LFS water quality.

[lovehatejon]

so, just yesterday i stopped by petland and bought a clown fish.
while acclimating him i was rather curious as to what their water quality was. so i took a little water out to check.. i was shocked, to say the least.
pH: 8.4
ammonia: .25
nitrite: .25
nitrate: 160

- and that's if it is even that low. once i added the test solution it turned dark red.
poor quality or what? i think i need to go in there and teach them what a water change is.
its a shame

.. i feeling like saving all the fish from there, especially the full grown dogface in a 20 gallon.

 

[t316]

Somehow, this does not surprise me. It's unfortunate, but happens all the time. Glad that you are aware of it now though.

 

[t316]

Oh, and don't go back and save the dogface. This only supports their sales. They will just replace him with another. Spend your money and support a lfs that you trust and is responsible, such as SWF.com

 

[bswe22]

That is SAD!!!!!! Is Petland a chain store like ***** or is it a small mom and pop kind of place?

 

[lovehatejon]

Originally Posted by bswe22
http:///forum/post/3197743
That is SAD!!!!!! Is Petland a chain store like ***** or is it a small mom and pop kind of place?
yes, its a chain store. and its been around for quite some time. its surprises me. shouldn't there be like a LFS health inspector type thing to close them down already?

 

[lovehatejon]

Originally Posted by T316
http:///forum/post/3197742
Oh, and don't go back and save the dogface. This only supports their sales. They will just replace him with another. Spend your money and support a lfs that you trust and is responsible, such as SWF.com
sadly, your right.
i really only went there for food. but while looking at their stocks, me and some other costumer noticed a true perc with the the label of 'tomato clown: 12.99' the employee which knew nothing charged me at that price.

 

[cocoacf]

Maybe there is just a problem with that tank or they were having an off week?
I've bought my SW from a LFS for the past year, and it has always been superb. Except last week I got some fresh SW and the SG was at 1.019.

I always try to give them the benefit of the doubt because I'm sure they could screw people over if that's what they really wanted to do... but if it keeps up you might want to say something.

 

[mjm889]

this is really a sad situation, so many lfs stores that do this to fish, Its always the ones that are big and deal with man pets. its like the old saying jack of all trades and a master of none. Here in se wisconsin we proably have 12 fish stores in 20 mile radius. Only 2 take care of there fish properly, and both are fish only stores, all are over priced but at least the two stores take the time to know what they have, what they are sellings, and show proper care for the fish. I used to work at the a lfs in high school in college in the fish room, i used treat those fish like they were mine at home, now i go back and it makes me sad, how poor the water quality is, fish are all banged up, not eating right, some young punk kid feeding eels and lions goldfish because he thinks its cool. anyways someone should step in and hold these places accountable just like they do for restaurants, grocery stores etc!!!

 

[engine_24]

If you tested the water that came out of the bag that the fish was in, isn't it possible that the fish being in there could have fouled the water up a little bit? He may have secreted some waste in there.

 

[lovehatejon]

Originally Posted by engine_24
http:///forum/post/3198641
If you tested the water that came out of the bag that the fish was in, isn't it possible that the fish being in there could have fouled the water up a little bit? He may have secreted some waste in there.
ahh! good question.
but no, before putting any fish into my tank i drain the fish and the water into a fish net over a bucket. so the only thing going in my tank is the fish.

 

[cranberry]

If you bought the fish locally and brought it right home, it would not have enough time to foul the water. What kind of time frame are we talking here?

 

[srfisher17]

There's no excuse for ammonia or nitrite in a lfs. Nitrate at 160 or more is very common, though, and won't hurt fish. Bob Fenner covers this very well in the "Conscience marine Aquarist". I once had a Chemist friend test some lfs water and nitrates were over 1000ppm in their fish-only system. The fish were fine, but it sure shows an overall lack of general upkeep.

 

[lovehatejon]

Originally Posted by Cranberry
http:///forum/post/3199699
If you bought the fish locally and brought it right home, it would not have enough time to foul the water. What kind of time frame are we talking here?
hmm, not long.
I'd say no longer then 10 minutes.

 

[lovehatejon]

Originally Posted by srfisher17
http:///forum/post/3199875
There's no excuse for ammonia or nitrite in a lfs. Nitrate at 160 or more is very common, though, and won't hurt fish. Bob Fenner covers this very well in the "Conscience marine Aquarist". I once had a Chemist friend test some lfs water and nitrates were over 1000ppm in their fish-only system. The fish were fine, but it sure shows an overall lack of general upkeep.
well, nitrate isnt necessarily harmless. if nitrate is at 1000ppm it surprises me that the fish weren't noticeably affected by such high levels. but what really gets to me is the fish needing 100+ gallon tanks cramped in a 20gal along with other fish in that one tank. and IMO there's no excuse for carelessness when it comes to living things.

 

[cranberry]

Originally Posted by LoveHateJon
http:///forum/post/3199916
hmm, not long.
I'd say no longer then 10 minutes.
Than it's not the trip. That length of time would not affect water parameters.

 

[chrisnif]

I tested some ***** water the ONE time i bought a fish from there (that brought home Ick and killed my tank, my fault for not QT though).
pH 7.2 (I dont even know how that's even possible, i thought the salt would get it to at least 7.8)
SG 1.031
Ammonia 2.5 (off the charts)
Nitrites 4
Nitrates 200 (off the charts)

 

[flower]

Originally Posted by LoveHateJon
http:///forum/post/3197736
so, just yesterday i stopped by petland and bought a clown fish.
while acclimating him i was rather curious as to what their water quality was. so i took a little water out to check.. i was shocked, to say the least.
pH: 8.4
ammonia: .25
nitrite: .25
nitrate: 160

- and that's if it is even that low. once i added the test solution it turned dark red.
poor quality or what? i think i need to go in there and teach them what a water change is.
its a shame

.. i feeling like saving all the fish from there, especially the full grown dogface in a 20 gallon.

How long was the fish in the bag? Could that be the reason we are warned to not put the bag water into your tank when we get a new critter?
Edit:
I didn't read through all the posts first. 10 minutes..So much for giving them the benefit of the doubt.

 

[srfisher17]

Originally Posted by LoveHateJon
http:///forum/post/3199927
well, nitrate isnt necessarily harmless. if nitrate is at 1000ppm it surprises me that the fish weren't noticeably affected by such high levels. but what really gets to me is the fish needing 100+ gallon tanks cramped in a 20gal along with other fish in that one tank. and IMO there's no excuse for carelessness when it comes to living things.
I don't want to steal this thread; but I have never seen reliable info that nitrates hurt fish (not true for inverts). I can quote several good sources that say they don't. Bob Fenner says in "the Conscience marine Aquarist" that fish are often kept with extremely high nitrates by shippers, wholesalers, dealers, etc. However, if nitrate is that high, it makes you wonder what other basic upkeep practices are being ignored..

 

[cranberry]

My scorps go off their food when their nitrates get high.... so it may not kill them, but they will die of starvation if I didn't change out some water to lower it.

 

[srfisher17]

Originally Posted by Cranberry
http:///forum/post/3200366
My scorps go off their food when their nitrates get high.... so it may not kill them, but they will die of starvation if I didn't change out some water to lower it.
That's good to know. Common sense says high nitrates should have an effect. I sure don't suggest it, I just hate to see folks with FOWLR tanks go nuts when nitrates get to, say 60ppm. I'm really surprised that there isn't anything commonly available showing the problem---but all I've seen is anecdotal.