What is the value of a good fish guy? Well, to the average person who does not keep a pond or aquarium a good fish guy is not worth much at all, but, if you are a person who is getting into fish keeping or one who already has been hooked full on by the fish keeping bug a good fish guy is worth a whole lot.
The practice of fish keeping is still loaded with all types of housewives tales and traditional information as to how fish should be kept, and unfortunately much of the info floating around out there is not exactly accurate and it only becomes compounded by one’s impulse to “research” on the internet where getting a straight answer for even the most common place issue can be a huge challenge. Now “the fish guy” becomes a little more valuable in your world.
For anyone who keeps fish, networking with other fish keepers has gotten much MUCH easier than in previous years. One can join all sorts of online groups and make connections via the internet which in the years past just could not happen. This is a good and bad thing as many of the “fish groups” are loaded to the gills with people who do NOT know what they are talking about and yet everyone insists that THEY are the right one. So the quest to find your fish guy is now a little easier, but what happens when you do actually find him? Do you trust him? Do you believe his advice?
As a fish guy myself, I have been held in high regard by many a fish keeper because my advice can often result in quick enjoyment of an amazing hobby, the salvation of a much beloved pet fish, or my advice can save hundreds if not many thousands of dollars that would have otherwise been spent on previous bad advice or industry gimmicks, of which there are many. One problem I have experienced again and again, and I am sure will happen in the future is the old line I hate to hear, and it goes something like this. “My neighbors 14 year old son keeps fish and his advice to me is…..(fill in whatever bad advice you want).
It will never cease to amaze me that after working in the field with fish daily for the better part of 20 years, making my complete livelihood on fish, and being a lifelong hobbyist by proxy because my Father and Grandfather kept fish, my advice will get overruled by the neighbors 14 year old son who has been keeping fish for 2 years. I can’t tell you how many times my advice has gone ignored or rebuttaled by that darn 14 year old, or the stock boy at PetThis or PetThat.
So the question remains and can only be answered by you, how much is a good fish guy worth? My advice is when you find one, stick with him, and do not confuse yourself with the glut of info that you will find internet style. Do not get into the game of “stump the fish guy” with all the new conflicting info you have just uncovered, let him tell you how things are. Trust your fish guy until he gives you good reason not too because a good fish guy IS hard to find!
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