Poor Fishy

[t.ropical_m.istx3]

thanks. honestly, i wasn't planning on getting another as i had no room, but a guy like this i couldn't pass up. as a rule, i never, ever buy walmart fish as that just encourages them to buy more, but this poor guy...well he would have ended up rotting in his cup like three others. nobody's going to bring home a betta with no tail. well, at least nobody who's getting their fish at walmart.
all i'm saying is if all the fish there look fine and nothing's wrong with them, i wouldn't get one. bettas at least.

and he's doing much better right now . i came out of my closet this morning after getting dressed (the way my room's set up, the closet door is right next to his tank) and he swam right up to the side and swam along side me .

oh and for those of you who don't know, we named him aladdin.

 

[girl4God81]

Yeah, I agree that it isn't good to support them. This particular Walmart (and another in the area as well) are closing their fish department and are getting rid of what they have then that's it, from what I understand. So maybe I will grab one of the last (if there are even any left)!

 

[Jaded12]

Just so you guys know, I worked at wal*mart, and they don't care if their fish die (I did of course, lol) because whether they sell the fish or it dies on the shelf they still get money for it, so really by not getting a fish and letting it die on the shelf you're not proving anything, they'll still get money for it either way. They couldn't care less if you don't buy their fish, money's money. I buy the fish there, just to save a life... you don't to "make a statement" to rescue a living creature.

 

[t.ropical_m.istx3]

Yeah, I agree that it isn't good to support them. This particular Walmart (and another in the area as well) are closing their fish department and are getting rid of what they have then that's it, from what I understand. So maybe I will grab one of the last (if there are even any left)!

my friend told me (after lecturing me about buying a walmart fish) that many walmarts are closing their fish section down .

 

[Nevergone815]

May I just say one thing...

If all these stores stop selling fish that you claim "don't take care of them"... where are you all going to get your fish then?

Majority of lfs get a refund for the fish they get, if they die before a certain time. Maybe not so much the "little guys", but the big chain stores do. At the end of every week they give a list of the fish who died to the supplier and they are refunded the money they spent. No loss to the company, whether the fish live or die, so these "statements" are pretty worthless with the big retail stores.

Again I ask, where are you going to get your fish when these stores stop selling them or go out of business? Ordering online is almost always express shipping on live animals and that cost to me is WAY to high to get a few bettas or neons or even anything else not worth a whole lot of money. Also, you don't know what you are getting, you don't have choices of color or gender in most cases. And god only knows what tratment the fish are getting behgind the scenes. You think these lfs are bad, I can bet many places can possibly treat them a million times worse and you can't see it. At least in the lfs you can see the condition of the fish you are getting.

And then making a "statement" by letting a fish die, that the store is going to get money for either way, that seems a bit more rediculous and creul, than actually buying the fish and giving the store money and business. I always look at it as when I walk into the store, the fish choose me, I dont choose the fish. You can't have this happen if you can't see them.

Good job on the rescue, but if it wasn't for walmart, you wouldn't have your little fish would you? He has a happy life now, one that he wouldn't have seen with another person, and maybe not even live to see another person. I applaud you for gettign the little fella!!! But please don't get too excited over lfs closing down whether it is a "big chain" or not.

Edit: I just wanted to add that I've "rescued" some pretty bad off fish from these stores and you know what... I don't regret one penny that I've spent. They are all happy, healthy and alive. That's much more than they would've had anywhere else.

 

[Jaded12]

May I just say one thing...

If all these stores stop selling fish that you claim "don't take care of them"... where are you all going to get your fish then?

Majority of lfs get a refund for the fish they get, if they die before a certain time. Maybe not so much the "little guys", but the big chain stores do. At the end of every week they give a list of the fish who died to the supplier and they are refunded the money they spent. No loss to the company, whether the fish live or die, so these "statements" are pretty worthless with the big retail stores.

Again I ask, where are you going to get your fish when these stores stop selling them or go out of business? Ordering online is almost always express shipping on live animals and that cost to me is WAY to high to get a few bettas or neons or even anything else not worth a whole lot of money. Also, you don't know what you are getting, you don't have choices of color or gender in most cases. And god only knows what tratment the fish are getting behgind the scenes. You think these lfs are bad, I can bet many places can possibly treat them a million times worse and you can't see it. At least in the lfs you can see the condition of the fish you are getting.

And then making a "statement" by letting a fish die, that the store is going to get money for either way, that seems a bit more rediculous and creul, than actually buying the fish and giving the store money and business. I always look at it as when I walk into the store, the fish choose me, I dont choose the fish. You can't have this happen if you can't see them.

Good job on the rescue, but if it wasn't for walmart, you wouldn't have your little fish would you? He has a happy life now, one that he wouldn't have seen with another person, and maybe not even live to see another person. I applaud you for gettign the little fella!!! But please don't get too excited over lfs closing down whether it is a "big chain" or not.

Edit: I just wanted to add that I've "rescued" some pretty bad off fish from these stores and you know what... I don't regret one penny that I've spent. They are all happy, healthy and alive. That's much more than they would've had anywhere else.

I couldn't agree more

 

[t.ropical_m.istx3]

sorry for expressing my opinion .

and honestly, around here, i don't know anyone who buys fish from walmart or places like that for their "main" tanks (ex: guppies, neons ect), most get them from the REPTUABLE lfs who know how to care for fish and carry healthy fish. we actually have quite a few, but the best is around fourty-five minutes away.

don't get me wrong, if i had the money/space, i'd get every betta that i could from those places, but at least those places won't be carrying them anymore for the fish to be poorly cared for.

 

[Nevergone815]

Yes, but not all chains are bad, its the people who work there not the actual store or owner. That's the same with any lfs. But my point is, without these chains for competition, those local lfs will be able to increase their prices, and beleive me, those lfs don't "properly care for" their fish either. Every store does what they can. Hmmm... wait I just noticed this, mostly betta people (not all) complain about chain stores and they get snotty and roll eyes when someone tells them their ideas are stuid... maybe that says something... just a thought...

 

[Jaded12]

sorry for expressing my opinion

No ones condeming you for expressing your opinion Nevergone was just expressing his opinion as well, so there's no need to get snotty.

and honestly, around here, i don't know anyone who buys fish from walmart or places like that for their "main" tanks (ex: guppies, neons ect),

don't get me wrong, if i had the money/space, i'd get every betta that i could from those places, but at least those places won't be carrying them anymore for the fish to be poorly cared for.

Thats very condesending to lump all of those stores together and label them "those places" Not all wal*marts, or petsmarts or petcos etc. are bad. You seem to think that the stores name automatically makes them a bad place to buy fish... It's not the name of the store that takes poor care of the fish, its the employees, seriously even your "reputible" lfs can hire someone not so great, and then suddenly they'll be no better then the dreaded wal"mart I've seen plenty of wal*marts that take better care of their fish then some non chain pet stores. I worked at a walmart all last summer, and got so many comments that we had the healthiest fish in the area, which proves it depends on the employee, not the name of the store

 

[t.ropical_m.istx3]

thanks for calling me snotty for expressing an opinion.

AROUND HERE all wal*marts and similar places care poorly for their fish WORSE than any other LFS or pet store around. that's what I HAVE SEEN.

 

[Jaded12]

I'm just saying that its not fair to lump ALL stores into one category based on what "you have seen" in one general area.

 

[jollysue]

I'm in favor of giving credit where credit is do. From the opinions experessed often here, when I stopped to look at the Betta in Petco, I expected dirty little cups, never changed, with little old grey finned Betta boys laying on their backs. But I found clean, young healthy fish in cups larger than the usual. My lps as a rule employs more knowledgable clerks than the chains. And they are more honest about what they know and don't, but the chain store clerks for the most part seemed to be trying and were--shock of all shocks--real people doing their best to do their jobs and not deserving to be yelled at. But they always seem a little defensive and then look relieved when I address them with courtesy.

I have no gripes with my lps or the chain pet stores. They don't always know the answers any more than I do and our opinions sometimes differ, but really they are just opinions for the most part not science.

If there were no pet stores, chain or local, where would all these VT and cross breeders market their Bettas?

Sometimes I get a yuck, like when the resident lps authority on Africans insisted that a black calvus was from Lake Tanganyika. But that is when I am thankful for TFF.