Friday finally arrived! Came to work and surfed Fishlore, like most days. I'm thankful that I have a job that lets me work hard, but also do something else that I enjoy while working. I am grateful and lucky.
So, today, the fish for the 30g should be here! Yes! The
LFS said that they would call me and let me know when they were in and would keep them for me until I got there. By 3pm I hadn't gotten a call yet and I was a little worried, so I gave them a call. I spoke to a gentleman who said he would check on the order and call right back.
I waited a little over an hour without a return phone call. Now I was getting a little ticked. I called the number again and the same gentleman answered. He said he was just getting ready to call me back... Now, I've worked in customer service oriented fields for over a decade... I've heard all of the excuses...
Anyway, I just wanted to know about my fish. He stated that they hadn't come in yet... I explained to him I put the order in on Wednesday. The lady said the order would get put in that night, get fulfilled on Thursday morning from the supplier, and over night shipped on Friday. He explained that there must have been some delay. I explained that when shipping live animals, a delay isn't really acceptable is it? I asked if the shipment would be in on Saturday... He said no. Monday? No, probably Tuesday...
Me: So, you're saying the fish were never ordered and you will personally place the order on Monday, first thing, to ensure that they are shipped to your place of business on Tuesday afternoon?
Him: No sir. The order was placed, the fish just must be in transit.
Me: I think not. Never mind about my order, I'll take my business elsewhere.
I wasn't trying to be a jerk, but I had specifically told this shop that I would prefer to do business with them as LFS' need our business more than the large chains... Then this is the service I get? Meh.
So I decided that I would simply rescue my fish from Petsmart! And I'd do it right then and there! Next time, I'll order them from CWC and Dino instead...
Off to Petsmart I went. I looked through their selection again to see if they had everything I wanted. 6 Tiger Barbs? Check. Cory Cats? No False Julli's or Panda's. They had Peppered, Albino, and Emerald Green. Well, the Peppered where cool. I could get 3 of those. MALE Swordtail? Hmm. None in any of the tanks actually labeled as Swordtails. However, in the tank with the Peppered Cory's were a bunch of Marigold colored Platy's. And, mixed in with them, two very pretty male swordtails of the same color. Check.
I got one of the attendants. A young man. I explained to him that I'd like to purchase some fish. He asked which and started rolling the Fish Cart alongside the tanks. I pointed out the Tiger Barbs and asked for 6. With a single net, the attendant went after them with quite a bit of gusto. He eventually got 6 in his container and began to prepare to bag them. I explained I wanted some more, so maybe he shouldn't bag them yet... He agreed and along came the fish cart.
I pointed out the Peppered Cory tank and explained that I wanted 3 of the Peppered Cory's and 1 of the male Swordtails in the tank. He quickly protested and told me that there were no Swordtails in the tank, only Platy's and pointed to the placard on the tank.
I kneelt down with the young man and quietly (so his co-worker would not hear) explained to him the difference between a Platy and a Swordtail. I even let him know that, while Platy's and Swordtail's can mate and produce offspring, they are not the same species of fish. He seemed enlightened.
Again, he went at the tank with a single net and did not even remove the decor of the tank. As this went on, he was stressing the fish like crazy. Eventually, all 3 Cory's were netted but the Swordtail would prove to be a challenge. The fish were still in quite a tizzy.
Back into the tank with the net. While doing this and continuing to cause madness in the tank's population, one of the male swordtails leaped from the tank, right onto the dirty tiles of the Petsmart floor! Ack!
I bent down quickly and picked the guy up by his tail and placed him in the container of tank water on the Fish Cart. The attendant explained that he would happily get me the other Swordtail and turned to go back to work. I quickly dissuaded him and told him that I'd happily take this fella home and nurse him back to health. I just couldn't watch him stress the rest of the fish anymore and I felt bad for the flyer.
The fish were quickly bagged after finding out I only lived about 10 minutes away and off I went. The ride home was quick (6 minutes) and uneventful. I just wanted to get home as quickly as possible, open up the bags, and begin getting these guy acclimated to their new home.
I proceeded to cut off the top of the bags, roll down the sides, and clothes pin each of the bags onto the side of the tank with their bottoms submerged. The fish were obviously quite stressed. I let them get used to the temperature for about 25-30 minutes. During this time, I emptied my 100 ml bottle of SafeStart into the tank. I then used a turkey baster to introduce about 5 ml of the new tank water into each of their bags every 10 minutes. I did this for about 40 minutes. I felt like this was a pretty good process of getting them acclimated.
During this whole process, the Swordtail looked to be the most stressed fish and acted as though he still wanted to jump if he could. Originally, because of his anxiety, I wanted to put him in the tank first, but because of his tendency to leap, I couldn't! And since the Cory's were in his bag as well, I felt like the Tiger Barb's would need to go first.
I got the small net and quickly got all 6 into the tank without any issues. They quickly retreated to the rock formation and hid in it.
Next, I wanted to try and get the Cory's but not the Swordtail. I was able to and in they went.
Next, was the poor Swordtail. Gently, in he went.
I quietly closed the hood to the tank and sat back to watch. It took them quite a while to settle down, but within about 2 hours the fish were beginning to come out of hiding and take a look around. So far, so good. Everyone looked healthy and happy, and that was the best I could hope for.
I fed them very lightly just to try and make them feel at home and they all seemed to eat warily. Not much happened throughout the evening, but I knew I wanted to check on them first thing in the morning.
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