A Sad Day For Fishkeeping :(

[asheyna]

A sad day in fishkeeping Went with my Minime to Petsmart to pick up 5 more Cherry Barbs. I'd decided to increase the shoal to 9 while I settle on the other shoaling species.

En route home she started talking about how one of the females was just hanging out at the top of the tank. Turns out, it had died Dropped her off with my Mom and Dad then turned around to return all 5 to the store. Kinda bummed now, I wanted pretty new fish to look at!

Turns out their shipment had arrived the day before and was 7 hours late! Those poor fish were probably extra stressed. The girl I talked to told the manager she thought they should probably quarantine them before selling but they didn't. Won't be buying any more fish from there!

 

[Moby-Krib]

Sadly that's pretty common for the big chain stores.
Don't get me wrong though I have a particular Petco near me that actually somewhat impresses me due to a certain employ that goes against the grain and will warn customers when the fish are fresh in and don't look as they should.
He also Knows about and advocates fishless cycling. Poor guy is risking getting fired every day.

 

[asheyna]

Yeah, I've had good experiences with most of the staff at this Petsmart. I am a lil miffed they didn't tell me the fish were fresh in though because I've chatted with the girl that sold me the Barbs on several occasions. That said I guess it is kind of my fault. It didn't even occur to me to ask. Chalk this one up to a learning experience!

I still think I'd rather stick to the excellent LFS I found, even if it is like a 2 hour drive round trip

 

[Moby-Krib]

Yeah, they all have shining stars, but so much better when you find that special store.
I still browse the chain stores, I got a great deal on a Featherfin that way.
He was way to big for the tank already, had been there for 8 months I found out, got a 50% discount by asking to talk to manager and saved the poor guy.
He lives on in a 75 gallon tank now. Kind of rules that tank really, Look out, coming through, and they all move for him