genie

Today, while shopping at my local Wal-Mart, I stopped by the pet section to pick up some fish food.* I noticed these fish that were bright pink and blue and orange.* I did some research on them-- They are mixed fruit tetras (white skirts dyed).* I doubt if our local store knows how awful this is for the fish!* I have never seen dyed fish until recently, and now I see them everywhere.* In fact the only LFS that doesn't have them around here is PetCo.* I have intentions of getting together some information about fish dyeing and mailing it to our Wal-Mart general manager. I just thought everyone should know that Wally-World isn't fish friendly.

Stradius011

I know, I saw some dyed fish at WalmART too. They take horrible care of fishes.

Icicle

unfortunately I think most people would agree that walmart wasn't so fish friendly, even without stocking dyed fishies

Terry

Hi. I've read that Walmart was selling the dyed mixed fruit tetras back in 2005, but I thought they had stopped selling them. Were they labelled as the mixed fruit tetras? I'm starting to see the glofish show up in the lfs's that I visit now. The glofish aren't dyed fish at all, and not harmed in the process of making them bright colors (and fluoresecent under a black light) - they're "genetically designed" fish created originally for research purposes, and were created by microscopically inserting a gene from a jellyfish into a developing zebra danio egg. The fish now reproduce on their own in these fluorescent colors. While no fish are harmed in producing glofish, I still have questions in my mind about the ethics of messing with nature, and where it will lead us next.

Glofish site:

http://www.glofish.com/

Picture page:

http://www.glofish.com/photos.asp

genie

The fish were labeled "Mixed Fruit Tetras". I hadn't heard of dying fish when I saw them, and I wanted some because they were so colorful. It is a good thing that I did some research before purchase. I would've been so upset if I had unknowingly supported this practice. I am just glad that so many of you on this forum activly protest against fish dyeing, otherwise I would've been in the dark about the whole thing!

wolfman21

I HATE Walmart when it comes to their care of fish. They are so bad. They dye their fish, they don't use gravel for bottom feeders, have no plants or ornaments for the fish to hide in, and yet they make so much darn money! Gee you think they could afford better quality or at least fish that arent dyed. It upsets me

inuyasha_lover_21

I never ever buy fish from wal-mart and I never will. They treat their fish like crap.

starshine

I have replied to a post on this forum about Wal-Mart...my old one back home in the FL panhandle was decent. But my one down here in S.Central FL is wretched! I was checking out the fish dept. the other day (my son LOVES it), and saw something that broke my heart. I'm an eel lover, and will have more as soon as I can support them. But they had about 20 peacock eels in one tank with a "bridge" for them to hide under. 2 could effectively hide at best, and yet ALL of them were packed in there with heads and tails sticking out, trying to hide. Eels need multiple hiding places, and really love to hide in gravel or sand. Then, there was a sick one in another tank with a bunch of mollies. He was really on his way out, probably in the next 24 hours. Now, why would they let it sit there? Why not euthanize it? I asked the guy if I could have it to take home and try to cure it, but he said no, something about inventory...I almost cried for this poor thing. Since I've been here, I've been purchasing at PetsMart. *sigh* I wish there was something we could do.

inuyasha_lover_21

Thats sad about the eels.In a few years I am going to run my own pet shop in NC. I been saving up.The fishes tanks are going to be all natural looking with plenty of hiding spots. All fishes need hiding spots or else they will be severely stressed.

Terry

That petshop you'd like to start - would it be in Charlotte, NC by any chance?

starshine

Since seeing this thread, I looked at my local Wal-Mart, and they too carry "mixed fruit tetras". I wrote a letter to the manager about dyed fish and the eels. I guess that's about all we can do...

inuyasha_lover_21

Terry,

I am going to start it around the lumberton area. I am going to work at my moms animal shelter for a while before I start it. My mom is going to help me get the equipment. My girlfriends grandma has a building that we are going to split. It is going to be a pet shop/salon. We have to add an extention to the building at make it longer/wider. After a while of getting money I will be hiring some people but for now its going to be just a goal.

Edited to add: I am going to hire people who are experienced. Not people who don't know anything about fish. I think thats where most people who are new to fish go wrong. I wanna make sure I get repeat customers. Make sure they get the correct items for there tank. Make sure the fish are compatible with what they have in there tank already.

Terry

That's good on the Lumberton area. Too far for me to visit, but hopefully you wouldn't get a lot of competition from the big lfs chains like Petsmart & Petco. Good luck if you go for it!

inuyasha_lover_21

What I can also do is deliveries. I can calculate the fuel cost and meet you anywhere. I am going to get a van for deliveries. All I need is a name for the store

genie

How about The Happy Fish-- lol just a thought.

inuyasha_lover_21

That sounds pretty cool. I want it to have a name that people will remember. I am not going to sell just fish but I am going to sell almost everything including my favorite mammals. Sugar gliders. I want to have alot of tanks setup including a 200 gallon display tank in the middle of the store or I can have the tank like a table for the cash register which would look really cool!

genie

Hmmm-- I will think about it. I work in Marketing and Advertising so this is right up my alley.

inuyasha_lover_21

Thank you for helping me with a name. I know this will be a great store too! I will show you pics. Should I also do online selling to?