***** Is Stupid !

[exile415]

I went to ***** not too long ago and picked up care sheet for your fish. i picked up the manderin goby. they said should have 100LBS of LR. So far so good. then when it came to diseases it said common ich - solution buy copper and treat the in your tank , It didn't say anything about .... how copper will kill your 100lbs of LR and more. they also say clown triggers and tangs do well in 30Gallon tanks..

personally I just like there $1 table.. and there way over priced on there livestock. its like $55 for a baby clowntrigger. my other LFS sells it for 20 bucks a piece.

Watching these noob SW hobbyist listen to them is a pain.
-ericcc

 

[nyyankeees]

Pet land is even worse their care sheet for cycling a SW tank tells you to use invertebrates like starfish or anenomes because they are so hardy. These chain pet stores are pathetic. They claim they get their info from marine biologists too, I sent them a bitchy e-mail after reading that one, of course got no response. Believe me I feel your pain!

 

[exile415]

Originally Posted by NYyankeees
Pet land is even worse their care sheet for cycling a SW tank tells you to use invertebrates like starfish or anenomes because they are so hardy. These chain pet stores are pathetic. They claim they get their info from marine biologists too, I sent them a bitchy e-mail after reading that one, of course got no response. Believe me I feel your pain!

i know. they're horrible.

 

[dhughesz28]

I was in Pet Co Sat. to buy a thermometer and I decided to take a look at the SW fish. Besides the fact that the tanks were all dirty, this one tank that had the yellow tangs really pi$$ed me off. There were like 6 of them in there, all but one had some serious bacterial infection. They were covered in a red/brown looking rash and breathing very heavy. One was lying on its side and two others were listing as they swam. Why even sell fish if you’re going to treat them like that????

I decided that after that I wouldn’t shop there again!!

 

[king bubba]

Since fish is only one facet of *****'s business, they really don't care about accuracy in their care sheets. Why? Because their salt fish are not guaranteed and if the first one dies, they are expecting you to buy another. The only reason they carry any live animals at all is to entice you to come in, look, fall in love and impulse buy the hell out of the place. The care sheets just make the new customer more comfortable with his purchase. Good sales tool. Most *****'s that I have been in smell like Uncle Harry's cow barn on a hot day. My wife insists that our dog only be served Eukanuba food or I would never go in these places. They are always understaffed with awesome attitudes to match but, fortunately . their education and experience levels are beyond reproach. (Did I say that?) A sad but true side note........ If these pet monsters didn't buy and kill as many animals as they do , our fish would be far more expensive. IMO if you can buy clown triggers for $20 each, you should buy a bunch and quarantine them while fattening them up. You can sell them to unsuspecting ***** noobs for $55!

 

[ophiura]

I hate bashing threads. *****: we've been there done it several times (see similar threads below).
Some are OK, some are not. That's it. Some actually do have decent, caring employees. Corporate policy may be poor. But people keep them in business.
But at least they have some sort of care sheets. Many many many LFS don't have anything and sell any fish to anyone without question..including tangs or whatever into 20g (if that) tanks, and mandarins for 10g (no mention of LR at all). It is extremely common. If it does on the other side of the door that's too bad. It is just sooooo easy to bash *****. They are a big target. But I can find local stores that have fish in as bad a condition as people are describing *****'s. Just keep it in perspective. Would I ever buy saltwater fish at *****? No. Do I buy any saltwater supplies at *****? No.
I also don't believe cheap fish is a reason to avoid or criticize a store, and I don't believe a lower price is a reason to buy fish from one place over another. There are many things to consider when it comes to the price of fish. I find it amusing when people talk about the price of fish this way. I worked at an "expensive" LFS where we had a 7 day guarantee, strongly encouraged testing your water, denied sales of certain fish without water tests, had many experienced hobbyists working there...a nice enough store that we did tours...but people don't want to pay the price. They came for info, and often bought elsewhere. So what is it people want?
People want warranties, ability to return/trade things, healthy fish, be informed of anything that might happen when mixing this with that (including "ESP" when it comes to what people have in the tank and knowing that) and about how to treat diseases, water testing, educated staff, clean tanks...but they don't want to pay? I'm not saying there aren't stores (*****) with expensive fish and none of those perks, but I just get really frustrated with many of these types of threads. JM(frustrated)O tho. Just be as critical of some of the local LFS as people are of *****.

 

[italianwjt]

...u work at *****, huh? :|

 

[ophiura]

LOL, noooo, but there are people here that do. :yes: But in general, I don't like bashing threads.

 

[xpdition03]

I don't like talking bad about a place too but it's almost disgusting how they treat their tanks.
I saw a girl changing water on a 40 gallon tank at my local chain pet shop. She was using one of those long hoses that connect directly to your sink facets. After she siphoned the water out, she flipped the switch and started putting tap water right into the tank. Afterwards, she took a box of salt water and started dumping in cup fulls of salt directly into the tank without premixing it.. I tried helping out by saying you should really premix the water first but the lady said "I know what I'm doing".
Couple of weeks later, I decided to go back, just to see if the fish were still alive. Every single salt tank had ICH!

 

[mishelly00]

Hello,
I just want to say that my local ***** is great. There are 2 guys that work there that are sooooo great when it comes to saltwater fish. They are a bit expensive but the fish are very healthy and I have had so much luck with there fish. Not one died......But I have a LFS that I have lost many fish from. So it all depends on the store. I know that I can go to my local ***** and actually get some good answers from the 2 workers that work their. To bad they all weren't like that.
Michelle

 

[astronady]

Very well said ophiura. i agree with everything that you said.

Thank you for speaking up!!

 

[jayc]

My local ***** is olkay. I got my percula clown there, and its still living. But the workers at mine are not that experianced about SW fish. Most of the time I buy my fish and supplies at a different lfs. Its alittle expensive. But the workers are very experienced and they have a 7day guarantee on there fish.

 

[monalisa]

I've never gone into a ***** to purchase fishies, or anything else for that matter. But that's because there really isn't one close enough to me. I have found out, however, that when I go into my LFS, I know that there are 2 (maybe, 2) people that I can talk to and feel confident that they know what I'm talking about!!
On the other hand, this same LFS has another store located about 45 minutes away from where I live, and I have yet to be disappointed with the service (or the prices there). And what's really nice is if one store doesn't have what I want, the other does.
I needed to order a new crew of snails last week, so I called the shop further away and talked to a guy that I hadn't talked to before. So I started throwing out terminology that would have stumped a lot of the crew at the closer store. Well, I ended up ordering a snail crew from this guy, and did he deliver?.....he delivered!!!
I think in this, it's knowing who to talk to.
(I got a really great snail crew, btw

)
Lisa :happyfish

 

[exile415]

it's true that other petcos are better than others. so i take it back. MY ***** IS STUPID

 

[darth tang]

The other things people don't factor in is some LFS charge higher prices because ALL of their fish were quarantined, medicated if needed and placed onto frozen food immediately. The place I buy from is more expensive than any other store in the state. BUt I get healthy fish, can exchange them. They will babysit them for me if needed for any reason, they will hold a fish for me up towards 6 months so I can save for it. The fish are already on frozen food as well, so I don't have to go through the hassle of training them and risk a loss if unsuccessful. Even the Mandarin Gobies.....
Now the other thing is I also now, after being a steady and loyal customer for the last two years receive a personal discount of 25-50% depending on what I am buying. I also have been given a few things free of charge. Even a fish once. If you are in this hobby and your main driving force in it is price.......I see a problem.

 

[rpick]

i'm still new to saltwater but there are some stores that will sell you what you want and tell you what they think you want to hear. there is a pet store close to me that i started to by fish when i was into fresh water fish. this person taught me alot about african cichlids. when i came int here i only wanted to deal with him. he knew what i wanted and steered me away from things i don't need.
i now found a store that sells strickly fish and they are very knowlegable, but i still do my own research. there were some fish i wnated but they are jumpers and i want to leave the top open (what a shame).
it true, the old saying: let the buyer beware.

 

[rei511]

I guess it depends on where you shop. My ***** and Petsmart are great, but neither of them sell anything for saltwater fish. I was in my LFS (that is ONLY saltwater) today, and I was shocked at what I found!!! In their main display tank they had a comet(?) that was dying. I told they guy there and he said the fish had been sick for a couple of weeks. I couldn't believe they never removed it. All of the tanks were filthy, most of the lights were burnt out, and there were some fish that had the worst case of ick (I think) ever! The fish looked like they had been dipped in cottage cheese! Usually they have a well kept store. Their info is a little questionable too. Before I found this site, they told me it was ok to put a hippo and a purple tang in a 55gal together. Where are the tang police when you need them????? I guess I have to keep looking for someone (and somewhere) that is reliable. I just don't understand why people are all about the $$$. Why can't they be honest and really help you, not just take you money!?!?!?

 

[feixjai]

when i went to the ***** me and exile went to, they had about 5 tangs in one tank. i was like wow these people need to learn some info from this site

 

[ophiura]

Originally Posted by feixjai
when i went to the ***** me and exile went to, they had about 5 tangs in one tank. i was like wow these people need to learn some info from this site
This is extremely common in nearly every LFS. In fact, if they only had 5 tangs in that tank that isn't many.

 

[f1shman]

***** near me is pretty cheap got an undulated trigger for $11 lol ya i don't listen to their advice