Ugh my petsmart

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austinpetemo

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Sep 25, 2007
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Newton Falls, OH
So. my petsmart has recently began carrying two different types of tropheus. my thoughts on this, wonderful, just wonderful. one of the pickiest of cichlids is now being sold to the masses so that the average person who kows nothing of the fish they keep can be sold these beautiful creatures by a sales associate who knows nothing about the care they need. So now even more of these fish will die by bloat due to people who just dont care. The only thing worse is that they also now sell clown knives. But that is another rant for another day. Im still quite :swear::swear::swear::swear:ed off about this. I mean really? cmon
 

Just Prince

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Nov 2, 2007
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I think it's great! It introduces folks to other fish. You should be asking the store employees for live stock advise anyway. Do the research your self before you buy. My local store is now selling three species of Tropheus, Frontosas, Red Texas and Neo. Brichardi. The fish looked pretty good too.
 

platytudes

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Nov 4, 2006
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Nicole
I completely agree with the OP. While it's nice to have variety, there are tons of hardy fish (cichlids, even) they could have picked from instead. What's next, baby discus?

Considering the fish are on a shared system, heavily salted, being fed probably nothing more than flake or if they're lucky, "cichlid pellets" - they are bound to not thrive, and bound to be sold to unknowing customers who are attracted to the juvenile coloration. Hopefully the care sheets are including proper care, but I seriously doubt they are saying "feed exclusively vegetable or algae based foods" which is a must to avoid bloat in this species.

Pretty much any time that Petsmart tries stocking exotic species, they eventually go on clearance. The exception would be fish like ghost knives, clown knives, violet gobies and similar oddballs, which I'm sure are not being kept properly for the most part either.
 

rufioman

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Aug 16, 2010
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My P*tsmart has always sold clown knives to my great dismay...maybe one day the college kids will stop buying them and putting them in 10g tanks.
 

Cowgrl4life

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Dec 25, 2011
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Being a previous petsmart associate myself, I have to both agree and disagree with this thread. . . Yes, I'll agree that in most instances the employees do not know as much about the individual fish as hobbyists like on here would, but that does not mean that all petsmart associates are ignorant and careless. In fact, the petsmart I worked at had built up a very reputable base because our employees in the aquatic/small animal/reptile department DID know. We had some crazy knowledgeable people working. But i have to disagree that petsmart just doesn't care about how their animals are taken care of. The fish at petsmart are NOT "heavily salted" I worked in that department and never once saw salt put into any tanks. Not to mention, I dont think anyone on here can claim to know what the fish are fed at petsmart, namely because they are fed right after opening, if not every once in awhile before. It might surprise everyone to know the varieties of food given to the fish and the care with which it is done. My last pet peeve, most customers don't listen to the advice you give them no matter what anyway. So all the people upset about fish being housed in tanks too small, or mixed inappropriately is not the stores fault. It is the customers. It says right on the fish's tag the minimum size tank requirement for the fish, ex. Goldfish I think says 30gal! Not to mention the people who come to the store, lie to you about their setup, only to come back upset with the store that their fish got sick or died. Well duh!

Moral of the story. . . I agree that in some petsmarts the care of the fish may not be up to "par" with the hobbyists, and the knowledge may be lacking, but don't assume that all petsmarts are bad, don't assume that the fish are not 'cared for', and don't assume that the mistake of the buyer by not researching or listening to the employee is the store or employee's fault. I guess what bothers me more than anything is the assumed 'neglect' in petsmart. The company has come a LONG way in educating their employees and taking care to meet the special needs of the fish they house. It may not be perfect, but that doesn't necessarily warrant the hostility the store is met with, and I know for sure the corporation as a whole is trying. Why else does petsmart have a hotline where concerned employees and customers can call and discuss any pet they feel is not having its needs met by the company?
 

GEV83

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Jun 19, 2002
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I can say that the Petsmart near my house does a good job in housing there fish. I don't see any clownknives though. I think people need to treat companies on an individual basis as is from store to store not as a whole.

When your talking about salted tanks and flaked food are you sure your not talking about another mart store as in Wal*Mart? I know they require salting of the tanks and are to feed only flaked food. I know this cuz I work there. I know some times they get flaked food only cuz the emplyee's see it a waste to throw out claimed out pellet fish food so they use it up on the cichlids.

I know customers dont always listen or care what you say bout the fish needing a bigger tank or that there not compatible they still want those certain fish regardless of what you say. Ive had customers wanting to keep puffers with the fiddler crabs and after about 10minutes explaining myself over n over they finally decided it would be best not to try that mixture in there tank. I truely feel sorry for the pleco's though since so many people come looking to buy them for the various size tanks 5 gal 10, 20, 29, 40 all of which are to small. But yea its up to the customer to educate themselves. Cant all be placed on the employee's.
 
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