Local Fish Store Problematics!

[ralpf]

Yep, during the last times I was in store 1, I have seen 4 dead fish, and in one tank the bottom dwellers were feasting on one, pretty gruesome. Unfortunately many store higher students who probably get a quick introduction to the shop and then they are on their own.
Look I realise everyone has to make a buck nowadays, but the bottom line is, proper professional advice goes a long way, I mean if you build up a good reputation, your name will be remembered and you will get good references, possibly even from professionals. Here in Europe people are going to the former Eastern or near Eastern countries such as the Czech Republic or Slowenia for instance to purchase fish for less money, and I am told less medicated treatment, wether that is a good thing or not!

 

[WeeNe858]

store one is after sales.. store 2 is a nice store.. but most people/stores dont hassle with telling customers about adding ammonia to a tank to feed the bacteria.. seeing as how most of them are new..its also kinda complicated

 

[jgulecas]

I like Clearwater Aquariums on US Highway 19N north of the Countryside Mall. Opened late last year. The staff is knowledgeable and friendly, and they have excellent deals on All-Glass aquariums and stands. The fish I have bought there have been healthy and of excellent quality. Decent selection of freshwater and marine given their space limitations. It's a small store in a strip mall.

They also give away RO water, subject to a gallon maximum per day and on a BYOB basis.

BUT they do sell dyed fish, and only give a 24-hour guarantee on fish, which, if you think about it is really no guarantee at all. If you have a job or school, how can you be expected to make it back within 24 hours?

 

[DBray6]

Could you give me a little more info on Clearwater Aquariums. I tried to find them on the web and the closest I could find was Exotic Aquatics on 580. Addy or phone would be great.

 

[jm1212]

stick with store 2; it sounds like they have the right idea.

a wild guess, but is store 1 your local wal mart?

 

[MammoMK11]

I always like supporting small chains because they tend to have better quality and better service. I went to this one that I used to goto when I was a little kid and had a simple goldfish tank and saw the most dead fish in a store that I have ever seen. It seems that they had a dead fish in every tank. That forced me to goto petsmart...

Anyways, you mentions that store #2 was more expensive, is that a bad thing? Naturally, avoid it if they are scalping you, but if you're confident about the health of the fish there, then the extra expense shouldn't be a problem. I don't like paying more, but I will if I'm pretty sure about the quality.

 

[ralpf]

Fish store 1 has a huge sortiment of fish of all types, problem is that they never really try to maintain fish compatibiliy regarding temperature and water parameters. Now I know that fish die and in a fish shop with so many different types and quantities of fish something will happen now and again. But I think it is only common sense for one of the employees to go around and check and remove any dead or sick fish. Store 2 will be my next area of purchase it may not be perfect but it is smaller and cleaner, but right now I have all the fish I can stock in my aquarium and I unfortunately bought them at store 1!

 

[Mgamer20o0]

you would think something so simple as this to keep the livestock alive wouldnt be to hard.

 

[ralpf]

I guess it all has to do with economics, it is all business, maybe the founder of the fish store had good intentions, but when a store changes hands the lives of the animals are only secondary, because of the so called profit margin. New owner must cut costs, so he hires cheap staffing, students or part time with maybe a rudimentary knowledge of fish care at best. Now, another concern of mine is, if I purchase a fish that for some reason may not be compatible with my tank or fish etc, when I bring it back under guarantee I am afraid that the fish store will destroy the animal before going through the trouble of re-aclimatising the fish to their aquariums (not to mention that the fish may be labelled as agressive). That is why if it happens that I have a fish that does not work out I always try to find them a proper home amongst friends and relations!

 

[beefsteak]

A good LFS is hard to find nowadays. And I can't blame them. Competition from the internet must have really killed their bottom line. It can't be a very profitable business anymore.

That said, a good LFS should:

1. Post the date of receipt of each fish shipment.

2. Post the store tanks general water parameters.

3. Keep fish out of the tanks with plants for sale.

4. For heaven's sake, clean out the corpses every morning. I have actually heard LFS employees say that they leave the dead fish in there to feed the ones that are left. It's not just a matter of disease control and prevention of foul water. It's a simple matter of sales presentation.

Based on the above standards, I have yet to find a good LFS in the Tampa bay area.

1. We recieve our fish every Thursday. It's not a goverment secret.

2. Nitrates- 0 Nitrites - 0, Hardness - 300 (Very Hard), Alkalinity - 180 (Alkaline) PH- 8.4 (basic) Ammonia - .25 (Safe) Chlorine - 0

3. We have snails with the plants no fish.

4. We pull the corpses every morning and evening as part of the standard opening and closing procedures as well as periodically throughout the day.

Anymore questions?

Let me repeat myself, not every pet store is the same and not every store is filled with ignorant staff. IMO, it's the customers that are the idiots and people like you guys exsist only in cyber space. I am one of those aforementioned employees that will get PO'd at the idiots.

If you want to know things like shipment dates and water parameters just ask. If they don't want to tell you then don't go back. Simple as that. But please don't generalize. Or I'll have to start generalizing the customers. And you don't want me to do that.