time I caught her at the bottom of my stair well after I came home during my 30 minute break at work. I really don't think I'm going to get that lucky a third time. I have one white female gerbil named Snowball in a 29 Gallon Tank at the moment. I probably should have waited for Petco to get a new shipment of Gerbils in so I could have gotten a pair of gerbils though. After all, it has to get pretty lonely living in tank by yourself when your social animal, but I'm afraid to introduce any new gerbils to the tank at this point since it might lead to fights. I have another gerbil named Frank that got from one of my co-workers who wanted to get rid of him because he's a biter. Admittedly I've never been bitten by Frank, but I was also told she tended to forget to feed/provide water to him. To be fair, Frank tends to be a bit of a pain in my butt since he's constantly filling in his water bowl with aspen shavings. I tried switching him over to a water bottle one time, but he chewed a hole in it. And that was even with the bottle put in one of those protector things. He also likes to chew on his silent spinner every now and again as well. And, I've got a pair of mice sharing a pair of bin cages I connected together with some PVC pipe at the moment as well. Admittedly I used to have a lot more mice, but these are the last two from a group of eight or ten that I bought about two years ago I believe. And outside the issue with me being basically loaded to the brim with no space. My bedroom is in the attic so the temperature is a bit more variable then I'd like for a fish tank as well since it can easily get up to the high 80s/low 90s in my room even with my window AC running. Thankfully, heating in winter isn't as much of an issue.

[@spookydad7389]

@@thesacredlobo cool. I still think if you don't have the necessary space available, you shouldn't get the animal

[@thesacredlobo]

@@spookydad7389 - True, but I'd still like to find a use for the 10 Gallon and 20 Gallon Long I have at some point as well. Admittedly my mom has considered letting me set up a fish tank in her exercise/office room. So maybe I can setup a 10 Gallon Betta Tank or 20 Gallon Long with some Neon Tetras or something in the future. At least her room downstairs even if it is a bit chilly is a bit more consistent in terms of temperature.

[@Eden_Rivers]

I was just at a Petco this weekend, and spent more time waiting for the guy to help me than anything. The customer who showed up after me was helped first, and when it was finally my turn, I asked if they get panda corys in often, and he shrugged and said, "I don't know. The fish come in but I don't know what they are." At least he was honest.

[@kenna1038]

i work at a pet store and 100% the most frustrating part of dealing with customers is getting sworn at when i refuse to sell a fish for a bowl lol. seeing good tanks makes me happy

[@ItsLaurenE]

Getting sworn at in retail is the worst. This is not related to fish, tho when i was as at Toys R Us you'd be shocked how many things I'd been called, the words used in front of their children over a store not having a certain whatever in stock! I smh every time thinking about the year pieface was the "it" thing for Christmas. Bad memories. While yesterday I thanked every employee i encountered wishing them a happy Thanksgiving and saying thanks and good luck this weekend.

[@twiststar6557]

Yep, happens like at least once every week or two

[@abigailmcree6542]

I keep hermit crabs and its so great hearing someone acknowledge they need so much more than what people think😭 It's heartbreaking to see the conditions some people think is okay :(

[@Gingerblossom6969ily]

It's so sad to see what hermit crabs have to go through. Besides family cats, a hermit crab was my first ever pet at the ripe age of 4. They were in a 5 gallon filled with nothing but sand. And people thinks that's GREAT. I know people who would keep them in the same tiny plastic container they came in from the fair for their entire, short lived lives. Kudos to you for keeping them properly, they deserve so much more love

[@katieholvast4726]

When I was younger (11 or so) I was frustrated because a pet store didn't want to sell me more than 2 goldfish (comets 12cm) because I hadn't bothered/known to cycle my tank. I'm now so happy because that woman set me on the path to researching and understanding proper fish care.

[@fierycoookie4508]

Chris:Convinces parents and Girlfriend that betta deserves 5 gallon tank My parents:SMOLL FISH SMOL TANK,

[@FishForThought]

nah my parents be the same tbh but I do keep spamming that smol tanks r bad xD

[@mordercainear9573]

I use 2 gallons with a homemade filter and my betta is fine, i get people want a big space for bettas but 2 gallons is enough if your room is small

[@popsiclesticks5078]

@@mordercainear9573 if your room is too small to get a reasonable sized tank to provide your fish with the enrichment it needs then you probably shouldn't have a fish :(

[@yourfriend8558]

there’s this guy in my town who has been selling bettas for something like 19 years but he promotes freaking 1.5 gallons, but all of the bettas he sells are SO HEALTHY?? but deffo not happy

[@mordercainear9573]

@@popsiclesticks5078 the point is, you guys make a a big deal out of everything, yeah sure 5 gallons is great but 2 is enough for it to be happy,

[@devonhuynh5832]

I dont watch you very often anymore but I want to thank you, you gave me so much good info at a time where i set up my first tank and i can confidently casually enjoy aquascaping

[@FishForThought]

Thanks for stopping by again Devon! Glad to hear update from ya

[@taylorhillard4868]

Honestly I don't understand why small aquarium marketing hasn't tapped into the planted tank side of things. Like a beta in a bowl is fine and all, but people will get bored with it eventually because its just a fish in a bowl. Throw in some good quality substrate, a mix of low maintenance plants, and some interesting stone or wood, and BOOM. Now you have an interesting aquascape that doesn't even need fish. But you can still take it a step further and put in some small fish like endlers live bearers or some cool shrimp. Then you've got a cool little chunk of nature in your house. I'd rather have one nicely scaped tank with no fish than a tank with no scaping and fish. But I guess that's just me.

[@SylverScourge]

Pet fish market wants fish abuse so they can sell more and more fish. Cause when they die after 2 weeks ofc fish abusers will replace it and use the fish as decor again

[@Mlemmytastic]

Probably because it takes too much effort to educate every customers and small bowls are probably easier (or faster to produce/profit off of) XD

[@jasonlim2508]

I can absolutely relate to the filter climbing thing. My ember tetras would take turns to try jump into the filter and its so cute to see them jump and just flow out again XD

[@newinglands]

My daughter works at Petco and is incredibly knowledgeable, especially in the fish department. She spends hours and hours doing research on any animal she is not familiar with and does her utmost to give customers the best advice so the animals have a great home. They routinely question customers about their set ups and have refused to sell fish or other pets to people who were not prepared. Petco has upped their game in the past few years, I get so tired of them constantly being bashed.

[@someonessidechannel1485]

Most petcos are still bad, but at least they're getting better The one i work at has be touted as having "the best fish out of any petco i've seen" once, and my superiors work hard at keeping it that way I'm slowly learning as well... still got a long, long way to go to catch up

[@sidthompson9538]

When we bash the petcos and petsmarts, we’re bashing the overall corporations. They don’t require individual store managers to have much of a standard for animal care. They don’t require nearly enough training or vetting. They don’t get animals from very reliable sellers. They don’t have correct care information built into their websites/offered in store. They actively supply habitats and products that are harmful to animals. Store managers often push improper products to make more money. Etc. I’m sure your daughter’s lovely, but just because she does a good job working in petco, doesn’t mean it’s a good or ethical establishment.

[@junebug8317]

I started watching your videos a couple months ago, I now own seven different fish tanks, the biggest, newest one being 300L. Some of my fish are special needs (From Scoliosis to missing eyes). You've really inspired me Chris, thank you.

[@idk_im_horrible_at_making_9268]

I’ve noticed there are petcos all over that are trying to improve. My local petco used to be a sh^t show a couple years ago. You walked in and it smelled like dead fish and very..very dirty rodents. It got so bad I heard that if they did not get their act together the store was done. And the employees didn’t know a thing about anything in that store. Now fast forward to this year, it’s clean, doesn’t stink, and every employee there knows a lot about at least one animal in that store. That place has really come a long way!

[@ajh3218]

Had my snail in a bowl with no lid during a full tank cleaning for 15 minutes. Little guy made it out of the bowl and into my sink, inches from the drain, but luckily, I caught him in time. For being snails, they're quick sometimes

[@glizzygladiator8055]

Love how Chris zoomed in on the nerite and still didn’t notice the small catfish right there 4:54

[@beepboop7219]

Listening to Chris's voice and repashy is so relaxing

[@FishForThought]

My voice is more relaxing than repashy's hmpf

[@beepboop7219]

@@FishForThought obviously lol

[@iLikeDEERz]

@@FishForThought yes indeed

[@silversiren7046]

My "local" pet store (next town over) got a bunch of new orandas in. I'd love a tank, so I always stare at their stock every time I visit to shop. Last time I was there though those new orandas were chasing a fourth around the tank over and over. Nipping at it. So I watched a bit, thinking they might stop, and when they didn't went to find staff. The woman immediately rushed to move the poor fish the minute she saw it and, when she asked her colleague, he said he had moved another oranda from the same tank the day before for the same problem. Both victim fish were pure orange, rather than the calico of their peers, and there were some decorations in the tanks to interrupt line of sight. The water was crystal clear and the tanks were low to medium stocking for their size (they were quite small orandas) so there didn't seem to be any environmental reason for them to be so aggressive to their orange buddies. They luckily had additional empty tanks to move the fish but does anyone know why they might have been bullying?

[@bardessamethyst]

Mondays at work: To do list an ocean-wide. Fires to put out from the weekend. A whole week to plan out. Uuuuuugghhh... Oh wait! It's Monday! There's a new Fish Tank Review! Mondays are the best!! Seriously, you help set the tone for my whole week. A little joy goes a long way! Much love!

[@Vydonis]

I work at a pet store since start of last month. We get trained 2.5 hours a week by the owner of the small store chain who gets ocean-based college students (all levels) sent to his place to ask questions... He's been all over the world. I can brag about him but in the one class (out of two) in fish class I learned the basics and why goldfish are awesome. He keeps a "finding nemo" tank, and his 'dory' is 23 years old. TL;DR I get trained enough to tell you to research things on your own because you won't spend half an hour listening to me.

[@deathsonggaming]

Yeah bearded dragons can eat pellets but I wouldn’t recommend them as the only food… that may cause problems as you said! Love your videos!

[@troyismd]

Both of my parents were fish keepers, so they actually encourage the hobby for me. Have a 20 Gallon with 4 albino Cory's and around 6-8 male guppies. Btw love FTR and Repashy's soothing voice.

[@YGAPlayz]

you should probably get at least 6 corys but 4 is an ok start

[@breannenichols7]

I have the petco near me to thank about starting a planted tank and telling me what to get and then told me to research the nitrogen cycle and watch you tubers like Cory from aquarium coop before you come back for fish. Without all that I would have done stuff way wrong and came home with fish too. Corys planted tank 101 was amazing the fertilizer method worked swimmingly

[@user-N20]

As a kid I never realized how lucky all the fish my parents own are. They have a koi pond that came with the house, and over the years they have stocked it slowly with a number of koi. Now it has about 14-16 fish in there. The biggest one is around 2.5 feet long (none of the others have gotten that big, they've stayed around 1-1.5 feet, so she's an outlier) and the pond has its own massive filtration system, two waterfalls to help with oxygenation, and plant life. That pond is more than 2000 gallons at least and is about 3-4.5 feet deep (depth varies bc of sloping). It makes me happy that the koi have so much space. At a fair many years ago we won two goldfish. One of them ended up living quite a few years but the other one didn't make it past a year despite our best efforts. But I'm glad that they were able to have such a large space while they lived instead of a tiny bowl or some other terrible equivalent.

[@blakepoe6916]

i work at petco and over the past 3 years i’ve been educating myself as much as possible i really do care about the life we sell and never let any fish go to a bad home but the fact people who buy bettas don’t have to talk to an employee before they buy them makes me so mad.

[@SelkaAndHorses]

I have an ampularia in a lidless tank with some shrimps. He gets to the very edge of the glass and than drops back in. It might be that over 5 cm of space between water and edge of the glass is enough to make him question his decisions about life. He has been there for over two months now.

[@fishchess1678]

my Petco is quite reliable for info. They keep bettas in larger cups than normal to start and keep some in tanks around 5 gallons. Second, they have many saltwater tanks with lionfish, coral, and so many other fish and inverts. The fact that they can keep coral shows that they take good care of their fish. Also, their manager has many different tanks and used to be an employee. I once saw him telling someone that the minimum size for a betta was 5 gallons.

[@picklejuice4281]

At my petco the fish guy is actually really knowledgeable and when I used to not know much abt the hobby he was trying to help me figure stuff out and I’m very grateful for his help

[@gelatinoussir5806]

I work at a pet store, and when I don't know something, I tell the customer that and offer to look it up with them. I have a deep love for the animals that I tend to, and I never want to give any misinformation that could hurt the pet or the pet parent. And me personally, if I were in their place, I would rather be told "I don't know," rather than "That should be okay," and two days later the animal is dead. My store sells and adopts out a wide variety of animals, and it can be hard to remember all the information for each animal. A majority of the time, we have care guides that can give us basic answers to commonly asked questions. But to the person that wanted to know if robo hamsters liked mealworms, thank you for being patient with me as I searched for the answer. (the short answer was yes, but to make sure that they were freeze dried because live meal worms are able to bite). I have my own betta fish, and I do not recommend anything under 5 gallons. Bettas have emotions as well, and if they get bored or depressed because the tank is too small or there isn't enough room for stimulation, then they can get stressed, which may very well lead to a shortened life span. I have my betta and a nerite snail in a 5 gallon currently, and I looking to upgrade to a 10 gallon in the near future because I really like live plants, and I want there to be enough room for the betta and the plants. My betta also enjoys swimming against the current of the filter every so often, and if I get any more plants, the only place I could put them is where the current for the filter is, and I don't want to take away the stimulation. I only have some dwarf hair grass and a medium sized amazon sword in there for live plants, but I'm hoping to buy a larger sword to replace the artificial plant because my betta has long fins and they get snagged occasionally. I also have a small hiding decoration, but the snail gets more use out of it than my betta, since he usually relaxes in the leaves. I feed my betta a variety of foods, which include two different brands of pellets (one high protein and the other higher fiber), freeze dried bloodworms, occasionally frozen ones, and then freeze dried mysis. I tried freeze dried daphnia, but no matter how I prepped it, he wanted nothing to do with it. I'm still learning how to care for my betta and correcting any mistakes immediately when I notice I'm making them, so if anyone has any advice, I'd love to hear it! Also, my betta is a complete jerk, so whenever I go to feed my snail, I do it at night when my betta is in the leaves because otherwise my betta will take the algae wafer for himself (I only put in half) and then get super bloated. I forgot to wait the thirty minutes before dropping the wafer in a couple days ago, so I'm currently fasting my betta for a few days, or until the bloating goes down.

[@johannfernandes9127]

me: when i put a plant in the substrate my cory : let me do the aquascaping

[@sampeacaml9307]

That one at 7:44 had me terrified, which clearly shows that I know next to nothing about aquascaping. But...I feel like I am going to become a little too obsessed with fishes. I guess mine being away from friends and working at a rather boring job gives me some longing to care for small animals.

[@Jackowwww]

Repashy : *always sits on mic* My crestie : *runs away from me* Keep up the work ! Great videos!

[@seh13]

The first video with the little white fish tank my sister had that tank with a beta fish and it was less than an inch long, and had no fins, so I took it and got it in a 5 gallon with a filter and it grew so much and turned a beautiful blue color and it just died after a long happy life. (Also the “filter” in the tiny tank is cap does not work at all)

[@Thestoneofdoom]

As a animal manager of petco…these are indeed scary words.

[@andis4156]

I'm surprised to hear that mystery snails are escape artists; I've had mine with no lid for about 4 months and no attempts yet he stays happily beneath the water line. Hopefully I didn't jinx myself...

[@sexicbiscut6924]

Im the animal manager at a Petco and the worst is trying to educate people and them getting violent with me for just telling them bettas go in 5 gallons or more lol.

[@alisonhart7224]

True hero's in this world are the people that actually keep goldfish correctly.

[@marieknight9385]

I just recently got my son his first Betta fish and one Petco employee was ready to load me up with products until I told her that I owned a fish tank before, the change in tone was one of both relief and caution. The Betta is very happy too, real plants, hollowed out rock to hide in, and plenty of choices in food Funny story: my previous fish tank was a 55 gallon tank for my Oscar and pocosomus, no real plants but very happy fish. I used to get goldfish to feed to my Oscars but two of them managed to evade the big boys and hid in their decorations for the rest of their lives, they both grew too big for the Oscar to eat and they were smart enough to figure how to stay hidden. So I ended up with two extra fish because they really wanted to live. I had to get rid of the tank after a few years though, I was too busy to keep it in peak condition.

[@mandysmenagerie4466]

When I first got fish 15 years or so ago I bought a 5g tank and the pet shop told me "yea that will be a fine tank for about 5 goldfish and 10 little fish" also told me to just fill it up and let the filter run for a week then add my fish

[@thesunflowerwarrior1]

I couldn’t find my dwarf pleco one time… I had filled up the water too much after my maintenance session, and he swam upstream and was eating the algae that was growing on the re-used filter sponge.

[@jadetears85]

The natural that tank wasn't only a nerite snail, there is a small looks like Asian stone catfish. Can see it 4.51 mark on this video when zoomed in. And I love watching your videos. I have 2 tropical tanks I'm working on and will submit once I get them where I want and need them to be

[@Slicknewt]

My first betta was in a 5 gallon without a lid but my dad put in driftwood and floating plants so it looked cool. Idk what the filter was he changed out the water alot

[@Bella-ib9fu]

As a petco employee it breaks my heart to know that this is true for lots of stores. Fortunately im at a store where the aquatics specialists have been in the hobby for years (10+) and their standards are higher for the animals than I’ve seen in other stores. Not every chain pet store worker is uneducated, but they do exist. Thats why as pet owners its our job to always do the research ourselves first before going to anybody else for advice. Theres so many resources on forums and such. We all have to do better as pet people. You cant expect someone to know everything especially in the [chain] pet store industry theres a lot thrown onto us and i can tell you that most of us are doing our best but to not have very many specific departments and having people randomly pick up slack for others, you get thrown into situations where literally all you can do is your best while trying to help the customer. I just want to formally apologize on behalf of all chain pet store workers that simply made a mistake because they were doing their best with the information they were given. I cannot speak for the ones that are ONLY there for the paycheck. Those kinds of people should not be allowed to work with animals. There should be better screening done in my opinion when it comes to handling and caring for animals. Anyways thats it for this random persons blah blah moment. Thanks for listening if you did because I dont think i even made a point.

[@Aquafinity]

Thanks for sharing! Yeah, I agree with you. I try to educate people about fishkeeping on my fish channel! ;)

[@twiststar6557]

It really should be more on the customer/pet owner in this society rather than the overworked and undertrained store employee. People get mad when an untrained first week employee sells them a fish they did no research on at all before deciding it was pretty and bringing it home. Then when that fish turns out to be an aggressive cichlid that kills all the guppies in their tank they get mad at the store and it's employees. The employees should definitely be trained better and such, no doubt, but the fault should be more on the pet owner who did no research in the care of their pets

[@carrieschurman7366]

2 of my cherry shrimp got in my low profile filter and I had to take all the media out so I could empty it into a net to get them out. At least when the snail gets in there, she's too slow to run from me.

[@miaharrington9375]

I tried to apply at Petco and Petsmart and one of the questions was will you be willing to basically tell someone things that they don’t need or may harm the animal just to get sales

[@analogcorbin]

Remember guys: Just because you CAN do something, and someone says it's okay to, doesn't mean you SHOULD!

[@Richiko06]

I agree with you! I’m worked at Petco in 2014-2015 and I knew nothing about fish except cleaning the outside glass of their tanks! It wasn’t until 2016 that I started keeping bettas and my roommate had the first tank! I had quite a few small tanks myself and people would bully me on Instagram calling me fish abuser for that reason and it was to the point where my friends jumped in to defend me and I had to go private on my page! I learned from experience and constructive criticism and have started keeping larger tanks my ten gallon started off as a divided betta tank! Now it’s home to my male betta Zora! I’ve had a lot of bettas in my time each one I loved and cared for the oldest betta I had his name was Sakubo he was 3 years old when he died on the day Kobe died 😢 but let’s just say I’ve learned a lot from these beautiful creatures and now I have that ten gallon and another twenty gallon for my fifth Sorority tank! And I couldn’t be happier but what I’m wondering is why my water keeps evaporating so fast?

[@bdkplaysx]

how was your sorority gone? I've heard a lot of horror stories where everything is fine for months...and then one day, one or several are dead or dying. I'm definitely interested in a sorority tank, but I would just feel awful if I came home to that

[@bdkplaysx]

also is your tank near a window or does it have a cover? keeping it near a window will speed up evaporation, but if you have a cover it shouldn't be too drastic

[@alicedraken]

The wood at 10:23 made me think they carved it to look like an Anglerfish. ^O^

[@maryay2061]

I feel like any tik tok account that a person had made for their fish and had a really bad tank and randomly stop posting is probably bc the betta died and they don’t wanna be embarrassed by the public that had been telling them advice

[@fourthenub8946]

“There are endless in there I’m gonna kill this guy” - Chirs

[@duhmemo6212]

Ok, Chris? where do I get just a small amount of substrate for a planted tank? I want to do a micro pond. Beginner friendly plants recommendations are also welcome🤗

[@audrameyer9558]

OMG that goldfish in the bowl of poop water broke my heart 😪....but your comments still made me crack up!! "ADA, take note. Fluval, why are you even still in the game?" 😁😆🤣😂🤣

[@beans7941]

I never understood how parents feel trying to get their kids in bed until I tried planted tank set up. (It's doing pretty well)

[@Stolas_Grimoire]

PROUD OF MYSELF FOR DOING 4 MONTHS REASERCH BEFORE GETTING A BETTA FISH! hes going into a 60 gallon this chistmas might get some community fish and do some reaserch! Currently in a 25 semi planted tank, the rest is silk plant!

[@prathmeshthakre5686]

This is like watching Netflix for aquarium hobby , everything we want regarding hobby is here ! Kudos to you man ! Love from india !!!!

[@FishForThought]

thank you sir! Much love to you and your beautiful country

[@natalienicolebeck]

I have a blue and black colored betta named Sky. She has the EXACT same tank as that girl explaining how to filter works. I used to have snail but it really didn’t work out. The employee said bettas don’t need a filter as much as they need a heater so that’s what I bout. I d opted her from someone who couldn’t take care of her and they gave me a GREAT tank. It included lots of space, a built in filter, and built in led’s. I know she misses that tank but it just stunk *the filter stunk* all the time and it had a leak so we downsized it. I’m so glad she explained because I was left clueless on how it works when I set the tank up! *I also have a orange platy, 2 female and 1 male guppy in a 8x12 tank.*

[@_AquaArt_]

I was watching the new movie, Sheng-Chi when I saw at least a 20 gallon, well planted, tanks. I’m not sure if there were fish in it but it made my day.

[@ZealousIdeal2000]

My local Petco has extremely experienced fish keepers working in the aquatics area, it's really nice I've never had a mystery snail try to escape my tank

[@liquidrockaquatics3900]

I bought the same tank for my 88 year old grandmother. It lets her change about 10% of the water daily and the bottom siphon helps clean the substrate (big white rocks) since it has plenty of gaps.

[@SanoRose123]

For the betta at the beginning, I have had a similar experience. The people at pets at home told me that I could keep a single goldfish in a 20l (5 gallon) tank. I declined and instead chose some other fish, which are now doing well.

[@crimson3532]

I've had a tree frog somehow get into my house, then somehow manage to get in my aquarium filter without being caught by the cats and dogs in the house, thankfully that's been the only time I've had that happen, there have been others that we're just on the glass though

[@dominikakratochvil860]

When I went to our pet shop with my mom to buy Betta for her, a worker there tried to make her buy similar “aquarium” as in first video for her. Just 2 liters big!!! When I told him we had bigger one at home, he tried to convince us to buy at least 5 gruppies to live there with our new Betta. It was first time I was nasty to salesmen in my life. Moms Betta has 15 litres with full ecosystem prepared a month in advance, with live plants and a lot of hidding places, and I still think it’s not big enough for only one Betta

[@RozzanaRose]

Actually I don't keep the lid on my tank and my snails (big mystery snails) never "escape". They come to the top every now and then and once laid a clutch of eggs!

[@Ghostluvses]

My dad is letting me get fish, he ordered me a 10 gallon tank, water conditioner (I don't know what it is sorry,) and some of the rocks (they aren't sharp they're tiny and is not going to be able to hurt the fish) A few decorations, (like Decoration, Gems, Things for the fish to go through, and no, there is not alot of decorations because my dad said it would hurt the fish, and a couple of cute Neon Decorations aswell)

[@Astro.biology]

“A petco employee said this was perfect” Well that’s your first red flag

[@EezoTheChezo]

My petsmart is pretty cool, haven’t been there in person for a while but when my mom went there to get my and my brothers betta fish, I saw some pictures of the tanks. Our bettas were in cups but some of the fish had good looking big tanks, and those bettas were there for a day or two maximum since they were selling out very quickly. It was “first come first serve” too lol

[@kittymichelle3657]

As a pet smart worker i can agree that we know nothing when we get hired. At my store specifically we dont have anything other than some small fish. I knew nothing when i started working there, there is nothing in the training videos they make you watch about how to care for any kind of pet. Ive worked there for a year now and I know about the fish we sell, not a whole lot more than that though and I try to be very open about that. I have my own tanks now and ive been slowly learning and exploring the hobby. However 90% of my knowledge is not from my job its from me doing my own research. Working at a pet store doesn't mean shit and i dont understand why a lot of people think we are trained professional with animals. Even when it comes to dogs and cats they come asking questions that they should be going to a vet about, people think we know so much but in reality we know just about as much as they do. Just found you channel and I really like seeing you show what is a good home and life for these fish. I fucking hate when people come in to buy a betta and they just want a bowl. I'm at least in a position now that i can refuse to sell to these people if they say that's where they're putting the betta. Sorry for the long rant but thank you for the video!!

[@glumpdump7401]

As someone who works at a petco I can say that it really comes down to the store itself. Some stores use either outdated or flat out wrong animal care thats more in-line with what the company wants, while other stores go out of their way to give their animals proper care, despite crappy petco policy. I'm lucky enough to work at a petco that has employees who genuinely care about the animals, and we frequently deny sales from customers who demonstrate that they can't take care of whichever animal they're trying to purchase. Moral of the story, some petco locations suck and some don't, just depends on how each individual store is run.

[@touchofserenity1026]

I felt bad for that kid in the tiktok, there's another one he made that said he's trying to get a bigger tank. I'm thankful the Petco I hit occasionally has people that actually know what they're talking about. Last time I went, I had to wait a while because the associate was actually taking the time to explain the whole cycling system and showing the customer what they needed. We had the dog trainer actually offer to help us and even she knew her stuff! She actually turned down someone because they had said they didn't have a tank ready and told them to come back after their tank was up and running! I normally don't get fish there and hit the LFS, but they had some beautiful Tiger Endlers and some tetras I had been trying to find for a few months that my LFS couldn't get.

[@casper-pj8nf]

Just watched Shang chi (10/10 highly recommend) there was a big fish tank in the background and I didn’t see any stocking. Also at the end there was a beautiful graffitied betta

[@dawnt6791]

Sadly, I agree completely. Some of the worst advice I've ever received (and heard others receive) has been from pet store staff. There are some great ones who actually know what they're talking about, but there are some dangerously (for the animals) ignorant ones out there.

[@annabellekadenbach2258]

i like how filming chris and editing chris are two totally different people

[@hhakijxnajoqowidhdbdj]

I've actually met a petco employee who was good with fish. i was going to get a betta like 5 years ago and got a small tank(i didnt know they needed 5 gallons i was still in middle school.)And she helped me get a proper tank and supplies for the fish. Thank god she helped me or it probably wouldve died in a month.

[@reviewer_random]

never seen a color below that treshold, what a sight!

[@ReaIKinich]

In one of the petsmart in Canada, all of the workers there watch you 😂

[@FishForThought]

which one? I gotta make my way there one day xD

[@smilygriffin1144]

10:53 a big (or even small) budget movie can spend a couple more dollars on a good fish tank

[@Dr.RatioSnail]

Gecko be chilling there. Rapachi's tail slowly creeped back up after you put it down lol

[@paytonDsellers]

Fortunately my petco and petsmart are great the employees have many years of experience in owning and breeding both fish and reptiles, they know their stuff and I’m happy they do. They always ask how big the tank is and if it’s planted or not before they sell you fish.

[@Inder1689]

You can actually keep snails and betta fish in such small tanks provided that you some small submerged aquatic plant for ammonia recycling. I have one betta fish since 4 yrs in a 5 ltr fish bowl

[@kitsunea1499]

I think part of it is the space itself. A betta can definitely survive in a bowl with good water quality, but being stuck swimming in circles has to be incredibly boring for an intelligent fish like a betta. I think a bowl filled with plants is better than an empty five-gallon though. Congrats on keeping your betta alive for so long.

[@njmoonfrost6145]

I would say about 7 or 8 years ago I got really into killifish then into betta fish and REALLY wanted one. I bought a one gallon fish bowl and my first betta. My pet store didn’t have live plants so worked with what i could do. To this day I still feel bad for doing that but I was only 13 years old

[@enricojeremias5425]

4:52 Don't you totally oversee the stone catfish (hara jerdoni) in the picture ? PS: I have a lowboy - a Ultra Low boy. The height is 3/4" and the substrate is endler's livebearers ...

[@qtrek985]

I'm buying a 10l (2.6 gallon) tank with an led light, will I be able to put a single cherry shrimp in their? Also possibly a ramshorn snail? I'm gonna make it planted and I'm gonna be doing water changes for it once a week until the plants start going crazy then I'm gonna let the plants clean the water by them selves and do a water change every 2 months oh and it has an inbuilt filter

[@caffeinegremlin9469]

Sooooo story time- i went to a fish store in PA called Elmer’s and I was trying to get into plants since they had a beautiful planted tank. The kid who was maybe a year older than me told me I didn’t need any substrate or anything and to just shove the plant into the fake gravel I have. Well that plant died and I’m pretty sure it gave my poor betta some kind of fungus and I feel horrible because nothing I have been doing to treat him is working. Still don’t know what to do and stressing :/

[@scubalivestreams3254]

I have two bettas and i keep each of them in separate ten gallon tanks which also have a filter, heater and a ton of plants and honestly before i even thought about getting a fish i did my recerch before i did anything :)

[@benny.w4784]

Today at my local pet-smart I overheard a worker at the aquarium section she was telling a customer how you should not house angel fish and cichlids in the same tank the customer was like but the tag says their peaceful and the worker said oh thats very much incorrect.

[@The-Drone-Hobbyist]

5:58... I had a betta fish a few years ago that would jump in and out of the filter. lol

[@rozumariyamane1772]

Well basically betta fish is the kind of fish that lives normally without a flowing water consistently. Breeders or people that have a lot of bettas keep them in vase with less than 1 gallons and still living well.

[@ellierae3448]

Yep the hermit crab lesson 😂 I still have mine and now they are in a 20 gallon and with the proper set up

[@natashareimert2047]

Speaking of snails escaping, my second snail has disappeared. I’ve checked around the tank on the floor, the wall, behind the tank. He is no where to be found. Straight up just lost in the tank somewhere Update: he was in the tank and after 3 days of checked around the tank he appeared the fourth day, and still alive

[@Chuckle4u]

My local fish store keeps 50+ female betta in the smallest glass bowl possible and they are always sold out in a week... Sold to heaven 😊

[@stephaniewright340]

I'll be the first to admit I don't know everything about Bettas..but I'm always willing to learn..be open minded ..and put to practice the things I've studied... For example I'm thinking about taking out the silk plants and slowly adding real plants to my aquarium..I know it's what is best for my fish... My first Betta was before the internet..it's when you went to the library along with asking workers at your local pet store.."the experienced ppl"...lol.. Looking back..I feel so very bad for my very first Betta..but thankfully I improved... My very first Betta.. everything the book tells you NOT to do I DID!!.. ✓Little round bowl ✓ no filter ✓no heater ✓ feeding flakes ✓ lots of chemicals ✓ colorful rocks and plants ✓ sharp objects ✓ filled with cute hard plastic plants ✓ fish bowl sitting on bookshelf where it can be knocked over 3 times before moving it.. And guess what this poor Betta lived 4 1/2 years...wtf..I am so sorry I did that too him..he was literally trying to commit suicide..I found him not once ..not twice..but 3 times outside his bowl...and the last time left him paralyzed I thought but he had a bacteria infection ..oh and he did get zapped because he landed on an exposed wire..he lived..but was never the same again... 20 years later..I've learned what being a responsible Betta owner means.. Now I need to learn about different plants..and how to care for them when sharing space with a Betta...it's not that difficult but you should still know what your doing..and I don't have a clue..maybe I should go ask PetSmart..or PetCo..i .know Walmart always have experienced fish/plant/animal keepers...I'll go ask the electronic section of Walmart on how to care for 2 living things sharing the same living space on what I should do..! That just sounds like the logical answer...NOT!!!..