Ok, this is a little unethical but...

[krap101]

well... the best day at petco is the day one of the church helpers is working. hes a manager and he actually is sad when a fish is sick or dies. the rest just like... dont care at all.. but petsmart, they usually have a good selection but their customer service (phone) sucks. i timed them once. it took 15 mins, an then i hung up because no one picked up.

 

[wabyrd]

I'm not sure if it's just the PetsMarts and PetCo's in my area, but every one that I've been to will tell me if they've had any dead fish in the tank, recently removed, if I ask. One PetCo, though, just doesn't case and leaves dead fish in their tanks for days (always stuck on the filter intakes). Ewwwww. You'd be surpised what kind of information you can get just by asking. Sure it's a big-box pet store, but I think we stereotype them all too often.

I try not to shop at the local Petco because there's never anyone around to ask those questions and as you mentioned, they leave dead fish stuck to the intakes for days! I use only a select few LFS that are privately owned. Sure I pay more for the fish, but I generally have a better selection and healthier fish. Some of the people that work in the small stores will tell you that fish have died, but others won't. My favorite 2 stores are great about quarantining any tank that has suspect fish and that won't sell fish for the first few days after getting them. And I still look over the fish before purchasing.

 

[talloulou]

I have four places to buy fish locally, Petco,Petsmart, Extreme Marine, and Aquarium Wharehouse. Extreme Marine and Aquarium Wharehouse are smaller locally owned businesses and they usually have more interesting stuff. However their tanks are full of algae and snails. Their tanks may be healthy but I can't really see in to them well so I don't like to shop there. I can't understand why a business would do that. There is a great store in lakewood, clean tanks, beautiful healthy stock. That's where I try to go but I'm not always up for the long drive. The petco and petsmart are hit and miss, but you know what I still shop there because their tanks at least "look" clean. I like to see what I am buying, you know. Why you would have a fish store and have tanks that are impossible to see into is beyond me.

 

[talloulou]

Oh yeah and there is also a local walmart, but I don't actually count them.

 

[malkore]

I'm choosing to lock this thread. I think Tony has gotten all the input he needs to make his 'ethical' decision.

Too many posts questioning Tony's ethics, which I don't think he should have to defend...he just has to live with his decision.

My two cents: take the water sampe, un-doctored. If they put up a stink, ask for the manager, and have a fish guide with you that states 20ppm of nitrate is fine.
Also, have them test THEIR tank water as I'm pretty confident they'll have more than 5ppm nitrate, and you can turn it all back on them.