I've met the worst fish sales person ever. I went to Pet Smart yesterday to buy fish for the Aquaponic system. The store near me has the biggest selection of produces and services around. I'm always buying things for my ant setups there (though they're marketed for lizards and reptiles).
The person manning the fish area was the dullest sales person in the world. I showed him what size tank I have, a 10 gallon, and he tells me "Oh no you're not going to be able to put anything in that really."
So we're standing in front of their huge wall of fish where they have tanks much smaller than a 10 gallon tank that have loads of fish in them. So I asked him how he's getting away with all these fish in such little space. He said it's because they have an X amount of thousand gallon system. So I said, "Okay, but you are selling gold fish bowels that are smaller than 10 gallons,"
He said, "Oh no they're bad for fish."
I stopped caring what he had to say at this point, but told him what I'm looking for: A fish that makes a lot of waste, possibly reproduces, is fresh water, and looks nice. Of the entire wall of colorful fish that were wonders to behold and after I just told him I need fish that will fertilize the plants, he pointed at some black mollies and said 3 was all I could get in the tank.
I asked him if he worked in this department long. And he assured me he was a fish expert (at the age 18 or 20) who had worked there many years. He said this in his low, depressing, voice that trailed off at the end and did less than fill me with confidence.
I asked were there other options. Not bothering to move or point at what he was talking about he said Guppies might work. So I walked over to where he was looking and after a second found the tank with the guppies in them. I liked their color but this kid wasn't helping at all. He wasn't even going to entertain other possibility. I walked over to the assorted gold fish but he said in his low uninspired voice, "Oh no those are awful. They're dirty fish and they won't reproduce in your tank," but went on to add, "They should live a good seven years though."
I'm ready to punch this kid. I wanted to get a manager and complain about him and it strains me to no end why I didn't.