[...weekly LFS-hatred-quota-exceeded...]Seriously though, you can't take the advice of someone wanting to sell you something.[...]
Nobody's repealing the law of caveat emptor, just addressing the "super-ignorant consumer" scenario you created.
If you are so-o-o new that you literally can't tell a healthy fish when you see one:
- You need to ask for help at the LFS when selecting your fish. There are no two ways about it.
- Hopefully you have the brains to detect between a salesdroid and a human employee. (I do...I think most do.)
- And you better be watching that fish store over some time to see how they do with fish!
- And you better be reading books too -- not just depending on some online service (ahem!) for additional advice! Get cozy with scholar.google.com while you're at it!
You'd be likely to get fish that are too big for your tank, too cheap for your other fish, too expensive for your other fish, too mean to your other fish, eat your other fish, and everything else. Just doesn't make sense.