went to deathco today for kicks

[nicky1.8t]

went just to look at new tanks and saw they have 2 very healthy looking scooter blennys for only 8 dollars , what do you think should i buy one i do like them alot . but the store is shady

 

[bdhough]

If you've got the pods. Scooters have the "cute" factor going for them so they will find a home if they don't die at the store....

 

[karajay]

Kinda like lookin' at the poor little puppy mill puppy in the store. Darn, they're cute and you feel sorry for them. But if you buy from them you are only supporting their business. You rescue one and you just gave them a reason to get more. Just my .02

 

[legend]

i actually got 4 clowns from ***** and i was very happy with them. I had all of them for two years.......but ***** is a shady place though, i dont really even bother going in there anymore.

 

[sohalwutang499]

i dont suport *****, but ive gotten some of the healthiest fish there. I bought a royal gramma there the other day and it looked better than most at my lfs. So not all petcos are that bad

 

[thomas712]

If you have a QT tank then I would say sure buy one, and then quarentene him for 4 weeks with hypo.
If not then why would you want to infect your tank with something that came out of a ***** that are notoriously known for having sick, diseased, dying fish in thier tanks.
Think about it is an $8.00 fish worth all those meds and cures you will try when your main is infected?
Thomas
2999

 

[harlequinnut]

Bought a bangai cardinal from ***** once, took it home and put it in my tank(I know). It lasted less than a week. I thought it was my fault for it's demise, now that I think about it......

 

[smokinstarfish]

If ***** is anything like Petsmart, you're right... their fish often die shortly after purchase because of the shock of going from poor water to good water.
In cases like that, I'd think it would pay to mimic the poor water conditions of the certain LFSs in question in your quarantine tank and slowly better it to your own specs.
I have to do that with the African cichlids I get from Petsmart because the pH of their water is 7.0 and mine is 8.2, twenty-times higher a pH!

 

[timsedwards]

I still find it funny that in the US you guys have major chain stores that sell marine goods! Over here in England it is only small independents and online shops that sell it! The major pet chains (e.g. Pets at Home - they took over Petsmart over here) have enough trouble with tropical fish!!
Tim.

 

[smokinstarfish]

It's not like that here either. No wait, Petcetra does.

 

[offshore80]

I've got a scooter in a 20L with about 17lbs of live rock. I've had him about 2 months. I'd save the fish from *****. their not going anywhere cause they do to much other business. Now if salt was there only product they'd been gone long time ago. But, the scooter is a very fasinating fish to watch.

 

[madd catt]

I bought 2 green chromis a royal gramma and a purple gobie from ***** or petsmart (it was like two years ago) the chromis and gramma did well but the gobie looked after a few days like instead of excrement comming from its anus that it was its intestinal tract instead.
I am not sure about buying from these animalco places anymore.

 

[737mech]

Here in Dallas, Petcos are scattered all over the place. I went into 3 yesterday. I don't think they should be selling sw fish at all. Each store that I visited had problems with their stock. Damsels are supposed to be tough, well they can't even take care of these fish let alone tangs, angels or puffers. So many of these fish were breathing hard or pale in color. One location used to carry some corals. That tank is now drained and the lights are out. They should stick with selling fw fish instead.
JMO

 

[nicky1.8t]

ok i did it i went back and bought the lil guy but before i did i cheked all the other fish in the tank and made sure no ick or any thing visable was wrong with them , i also had them test a sample of there own water , the water checked out . i still will be suprised if this guy lasts the person who bagged it had an odd technique of baggin if i ever buy from there again , not likly i will demand that i bag my own fish.

 

[cardstars]

i have a friend who works at ***** that admits that they "sometimes" get their SW fish by using some sort of chemical that can affect them in the future. he says that many SW fish that they get look fine but they later die because because of this chemical. I just cant remember the name of that chemical though.......was it arsenic maybe??? whatever it was stunned them so they float to the surface but it can affect them later on......

 

[thomas712]

Originally posted by cardstars
I just cant remember the name of that chemical though.......was it arsenic maybe??? whatever it was stunned them so they float to the surface but it can affect them later on......
I think you mean cyanide
Cyanide fishing is a popular method of capturing live reef fish for the seafood and aquarium markets. It is widely practiced in Southeast Asia and the South Pacific and is starting to spread to other parts of the world. Cyanide fishers squirt cyanide into coral holes and crevices, where reef fish seek refuge. The cyanide stuns the fish, making it easy for cyanide fishers to capture their dazed prey. The cyanide poisons reefs and is extremely harmful to coral polyps and other reef organisms. Furthermore, less than half the fish caught with cyanide survive long enough to be sold to aquariums or restaurants.
Thomas

 

[cardstars]

yeh that was it, he said cyanide. thanks for the post thomas. i guess my next question would be why dont they outlaw cyanide? it doesnt sound like it has any benefits

 

[ophiura]

Most hobbyists will avoid any place that willingly admits they sell cyanide caught fish. In fact, I am amazed that they admitted this!!! There are no benefits except that the fish tend not to be all that damaged from netting and look good....the damage is internal. But the only point is to have it live long enough for you to buy it....not for it to actually survive. After all, they want you back for more.
If they admitted this to you, never buy from the store again. Perhaps it is also a company wide supplier? In which case, avoid all of their saltwater fish (a good idea anyway, IMO).

 

[donjasper]

Originally posted by ophiura
Most hobbyists will avoid any place that willingly admits they sell cyanide caught fish.
***** has a relationship with an aquaculture firm for some of their items, as does SWF. Bully for both of them.
No one can claim that all their fish are net caught. Here one example:
In an effort to increase the rewards for net use, two years ago we opened the GoodFish importing and wholesale facility in San Jose, CA, to market only cyanide-free fish and thereby to improve the prices poor coastal fish collectors would get for using nets instead of cyanide. After operating the GoodFish facility for nearly two years, at a cost of close to $100,000, the GoosFish Program was forced to shut down its operations due to persistent losses resulting from competitive market disadvantages. The cost of cyanide-free fish from reliable sources was substantially higher than the cost of cyanide-contaminated fish sold by other wholesale operations, and we could not enlist sufficient retail dealers willing to pay higher prices for healthier and ecologically preferable fish. The aquarium industry is extremely price-sensitive and, despite a lot of anti-cyanide rhetoric, very few dealers were willing to pay higher prices for cyanide-free fish. This was the heart of the GoodFish Program's problems, dealers would not pay for healthier but more expensive fish taken using less environmentally destructive methods. Our marketing problems were exaccerbated by the 9/11 terrorist attack and its aftermath. After 9/11, local California retail dealers reduced their purchase from GiidFish because of concerns about the looming recession, and we were prevented from shipping fish around the U.S. because of new security-oriented air cargo restrictions imposed by the FAA. After two years of financial losses, it became clear (in retrospect) that the GoodFish program could not successfully sell cyanide-free fish until AFTER the marketability and profitability of cyanide-contaminated fish are reduced in the U.S. and other consumer nations.
(spelling mistakes left uncorrected)