View Full Version : Wal Mart fish
MelJr
12-08-2003, 11:56 AM
Since I don't have a LFS where I live I went to one in Amarillo that I usually go to and it had gone out of business. I went to petsmart and their fish didn't look good. So I wound up at an Amarillo walmart. I got 4 CAE, 5 Otocinclus affinis, 6 cories, 5 neon tetra, and 4 mystery snails. They put them all in the same bag which I figured was ok since I was going to put them all in my quarantine tank. By the time I got to the checkout, which was less than 5 minutes 2 of the CAE were dead. I went back to the pet dept. and he traded them for 2 more and put them all in the same bag again. I went back to the checkout and 2 of the CAE were dead again. This time they put the 2 new CAE in a seperate bag. I got the fish home about 1 1/2 hours later, long drive home and all were alive, but one of the neon tetras had both eyes missing and one had one eye missing. So anyway my questions are has anyone ever heard of CAEs dying like that? And also could the Otocinclus have caused the missing eyes by latching onto the neons or maybe the mystery snails?
OrionGirl
12-08-2003, 12:02 PM
Fish should be able to tolrate being bagged for a decent length of time. If they can't, I would suspect poor handling and poor water conditions. I would NEVER accept fish bagged together. Keeping some species together is fine (ie, cories, tetras, etc) but different species should be in different bags, and the load should always be kept light. Mixing fish in such close confines can cause unusual behavior and aggression. Combined with deteriorating water quality, and you have a death trap, IMO.
~*LuvMyKribs*~
12-08-2003, 12:16 PM
Thats why I BOYCOT WALMART!
I would never ever buy fish there even if I had to. I would rather order them off the net. I don't like how thier fish always die, how no one knows what they are doing, and how there are always dead fish in thier tanks. :sick:
And thats 20 fish in a bag plus 4 snails!? Is it just me or is that insane?
LMOUTHBASS
12-08-2003, 1:02 PM
walmart = unhealthy fish
They let their "associates" handle the fish and these "@ss." don't have a clue of handling fish. One time I saw a Silver Dollar I really wanted. I stood and waited. Asked for help from 2-3 employees and they said they'd find someone. After about 10 more minutes of waiting I gave up and bagged my own fish. When I was in the process one of their associates walked by and through a tirade that I was doing it. I snapped back at how I waited for almost 15 minutes to no avail and the fact that I've been handling fish for years and have forgotten more info than he or any of their associates have ever learned about handling fish. A manager came over to calm the situation and I was able to tell him what I thought. I was also able to explain to the manager that half the time I walk by there's always at least one tank infested with ich that's never quarantined and how dead fish are never removed. The only way they're removed is the other fish pick at them until there's nothing left. Four months later I have a nice healthy Silver Dollar that's getting pretty big and have only seen one ich tank and guess what. It was quarantined!:)
I bought all of my fish from WalMart. That is part of the reason I chose really hardy species at the beginning (cories, platies, bettas and white clouds). I can't wait to finish my moving in a couple of weeks so I am away from this small town and into an area with some real fish stores.
I laugh because at my WalMart things were great bu tthe updated their tanks to a fancy new setup (oddly smaller tanks) and now use a system with a huge central sump. Everytime I walk by there is a note on one tank that says, "Do not sell, tank being treated." Of course the medication they are using is going into one tank, getting diluted and spread with the illness to all the other tanks in the system, which of course are still for sale.
Originally posted by TKOS
use a system with a huge central sump. Everytime I walk by there is a note on one tank that says, "Do not sell, tank being treated." Of course the medication they are using is going into one tank, getting diluted and spread with the illness to all the other tanks in the system, which of course are still for sale.
OMG, they're just defeating the purpose.:sick:
sumoschro
12-08-2003, 1:37 PM
The walmart "near" my house (20 miles away) has a fish department, but i dont even want to go over there to look at the fish ever since my little experience there...:sick:
I went over to the walmart originally not for fish or aquarium supplies, but for other things. I happened to come across their pet department, and thought i'd take a break and look at their fish. The fish lookd "ok" until i came across 2 consecutive cory tanks and a tetra tank. all the cories in the tanks were dead, at least ten of them in each, and instead of netting them, they stuck OTHER FISH in there to eat them....and in the tetra tank i noticed that the water quality was so bad that the water was too cloudy to I.D. the fish accurately (half the fish in there were dead too) the worst part about all this was that this was on a saturday, and that walmart gets their shipments on friday. I wrote a complaint but nothing has happened since i sent it in.
It seems like none of these big chain stores like petsmart or walmart will ever have reputable fish because the kids they hire to do the maintainance have no clue what the heck they're doing.
thats why i only go to petcos or petsmarts only for supplies, and not for the fish.:shake:
A person I was talking to was trying to figure out what type of fish to get with her betta. I mentioned that white cloud minnows are peaceful and a good choice and to try to keep the tank temp around room temp. The lady who was working there then proceeded to butt in and tell me that white clouds are tropical fish and need to be kept at 80F. And of course they actually keep their neons and white clouds together because they are the same size.
And their ID sharks are listed as 6" maximum and good in community tanks.
LMOUTHBASS
12-08-2003, 2:03 PM
walmart shoulnt be selling fish unless they are going to make their "pet " area an individual spot with people who only work their and get some training they all seem terrible your on the other side of the country and it's a similar story here - that means everywhere in between has to got to be similar
as for petsmart they shoulnt be in the same category as walmart!
they are pets only so they do focus on their fish! i haver to honestly say their fish are fairly good yes they have high casualty rates but i think this is because of the quantities of fisdh they receive at a time but the tanks are always clean etc - however they are reliant mainly on highschool part times etc to care for their fish - for the most part their suppiles are decent in my area !!!
one thing you all have to keep in mind here regarding walmart etc - people at wally world usually don't care they get paid very little work miserable hours and don't get offered health insurance either it's a company with ruthless business tactics they are a giant and drive unionized stores such as grocery stores out of business - then the people who were making like 17 bucks an hr in the union don't have jobs anymore so they end up working for walmart making half of what they were making and because they are only skills specific workers they havent got an opportunity to work anywhere else so they take a mega hit in their pay check most people who work for walmart dont want to
so it's best to stick to someone who sells fish cause they want to like a local lfs so we might as wel stop complainging about wally cause they aren't going to change
( i know this info cause we are studying this in business class)
sumoschro
12-08-2003, 2:15 PM
I agree that OVERALL petsmart/co are better than walmart. i was just saying that the petsmart/co near me are bad.
The hyper-mega-Pet$martco-Walmart's that rule my area are miserable choices for anything living- if supplies are what you need, they are a bit cheaper than the LFS, but I would rather shop at the LFS to help keep them in business. And the fish there are better cared for, and in better condition. I used to live in a VERY small town that didn't even have a Kmart. The nearest Evil Walmart was an hour and half away. Yet lo and behold! They had three LFS that were the best I'd ever seen! They were so increadibly cared for, and always had a great selection of rare and common fish. The people there all knew what they were talking about too... I learned so much from them.
Then I moved to the Big City, and there's nothing... ONE LFS that actually is within easy driving distance, in a world of Pet$martco-Walmart's. I got into an argument with the "manager" of the "fish department" of Petco down the street from my house before I knew where the LFS was. She was arguing with me about the proper care and conditions of fish while all around her were putrifying tanks full of very obviously sick and dead fish! I asked to speak to her manager, and she huffed and puffed a bit, stating that she was the manager of that department. I laughed to myself, thinking that I had been keeping fish for almost as long as she had been alive. The Pet$martco-Walmart's don't hire people that know anything about fish, or care since they are getting half what they made somewhere else before they were put out of business and forced to get a job there, as LMOUTHBASS points out.
And yes, they will not change, so support your LFS or they'll be put out of business and then we really will be up S**t Creek with only a Pet$martco-Walmart paddle! If you have to get something and can't buy from a LFS, try online! That's what I'm going to do from now on.
Captain Hook
12-08-2003, 3:49 PM
Wow I can't believe some of these stories. I've personally never even thought of going to Wal-Mart for fish and consider myself lucky to many quality stores near me. Within about 20 minutes drive I have 2 Big Al's, 2 PJ's, a Petsmart, and others I've never been to like Petcetera.
MelJr it is astonishing to see them put all those fish in one bag. I have never seen anyone do this and if I did I would probably flip on them.
The Petsmart closets to me is pretty good. They have 3 really good people working. 2 college age girls and a guy that is about 40 and a little slow, but they all REALLY know their stuff. They have this job because they're aquarists themselves.
I had been to this walmart 3 or 4 times in the last few months and every time the same white haired guy was working. Probably because I only go there on the weekends. The tanks always looked good with clear water no dead fish etc. I thought the guy must know something about fish. That was until I told him I wanted 6 cories and he had to look at the picture to see what a cory was. Then there were some plecos in the same tank and he thought they were cories too. Oh well, won't be buying from walmart any more :shake: Thanks for the responses, I hadn't thought about the water quality after that many stessed fish being together. The good news is that 24 hours later all the fish that made it home uninjured are doing good.
I'd never buy fish from Wal-mart. For one, people do seem reluctant to help and second of all, fish are always sick. However, just like most places eg. Petsmart, Petco, and Meijer, you are trying your luck when you buy fish from them.
I do occasionally get fish from Petsmart. Most of the time, their fish look decent. Luckily their fish section is away from the cats litter section. Occasionally I can't stop myself from "browsing". :D
Clownloach458
12-08-2003, 6:30 PM
AH yes, Another walmart thread.
I dont like to buy alot of fish from there as well. although, some of my fish from there have lived for 3yrs +. ITs a miracle, But as i always say, buy a walmart fish you just "rescued" a fish.
IF i can get a job ill probably get fired from spending to much time in fish section ;)
I usually just to go to a lfs, i have to travel 1hr to get to a petco and petsmart. thier fish section is just..just.. beautiful