Anyone else not have luck with PetSmart fish, or am I doing something wrong?

3-4 days ago I went to Pet Smart. I made a poor choice by impulse buying 4x peppered Cory & 2 guppies.

I assumed the corydora’s would be fine, but I did notice while looking at their tanks, a lot of dead fish, or the fish just didn’t look all that well. The corys to me seemed fine, so I impulse bought.

Then I went to a second location, bought 2 guppies. More dead fish in the second location. Their fish also didn’t look well.

Now, present time, one Cory already died, and despite one male guppy seemingly looking like he was fine yesterday, died today?

One of the cory’s I’ve also noticed has a missing eye, and he’s suddenly not doing too well either. Sitting around, and sometimes floating to the top (going limp), then gets a kick, and sifts for a second but sits around. So, I’ll probably lose 3 fish now.

I am thinking of returning the remaining 2 Cory’s but they seem fine and active so I haven’t decided yet.

I can’t tell if it’s MY fault, maybe I acclimated too poorly, but then again the guppies were acclimated perfectly, so I can’t equate why one died.

I haven’t had success ever keeping their fish alive. My tank has been running for a little over 8-months with a betta prior, so it’s cycled. I even bought Stability Seachem to throw in there, and a bit of stress guard. No luck. I have one of those seachem ammonia stickers, doesn’t seem to be any ammonia.

When I tested with the kit too, ammonia and nitrite, both 0. So I can’t tell if it’s my tank, or, if it’s the fish, or possible poor acclimation?

anyone relate? I should’ve went to a proper lfs, instead of supporting the big box.

 

I have purchased from Petsmart and Petco and haven't had many problems. One fish did have internal parasites and died because I didn't have meds on hand and the order took too long. I generally always look at the tanks to make sure there arent any issues I can see. My LFS has 20% of their tank with ich every time I go in so I guess it is just luck.

 

it's most likely Petsmart, I've heard lots of horror stories on here about fish bought from them. But in the future, it is best to research fish before you buy them.

 

There are good and bad PetSmat/Co's. My Petsmart is really good. It also depends on where they are getting their fish. Guppies are super overbred so they tend to be not as healthy as some other species of fish. I guess the voice in your head should be "dead fish run!!!"

 

i've had pretty good experience with Petsmart and Petco. look for healthy fish to buy, if you don't see any, come back in a few weeks, repeat until you see healthy fish. fish will get stress when being caught and transported around.

 

I guess it all comes down to the individual store and those who work at a given store
In my area, Petco is a bit of a joke as far as the fish dept is concerned... Thanks often have some dead fish and those who work in the fish dept can be somewhat abusing at times .
However, right down the road from Petco, there is a Pet Smart and by comparison, they are a first class operation..
I get all my fish from Pet Smart.. .

 

I guess it all comes down to the individual store and those who work at a given store

I agree. My closest Petco is good and the Petsmart isn't but it varies from store to store in my area.

I've found it worth paying the extra money to get my fish from a good LFS. I view the extra cost as paying for a little insurance and piece of mind.

 

I had mixed results with chain stores. Looking carefully for dead fish or signs of disease is good but doesn't guarantee healthy fish. One thing to remember is that in most of those stores, a shared system is used, meaning that separate tanks are kind of like one tank divided by a divider. So, if you see a poor tank, the one next to it (or possibly all tanks) are suspect.

 

Lol, so....funny story: In July 2020 My wife (who had the best intentions) decided to rescue some sad looking tetras from Petsmart. So she brought home the 6 worst looking, nipped fin rotted, underfed, over stressed fish that ive ever seen. Not to mention she had 1 of each type of schooling fish that were still alive in the store. Bless her.

Welp....they all died....except 1 lone serpae tetra. He is still alive and doing great. Ironically, he was the worst looking one of the bunch.

Moral of the story: I really don't have one. I just think its crazy that sad beat up colorless serpae tetra who made a full recovery is one of the fish that has been in our house the longest. Its been well over a year now.

Stick to local fish stores and online breeders. Big box stores are nasty. And if you can't resist the urge....get yourself a quarantine setup.

 

Thanks guys. I agree it does matter location, but, it’s kind of funny how, majority of them are pretty bad here. There is one decent Pet Smart that is a tad newer, but it’s an hour drive.

I usually prefer getting my fish via online, or from this other good LFS, but didn’t go up there this time, sort of wish I had.

Lol, so....funny story: In July 2020 My wife (who had the best intentions) decided to rescue some sad looking tetras from Petsmart. So she brought home the 6 worst looking, nipped fin rotted, underfed, over stressed fish that ive ever seen. Not to mention she had 1 of each type of schooling fish that were still alive in the store. Bless her.

Welp....they all died....except 1 lone serpae tetra. He is still alive and doing great. Ironically, he was the worst looking one of the bunch.

Moral of the story: I really don't have one. I just think its crazy that sad beat up colorless serpae tetra who made a full recovery is one of the fish that has been in our house the longest. Its been well over a year now.

Stick to local fish stores and online breeders. Big box stores are nasty. And if you can't resist the urge....get yourself a quarantine setup.

Yeah, I’m definitely going to have a quarantine setup once I get my 33-gallon long going. That’s going to be my “it” tank, so I don’t want any disease and want everything to be perfect.

These guys I got, which use to be mainly a 10 G for my former betta, I don’t really care about, I think that’s why I took a bit of a risk, the tank was already empty, and I’m planning on tearing it down soon.

 

Former Petco aquatic specialist here! Petsmart/petco source their fish from AWFUL quality breeders. I would scoop a whole container of dead fish at both opening and closing. I actually had to leave because I couldn’t handle that much death. However, I did get all of my fish from those two stores and they’re all doing well. I would recommend treating them with double strength stress coat for about a month with weekly water changes, and treating for ich preventatively for 7-10 days. Basically you’re buying sick fish who spent a week or two in overcrowded tanks with bright lights and kids tapping the glass, so they’re super stressed. Another thing that can keep them from dying is not using a tank light for a few days when they’re first introduced. The fish need to feel safe first and foremost, and then their health will improve. You can also ask the store where they buy the fish from. If they say A-pet then run away, but most other breeders should be fine. Don’t be afraid to ask for a specific fish either! For example if you ask for a guppy, the workers will just scoop a random one which usually ends up being the slowest and therefore the sickest. Point out a specific fish and make sure they scoop the right one. When I worked there I much preferred to spend the extra time with a customer who cared about the fish, rather than someone who wanted in and out asap and didn’t care which fish they got (not saying you did that! Just saying don’t feel guilty for being assertive)

 

3-4 days ago I went to Pet Smart. I made a poor choice by impulse buying 4x peppered Cory & 2 guppies.

I assumed the corydora’s would be fine, but I did notice while looking at their tanks, a lot of dead fish, or the fish just didn’t look all that well. The corys to me seemed fine, so I impulse bought.

Then I went to a second location, bought 2 guppies. More dead fish in the second location. Their fish also didn’t look well.

Now, present time, one Cory already died, and despite one male guppy seemingly looking like he was fine yesterday, died today?

One of the cory’s I’ve also noticed has a missing eye, and he’s suddenly not doing too well either. Sitting around, and sometimes floating to the top (going limp), then gets a kick, and sifts for a second but sits around. So, I’ll probably lose 3 fish now.

I am thinking of returning the remaining 2 Cory’s but they seem fine and active so I haven’t decided yet.

I can’t tell if it’s MY fault, maybe I acclimated too poorly, but then again the guppies were acclimated perfectly, so I can’t equate why one died.

I haven’t had success ever keeping their fish alive. My tank has been running for a little over 8-months with a betta prior, so it’s cycled. I even bought Stability Seachem to throw in there, and a bit of stress guard. No luck. I have one of those seachem ammonia stickers, doesn’t seem to be any ammonia.

When I tested with the kit too, ammonia and nitrite, both 0. So I can’t tell if it’s my tank, or, if it’s the fish, or possible poor acclimation?

anyone relate? I should’ve went to a proper lfs, instead of supporting the crappy big box.

I would guess petco/petsmart because of my experiences, then again there can be really good petcos, but that doesn't help with inbreeding.

 

I just purchased 6 bettas from Petco Tuesday. 1 male, 5 females. Lost 1 - white stringy poo. I had treated tank for worms few weeks back, but I dosed it with Artemiss MicrobeLift

She died in tank, no body I can find - but I have snails & false Julii cories in there, they likely ate her. The rest of the new bettas are fine. She was on small side but as soon as I saw the poo, I figured it was not good.

sometimes stuff just happens
stress of shipping, exposure etc.

I just keep tank and area lights limited so they can relax.

I have not seen dead fish in a tank in big box stores other than betta cups - which has improved over 2 years ago! I would see a lot more then.

most regular fish, they actually quarantine them a few days in back before out of the floor at my local Petco.

imo - cories need a lot of places to hide, plants and numbers.

when I started out, half the cories I got died...it took maybe 3 months before I got my full crew.

I guestimate I have 12 in my 38 gallon. 6 ( though I think, they may have bred) in my 20 long, and I gave away 12 to co-workers. all from my 6 green cories purchased 2 years ago.


tetras were easy to make stable. cories broke my heart - buy 6, 2 died.. buy 3, 1 died... and then finally it clicked. they became stable and I have a wonderful happy cleaner crew which are a delight to watch.

I may get cory babies again as the mystery snails are no longer in that tank, lol

 

With most species I have had no problems with the Petsmart stock. I did get an otocinclus one time who only had one eye. I didn't notice until after I'd had it for a few days. But it turned out to be an otherwise healthy and robust animal. I very rarely have any problems with Petsmart fish.... except with one species.

Guppies. The ones from Petsmart die, every single time. It must just be a bad source. I don't have problems with other livebearers (or any other type of fish) from that store, only guppies.

Now I actually do have some guppies that were born in my quarantine tank. But their mother was part of my last attempt at Petsmart guppies. From now on, its locally bred guppies only.

 

Ive never had a problem buying from Petco ever. I look over the tanks, the fish I want, etc., but in general fish are hardy and given good conditions, can recover from the few days they might spend in bad water (not saying Petco necessarily has bad water, just saying). Petco has been the store that 99% of my fish have come from over the last 12 years and Ive never lost a fish from in the few weeks after buying it.

 

Every fish I've bought from PetCo has carried ich or other parasites. That said, since I got wise and started quarantining fish, I've never lost any. I would always assume that all fish bought from big box stores are sick and need to be medicated and quarantined for at least 2 weeks. A quarantine tank should be small, sparse and clean... 5-10 gallons, no substrate, no light, maybe a couple of pieces of pvc pipe for hiding places. Easy to medicate, easy to observe your fish.

 

This thread is beginning to turn into a store bashing thread, some of the Op‘s questions are getting overlooked so I’m closing this now.


I’ve moved the Op’s recent questions & the couple of responses to a new thread so the Op can get some help.
Daily water changes in Qt tank? | Freshwater Aquarium Quarantine Forum | 509002

**Thread closed**