Petco

it's all really a matter of perspecitves.

inhumane refers to lack of compassion, kindness etc.

if they are trying to clean the tank by stirring up the sediment it's not out of the lack of compassion..as a matter of fact I think many of the workers in petsmart have the compassion. and are trying to remove the waste the quickest way.

now I don't condone the practice but I also don't condemn the practice.

it may not be a good practice but I also don't consider it inhumane.
is there a better way? i'm sure there is.
 
We use Petco for our fish supplies/fish, but don't rely on their advice. We have had a very wide range of advice from the employees - depending on day and time. The advice has ranged from "You should keep in mind that Tiger barbs don't do well with a lot of different fish because of their fin-nipping...maybe you'd like something more peaceful?" to "everything except these 'aggressive' fish can be kept together without a problem" and "oh it doesn't matter how many of each you buy, it says group of 3, but that just means you need 2 other fish, not necessarily 2 of that type."

So it seems to depend as to whether we get the actual "fish" department people or someone fom another part of the store who's filling in for the fish section.
 
While the employees may have the best intentions, the act itself is inhumane. Regardless of their intention, the act itself poses a serious threat to the wellbeing of the fish, therefore the act itself lacks compassion for the fish. It follows that if the act itself is inhumane then commiting this act is inhumane as well regardless of the person's intention.
 
Wow, this thread has really become droll. In spite of my lack of interest in debating the merits of pet chains, I must add my opinion in one regard. Particulate matter susupended in water does little if any harm to fish. Fish do not "breathe" as noted, but use gill functions to extract gaseous oxygen in water. The fact that heavy water movement with filtration in the system you described actually helps keep oxygen levels high so that the fish do not suffocate. As mentioned previously, in nature there exists severe cloudy water conditions that the fish naturally inhabit. I would be extremely surprised if the effect of matter suspended in water on skin in gills has any ill effect such as irritation, based on years of keeping and observing fish. More inhumane would be using products near water that have no visual indicators, but modify the water chemistry with chemicals not seen to the eye that could be harmful to fish. Using strong chemicals in your home, etc. where the fumes are exposed to the aquarium is much more of a real problem than attempting to not stir the substrate. As an aside, I have never seen the use of a "gravel cleaner," used quite commonly by aquarists, not stir the substrate mulm significantly. I would argue that all of these aquarists are not being "inhumane" in using basic husbandry techniques to maintain the water quality in their aquariums. This reminds me of a story I heard about a humane watchdog group insisting charges be pressed against a fishkeeper in the UK for going on vacation for a week without feeding his fish, if you can believe that. :rolleyes:
 
Not to mention that stores in the same chain, but in different parts of the country have different cleaning practices, knowledge and work ethic. :huh:
 
My LFS is probably the best fish store I have ever seen. They have 200+ tanks including about 5 saltwater reef setups at 210 G each. Its crazy. They have every species of fish*. No joke. They have a 24" Koi, A Huge indoor pond, a crazy 210 G planted tank, And they have reptiles, bunnys, snakes, spiders, etc. They employes ask alot of questions too to make sure you are smart. One of the best stores ever. IMO


*Aquarium Fish
 
OK, I've got to add my 2 cents to this...I work at petsmart in the aquatics department and we do NOT "stir" the gravel. We actually have a special attachment in the wall where we hook up a python an vacuum the gravel weekly. The only time that there is ever anything free floating in the water is when we provide the fish with fresh zuchinni and when we scrub the algae from the sides of the tanks.

Even if we did do such a thing, the filtration system that we use is so huge that the particles floating in the water wouldn't be there long enough to cause any harm. Like someone else said, the fish have a constant supply of fresh water. Next time you go to Petsmart ask them if you could see their filtration sytem, you may be surprised.

I 2nd the opinion that these posts are getting old. If you don't like the way a pet store does something then don't shop there, or do your research and get on with your life. And don't bash a petstore and their employees unless you've actually worked there and know 100% that they really don't care about their fish.
 
sophiecat22 said:
OK, I've got to add my 2 cents to this...I work at petsmart in the aquatics department and we do NOT "stir" the gravel. We actually have a special attachment in the wall where we hook up a python an vacuum the gravel weekly. The only time that there is ever anything free floating in the water is when we provide the fish with fresh zuchinni and when we scrub the algae from the sides of the tanks.

Even if we did do such a thing, the filtration system that we use is so huge that the particles floating in the water wouldn't be there long enough to cause any harm. Like someone else said, the fish have a constant supply of fresh water. Next time you go to Petsmart ask them if you could see their filtration sytem, you may be surprised.

I 2nd the opinion that these posts are getting old. If you don't like the way a pet store does something then don't shop there, or do your research and get on with your life. And don't bash a petstore and their employees unless you've actually worked there and know 100% that they really don't care about their fish.
Click to expand...

Well said sophiecat! I as well work at petsmart in the pet/aquatics department and yes, we use a gravel vacuum that hooks into the filtering system which is a HUGE bio filtering system. We check water parameters two times a day and clean each and every tank weekly. No, everyone that works there may not be as educated as they should be and some really don't want to be working there (mostly the high schoolers that sometimes get in but don't want to work anywhere) but for the most part at the petsmart I work for, everyone cares and does there best to help people who want to do the hobby right.

What gets me is some of the morons that buy fish. We deny warranty for those who make bad choices when buying fish to attempt to ward them off from buying the fish in the first place. I've had a person buy 5 SMALL angel fish to cycle a 20G tank! We tried to tell them that A) 5 angels won't fit into a 20G and B) angel fish are NOT good cycling fish. I've had people buy up to 5 comet gold fish for a 10G, people mixing tropical community fish with semi aggressive and cichlids! These people **** me off because they've raised fish for 30 or so years and think they know it all. Even think that a fish that lives a year has lived a full life.... Sometimes the fish sellers can suck, but sometimes the buyers are even worse...

Anyways, I'll get off my soap box now. Its just been on of those days at work. LOL
 
...I love the PetCo's near me. Great selections, always healthy fish, and varied degrees of knowledge from employee to employee. Misinformation can be dished out at any store regardless if it's a chain or local shop. Know what you're there to buy, research fish you see that you aren't familiar with, etc. If you're in the hobby for the love of the hobby, you want to do what's appropriate for the fish.
 
tmtpowers and sophiecat22, please let your managers know that PetSmart has recently made an adjustment to policies and procedures, and gravel vaccuuming is no longer part of them. I can definitely see why, as I vividly recall gravel vaccuuming with those crazy devices and watching much of the waste go through the bag and right back into the tank. My manager wasn't aware until another store manager told her to read the memo (which was like 2 months ago, actually).
 
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