Petco Goldfish Conditions

maggie thecat · May 20, 2018

A heavy dose of antibiotic might pull them through. Tough. Looks like some kind if infection is going on.

scarface · May 20, 2018

Those look more Fantail than Ryukin to me.

I don’t see why they should be euthenized. Honestly, they look recoverable.

Galathiel · May 20, 2018

Maybe not euthanized, but they shouldn't be for sale either. Of course, I don't know that Petco/Petsmart does much in the way of quarantine, but I'm surprised that those are actually in a display tank for sale.

smee82 · May 20, 2018

They look pretty bad amd unless you could get them for free i wouldnt try to save them.

Mcasella · May 20, 2018

They can be healed from it, they would need pristine water as well as a preventative against infection and fungus (which a couple pictured already have). Methylene blue dips or applications would likely be the first part of treatment i would do, but you would need a QT tank.
Petco does not have spare tanks in the back to medicate fish much less QT them, the fish are medicated in the display tank and hopefully they put a sign on the tank that they aren't for sale.

Skye_marilyn · May 21, 2018

Freshwater-Freshman said:
I know Petco/Petsmart are terrible places to get fish almost always, but I've recently considered getting a companion for my Ryukin there, he was a orphan at my LFS, but they say the don't ever get in Ryukin, so I've been keeping my options open for buying some. I went into Petco for supplies and had a look at the Ryukins, they were in TERRIBLE condition! It broke my heart.

What causes these.. Holes? Their sides have just been ripped open and I've never seen anything like it. Even in a petco, these poor fish should not be for sale. Can fish like this be saved? Or put to sleep?
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It looks like a columnaris lesion and judging by how deep the wound is it’s going to take a lot to bring him back.

Cardeater · May 21, 2018

I hate seeing this!

I think I read a post here or on snoanot forum where someone claimed they complained to corporate about a PetSmart or Petco that consistently had big problems with sick fish. Supposedly she got corporate to send someone in to help them fix their tanks. I guess it's worth a shot.

I wrote off those chain stores a long time ago though I did find a Pet Supplies Plus store that was okay (only checked it out as I was in the area and someone recommended it in a post somewhere).

I've visited 10+ stores in the Chicago area. It's upsetting how many times I've seen dead fish or sick fish in these stores so LFS arent immune ftom problems. This is even with places with a low number of tanks. I think I'd only buy from 3-4 stores out of the 10-12 I've visited in my area (I haven't looked at any of the chains other than the one mentioned above).

BReefer97 · May 21, 2018

Cardeater said:
I hate seeing this!

I think I read a post here or on snoanot forum where someone claimed they complained to corporate about a PetSmart or Petco that consistently had big problems with sick fish. Supposedly she got corporate to send someone in to help them fix their tanks. I guess it's worth a shot.

I wrote off those chain stores a long time ago though I did find a Pet Supplies Plus store that was okay (only checked it out as I was in the area and someone recommended it in a post somewhere).

I've visited 10+ stores in the Chicago area. It's upsetting how many times I've seen dead fish or sick fish in these stores so LFS arent immune ftom problems. This is even with places with a low number of tanks. I think I'd only buy from 3-4 stores out of the 10-12 I've visited in my area (I haven't looked at any of the chains other than the one mentioned above).

May have been my post. It was a Pet Supplies Plus (ironically because you said you found one you like haha) and everything they sell is sick, dying, or already dead. The mystery snail tank is just full of floating snails, they had 50+ Betta Fish for sell but not one without dropsy, and everything else was in the same condition. Was very hard to look at, I don’t know how employees were able to look at it all so casually and sell that crud to people. The first time I called I had just spoken to a manger about my concerns, and when I had seen nothing was addressed - I took it even further and persistently called and emailed until I got in touch with someone who sent a team of people out to take care of the fish. When I went on a few weeks later just to check on everything, their stock was down at least 75-80% which I’m very happy with, and what they did have looked decently healthy as compared to the displays tanks of mainly dead fish.

As for the goldfish, it looks like it may be able to recover, but honestly I wouldn’t suggest it. It’s giving that place business and letting them know that even though they sell fish in horrible conditions, people will still buy them so why change anything?

OneLittleBubble · May 21, 2018

Those are definitely Ryukin and it looks like it has an ulcer on the side. From the first picture in the others, it looks weird, so maybe not. Peroxide swap it and keep the conditions good. One of them looks more like a fantail though the smaller one.
Edit: I really cannot tell because in the first it looks like an ulcer in the next it looks cottony. Maybe a salt dip

OneLittleBubble · May 21, 2018

If you have a 40 gallon tank then you can give him 2 more fancies, but if it is not then don't. Goldfish should be kept in a 20 gallon for the first one then 10 for each one after.

OneLittleBubble · May 21, 2018

I wouldn't put sick goldfish with healthy ones, so be careful.

motherofbettas · May 21, 2018

Poor babies. My heart says, "Fix them!" my head tells me not to bother. Were they swimming around fine? I hate the fact that Petco keeps the goldfish in such small tanks. My Petsmart is so much cleaner and nicer then Petco...but it of course varies by store.

scarface · May 21, 2018

Freshwater-Freshman said:
I was just keeping my options open for companions for my goldfish, Ryukins seem rare where I'm from, but I wanted to try and get 2 more for him. If I was better at curing ailing fish I might've been brave enough to try to save them, but ultimately I have to keep my goldfish safe even if he is alone.

Anyone know if my Goldfish will accept other types of fancies if I don't find more of his kind?

Maybe. What many don’t realize is that Ryukins have a reputation for being bullies.

Galathiel · May 21, 2018

You CAN mix types of goldfish. You could do fantails instead if they are easier to find there. Ryukins are powerful fish that can be pushy, especially at feeding time. It is recommended that you keep goldfish of similar ... shortcomings... so that they have an even playing field when it comes to eating, e.g. telescopes with other telescopes or bubble eyes with bubble eyes. Fantails are usually good swimmers so should be able to compete handily for food.

Petco Goldfish Conditions

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