Do you think pet shops intentionally sell highly inbred low immune fish.

Do you think pet shops have a vested interest in selling you fish with low resistance to diseases, bacteria and illnesses so they can make money by selling medications, enhancers and merchandise which brings in the real money to their business?

 

I've never thought about it but that is an interesting thought. It does make you wonder doesn't it? I've just always thought that fish do so bad at the stores because the employees know nothing about them (I'm not saying all pet store employees, only one's I've encountered.) I've had to several times point out which species the person just caught for me so they can write up a ticket. It is pretty bad.

 

I can tell you now that I work for a LFS. At the store I work for (Which shall remain unnamed for safety reasons) we absolutely prioritize selling only healthy fish. We won't even sell you a fish if we suspect something may be wrong with the fish.

I mean, honestly.. Is there a conspiracy that the dogs you purchase/adopt are sick just because there are companies that manufacture medication for dogs?
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Of course, I can't speak for other stores, but our business stems from having repeat customers through quality service and healthy inventory. It's better to not sell anything today and have you as a customer for life, than it is to sell you something now and have you never return.

 

Low quality inbred my be cheaper from there supplier. So in a sense yes

 

I can tell you now that I work for a LFS. At the store I work for (Which shall remain unnamed for safety reasons) we absolutely prioritize selling only healthy fish. We won't even sell you a fish if we suspect something may be wrong with the fish.

I mean, honestly.. Is there a conspiracy that the dogs you purchase/adopt are sick just because there are companies that manufacture medication for dogs?
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Of course, I can't speak for other stores, but our business stems from having repeat customers through quality service and healthy inventory. It's better to not sell anything today and have you as a customer for life, than it is to sell you something now and have you never return.

I agree with this. I also work in a pet store and we have some very knowledgeable people on our team (I'm learning so much!) If we have disease in our tanks, we mark the tank with a NFS and medicate. (we don't do this with feeder fish, however. Kinda sucks because lately they've had some issues). Our fish are fed a varied, high quality diet. We also run on the idea that we'd rather have you back as a repeat customer because we have good quality stock than selling you a sick fish, you buy some meds, and never come back because "we sell bad fish".

 

It depends on the fish some die immediately and some live forever although the glow fish and such that are dyed are tortured and have poor immune systems but I did buy one when I first started not knowing and he is still alive

 

Glofish (if you are referring to this "brand" of glow fish) are not dyed or injected.

 

I agree with this. I also work in a pet store and we have some very knowledgeable people on our team (I'm learning so much!) If we have disease in our tanks, we mark the tank with a NFS and medicate. (we don't do this with feeder fish, however. Kinda sucks because lately they've had some issues). Our fish are fed a varied, high quality diet. We also run on the idea that we'd rather have you back as a repeat customer because we have good quality stock than selling you a sick fish, you buy some meds, and never come back because "we sell bad fish".

Does your LFS supply Saltwater fish as well?

And likewise with the sick fish. Since our freshwater tanks all have undergravel filters, it's easy to just mark out a tank with an X, place a heater in the tank to raise the temp to 86 and treat with Mardel's Quick Cure or Kordon Rid Ich.

 

It doesn't. We only sell freshwater. We have very few fish deaths in comparison to the other two pet stores I've worked in before. The other two, we had these sheets we had to fill out with species and number of dead every morning and every night. There were some days, I'd fill a sheet and have to write on the back. This store, we maybe use up a few spaces a day and its mostly feeder fish. We have two guys at the store that are really into fish and they do a pretty good job of keeping the tanks cleaned and the fish well fed. I annoy them with all my questions. lol