Stay away from the big chain stores

[joephys]

Big chain stores are awful. I have yet to go into one and find fish that I would be willing to buy. When I go to look, which I do a lot because I like to look at the stuff, I see the clerks telling people terrible advice, and selling people fish that will probably die in a week. Do yourself and your fish a favor and spend a little more to get healthy fish and good advice from a fish store that specializes in fish that is locally owned by someone who cares more about his fish that making a sale.

 

[RockabillyChick]

that's not possible for everyone. there are exactly 3 pet stores in my area, not counting walmart. Petco, Petsmart, and a local place called Northwest Seed and Pet.

believe it or not, Petsmart takes by far the best care of their animals. their advice isn't always spot on, but their tanks are good, their fish are almost always in great shape, and they have care sheets with pretty good info on them.

 

[wwildcats04]

all 3 petsmarts in my area have great fish... the petland by my house gets some odd balls in and they look great petco i have noticed gets great SW fish in and they are CHEAP

 

[Xielos]

It really depends on the store. Just because one PetCo might be terrible, dosen't mean the one in another city is. I generally don't like the big chain stores, but I don't have any small fish stores around here. And the closests ones are all marine only

 

[josephish]

some large chains employ anyone it seems. a local large chain in my area has had good management in the past and you could tell by the health and management of the animals. sometimes good management and employees who are dedicated(knowledgable and care) get together and make these large chains work. ive seem the same store lose good workers and the quality of the store goes down. it would be neat to start a thread listing states(areas) and all the good stores in that area. the Akron Ohio area has two outstanding stores: Fish City in Barberton(Barbertucky) this store is run by a man and his wife 15+ years the longest private fish store in the area. and Two turtles in Fairlawn(Montrose area off rt 18).

 

[RobKemp]

I have four places I go to for my stuff. Fortunately for us in Melbourne Australia, most of the big chain stores only stock food, perhaps some pebbles and that's it. Fish are in petshops, but aquariums are the best place to go. The local pet shop has the absolute basics - common plants are cheap. The second place I've been to once and got a great scraper and some food, but I won't be back there soon - too many of the guy's friends seem to hang around all day. The third is a pet shop with seperate aquarium and they have the nice exotic food like live fly lavae. Expensive and staff are so/so.

The fourth place is the St Kilda Aquarium on Barkly St. It's fantastic because they give excellent advice and have a huge range of fish, food, tanks and all sorts of equipment. The trouble is that too many people (including myself on occasions) go in there underprepared in terms of questions staff ask, but they are patient! I got most of my fish and other equipment there and am now a loyal customer!

 

[Flowerhorn916]

I argee to disargee there is mabey 1 or 2 fish at every store I would buy out of 1000's I am very picky and I have got some great fish from petsmart.

 

[pwrflpills]

sure Petsmart's employees are pathetic, but what do expect from the local high school kid working to pay for the next pair of top of the line Nikes or making a car payment? They're worried more about their next cigarette than any sale they make that day. My local (Boynton Beach, FL) one has poor employees, but the fish are generally fine. Well stocked, healthy fish and just as much (or as little) ich in some of the tanks as what I consider my best LFS in Boca Raton (The Barrier Reef). I've also gotten horrible advice from my LFS...but one of their employees is probably just like anyone on here...they've got their opinion and they know what has worked for them. It's basically luck of the draw.

 

[Soulcoffr]

The thing about the national chains is that they have standardized care for the animals they keep. They have policies in place that the managers should enforce and if that happens, it shouldn't matter how brain dead their slacker employees may be, the animals should receive adequate care.

In general, from what I've seen at the Petco and PetSmart in my area, that is the case. The fish all look more or less healthy, although they'd look better in a well cared for tank at home, as opposed to the aquarium system they have at the store.

The problem comes in when inexperienced fishkeepers and low-paid, sometimes overworked wage slaves come into contact. It's not always pretty. Sometimes there are knowledgeable folks working there, but it's really a crap shoot.

Additionally, you have people who come in during the busiest time, say Saturday afternoon, and try to tell the staff what's what. When that person has absolutely no clue whatsoever. I've heard belligerent customers spouting bilge about this fish and that, and were completely off base.

So while the chains aren't perfect, they're better that some LFSs I've seen when it comes to fish health.

Wal-Mart is a whole other story though. They're atrocious unless they have someone who cares behind the counter.

 

[spoonsofspinach]

There is only one place for me to buy fish and it's Walmart. There's one one hour to the east and another a little over an hour to the west. If I went two and a half hours to the west I would find an actual pet store with a whole lot of well-stocked, well-kept tanks. But I'm nervous about travelling that far with the little fishies. Last time I was at the nearest Walmart, I took the manager to task for the dozens of dead fish in the tanks. He claimed it was stress due to a stock delivery. I asked him why there are always dozens of dead fish in their tanks regardless of the day of the week, time of day, etc. He said that they "scoop" the tanks three times a day and blamed more of their losses on their "older filtration system". I told him the problem had to do with the lack of interest and knowledgable staff. He disagreed but said that the staff in that area are sometimes hard to find (which I also complained about) because they have to cover automotive and sporting goods as well. I bought my dojos at the Walmart that is over an hour away and the rest at the nearer Walmart. Strangely enough, I've not lost any of my fish and yet the manager claimed their losses are travel induced stress caused. Perhaps I have more to learn but I blame some of those losses on the store.