Sad trip to lps..with pictures.

[Fishingforfish]

I literally just got home from the pet store (I won't mention the name, but it's pretty obvious)..we saw alot of dead fish, soo bad that their eyes were missing, and other fish were picking at them. Along with that, there are a lot of VERY OVERSTOCKED tanks.

Ready?

6 GOLDFISH in a tank that looks like a 10g. A lot of gasping.

A whole bunch of comet goldfish (?)..they're pretty small IRL but there's waaaay too many in the tank, it's like there's no space at all for them to swim..and yes, there are dead fish on the bottom.

3 Oscars in a small tank..need I say more?

There's much more, but I didn't take a picture because there were employees around at the time..

But on the bright side, they do have some really nice colored betta (that unfortunately I couldn't get)

Oh well.

 

[Cactuspixie]

Gotta say those tanks are perfect compared to most around here. They look nice and clean and the water is clear. The feeder fish tank is pretty typical- which makes me wonder why such fish would make a nutritious meal.

 

[Mebbid]

Feeders are great for turtles and ducks.. not soo much for fish

 

[Toon.inc]

Yeh I don't see a problem there compaired to most places

 

[bettaowner]

I agree, the feeders are clearly overcrowded but they always are so I wouldn't call it a problem. The oscars look pretty healthy.

 

[Fishingforfish]

Yeah well, the tanks could look clean, but that doesn't speak for the actual being of the fish. Don't get me wrong, clean tanks are good but that's only half of the problem.

Meh, I honestly care more about the fishes health than the supposedly perfect tank. As for the feeders, I don't know too much about them, but it scared me for sure lol

EDIT:

@bettaowner-- Surprisingly, they do! I just didn't think I'd see 3 oscars in such a small tank IRL. It reminded me of that video you shared, lol! It even made my sister question if we can keep one in our 10g!

I also looked at their dwarf gouramis (it is part of my stocking plan)...they look fine, but I saw one upside down, dead. There was a single flame gourami in another tank and it is really pretty! I'm just scared of one carrying DGIV. $8 is not bad, I guess. Too bad my tank isn't mature yet, or else I would've gotten it.

All in all, we saw 1 black moor dead by the filter, 2 platy, one dead in a plastic plant, and one in another tank by the filter. I don't know the name of this other fish (all I really can tell you is that it's gray and pretty big LOL) but it was also dead by the filter with no eyes. One glofish upside down in the water (my sister caught this one!)..oh and I didn't think glofish would be that expensive..$12 each?! Wow! They are such beauties under LED though!

Oh, and guess what? They ran out of cories so I couldn't see them ****, lol. I've grown to like those little cats. Haha

 

[Jmunroe]

The tanks in pet stores usually are overcrowded but the tanks are also usually on several large systems not all separate tanks(quite often, not always) which means that the wall of tanks your looking at is all one large water system, the next wall is all one large water system, ect .. This allows the water to be maintained in the over crowded holding tanks. Not defending the pet stores, I hate their overcrowded tanks, just explaining that its this setup that allows the to do this. It's the ones that have single tanks that are really over stocked that I really hate.

 

[Fishingforfish]

The tanks in pet stores usually are overcrowded but the tanks are also usually on several large systems not all separate tanks(quite often, not always) which means that the wall of tanks your looking at is all one large water system, the next wall is all one large water system, ect .. This allows the water to be maintained in the over crowded holding tanks. Not defending the pet stores, I hate their overcrowded tanks, just explaining that its this setup that allows the to do this. It's the ones that have single tanks that are really over stocked that I really hate.

I figured. But the fish look really miserable. The goldfish in that tank were all gasping like crazy. The only fish I could say look healthiest was the tetras. They had several types of them and they all looked fine and happy. The oscars were fine (like I said in my previous comment) but they weren't as big either.
Sure the water is maintained, but that small tank wouldn't do justice for their living space. I mean, you could have a luxury room with fine food and furniture, but it wouldn't help if there are 9 other people in that room with you, right?
I hope they get bought by someone who knows what they're doing.

Needless to say, I really want goldfish. They're soo cute. One day. Haha

 

[herp_mommy]

these petco tanks look ok to me, they're not permanent housing.

 

[Jmunroe]

these petco tanks look ok to me, they're not permanent housing.

Yup. And that's why they overstock. The stock moves quickly for the most part and in order to house the stock they have properly you would need a huge store and still not have many fish

 

[Cactuspixie]

A specialist lfs near me has cichlids packed in like sardines- he says its the only way to minimize aggression between them.

 

[Fishingforfish]

A specialist lfs near me has cichlids packed in like sardines- he says its the only way to minimize aggression between them.

Wow, that would be quite a sight.

 

[Fishingforfish]

Yup. And that's why they overstock. The stock moves quickly for the most part and in order to house the stock they have properly you would need a huge store and still not have many fish

So much for setting the right example to customers though.

It may be temporary housing, but if you're seriously considering putting them in small tanks and expecting someone to buy them and put them in a bigger tank, that's kinda far off. Unless they're not thinking about that, of course.There's people wanting goldfishes in a little tank, heck, even my sister wanted an Oscar in our 10g. Point is, bad examples make horrible decisions, unless the right person comes along.

 

[aquandrew]

thats nothing the one by my house has saltwater tanks that size with a clown trigger completely infested with ich, its on sale now for 40 dollars instead of 140 so hopefully someone will rescue it. an they had an 8-9 inch dogface puffer in the same size tank. all 8-10 of the saltwater tanks have ich there isnt a single healthy fish, they have bleached anemones and their live rock is 20 dollars for a "large" piece(2 lbs at most) filled with aiptasia. half the freshwater tanks have ich, fin rot or dead fish in them. i hate chain stores it really makes me sad seeing those saltwater fish in such bad shape and clown triggers are my absolute favorite saltwater fish i wish i had a 200 gallon tank so i couldve rescued it lol

 

[Fishingforfish]

thats nothing the one by my house has saltwater tanks that size with a clown trigger completely infested with ich, its on sale now for 40 dollars instead of 140 so hopefully someone will rescue it. an they had an 8-9 inch dogface puffer in the same size tank. all 8-10 of the saltwater tanks have ich there isnt a single healthy fish, they have bleached anemones and their live rock is 20 dollars for a "large" piece(2 lbs at most) filled with aiptasia. half the freshwater tanks have ich, fin rot or dead fish in them. i hate chain stores it really makes me sad seeing those saltwater fish in such bad shape and clown triggers are my absolute favorite saltwater fish i wish i had a 200 gallon tank so i couldve rescued it lol

I didn't even look at the saltwater tanks, they barely have anything in there to observe. Maybe one tang, and that's it. Most is freshwater.

I know, it's really sad to see dead fish and miserable ones in what people call a pet store. There's cannibalism going on too, and it makes me cringe. I wonder what's their policy on fish, if I ever do go and buy (rescue?) one from there.

I think we all want bigger tanks, lol

 

[absolutangel04]

I am with herp_momma on this one. Honestly, the tanks look pretty decent to me (sans the feeder tank). I don't see any issue with housing 3 oscars in a tank that is smaller than they need when they grow. Most fish keepers use grow out tanks anyways. When was the last time you saw a person get a 75g tank, and then put a single 2 inch oscar in it and just watch it grow? Personally, I have never seen that. As was stated, these tanks are not meant for permanent housing. While I agree that it is awesome when pet stores can have some larger tanks as well as all the small ones, the fact of the matter is that they do not need 75g (or more) tanks to house a few baby oscars. Sure, your sister wanted an oscar in 10g tank. l But honestly, so what? She asked, and was told no. Good for you for knowing that an oscar is not an appropriate fish for a 10g tank. you are correct that not everybody knows that and some people will likely make a poorer choice about stocking their tanks than you did. However, if somebody saw a small fish in a big tank, they would still see a small fish and still be just as likely to put it in a small tank imo. Stores sell what people buy. You just admitted that you would have bought fish from this place if you could have even though you are not happy with their husbandry. So, you can criticize the store all day, but then why even consider buying fish from them?

 

[aquandrew]

they usually have two weeks for freshwater and absolutely no returns on anything saltwater, once it leaves the store its your problem. im pretty sure thats why they reduced the price on the trigger by 100 dollars because they know its going to die there anyway. those people make me sick

 

[jetajockey]

they usually have two weeks for freshwater and absolutely no returns on anything saltwater, once it leaves the store its your problem. im pretty sure thats why they reduced the price on the trigger by 100 dollars because they know its going to die there anyway. those people make me sick

Not to defend the quality of the fish, but that's a common policy at most stores. Heck, most smaller stores don't even have that good of a return policy. SW fish are just expensive, harder to replace, and easily killed by people that aren't equipped to keep them properly. The moral of that story is to spend your dollars on good stock, if the store has really bad fish then just don't shop there.


And regarding the OP, no, it's not the LFS job to set the example of how tanks should be stocked. These are businesses and they don't have endless amounts of money to have walls and walls of tanks stocked at normal stocking capacity just so someone who doesn't have google can get an idea of what they should be doing. I have however noticed that some LFS do have some display tanks with decent stocking.

 

[Fishingforfish]

I am with Herp Momma on this one. Honestly, the tanks look pretty decent to me (sans the feeder tank). I don't see any issue with housing 3 oscars in a tank that is smaller than they need when they grow. Most fish keepers use grow out tanks anyways. When was the last time you saw a person get a 75g tank, and then put a single 2 inch oscar in it and just watch it grow? Personally, I have never seen that. As was stated, these tanks are not meant for permanent housing. While I agree that it is awesome when pet stores can have some larger tanks as well as all the small ones, the fact of the matter is that they do not need 75g (or more) tanks to house a few baby oscars. Sure, your sister wanted an oscar in 10g tank. l But honestly, so what? She asked, and was told no. Good for you for knowing that an oscar is not an appropriate fish for a 10g tank. you are correct that not everybody knows that and some people will likely make a poorer choice about stocking their tanks than you did. However, if somebody saw a small fish in a big tank, they would still see a small fish and still be just as likely to put it in a small tank imo. Stores sell what people buy. You just admitted that you would have bought fish from this place if you could have even though you are not happy with their husbandry. So, you can criticize the store all day, but then why buy fish from them?

You're right.

We can all agree that the tanks look decent, but that's not my point. Yeah, clean tanks is a good thing, but that's not even half the battle. Right, it's temporary housing but how long do you think it could live in those conditions? How would anyone know how long it's gonna take before someone gets them out alive? Or, maybe I care too much about fish, huh? Ill just stop on this topic here.

The reason why I pointed out buying from them is because it's the closest one. Others are far out. You can be unhappy with something, and not go there, but if you don't have a choice? Oh yes, you can say it all day, it does sound hypocritical criticizing a store yet buying from them. But it's not like I have a choice to do otherwise. Getting out of here and going out is not a breeze when you can't drive out. Sure, the store is getting my money at the end of the day but heck, what about the money? I'd rather know its in better conditions than to criticize any not to anything about it.

I'm not trying to start a fight, we are all entitled to our own opinions and choices, and that's just how I see things.

 

[aquandrew]

Not to defend the quality of the fish, but that's a common policy at most stores. Heck, most smaller stores don't even have that good of a return policy. SW fish are just expensive, harder to replace, and easily killed by people that aren't equipped to keep them properly. The moral of that story is to spend your dollars on good stock, if the store has really bad fish then just don't shop there.

And regarding the OP, no, it's not the LFS job to set the example of how tanks should be stocked. These are businesses and they don't have endless amounts of money to have walls and walls of tanks stocked at normal stocking capacity just so someone who doesn't have google can get an idea of what they should be doing. I have however noticed that some LFS do have some display tanks with decent stocking.

i know exactly what your saying it just really got to me seeing a clown trigger that had so much ich on it you could barely see its colors. and i definitely agree with you about the stocking those 3 oscars in that tank doesn't look bad at all its what most fish stores do. its not their job to give you good information, its their job to sell you fish.