greendeltatke said:
We have a store chain here called Pet Supplies Plus. In the one I visited it had a self service fish bar. The fish were in little quart size compartments and you were supposed to scoop them out yourself. There were no descriptions of the fish anywhere and the employees didn't go near the section. Not that I can blame them, there were dead fish in the compartments, on the counter and on the floor. The fish weren't even all feeders- I saw cories there and tetras.
i was just about to mention them.
now, i live in northern lower, MI. we dont have them there, but im in grand blanc, MI on vacation right now and they have a pet supplies plus here and i was curious. i went in and saw the same thing and i was kinda confused when they told me to get the fish myself and pointed to some plastic cups and a net. haha. i was pretty disgusted because the fish were packed into a 20gallon tank with nothing but a filter. there was some black skirt tetras, blind tetras, tinfoil barbs, a cory cat of some sort, a few sun cats, a tiger khuli loach, some danios and some asian striped catfish... all were about 1-3". most were in really good shape, but i was just really unhappy with the setup. more than likely they had just got them in. there was no label on the tank, or ven a price... so i asked the woman at the counter and she said all fish were $1.49... so i got all 4 of the asian cats and the tiny little khuli (wich they didnt see in the cup, so i was charged for 4 fish). anyways, i really felt like i was guilty of something for purchasing fish from this little crappy tank and encouraging them to carry them, but 4 catfish for $6 was too good for me to pass up being that they were in excelent shape. i wanted to see how knowledgable the employee was, so i asked what the cats were and she replied with "I think theyre pleco's and they shouldnt get much bigger than that". *cough* yeah.... alright.
on the other end of things, i was exploring the surrounding towns for fish shops and found one called "All Wet Pets Inc." in Flushing, MI. there were several kids working there, but the one i spoke to was actually very knowledgable and answered most of my questions the same way i would have. he warned me about the size a RTC can reach, warned me that gulper cats would infact eventually eat my cave tetras, etc. he was friendly and knowlageable, i liked that store alot. everything was housed properly and very clean. the only thing he said that i was unsure of was that my 130 gallon tank would be suitable for a silver arrowana.
in conclusion:
Pet Supplies Plus in Grand Blanc, MI (Thumbs Down)
All Wet Pets Inc. in Flushing, MI (Thumbs Up)
i'm going to check out one more tonight called Dave's Tropical Fish in Toledo, OH before i go home tomorrow morning.