It can be a sad hobby

[TammyLiz]

Hi everyone. I know I haven't been posting much lately but I've been lurking. Had something I wanted to share, though.
I went to the only LFS near my home today. I live in a highly populated area so its surprising there aren't more, but that's beside the point. The point is that there were dead fish in almost every tank, and employees were standing around doing nothing, talking to each other about insurance etc. Some of the fish showed evidence of being dead quite a while (large puffs of fungus surrounding them), and nearly all had been partially eaten or were in the process of being eaten. Many many sick fish were on display and none of them were being treated. To top it off, I overheard someone ask an employee a question and the answer he was given was completly wrong--he had high nitrites so had been doing water changes every two days. The employee told him to stop doing water changes because removing the water would remove the bacteria and slow down the cycle. Pfft. I actually spoke up and said "I beg to differ, the bacteria live in the filter and on the plants and glass, not in the water. Water changes help relieve the fish from the nitrite". The employee insisted they also lived in the water and told the guy he'd be fine if he just added some (expensive) bottle of nitrite detoxifier and stopped doing water changes. I grabbed my daughters hand and said "come on, lets go buy our stuff at petsmart. there are dead fish in every tank and the employees are giving bad advice". We left immediately and I don't think we will be returning again for a long while. I did go to petsmart and bought frozen bloodworms and filter media there instead. At least they remove fish from the tanks when they die, and they were doing tank maintanence while I was there, which it seems they are almost always doing during the day when there are fewer customers. Still...its a chain store. Are there ANY good family owned pet stores out there? I am feeling frusterated with the hobby in general because of the mistreatment and death of about 90% of the fish that are born into it. Emmas store is one of the only good stores I have ever even gotten wind of. This store I went to today used to be at least decent, but since last December has been going downhill. I heard it came under new management last year. Anyways, I'm sure a lot of people here have had similar frustrations, but I am particularly fed up with it today and thought I'd share.

[mikev]

Hi Tammy,

Glad to see ya around again.

You know, I'm no longer welcome to one of the Petlands around. When they ask if they can help me, I tend to reply: "Sure, remove the dead fish from the tanks, this way I can see what you got".... well, they don't ask any more...

(the main reason I'm going there is that i have $50 fish credit and the whole darn chain has nothing to offer...)

But the advice given actually might have been a good one, strange as it sounds. In a **new tank**, the nitrite processing bacteria takes long time to settle down, about 2-3 months. In such situation, you actually might be able to suppress the spike faster with Prime only. (Same thing incidentally is behind the logic of not running UV's on new tanks). This needs a more careful research and obviously also depends on other factors (for example, nitrAtes), but what the store said was not totally insane.

[QueenDustBunny]

There is one chain store near us that I will never enter again. A few of the tanks within a bank of tanks had "sick" written on the tank in grease pen. When someone else asked about the other fish, the employee replied that the other tanks were safe as the sick fish were already treated. The sick tanks were not grouped together and looked fairly random. They had all the loached in with the goldfish. Semi aggressive and community fish grouped together. More bettas in tiny tubs than I could count. And the worst was the algae everywhere except the viewing circle in the front. Yuck.

[newshound]

ahhh yea the LFS, gotta love it.
If you think stores are bad you should see the breeders
honestly I am surprised that more crazy shit doesn't happen at fish stores
and the advice they give people!@!!!!!!
some of these shops make the big box stores look damn good

[DarrenMnaples]

i live in miami and i have found 2 lfs and one petsmart and oh yea the walmart carries cichlids too (go figure)the one local fish store deffinetly has better knowalage then the other one, and will both will tell you most cures can be done buy a couple of water changes, but all three are rellativly clean and always dump the dead bodies as soon as they are noticed....i guess where just lucky down here.............but none of them compare to emma's store of course

[TammyLiz]

Mikev, how on earth did you end up with a $50 credit for fish at Petland? Did you once buy $50 worth of fish there only to have them all die or something?

I happen to have a little bit of credit for fish at the LFS I spoke of above. I bought a couple fish that were in questionable health but hard to find, and they didn't make it despite my efforts to save them. Nothing close to $50, though.

---------

Darren, I'm not surprised its easier to find a good store in a city as large as Miami, which also happens to be in an excellent climate for breeders to make outdoor facilities so there are many species locally bred. I think if I lived in Miami, I'd be contacting breeders to buy directly from them. You might have to drive a bit, but it'd be better than paying $30 for next-day shipping.

[mikev]

Mikev, how on earth did you end up with a $50 credit for fish at Petland? Did you once buy $50 worth of fish there only to have them all die or something?

Gosh, you really think very low of me. I don't buy fish there, except for an occasional kuhli I feel sorry for.

They give fish credit if you buy a large tank as a bonus, and their tank prices are ok.

And of course they have no fish I want...

(It actually appears that the choice is between Horses and losing the credit. Not sure which yet.)

[TammyLiz]

Oh goodness, I didn't mean to make you feel bad. It was just the only thing I could think of. I have never heard of getting a fish credit with a tank purchase, but then I've never shopped at that store.

[mikev]

Oh goodness, I didn't mean to make you feel bad. ...
....

Don't worry, no offense.

I basically hate the entire chain. There is one store that is run reasonably well and they occassionally even have some fish one may consider (Odessas, Horses, they have great Dojo's now -- but I have no tank for them). The rest range from horrible to worse. But their tank prices are the lowest (they get volume) and on top of it their managers allowed to give free fish. Very convenient and efficient: bring the tank and fish home, fill up the tank, drop CYCLE in, drop the fish in. No time wasted on cycling. When the fish dies, you tend to go back and buy more of the same kind.... Since I find that cycling a tank may have some remote connection to the fish staying alive, I took the credit.

(BTW, a friend who runs an independent store told me that Petland is losing money and may go under. Don't know if this is true, but if yes, I'll be pretty happy.)

PS. Nice Sig! Will it automatically change with time?

[TammyLiz]

You could increase your shoal of Odessas if the timing was better with setting up your larger tank. Wouldn't that be nice?

The sig does change automatically. It reflects the date you are viewing the post, not the date it was posted. Despite my usual "if its not practical why would I want it?" attitude, when I'm pregnant I like cute stuff. I certainly am aware of how far along I am. Starting to feel a little...full. And I've been feeling little kicks. So cute! We might find out if its a boy or girl next week. I hope we will be able to tell.

[mikev]

You could increase your shoal of Odessas if the timing was better with setting up your larger tank. Wouldn't that be nice?

No, it was one-time deal, they never had it again.

I'd love more Odessa's but in the current tank this is impossible. In fact if I were to admit the current stocking level, you would not talk to me again

One possibility for Odessa's is incidentally as the dither for a possible schistura tank. I'm slowly getting an itch in this direction and was thinking a bit about variations like
Aborichthys+Acanthocobitis+Some of my Poculi+Odessas.
(TBH, I'm totally lost right about how to stock correctly. So far two days of planning and no decent results.)

The sig does change automatically. It reflects the date you are viewing the post, not the date it was posted. Despite my usual "if its not practical why would I want it?" attitude, when I'm pregnant I like cute stuff.

It is cute indeed

I certainly am aware of how far along I am. Starting to feel a little...full. And I've been feeling little kicks. So cute! We might find out if its a boy or girl next week. I hope we will be able to tell.

They got it correctly both times with us, but I recall the doctor being extremely cagey..."no guarantee".. Either way, it is great news!