Wal-Mart

[Johnny Tuttle]

Somehow, I don't trust this as a fish source; have people had good or bad experiences there?

[crazyfishlady]

I've bought fish from Wal-Mart before, they turned out just fine. It's always good to have a quarantine tank though. I had bought some tadpoles that were infested with anchor worm from another pet shop, not wal-mart. A good majority of my fish in my show tank wound up getting it. I had to pull each fish out individually and try to pull the worms off of them with tweasers, it was a mess. Some of the anchor worms attached in thier gills and on one of my mollies eye ball. I was pretty gruesome.

[Cheapeeper]

Wow I can't imagine going at my fish with a tweezers. You must have patients that's for sure.

[littlecich]

I have purchased many fish at Wal-Mart with no problems. However, I believe it depends on the Wal-Mart. Some are good, others not so good.

[crazyfishlady]

Yeah, I just didn't want those anchor worms spreading to any more fish and I hate putting chemicals in the tank. They always seem to cause more harm.

[Johnny Tuttle]

That last point makes sense. It would depend on whom they assign to care for the fish: someone who knows her or his stuff or just the next student applying for the job.

I wonder because their prices are predictably lower for many species, but I wanted to know about disease and also about their ethical practices with live fishes.

[Cheapeeper]

The Wal-Mart in my town always has clean tanks with rarely a dead fish in them. it does depend on the day and who is in the pet section as to the knowledgable person working there.
I've never bought a fish from Wal-Mart before because the actual LFS is right down the road with employees who have worked there for years.
I really dont see anything wrong with Wal-mart fish if everything looks good and one does their research on fish before buying. I just preferr to buy from the LFS here because I know the staff has been there for a long time and actually can answer my questions without having to look it up.
If the wal-mart fish are quarantined for a while before adding to the tank with healthy fish there really shouldn't be a problem.

[mike47517]

walmart fish are fine they keep their tanks clean i would check the fish for ick first though that is the most common diseas that is sold to customers from anyone who sells fish.

[Sum22]

It doesn't matter where you get your fish from. Whether it is walmart, petco, petsmart, or the lfs down the street, your fish could have something wrong with them. The best thing to do is quarantine your fish in a seperate tank for 2-3 weeks to make sure they are fine. The longer you wait the better. I had fish that didn't show any signs of disease until 3-1/2 weeks after I got them. The bad thing, was that I added another group of fish I had been observing to the tank and they were infected by the others.

[Dekz]

My friend and I have both bought fish from Wal-Mart with no problems at all. In fact Wal-Mart has WAY more information posted about each fish than any other LFS.

And their prices are significantly lower. I always check to see if Wal-Mart has the fish I want before I go to other stores.

[okaquarium]

have bought fish from wal mart in my town many times but only because the nearst aquatic store is 45 miles away. wal mart has horriable conditions for the fish at my local store. usually buy the fish out of pity for them and to give them a fighting chance. thats just my experience with them

[Sombunya]

You might mention this to the store manager. Or maybe go above that person as well. It's all about public relations.

[Jnam]

Walmart is just fine for me, just check the tanks they are in. We have 2 walmarts in my area the one closest to my town always has dead fish in thier tanks and most of them look like they are on their last fins... But the other walmart WOW i have only lost two fish from them. out of plenty purchased. IMO if walmart has the same fish as my LFS ill buy walmarts cause they are signifigantly less expensive...

[Lager]

I think the chain stores it really depends on the manager of the fish departments. Some do as good a job as they can some don't.

[Cheapeeper]

Wal-Mart Vs. LFS it all depends on who is working and how they care for the fish. I've seen some LFS here that need a thump on the head and walked into Wal-Mart and actually got helpful advice from a Wal-Mart employee. It just really depends on who is working and where and what they know and what they are allowed to do as an employee.
It's not the fishes fault that's for sure.
If it's a quarantined fish for long enough it shouldn't really matter where it was bought, if something is going to go wrong it will no matter where the fish is bought from. Or the price.
Just my 2 cents worth.

Sharon in Minnesota