New freshwater aquarium owner

[Edelman12]

I became first time aquarium owner in August '14. I got a starter kit 20 gallon tank from Petsmart. I have had relative success in the past 6 months from getting my fish and other necessesities from the same store. I was wondering what more experienced aquarium owners would say about the quality of fish from stores like petsmart (Petco, etc.) compared to other smaller stores that are only for fish. Is there a higher quality fish from smaller stores compared to large wholesale stores. I know there are other factors that come into play (quality of smaller store, location, etc.), but what is the general opinion of where is the best place to purchase your fish?

 

[Mattfinn]

I find that local stores are far better for quality and service provided. Where I live in Australia commercial stores don't offer any 30 day warranty or support with fish. I find local stores often have a better range too and care far better for their fish and are always willing to help. It is also easier to establish deals and exchanging situations with local stores. Of course not every local store is as good as the next. I have two stores specialising in aquariums within 20 minutes of me. One is definitely better then the other stock and quality wise but doesn't have as good deals as the other.

 

[Coyne]

This is probably something you'll have to find out for yourself. Whether they're big box stores (Petco, Petsmart, etc) or a privately owned store that specializes in fish, the results can vary widely from place to place.
For example: I have the opposite situation of the above post. PetCo and Petsmart offer a 30 day guarantee and my specialty shop only offers 48 hrs.
I have several Petcos/Petsmarts within 30 minutes of my house. Some are nice and clean with healthy looking fish. Some are pretty ghetto and always have dead fish in their tanks.

The level of knowledge varies just as much. The best advice I can offer there is to educate yourself as much as possible so that you don't have to rely on the employees too much. Once you have a better idea of how things work, you'll be able to figure out which LFS employees do and don't know what they're talking about.


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[mrvincent]

IMHO, almost all fish store have medium and poor fish quality. I personally QT EVERYTHING, including plants when I buy something new.

The best quality fish I found is my own fishs. I rigorously analyse them in the pet store before I buy, I watch for others fishs in the tanks system. The most common disease here (in Québec) is white spots (ich).

I got formalin+malachite green/Melafix/Pimafix ready for all new fishs JIC.

When they're in QT tank, I reanalyse them more rigorously, so I sometime find something I didn't see in the LFS, then I treat.

 

[Edelman12]

I find that local stores are far better for quality and service provided. Where I live in Australia commercial stores don't offer any 30 day warranty or support with fish. I find local stores often have a better range too and care far better for their fish and are always willing to help. It is also easier to establish deals and exchanging situations with local stores. Of course not every local store is as good as the next. I have two stores specialising in aquariums within 20 minutes of me. One is definitely better then the other stock and quality wise but doesn't have as good deals as the other.

I appreciate the input. The petsmart I have been shopping at offers a 14 day warranty for their fish which is not bad all things considered. There is a tropical fish shop about 15 minutes away though, so I should probably check out what they have to offer.

 

[Edelman12]

This is probably something you'll have to find out for yourself. Whether they're big box stores (Petco, Petsmart, etc) or a privately owned store that specializes in fish, the results can vary widely from place to place.
For example: I have the opposite situation of the above post. PetCo and Petsmart offer a 30 day guarantee and my specialty shop only offers 48 hrs.
I have several Petcos/Petsmarts within 30 minutes of my house. Some are nice and clean with healthy looking fish. Some are pretty ghetto and always have dead fish in their tanks.

The level of knowledge varies just as much. The best advice I can offer there is to educate yourself as much as possible so that you don't have to rely on the employees too much. Once you have a better idea of how things work, you'll be able to figure out which LFS employees do and don't know what they're talking about.


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

The condition of the tanks are what I have been most sensitive too. I am not an expert by any means but their tanks are not well kept (not cleaned, mislabeled, dead fish). I have also come home with a few fish that were not healthy. Time to check out some other options.

 

[Edelman12]

IMHO, almost all fish store have medium and poor fish quality. I personally QT EVERYTHING, including plants when I buy something new.

The best quality fish I found is my own fishs. I rigorously analyse them in the pet store before I buy, I watch for others fishs in the tanks system. The most common disease here (in Québec) is white spots (ich).

I got formalin+malachite green/Melafix/Pimafix ready for all new fishs JIC.

When they're in QT tank, I reanalyse them more rigorously, so I sometime find something I didn't see in the LFS, then I treat.

Thank you for sharing some insight. When I first got started with my tank, I bought a package of generic water condition testing strips. It was a 5-1 that tests general hardness, carbonate hardness, pH, nitrite, and nitrate. I'm running low on these strips and want to know what the most important a conditions are to test for? I have recently bought a separate pH test and an ammonia test.

 

[Mattfinn]

I think it really does differ from store to store. Depending on areas and so forth. So many variables....

I find it easiest if you find all the stores within half an hour and check them out. Go in take some notes. Stock, quality, customer service and then make an analysis from what you get there