Everyones PetsMart is different. Around here they suck. Fish die ever secound. They drop dead like flies. And most have ich, fin rot or something worse. But if the fish at yours are good, go for it.
Buying fish at Petsmart..is that ok? :huh:
- Thread starter beautifulfish
- Start date
i buy from petsmart sometimes. a few are good and even have stuff like arowanas sometimes but a few arent that great. i go to all the petstores within an hour from where i live and theres tons of them in the big city; and i buy whatever i like ths healthy, but mostly i buy online. shipping really sucks but when people come by and are amazed at fish they never seen before it makes it worth it.
LMOUTHBASS
My hypocrisy goes only so far
the best is if you can get a lfs that QUARANTINES it's fish before selling them! I know it's not common these days but I did finally find one place that keeps their fish out back for a week to make sure they are ok - even then i still qt - petsmart can be ok but remember they get mass shipments of fish , sometimes use central tank filtration (which can pump nasties from tank to tank) and the fish tend to be cared for by tons of different people with varying levels of knowledge - also they dont always sanitize their nets so if they scoop out a dead sick fish then scoop your fish out later with the same net you could have some trouble - but each store is different i think it depends on the management in the store n the level of care they put into the fish section - i got a bad batch of hatchet fish from petsmart that were sick and they wiped out everything in my qt tank - so just be careful - you can get good or bad fish from virtually every store except for walmart - only bad fish there! 
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I work at Petsmart in Washington State, and I would say that the fish are decent for the most part. However, I would find out what day fish shipments come in (ours come on Wednesdays) and wait a couple days after that before buying any fish. Shipping is stressful to the fish, and after a few days, the ones that couldn't handle the shipping will have been weeded out. Also, at least in our big filters in the back, the water is sterilized by UV, so if a fish that is in one tank gets sick, only the fish in that specific tank are at risk, not the entire system.
You'll get good fish at my store too, the management there is VERY strict on how sick fish (and any other animal for that matter) are handled. It is PETsMART's company policy that an associate that knowingly sells a sick animal can be terminated. Our fish system is a big centralized setup too, but we also have UV sterilizers going 24/7 and we medicate the entire system every time fish are shipped in (Fridays for us). The only time we've had a massive die-off of fish was when some numbskull delivery driver left them on his truck all day when it was over 90° outside. Any fish that are visibly sick or have what we call "NAR syndrome" (not acting right) they are put into a hospital tank that has a very strict treatment schedule. Most of the staff caring for our fish have a good deal of knowledge about them and real problems are rare. It's not anywhere near like what Wal-Mart has in their pet departments. I've overheard some pretty bad advice being given to customers in that store and got the dirty looks several times for correcting them, but I hope I at least saved some fishy lives that way. Now I just stay far, far away from their tanks every time I'm in there beacuse it really makes me mad to see that nothing has been done despite all of my complaints to the management there. Wal-Mart has no business selling any live animals at all IMO.
I live in the San Francisco Bay Area and i have had very good luck with my local Petsmarts. Their fish are healthy, i have never seen any obvious signs of disease or many dead fish in the tanks. Our Petcos on the other hand are terrible. And Walmart - well, they don't even treat their employees decent - why would they be any better to their fish?
Exactly! It's not just about where you buy your fish, but what the conditions are like in the tank you by them from...and yes as suggested above, a lot of the petstores including wal mart run all tanks off of one system...so be careful. I always observe my fish, for at least half an hour at a time. Sometimes it takes me months before I can get the fish I am looking for, but I will only buy from the best of conditions, and only fish that look good, healthy and strong. I'm probably a bit extreme, but I do think you should observe you prospective fish, before purchase. Just becasue you have bought healthy fish there before doesnt' ensure all of the fish there are disease free. Even the best and most reputable petstores deal with this.
As far as pet's mart goes, I have to put in my two cents...I have boycotted my local pet's mart...for months I went in there to observe their fish, I was hoping to get another gourami, and another pictus...well all throughout their tanks there are dead fish, diseased fish eating dead fish, and fish with some serious issues! They never seemed to get it under control, after about six months of regular observing, and then seeing them get in their stock of fish...keep in mind they are a chain store, so they buy in large bulk, and ship out to all their stores. These fish that are being shipped are completely overstocked, and in extreme unhealthy conditions for who knows how long! They were extremely busy this stock day,and were having a hard time finishing putting shipment away...and I swear I am not kidding , fish were dying in the bags waiting to be realeased in the water! So...no there is no guarantee, even with a "name"
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The fish from my petsmart, both of them actually are always very healthy... as a matter of fact I would almost rather purchase the fish there that they have as supposed to going to another lfs because they are cheaper. Nice size clown loaches for $9 that cant be beat. Silver dollars also never have ich, but I notice at other stores there silver dollars always have ich. One of the only problems I see with petsmart is that they ALWAYS have the exact same species of fish, never anything different. So if your trying to get that fish that nobody has seen before or something I go some place else. I purchased my Black Ghost Knife from petsmart as well mainly because I know they can be hard to get to eat so if it died most likely it would be within the 14day guarentee that petsmart offers which is great compared to my two "fish only" stores that offer 24-48 hours. So IMO petsmart has its perks
well my petsmart's fish are healthy. I don't like our Petco though because of the dead fish. The first time I got my fish I got them at Walmart. My gold gourami lived for a year and my betta has lived over a year. I don't ever get fish there anymore though. I just stick to Petsmart.
Some of my best fish have come from Petsmart. I have never gotten a diseased fish there either. I sure have gotten some horrible stuff from my LFS with separate tanks though - Ich, hemarragic (sp) septicemia etc.
