Question For All Ex ***** Employees And Current Ones Too?

[laredo300c]

Ok so as it seems , everone on here was right. i have bought a total of 10 fish , three of which have not been bought at ***** and guess how many fish i have in my tank...three...............ok so my question is would anyone here buy fish from ***** the day they arrive and before they take them out of the bag...or are they just arriving from another bigger distributor ***** hell tank.........any comments or advice....

 

[rolling_g]

I had the same problem ......all the fish i bought that was in there tanks did not live . The last HUMA Trigger I got was still in the bag and he's ok

 

[chipmaker]

Mine are all still doing just fine. As bad of a rap as ***** and other places get, I still find it all depends on the local store itself in regards to how fish are kept and maintained. My ***** is as good as any online or local LFS could possibly be and in some cases better.

 

[maryd]

I bought 3 blue damsels and a clown fish from *****. All are still alive and healthy. The damsels are in a "jail" tank though since they bit and tramatized my other fish and bit me. The clown from ***** is doing just fine. But I have noticed that they have carts full of fish in plastic bags, which they then float in the display tanks so they are not "acclimating" these fish in the manner I was taught.

 

[zero1870]

I bought 2 damsel from *****, and already had a damsel from another lfs. A week later the 2 damsels were dead. I found out that the saltwater fish from ***** had been qt and not for sale only a few days earlier because they had ich. I've been to ***** a few times since then and it seems like every other visit all of their tanks are qt'd for ich. so, i don't plan on buying any livestock from there anymore.

 

[maryd]

My stepson said that all the fresh water fish he buys from ***** don't last either. But unfortunately those nasty damsels lived. The clown is doing fine also. But I generally do NOT buy fish from *****.

 

[ophiura]

If you have a problem with ***** fish, then do not buy ANYTHING from ***** and send a message.
I find that these ***** threads do not amount to anything much and are all too frequent.
I can walk into several LFS here that have bad fish and wouldn't even THINK to not sell them simply because they had Ick. The fact that ***** wouldn't sell the fish because of that is, in and of itself, a good sign, IMO.
Look, just use your common sense. If the fish or conditions don't look good in any store, then don't buy from there. It is true whether a ***** or a mom & pop fish store. But *****, being a bigger target, is an easier target.
Fish die for a lot of reasons, and it isn't just because they went through a *****.
I just can't stand ***** (or any store bashing) threads.

 

[molamola]

I've had a lot of success with fish and inverts purchased from *****, and miserable failure with fish purchased from the "best" fish place in town

I don't want to bash *****, or any lfs for that matter. Every store is different and unique and it's up to the individual consumer to decide if it's worth the risk. That's just my opinion and I hope you find a good store with healthy livestock

 

[maryd]

I have gotten good livestock and several stores and bad also. If I see too many dead fish in the tanks, I hesitate to purchase there. Maybe the next time, I'm there all will look good. I assume stores have their bad days too and maybe their supplier sent them livestock which was not up to par. If I find healthy looking fish at ***** I might purchase them because their prices are generally much lower than the other stores in the vicinity.

 

[sharkbait9]

It really is 50/50. There is a Pet Co down the street from me. The “fish specialist is really good guy, knows a reasonable amount of info to sell and maintain fish. Before I buy any fish or invert from any new LFS I ask question that I know as fact ask those question. If the employee starts to throw out answers that sound good but are wrong, I just nicely say “ I think you should read up more about this and dismiss the employee. It seem a lot of people in this hobby take great pains to keep their tank in pristine conditions as best a possible , expecting the best from the LFS or corporate chain store. It comes down to money. Not to many people want to work for six dollars and hour and try and fight an up hill battle (corporate) When I first started checking out the big chain stores fish sections I went when the fish get delivered and damn near had a stroke when I saw them doing the float and cup of water acclimation on anemones and inverts. Only to be told by the fish specialist “yeah I know these inverts need to be dripped, but we don’t have enough time to do that and corporate doesn’t want that done. Plus my manager told me to just throw the fish in the tanks so they can be sold” “Pet Co has a manual that tells us step by step what to do”. they quotes are from the employee and I have know him quite some time and we trade frags just BS a couple of minutes when the order comes in. Now I have bought a baby yellow tang (size of a quarter ,still alive and doing great) When the specialist ask what size tank he was going in I told him a 55 gal reef the specialist said 55 is ok for now but as they get bigger they are going to need a bigger tank. How many Pet chain employees will tell you that or even know that? My point is, there is always a “diamond in the rough” if you look long enough. there is a Pet co in Princeton/ mercer mall that sells corals, nice selection they don’t last very long. When the shipment comes in people are there waiting. Any pet chain is a 50/50, you as the hobbyist need to sort thru the good and bad.

 

[tatoush]

I've bought a sfe from ***** that did pretty good...lived for about over a year until I think some rock falling did it in...poor thing. have also bought a firefish for my nano tank which is doing really well.
Luck of the draw..i guess :notsure:
Lev

 

[fishieness]

Originally Posted by tatoush
I've bought a sfe from ***** that did pretty good...lived for about over a year until I think some rock falling did it in...poor thing. have also bought a firefish for my nano tank which is doing really well.
Luck of the draw..i guess :notsure:
Lev
i think we had the same snowflake eel..... lol
i got mine at *****, did great. had it for about a month short of a year, and it got caught under a rock

 

[tatoush]

Originally Posted by fishieness
i think we had the same snowflake eel..... lol
i got mine at *****, did great. had it for about a month short of a year, and it got caught under a rock

I know doesnt it just suck.....he was full of character too....maybe my next tank.

 

[n_sarno]

Good & Bad.. to be honest.. it just depneds on the location.. for instance..I worked & I have friends that still do work at the ***** in my town.. and they really dont care about the fish they way overstock the tanks and there is constantly ich in the tanks.. However other petcos in the area.. are a different story and I have bought there before.. BUT ALWAYS QT them because all of their tanks are run on the same filter.. so if one tank looks bad.. the rest are going to be bad.. even if you dont see it.. so its just a chance thing.. Corals and inverts I've never had a problem w/.. fish i have.. and employees I have lol most dont know what the heck is going on.. But you cant been their prices on most SW fish so its sometimes worth it I guess.. but it comes down to whatever you think and are comforatable with.. I just know.. that probably 80% of the employees could care less about their slogan "where animals come first"

 

[oreo12]

I would never buy a fish right out of the bag. I like to go in there ***** see a fish I might like then wait a couple days and go back and see how it is doing. I have bought fish from them I just picked up a val. puffer today. I bought a niger trigger a while back from them it had ich but I was able to save it and it is growing fast. I realy belive it all depends on how you aclumalte them and how good your water and tank are as to how well they will do.

 

[murph]

Truth be known the purchase of any saltwater fish at any particular LFS is a crap shoot at best and depending on the species the odds can be stacked against you. Something everyone should take into consideration and have acceptance of when they enter the hobby. Some losses will occur.
As experience increases these losses will decrease but they will never go away completely.
Like was said just use common sense. Spend some time in front of the LFS holding tank observing the fish you have in mind and ask that the fish be fed to make sure it is excepting prepared foods in captivity.

 

[maryd]

The ***** closet to me doesn't have much variety, some clowns, damsels and tangs. I've not noticed much else. I might look but go home and read up on that particular fish to see if it would be compatible with what I have. But so far the ones I got from ***** have done very well.
In fact, I lost one fish, a little nemo who managed to get sucked up in the skimmer box and I couldn't find him for days and then he was dead. Had to run to ***** and replace it right away so not to depress my granddaugher who picked him out at the LFS.

 

[zoboo2]

We have two petcos in my area and neither of them carry saltwater fish. I have always wondered why? I would be willing to buy from there if the prices are good like everyone says. Are there other petcos out there that DON'T carry sw fish?

 

[maryd]

We have some *****'s in my area that don't carry saltwater fish. We have a Petland which carries a large variety of saltwater fish, snails, live rock and corals and another not far away which carries no saltwater livestock at all. Maybe it depends on the manager or the area the store is in.

 

[haze123]

I use to work at ***** and then later quit after what I saw they do to there animals. They dont research what there sopost to feed there animals and just asume they eat reqular food. I acttully reported them to peta after I left and long story short that store isnt open any more. If you see a pet store treating animals porly either just dont shop there and find a place in the area that cares for there animals cause theres always a few or just report and take pictures to peta and have it settled I know it was kind of wrong in a way for me to report them but in away it was also right for the animals sake.