Thoughts on fish at big box stores

[Dumbo the Fish]

My nearest big box store brutally mistreats their fish. Namely bettas. As soon as I step into the betta nook above the dirty sink, rest a few plastic containers filled with bloody betta fish who are dying. The place REEKS like death and a few of the fish lay motionless. The snails are completely covered in feces and clumps of algae line the tank filled with a goldfish struggling to swim as some internal parasite overtakes his life. I was looking for a shrimp but refused to buy from them due to the injustice served. What are your thoughts on big box stores like this?

 

[coralbandit]

If more people did not support them on the fish end of sales they would stop selling fish..
IMO most places abuse the bettas because they can and that simple feature is a huge selling perk to simple fish keeping newbs..
No matter how bad they treat fish and the conditions they keep them in they make money or they would stop...
Good for you not giving them yours .

 

[Coralocean]

My nearest big box store brutally mistreats their fish. Namely bettas. As soon as I step into the betta nook above the dirty sink, rest a few plastic containers filled with bloody betta fish who are dying. The place REEKS like death and a few of the fish lay motionless. The snails are completely covered in feces and clumps of algae line the tank filled with a goldfish struggling to swim as some internal parasite overtakes his life. I was looking for a shrimp but refused to buy from them due to the injustice served. What are your thoughts on big box stores like this?View attachment 308643View attachment 308644View attachment 308645

When I see this I talk to the store manager. In 2 Petco's I have seen improvements since I brought the conditions to their attention. I finally found a mom & pop fish store so I no longer shop at big box stores. I am not even going to do the dollar per gallon sale anymore. I ran into a regional manager a few weeks ago and politely told him about "his" stores. He was eager to listen and wanted to hire me. I said no thank you. According to him company policy is to change betta cup water 2 times per week. I told him that's why they look sick and often die. -sigh

 

[Dumbo the Fish]

Bettas are some of the most misunderstood creatures. Nobody would dream of locking a dog in a small crate for all of its life but that’s what people are doing with bettas! My pet smart and Petco are ok. They’re not the best though.

 

[drjallen3]

My nearest big box store brutally mistreats their fish. Namely bettas. As soon as I step into the betta nook above the dirty sink, rest a few plastic containers filled with bloody betta fish who are dying. The place REEKS like death and a few of the fish lay motionless. The snails are completely covered in feces and clumps of algae line the tank filled with a goldfish struggling to swim as some internal parasite overtakes his life. I was looking for a shrimp but refused to buy from them due to the injustice served. What are your thoughts on big box stores like this?View attachment 308643View attachment 308644View attachment 308645

My guess is lack of knowledgeable help...fish baggers. I have a friend that was hired as an employee for the fish dept. at a large pet shop in Philadelphia. To this day, he still knows nothing about cycling tanks, importance of water perameters, how big fish will get, nor what fish will exist together. He just bags fish and recommends wrong disease products. He is not the only employee like that in fish stores. He was just young, willing to work, so the place hired him. When I need something live, I travel 30 miles to a mom and pop store that I've known since the couple opened 25 years because all family members work there and take care of the place perfectly. There are at least 10 fish stores close to me. But I would rather travel 30 miles taking 2 busses each way to get good healthy critters. I get all my hardware, food, etc. online by mail order.

 

[Dumbo the Fish]

My guess is lack of knowledgeable help...fish baggers. I have a friend that was hired as an employee for the fish dept. at a large pet shop in Philadelphia. To this day, he still knows nothing about cycling tanks, importance of water perameters, how big fish will get, nor what fish will exist together. He just bags fish and recommends wrong disease products. He is not the only employee like that in fish stores. He was just young, willing to work, so the place hired him. When I need something live, I travel 30 miles to a mom and pop store that I've known since the couple opened 25 years because all family members work there and take care of the place perfectly. There are at least 10 fish stores close to me. But I would rather travel 30 miles taking 2 busses each way to get good healthy critters. I get all my hardware, food, etc. online by mail order.

Yes. I totally agree with you. To prove that, I bought an ADF from petsmart. Their packet with info about them says incorrect information and the worker there said he didn’t even know some of the stuff on there. Never once did he recommend water conditioner to beginners either. They should offer some sort of training at these shops.