Why oh why do I keep shopping at petsmart?

[UABsleeperSRNA]

I don't know why I keep thinking that petsmart has changed even after I vowed to not purchase any more fish from there yet still I found myself buying some neon tetra's when they were on sale today.. It's sad some of the treatment their fish receive these were purchased just a couple of hours ago all their gills are burned and color is washed it's pretty sad..

 

[PatrickL]

I have only bought a few fish there, and all of those have been fine....tho tiger barbs are hard to kill.

I was dumb enough to buy mondo grass tho

 

[UABsleeperSRNA]

Yeah i guess I can't say it's all petsmarts their is one about 30 min from me where I bought angels and a angelicus Botia that were great but the one that is 5min down the road I have never gotten a decent fish from.. I should have known better

 

[CPryor]

Hey there

I work in a Petsmart in NC - I think our store is pretty nice; we have four "hospital" tanks with different meds, so we can keep things under control, and my manager is semi-anal about keeping up with cleaning and proper feeding. She will hold associates accountable if it's obvious we missed something in a sick-run, and she's not afraid to dose all the systems if the problem is widespread (happens sometimes after new stock arrives). Management has a lot to do with how good the fish stock is, buuuuut...

I think your stock in Alabama is probably the same as our store - some company based out of Atlanta. Our Neons have been coming in just like that - it's really upsetting, because no matter how much my manager complains, they won't do anything about it. I believe it's because they pack those Neons in the bags so tight when they ship them - they're small, but active, and I think they're stressed from ammonia burn. You put them in the tanks, loose about 1/8 the first day, 1/8 the second day, and so on for about 4 or 5 days.

Ah, the disadvantages of chain stores -even if 20 employees care, 1 person in the bureaucracy can send it all to hell

 

[philipraposo198]

Ask to see their water report. And have a look at the fish before you buy em.

If you taken the time to observe you would have seen the condition of the fish and not purchased.

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[fishenthusiast]

Their plants that are in the gel packs are usually good, but some of them are not fully aquatic.

 

[UABsleeperSRNA]

Ask to see their water report. And have a look at the fish before you buy em.

If you taken the time to observe you would have seen the condition of the fish and not purchased.

Well Actually all the neon's are in a black light tank and their were about 60 which from what i could see when i was in the store looked pretty healthy in fact i asked him to put two of the one's he pick out for b/c they looked pretty bad.. it was not until i got home and put them under a real light in my qt tank that i was able to see that they had burned gills and how washed out their color is... which the color i think was partly due to stress of acclimating to the new tank plus they were on sale for a dollar and were having 15% off so i couldn't resist.. seems like everywhere i try to buy neons around here they are 2.19 each at least..

 

[UABsleeperSRNA]

Their plants that are in the gel packs are usually good, but some of them are not fully aquatic.

Oh really? i saw them yesterday and almost bought a couple of plants yesterday in the gel.. still debating if i want to try a planted tank in my 10g or not haven't fully decided yet.. if i do it will be something easy to care for never had a planted tank before!

 

[fishenthusiast]

Oh really? i saw them yesterday and almost bought a couple of plants yesterday in the gel.. still debating if i want to try a planted tank in my 10g or not haven't fully decided yet.. if i do it will be something easy to care for never had a planted tank before!

Usually the ones with odd names aren't fully aquatic. Like the Peacock Fern. I've bought Anubias, Cryptocoryne, Dwarf Hairgrass, and some Java Fern that were all in the gel packs, and they all did fine (except for the Dwarf Hairgrass since it demanded more than what my tank supplied in terms of lighting, etc.)

 

[UABsleeperSRNA]

Hey there

I work in a Petsmart in NC - I think our store is pretty nice; we have four "hospital" tanks with different meds, so we can keep things under control, and my manager is semi-anal about keeping up with cleaning and proper feeding. She will hold associates accountable if it's obvious we missed something in a sick-run, and she's not afraid to dose all the systems if the problem is widespread (happens sometimes after new stock arrives). Management has a lot to do with how good the fish stock is, buuuuut...

I think your stock in Alabama is probably the same as our store - some company based out of Atlanta. Our Neons have been coming in just like that - it's really upsetting, because no matter how much my manager complains, they won't do anything about it. I believe it's because they pack those Neons in the bags so tight when they ship them - they're small, but active, and I think they're stressed from ammonia burn. You put them in the tanks, loose about 1/8 the first day, 1/8 the second day, and so on for about 4 or 5 days.

Ah, the disadvantages of chain stores -even if 20 employees care, 1 person in the bureaucracy can send it all to hell

Well Glad to hear y'all do have employee's aware of the problem.. Sounds like in NC y'all do have a pretty nice setup.. wish all the petsmart were like that! Especially since they tend to get a pretty large variety of fish in at different times of the year.. I would prefer petsmart of petco because they tend to have pretty good prices and deals on their stock and equipment depending on when you go.. Like i said it's not all the petsmart of course.. i have one that's about 30 min from me that's fish always appear to be in excellent shape for the most part... thanks for the reply and giving me the insight that it's not just the employee's for the most part it's the management.?

 

[UABsleeperSRNA]

Usually the ones with odd names aren't fully aquatic. Like the Peacock Fern. I've bought Anubias, Cryptocoryne, Dwarf Hairgrass, and some Java Fern that were all in the gel packs, and they all did fine (except for the Dwarf Hairgrass since it demanded more than what my tank supplied in terms of lighting, etc.)

Yeah i don't have any special lighting on my ten gallon and my substrate is just a larger gravel that's the main reason i haven't gotten into it yet.. don't know how well the plants would do in that environment.. and the higher quality substrate tends to be pretty expensive from what i've seen? and me being a full time student don't have just a whole lot extra to put into my aquariums especially with as much as i have put into getting my tanks up and running so far and fish stock! The wife is not to fond of putting extra money into plants haha

 

[Just Another Fish Guy]

To get my tank setup, I've purchased almost everything through Petsmart. Ours here in Wesley Chapel, FL is pretty nice and the staff seem to know a decent deal about the fish. Everytime I've bought fish, they've asked questions like "how big is your tank?" or "what do you currently have in there now?"

Pretty basic stuff, but at least they're asking questions. The fish I've purchased from them all seem to be doing pretty well. Ours also has a 14 day gurauntee...so if a fish dies, you can bring it back and get a new one. Not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing...but at least it's something.

 

[MeCasa]

Everybody hates Walmart too

But we still go there don't we, except those that say they don't and they do too....

Convenience

 

[UABsleeperSRNA]

Haha MeCasa true true! And it is good having the 14 day guarantee ours does that also!! It just stresses me out having sick fish I always feel like I need to be doing something to make them get better!
But yeah I have bought all my equipment exc. for a couple of orders on amazon they always seem to have pretty good deals and lower prices than petco

 

[fishenthusiast]

Haha MeCasa true true! And it is good having the 14 day guarantee ours does that also!! It just stresses me out having sick fish I always feel like I need to be doing something to make them get better!
But yeah I have bought all my equipment exc. for a couple of orders on amazon they always seem to have pretty good deals and lower prices than petco

I always get quality service from Foster and Smith; although, I've never purchased a tank from them.

 

[CPryor]

Yeah, management can bring it all down - because even if they hire a fish-idiot, if the management is on top of things, they are trained to do proper WC and maintenance, sick runs and fish care, and other things - for instance, at my store, I know if I hear a co-worker giving bad fish advice, I can step in offer my opinion - I had it done to me when I was new, and I quickly learned! It's all about the culture....however, even when your direct manager is awesome, they can't control the distributor -that's corporate's job. They can log complaints - for instance "The neons are coming in burned from ammonia", or "the cichlids are sent mislabeled" or something, but weather or not corporate will contact the distributor and put some fear in them...well....it all comes down to $$$$, as far as I can see. I think well-informed customers contacting corporate and reporting these things would help - if corporate can see customers care, changes will be made.

And yeah, I have a 10 gal with gravel, and I keep Anubias nana, Red Ludwigia, and Java Fern in my tank with no problems. Research your plant - Anubias and Java fern need to be planted loosely with their roots receiving water-flow, but other than that they are low-maintenance.

 

[lectraplayer]

I have noticed lately that many act like they are in oxygen poor water and are pale. However, Birmingham, AL has so few options and www.edspetworld.con is not much better.

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[UABsleeperSRNA]

I have noticed lately that many act like they are in oxygen poor water and are pale. However, Birmingham, AL has so few options and www.edspetworld.con is not much better.

Sent from my ALCATEL ONE TOUCH Fierce using Tapatalk

Yeah that's where i Live and i would not go in Edspetworld again if you paid me.. I honestly don't know how the fish in that store are still alive.. Smells like pure urine just had tarantula's sitting in old beta cups on the counter.. really don't know when the last time those tanks were cleaned.. if ever.. One of the workers there was trying to talk me into running a salt water tank with my 36g told me all i needed was some salt and my aqueon 30 filter that came with the tank.. that they are less maintenance and require less cleaning than freshwater tanks.. really?

Aquarium imports is a great place with pretty good prices.. tanks have a good bit of algae but his tanks have been running successfully for 20+ years so what can you expect!.. but every fish in there looked healthy and.. and the owners are pretty knowledgeable! the only problem i have run into is they just didn't have a whole lot of selection lots of cichlids but when i have been they have been pretty low on other varieties plus it's about 30 min or so away.. and always closed when i put down the books.. supposedly their angels are pretty good gets them locally but been sold out every time i've been?

 

[lectraplayer]

The good news is that the people at www.edspetworld.com do clean their tanks. I actually caught Sebastian doing one. They do leave algae sometimes.

Where is Aquarium Imports?

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[UABsleeperSRNA]

1941 Hoover Ct, Unit H, Birmingham, AL 35226-3630, United States
Number is 205-979-0840

Ha yeah true true they may clean them but IMO I would prefer to shop at Aquarium imports if I'm going to make the drive! The Steve is really knowledgable and I know his fish are getting good care and be fairly confident their healthy