Fish Damaged?

[celaeno]

i got 4 rosy barbs at petsmart yesterday. one of the males the girl caught was rather small, so i asked her to put it back and get a larger male.

i watched in surprise as she used her bare hand to catch the fish and throw him back into the tank. later, she caught the same male again and asked me if it was ok. i didn't want her to handle the fish again like she did, so i said that was fine.

is the male permanently damaged, or did the slime coat protect him? he looks ok and is swimming fine.

 

[luque]

i'd think he will be fine maybe just stressed for a while thats all. although if he looks abit down still then add some tap safe (tonic) it gives them back their slime coat.

 

[NightStalker]

i got 4 rosy barbs at petsmart yesterday. one of the males the girl caught was rather small, so i asked her to put it back and get a larger male.

i watched in surprise as she used her bare hand to catch the fish and throw him back into the tank. later, she caught the same male again and asked me if it was ok. i didn't want her to handle the fish again like she did, so i said that was fine.

is the male permanently damaged, or did the slime coat protect him? he looks ok and is swimming fine.

Though i wasnt there to see how it went hes probably fine.

Id probably put a tad bit of conditioner to help out with the slime coat just in case, and im pretty annoyed at how some people take no care when it comes to things like this.

 

[TerraDreamer]

I've seen this same activity at the Petsmart near me, as well as Petco, and now refuse to purchase fish from either. They jam the net in the tank and violently try to capture the fish, jambing them into corners, etc. It's rather upsetting to watch. These pet store chains are horrible. And they never, ever ask the customer how big the tank is that they're placing the plec, shark or clown loach in.

I shop at a non-chain store now, and the difference is like night and day. They are very gentle when removing the fish, always using two nets to capture. Each tank also has its own nets. They ask the customers questions about their tank, and if not given the proper answer will not sell them the fish and will steer them toward another species instead. They always ask about water stats, and if the customer stares at them with a bewildered look they sell them a test kit. I even saw them GIVE a tesk kit to a young woman who was obviously tight on cash.

Of course if the customer lies to them...well...it's the customer who loses.

They're fairly strict, but it doesn't seem to bother the customers because the place is always packed with them, not minding the 30 minute wait for service. All they do are fish. The world needs more lfs like this.

 

[t1tanrush]

I wish there was a LFS like that here.. but I haven't had a really bad problem with any of the chain stores around me..

 

[Jozlyn]

ohhh I think I'd almost kill for a place like that, none of mine are much good. Two have fish as a side line to their main purpose of stock feed and one is in one of the local plant nurseries. None of these places know anything much about fish at all! However the nursery does have a good supplier from the City, so I'm able to get most fish by ordering them. They're very expensive though.