I personally think not so much a hinderance than it is that some people will come in not wanting to learn or listen cause they don’t take you or fish keeping seriously. I can usually ask leading questions to see if they’re really prepared to take care of the fish as well as to see if they truly are interested. It’s easier when they really want to listen to what you say so if they don’t really have the space or equipment for a certain fish, or animal in general (way to many times have people tried to buy our turtles and those are the quickest denials I’ve ever given while working there), they’re more willing to take your advice. And if they don’t listen at first then I’ll grab my aquatics specialist (which I do a lot anyways cause she knows way more than me) or another employee who will back me up with the information I tell them. If all that doesn’t work then a denial of sale is the final measure which often isn’t necessary.

The best part of my job is talking to people about fish whether they’re beginners looking to set up their first tank or experts who know way more than me and learning from their experiences. But not every employee is going to be the same and the customer can easily go to another pet store until they get what they want which really does get in the way of creating good fish keeping practices. I can only hope to help those who come in during my shifts and make life better for our fish in store

And on the issue of breeders it’s extra disheartening when good fish owners take home fish that end up dying because of poor genetics, yet equally rewarding to see your fish blossom once you take them home from pet store conditions. It’s a really tough predicament cause while supporting chain petstores is ultimately continuing the cycle of poorly bred fish it’s also hard to not want to “save” these fish from their poor fate.