Oh crud, how do I keep all of my fish alive.

[WILDER]

Good, as I was thinking of changing one of my tanks from gravel to sand.

 

[skye4jc]

hey! i work at petsmart! we take great care of our water.... infact, just for the record, we test it twice a day, have a huge long checklist of things to do on opening and closing in regards to our aquariums, and love our fishies dearly!! they get tonnes of extra special treatment from me, and many of my colleagues. if you are referring to the dead fishies (which happens EVERYWHERE!!!)... life goes on. 99% of the time its due to the condition of the fishies from our breeders, which is why we have a 14 day return policy. (hence quarranteening your new fish for the first 2 weeks! we arent x-ray machines or psychics... sometimes we get fish that we dont kow are sick or carrying bugs! lol.) i have never EVER had a single fish get sick AFTER arriving at our store. they COME LIKE THAT, so i just wanted to clear that up, just so eveyone understands. and we treat all our sick fishies rigorously, and 90% of them live to tell about it.

ps we all have to take training there to work as specialty associates, and most of us do reasearch on our own time as well (esp. if we get stumped by a customer... i usually tell them i will find the answer and ask them to phone me on my next shift. i am not unable to say "i dont know", because NO advise is better than BAD advise... and we also refer expert customers to specialist stores... fyi) but remember... its hard to have a life outside of work and be a walking fish/filter/tank/plant/etc encyclopoedia as well! so if we make mistakes, please be gentle! we're truly sorry!

by the way... im not irate, though it may seem so to some. i'm very calm and happy and just thought i'd educate the north american public on our standards, and clear up some misconceptions. thank you for listening. happing fish keeping.

 

[Dragonscales]

That's great that your store takes on a positive attitude skye, unfortunantly, many lfs don't. Even stores within the same chain can often vary greatly from area to area, it mostly comes down to managment and also the workers themselves. Don't take it personally if some have a bad impression of a petsmart near them as they may have a completely different outlook at that store than yours does, just be happy in the knowledge that you don't let down paying customers and have a better work ethic than they do

 

[Inchworm]

...if you are referring to the dead fishies (which happens EVERYWHERE!!!)... life goes on. 99% of the time its due to the condition of the fishies from our breeders, which is why we have a 14 day return policy.

I have to agree with skye4jc on this point. It's sad, but true that the trip from their native waters to your tank is a perilous one. Many fish die along the way.

For information about how they make this long journey, please read the first post of this thread:

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=22068&hl=

Now, on the other hand, smaller independent lfs are frequently able to buy tank raised fish who were bred by their own customers. The advantage here is tremendous since they are in good health when they arrive there, were probably raised on the best of food by their caring breeders, and do not have to make an adjustment to the local water conditions.

____
By the way, skye4jc, why not give the address of this forum to your customers. The members here would be happy to help them resolve issues with their fish.

 

[skye4jc]

By the way, skye4jc, why not give the address of this forum to your customers. The members here would be happy to help them resolve issues with their fish.

hey inchworm,

funny you suggest that. EVERYTIME, since i've found this site and registered on the forums, i am in working at my store and end up giving at least 10-25 customers this web addy daily (www.fishforever.co.uk). i have found the atmosphere and advice here to be, always, nothing but top notch! i admit, i dont know everything about fish-keeping yet, and i have learned a lot just reading and posting questions.

thanks for the encouragement. it would be nice if everyone who dealt with pets and fish really cared about thier job. (and it would also be nice if every customer who chooses to own them care about them too!! you wouldn't believe some of the "fish attitudes" that walk through the door some days! ugh! its like theyre bying a happy meal, not a living animal!) it boggles me some days that there are those who choose this profession, or to own fish, and yet dont really give a rats a** about how it all works.

but i will continue to spread the joy and correct, helpful advise to those who are willing to recieve it! any key info anyone cares to pass on to me would be amazing! the more informed I can be, the more informed my collegues and customers can be... and that makes for some very happy fish/owner co-habitaion experiences.