How can you tell if a pet store isnt good?

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Hi,

Not all pet stores are necessarily bad. Some are well informed actually. Most do need to check their information though.

The key is the fish. Look at the fish, if they look unhealthy in all the tanks, don't buy from them.
 
Yes, the answer is pretty simple. Look for dead or sick fish. Observe the fish. Are they acting normally? Are they swimming normally? Are their fins tattered or fish have spots, sores, discolored? Most stores have a central filtration system, so if one fish is sick all the fish have been exposed. Also look to see if everyone is housed appropriately- tropicals shouldnt be mixed with goldfish, schooling fish are kept in appropriate groups, etc
 
One obvious clue would definately be sick, diseased, and/or dead fish in the display tanks.
 
Yes, the answer is pretty simple. Look for dead or sick fish. Observe the fish. Are they acting normally? Are they swimming normally? Are their fins tattered or fish have spots, sores, discolored? Most stores have a central filtration system, so if one fish is sick all the fish have been exposed. Also look to see if everyone is housed appropriately- tropicals shouldnt be mixed with goldfish, schooling fish are kept in appropriate groups, etc

Lol, great answer, you beat me to it:), much more thorough.
 
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I take in the smells first then look at the animals. Are their cages clean? Is there food/water etc. Then I go to the aquatics department. Are the tanks clean? Dead fish? Fish doing odd things? (flashing) Do they look well fed or starved etc. Lastly I look at the employees. Do they look like they care or are just there for a paycheck? Mind you, I don't judge on their looks, I have tats, so I can't assume that people with tats are bad. See what I mean? More like, are they clean. If they're clean, then that means to me that they care about their appearance, which can trickle down to job performance.
 
Go a few times, every store has bad times and you don't want to miss out on an otherwise good shop because they just got in an order that wasn't good for some reason (bad shipment from the wholesaler, delayed during shipping, someone called in sick so they are running behind, etc.).

Don't only go on Saturday, try to go during the week, they will be slower and able to spend more time with you. This will allow you to get a better idea of their knowledge. Ask a few questions, some you know and some you don't know.

Ask about an item and if they can do anything about the price. In today's world this can go two ways 'no, the internet is killing us and if all you care about is price then you are putting us out of business so thanks for nothing, we can't compete with online pricing', or 'we can do something about it but we may not be able to match the price, at least not on everything'. IMO it is not bad if they don't want to work with you, I tend to agree with the first statement, for the sake of business I have to go by the second.

Ask about a special order fish, something rare and harder to come by. Good shops should take your name and number and/or email and try to get it in for you.
 
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