Amanda

I need to vent to someone who will listen aka FISHLORE! First off today I went to WalMart to try to find Tetra Safe Start, didn't have it. So then I wandered over to where they have the bettas in the torture cups, and I have NEVER seen finrot as bad as it was in some of those cups. Some of the bettas barely had any fins left at all! Then I went to Petsmart to try to find Tetra Safe Start - didn't have it. So I went over to look at their angelfish b/c I plan on getting 3 when my tank is cycled. I look down at the tank underneath them, and there is a fire track eel laying there bleeding in the tank! He was in a tank with some sort of catfish & another eel. When I pointed it out to the girl, she just took him out & took him beind "the doors". Now I know that he was flushed which aggervated me. Then I went & was looking at the gouramis, & there they are eating a dead gourami in the tank. So I also point this out to the girl & she rolls here eyes and THROWS IT IN THE PUBLIC GARBAGE right in front of a 5 year old. The she went on to tell a teenager there that He could put 2 common plecos & a handful of Oscars & Jack Dempsey's in his tank. She also told them that they won't get much bigger (they were about 3 in.). Hate to see that tank in a month.

Devon

Oh my...

I would write a polite but very clear letter to the management of each store explaining what you saw and what you think about it... and how it will effect your business (or lack thereof) in the future if steps aren't taken to rectify the problems... sadly, places like that rarely if ever listen, but at least it will give you the feeling that you did something and if enough voices chime in, changes are likely to be made.

Sorry you had to see those things, that's so hard, and I can sympathize with your anger and frustration completely.

Slug

Don't you hate it when places like this hire bored teenaged workers with 0 experience? It sucks that the majority are there just to collect a paycheck and don't really care about the hobby or the animals themselves.

Kudos to you for trying to help out by pointing out the dead/dying/sick fish. Sometimes i get tired of correcting the LFS (Chains) folk.

Alessa

So agree with that! I am a youth coordinator at a MUSEUM so I know about it...

I agree with the letter thing. It would be nice also to know the name of the employee... for reference of course.

Butterfly

Things like this just make me love my local LFS more and more.
We were in there last week and there was a fish dead in a tank and the man APOLOGIZED to me because he hadn't noticed it before. They are so good about making sure there's nothing dead or dying in their tanks.
I'm so sorry you had that experience and for that child to see her just toss a fish in the garbage .... it's just unspeakable.
Carol

Lionfish17

Wow, Im sorry you had to go through that. I have learned from experience, Petsmart is NOT the place to go for fish. They sold us 2 silver tipped sharks, told us they wouldnt get any bigger than 6'' (which is a lie, they can get HUGE!) and didnt even bother to tell us sharks are not good for beginners. Petsmart employees dont know squat, and if it wasnt for us finding fishlore, well, im sure you can imagine the outcome..

COBettaCouple

Whoa.. talk about a dedicated employee who makes the store look good.

Laelanna

I really really miss the pet store we had when we lived in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Not only did it have a HUGE ( 100+ tanks freshwater, 30+ tanks saltwater) selection of saltwater and freshwater fish, but the employess knew what they were talking about. I have yet to see a store that can compare to them.

Allie

That's what my bf and his partner are doing in the future. When our fish breedery/store is ready to be opened, we are only hiring people who know fish keeping. Our fish is going to be exactly what I want in a fish store now. Too bad it won't be for another few years.

Laelanna

I just wish they let you order online too. I really miss that place. Too bad its 10 hours away.

Allie

We had a guy here too...who had mostly cichlids but his fish were well taken care of and he had a lot of selection. But he real job needed him more and he closed shop. He still has a few tanks at home and sells fish here & there. He so hard to get a hold of.

morganrules

the petsmart people in my state are really knowledgeable they actually understand stuff and can help me its amazing lol

Little Cherry Barb

I really hate seeing dead fish floating in tanks. The general incompetence is annoying, the advice is dangerous, but the half dozen dead fish floating in the tanks? Really sad.

morganrules

oh yah its sad but the one where i live rarely have dead fish floating and if they do they immediately get it outa there tank

David C

My good LFS had an angel in a tank that was donated by some guy who was moving. I was looking the beauty over and noticed a small fungus looking stuff around his mouth, and pointed it out to an employee. she got visibly upset that she hadnt noticed it herself earlier and immediately began to take steps to treat him. the next week when i was there, he was swimming happily around his tank with no signs of fungus looking stuff. i like to see that the employees take pride in the quality of the fish and never "give up" on the poor guys when they inevitably get sick.

Jess

I had a similar experience at Pet "Smart", early on in my fish keeping career.
My daughter and I went to buy a darling coradorus julii catfish, and the kid kept flipping the fish onto the floor! I ended up grabbing the net from him to finish without killing the poor thing. Then the little catfishes barb poked through the bag. And the employee wanted to just double bag it. I insisted he rebag. Then he hardly put any water in. I asked that he add more and do you know he went to the tap water and was about to add water right out of the tap!? I freaked out. I will never buy fish from them again! Needless to say many tanks had sick or dead fish in them. I've now found a fairly good LFS. They know what they're doing. Wheew!

platy ben

I live in the UK and all of my LFS have well educated staff and all the fish are healthy, never a dead one in sight! .

Valchitsa

Lucky... sadly though, the rest of us have to tolerate the pathetic excuse for employees we have here in the US. And of course those sad chain stores like petsmart and petco. You guys should see the petco that's near me. ALL of their tanks are covered in algae and most of their fish don't survive till next week's shipment. They usually get fish on Thursdays, well walk in on a Monday and there will be hardy any fish alive. I'm surprised they still sell saltwater fish considering the fact that they can't even keep their danios alive. Can you do me a favor? Can you send about 6 neon tetras my way? I'd like to have some that aren't inbred...