petsmart fish care?

[slvrcvc]

i saw that petsmart drop a single hex bolt into a tank
what is that for? something to do with the metallic properties of the hex bolt?

also saw they added one of those large goldfishes with the bulbous heads (not the ones with the bulbous eyes). I suppose those are for keeping the tank "clean"?
They placed one in almost every tank....but went there a couple of days later and saw one of them floating dead and thought it was kinda poor fish care to leave him floating for the customers to see but at the same time though it was kinda funny that the big one died whereas the other fish in that same tank survived.

 

[125gJoe]

Originally posted by slvrcvc
i saw that petsmart drop a single hex bolt into a tank
what is that for? something to do with the metallic properties of the hex bolt?..... ......

Probably just a missing bolt from a metal stand. Wonder why they didn't use a trash can?

----just joking....

 

[silentskream]

i think the bulbous headed fish you're talking about are orandas (the ones with the tumor looking growth on their head) but anyways. i saw my petsmart do that once, and thats when i spoke to the manager. it's never happened again.
He blamed it on the fact that "they didnt have enough room for him in the goldfish tanks." so i told him he shouldnt have ordered such a large fish in that case. i let him borrow a ten gallon aquarium to hold the fish in until they had room for it.


i dont know why they might have dropped a bolt in the tank, unless it was just something for the fish to play with.

once i saw lemons in the tank, sliced up for the fish to eat. i've never heard of giving them lemons before, but maybe it was to help with the pH levels as well?

 

[andytwite]

IMO, Petsmart is one of the worst places to get your fish from. Your store sounds similar to the Petsmart local to me. The staff don't know anything about fishcare and they put totally incompatible species together in the tanks.

I mean...c'mon...goldfish (coldwater fish and messy ) in a tank with tropical fish (warm water, require very clean water in general)!! What does that tell you about them?

I visited my Petsmart once when I was just getting into the hobby and I swore I'd never, ever go back there for fish. Unfortunately for me, they have a great aquatic plant section and their kit is also pretty good and reasonably priced.....but then I guess those things don't require a lot of input do they!

 

[LongTime]

Originally posted by andytwite
IMO, Petsmart is one of the worst places to get your fish from. Your store sounds similar to the Petsmart local to me. The staff son't konw anything about fishcare and they put totally incompatible species together in the tanks.

For the most part I have to agree with you. I have been in many petsmarts picking up stuff for my dog and I always end up looking at their fish and it becomes a lesson in what not to do.

However, there is a newer one close to my home and they seem to be doing pretty good. The tanks are always bright, clear and not overstocked. The fish are active and as colorful as you can expect in basically bare tanks. They have avoided putting incompatible species together and they have a very good display of live plants. I am thinking about purchasing my Texas cichlid from them!

I know the staff does not know a lot about equipment and some of the chemicals, but someone is at least keeping the fish alive.

They are not the best in town by a long shot, but they are better than usual for a petsmart and a couple of lfs I won't mention.

 

[Dapple2]

Being the token ex-employee here...

Although I personally, disagree with the practice, some stores drop in a large oranda to eat the rampant snails that plague most stores. More affluent stores drop in clown loaches to those tanks. (ie stores with a bigger fish bugdet)

And those were probably (hopefully) oranges and not lemons, just like how many people feed pond fish oranges for variety, one of the petsmarts I worked for fed them to the store golies.

 

[silentskream]

no they were definitely lemons.

at least they were shaped like lemons. i dont know if there might be another yellow fruit that has that same football like shape, but even if there is, i'd be very surprized if petsmart would be willing to spend the extra money on it.

i have heard of feeding oranges to the fish.. thats why it caught my eye. i thought they were oranges at first, from a distance. i thought to myself "wow, i'm surprized petsmart cares that much" but then i got closer and sure enough it was lemons.


needless to say i didnt get any of those goldfish.