Bought my first Petsmart fish

Yup, bought my 1st Petsmart fish. We shall see how they do in QT. (5 neon tetras) The tanks were clean, fish only 95 cents on sale.

 

I have quite a few from petsmart/co well actually all but the fish in my QT are from there and all are doing great.

 

I've bought quite a few from Petsmart, and never really had any problems.

 

the petsmart here is worst than walmart. No survivors. My friend bought neons there were some dead in the bag on the way home, the rest died in 2 days.
Hope you have better luck

 

I'm lucky I guess I have two really good petsmarts near me. My Petco never has anything I want but I have bought a fish from one in Cleveland which is an hour a way from me, it did good for like two months then found it dead one morning.

Petco also raised their salty fish price a lot so I don't plan on buying them there when I set it up.

 

I think a lot of it really depends on the staff at each store and how well the care for the fish.

 

I lingered for awhile and inspected tanks. I overheard the salesman speaking to a customer and he actually gave a gravel vac lesson. I was slightly impressed. This store was in Danvers, MA and quite large. Out of about 50 tanks only saw 1 dead fish. Not like the other stores I've been to elsewhere. The guy also kept fish at home. Guess that helps some.

 

yeah that one aint too bad, the petco in auburn is great too.,

 

I haven't had luck with PetSmarts Neons. Not from where I just moved from, and not where I just moved to.

I have, however, bought some Florida Raised beauties, from my LFS, and they were great. Loved 'em. Much more vibrant, and very healthy and active.

I hope you have better luck than I had!

 

Was tossing up between getting Neon Tetras (10 for $20)or Cardinal Tetras(6 for $44)Big difference in price,but which would be easier to care for?Wouldn"t like to spend that much on cardinals if they are harder to keep than Neons.My local fish shop guy is great but would like advise from someone who has actually had/has both types.

 

Good morning,

Congrats on the new additions!

I have moved your thread from General Discussion to More Freshwater Aquarium Topics section of the forum.

Best wishes for your fish!

Ken

 

Was tossing up between getting Neon Tetras (10 for $20)or Cardinal Tetras(6 for $44)Big difference in price,but which would be easier to care for?Wouldn"t like to spend that much on cardinals if they are harder to keep than Neons.My local fish shop guy is great but would like advise from someone who has actually had/has both types.

I have had significantly better success keeping neons than cardinals.

 

The only problem I've noticed with my local petsmart neons is that they seem to have more trouble with NTD than some of the other suppliers in my area. I get most of my fish there, for several reasons. (I'll explain if you want but seem irrelevant here); most of my fish from them have done very well, but the clerks at my local petsmart are very honest, so they'll say "Oh, you know, I wouldn't get any of those just yet, our last shipment didn't do very well and I want to see how these do before I send any home with you." They're also fish lovers, so they'll totally spend 90minutes (on a slow day) helping a customer pick out just the right betta (healthy, alert, AND aesthetically what the customer wants).

 

Decided to go with my gut.Like the neons because they have more blue.Look better swimming in a school than the cardinals(looked fat)Currently have 12 acclimatising in bag in tank right now.Will let you know how they are later.

 

Decided to go with my gut.Like the neons because they have more blue.Look better swimming in a school than the cardinals(looked fat)Currently have 12 acclimatising in bag in tank right now.Will let you know how they are later.

I like neons and have heard they're more hardy. Neons have more blue than cardnals. I plan a school of 20 as I like the splash of blue among the plants.

 

All neons ok and doing well.Splitting up and swimming seperately as well as schooling.When the swim individually and not in a school does that mean they feel safe?Schooling means feeling safe doesn't it?Well anyway haven't lost any.I might have to add some more later as I really like their slow swimming style.

 

All neons ok and doing well.Splitting up and swimming seperately as well as schooling.When the swim individually and not in a school does that mean they feel safe?Schooling means feeling safe doesn't it?Well anyway haven't lost any.I might have to add some more later as I really like their slow swimming style.

They school tight when threatned.
I already lost one in my QT tank.

 

sorry to hear the little guy didnt make it.

Hopefully the rest are ok and you can take advantage of the 14 day garuntee

 

sorry to hear the little guy didnt make it.

Hopefully the rest are ok and you can take advantage of the 14 day garuntee

Too late, it got the "woods" burial. I did have 1 fish that kinda got stuck in the bag. Maybe that was it?

 

maybe, lets hope it was just a fluke.

 

It's so hard fighting the temptation to put fish in main tank! I know I should wait a minimum of 2 weeks. How do you get throught the QT stage?

 

Its hard to, but its worth it. Just think of all the disease that you could bring that could wipe out your main tank.

 

Its hard to, but its worth it. Just think of all the disease that you could bring that could wipe out your main tank.

I know, I know.

 

very soon you can watch them in the big tank, just think, then you get to put more fish in QT lol

 

Yes I will. I plan on building up my schools.

 

I'd wait a month, but that is JMO. I haven't had much luck with chain store fish in the past, even easy stuff like platies.

I have had fish in QT for a couple of weeks, then I tank them into the main, and all of a sudden, they are sickly looking... a month is a safer bet IMO.

 

I've never had any of the LFS suggest QT tanks in NZ. Maybe because If they got all the way through NZ strict import laws and didnt catch anything or die in transit the are the most hardy ones:-\

 

NZ strict import laws

No kidding! Calling NZ import laws strict is like calling the Mariana trench deep. It's how the word is defined lol. It makes sense for a smaller island nation with a more easily impacted ecosystem, but WOW. (This is compared to the states where as long as it's not beef from Britain or worth lots of money, they don't really raise a fuss).

 

I'd wait a month, but that is JMO. I haven't had much luck with chain store fish in the past, even easy stuff like platies.

I have had fish in QT for a couple of weeks, then I tank them into the main, and all of a sudden, they are sickly looking... a month is a safer bet IMO.

I've read this too. A month just seems so LONG! Guess I'll just by my school now and then it won't seem so bad. A month w/ 5 fish, then another 5 fish, etc would take forever!

 

there ya go!

 

They won't even import female gouramis seems they die in quarrantine being egg bound:'(The only female one I've ever seen on our Trade me Auction Site are Pearls and even then that's scarce.The specialist aquarium store guy said they only had 2 imports of females in 5 years and the sold within 2 weeks:I could make fortune if I could breed some here!

 

That's crazy! You should start a topic about inport laws, that would be very interesting and a hot topic. I'd like to see what other countries have to deal w/ when trying to own fish.

I got a little reckless today, bought 10 more. Hey the sale's only good until tomorrow. A little crazy considering the neons in the other tank looked awful. Told me it was a new shipment so we shall see. (Too get refund involves lugging dead fish)

 

good luck with the newbies!

 

good luck with the newbies!

Next month, yes I'm going to listen to sound advice, I'll buy my lonely glowlight some buddies.

 

I'm sure they will be happy with some new friends.

 

Next month, yes I'm going to listen to sound advice, I'll buy my lonely glowlight some buddies.

Oh hey, I was just giving you a little tidbit of advice based on what I have seen from the chain stores in my area. I do recognize that they can vary from location to location based on who is working in the aquatics dept. I just wanted to give my "safe bet" advice... I hope it didn't come across wrong.

 

Many people suggest a solid month. I can wait.

 

Just spend your time here chatting up the locals. Or ice fishing....

 

Hah sharkdude, no ice yet. I lost one last night. It couldn't swim in the direction it wanted and kept bobbing in circles. I knew it wasn't going to make it so ended it for him. I'm not going to bother w/ taking it back. That would involve carrying around a dead fish for .95 cents. I'm not saving them as they go for the full $10 refund either! Can you imagine, keeping dead fish stocked in fridge for 2 weeks!

 

... I have a dead fish in a ziplock right now, waiting to be taken back to petsmart (tomorrow)... it's only $6, but hey, that's 50mI worth of gas right there! sorry about your fish though, and I can't blame you about not keeping them; 2 weeks is a long time when you're talking about decomp!