*****

zack schwartz · Dec 24, 2001

Has anyone ever have gotten bad fish at *****? I heard they catch them with sini.

whipple · Dec 24, 2001

ive gotten good and bad fish there but that been the case with most LFS here too

ilove2ride · Dec 24, 2001

At my ***** which is horrible, all the fish end up with ich, even if it doesnt look like they have them at the store. Most of the people there cant even catch a guppy, and lots of fish are dead.

But I know there has to be good *****'s out there!

mr . salty · Dec 24, 2001

As with almost all "pet shops" the fish section is usually the least of thier priorities.That is why it is allways better to go to a dedicated FISH STORE.That is a,a place that only sells fish,and aquarium supplies.And you would be BEST off If you can find one that only deals with saltwater.

ironreef · Dec 25, 2001

ditto fish stores are better. ***** ppl who worked there say they only go through 1 wholesaler. A good fishstore will go to vrious ones. i remeber ***** was getting bad damsels but they only could go to the wholesaler ***** want = can go to a diffrent one. No all wholesalers are equal. Some place get them straight form where they come= move travel time= more stress. A good fish store won't buy them direct from fiji but from a wholesaler that has had them for a few week= 1/2 the travel= a healtier fish. Saying all that I'm sure all ***** aren't the same but most all in WASH are crapp.

javajoe · Dec 25, 2001

I have never bought any livestock at *****- don't think i would- my LFS is too good, but there is this one kid at our ***** that is amazing- he is anly about 14, but he knows SO much about reef tanks. we ran into a problem a month ago on a sunday after our LFS was closed, and i stopped in to get seomthing, askled if anyone knew reefs-- this kid blew my mind the stuff he knew! i guess he has been doing reefs since he was about 7-- his parents got him into it, and he has several tanks- largest is a 300 gallon! (nice parents!

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daluminum · Dec 25, 2001

***** called my LFS to ask them what they were charging for something's.. as a "customer" of course. and I went to look at the stuff.. it was like $6 for a 1" clown than my LFS charges for a 2". I almost quit buying hard goods from *****. much less livestock.
but on the other hand I am somewhat glad to see some sort of corporate support of the hobby. I dont have a problem with it. but i wont buy any fish from them either.
Also it looks like most of the fish are tank raised and not caught. mainly because they are all the same size.. Dont think this is a desirable trade.

seatank · Dec 25, 2001

i don't by anything from ***** not even food when i was first starting out i went to ***** looked at the fish i saw that all there tanks had little white dots on the fish (ICK) at the time i had no idear what it was i asked the employees and maniger told me that it was normal so i bought about 100$ worth of fish and of course you all no the out come yes they all died i will never by anything from them again.

mlm · Dec 26, 2001

The ***** in new orleans has a couple of guys that work there that will tell you not to buy fish from them.

kumiko · Dec 26, 2001

you know, not all corporate pet stores are horrible. i know this because i work at one (no, not *****.) me and the other two people who work in the animal department know just about everything about the animals we sell, and we take very good care of them.
i know there are a lot of corporate pet stores that are not very knowledgeable about the animals they sell, but there are the exceptions.
now that i've been thinking about how much work i do to keep the animal department looking nice and being healthy, i think i deserve a raise. =)

zack schwartz · Dec 27, 2001

Does anyone have a lfs that has a return policy when a SALTWATER FISH dies.

kumiko · Dec 27, 2001

the store i work at does. we have a seven day guarantee, as long as the customer brings in the fish along with a water sample. the family owned pet store around the corner only has a 24 hour guarantee.

ahoowahoo · Dec 27, 2001

Lucky enought to have one store locally that gives a 7 day 100% - 30 day 50% credit, SW and FW.
Brad

set-man · Dec 29, 2001

I wouldn't trust their advice because the knowledge of the workers vary. I do have to give them credit though because the ones here buy tank bred fish. Some of the clown & pseudochromis are beautiful and much cheaper than any private fish store.

wally · Dec 30, 2001

I would have to agree that just as with LFS some chain stores (even in the same chain) are far better than others. The Petsmart here in Erie PA has GREAT fish I just wish they had Saltwater. And the ***** is not that bad either. And they both have great prices on things like salt.

cyn · Dec 30, 2001

Here, everything they carry has ICH!! I would never buy fish supplies from them, fresh or saltwater.

nudibranch · Jan 1, 2002

To target any one store as carrying bad fish is kind of near sighted. Within every chain fish store there are good ones and bad ones. If the store is lucky enough to have hired someone who knows what they are doing then usually they run a nice store. Private or "Mom and Pop" stores are usually started by a person who took a great interest in the hobby, and therefore cares for it properly. Unfortunatly, not all chain stores have that kind of backing. Some may say that in that case they shouldn't carry the fish, but ultimately that choice is left in the hands of someone who might step foot in that store once a year...if that. Chain stores are limited to thier previously selected suppliers, but many of those suppliers are the distributers for the other LFS's in the area. Though LFS's do have the ability to try out new places. As long as you are smart about the animals you are purchasing you should never get sick fish from any store. If the fish doesn't look good, don't take it home. If the fish looks healthy and is doing well in the tank, then you take it home and something goes wrong, you may want to rethink the problem, and try checking out your own tank for possible problems.
I'm not defending *****, but I'm not about to harp on it either. If you want to put one store under the microscope, you should put all stores under it as well, and just because one storein a chain is bad, doesn't mean all of them are.

diverinva · Jan 2, 2002

I have had good luck at *****. I have a couple of Petcos within a 10 mile radius from my house. One of them has copper pipes and the fish aren't cared for as well. The other has a wide selection of fish in good health. The main thing no matter where you go is to look at all the fish in the tank. If there is a dead fish or if the fish are picking on each other don't buy from that tank. Also you can ask an employee to feed the fish so you can make sure they are healthy. Keep an open mind about stores and good luck.

josh · Jan 2, 2002

"Caveat Emptor"

jakob4001 · Jan 2, 2002

precisely Josh...but there are only a few large chain stores that sell fish, let alone SWF...petsmart has the ECO POLICY thing, but yet does sell SW hardware/chems...that leaves *****...I'm in a large metropolitan area where there are several ***** chains...but for the most part, do not have much of selection of SW fish or not always the most healthy selections compared to other LFS; 1 ***** manager even stated that they are not allowed to remove any DOA fish from tanks until at least a day or 2 for inventory reasons; yes, sometimes ***** does have a FEW great deals & occasional knowledglable staffing, but very rarely

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