A Walmart Worthy Of Buying Fish From?

[Zeoth]

There are a couple of Wal-marts near me, and one of them has fish that are in pretty good condition(Well most of the fish) Aside from the fact that they have got a 8 inch bala in a small tank, and a tank of dying angles, the rest of the tanks are pretty good and clean, (oh yeah and the common plec tank has a umm...big..amount of dung piled along the back), I mean the guppies were healthy, oscars, and lots of other tanks there were in pretty good shape. Is this Walmart worthy of a fish keeper's money? Tell me what you people think. I for one hope it is true

 

[Mikaila31]

I don't consider my walmart's fish section all that terrible. It is a lot better that the only LPS we have in town, which apparently can't tell a saltwater fish from a freshwater fish. The fish a walmart are healthier and my it only has about 6 bettas in stock at a given time. Walmart's don't seem to do so well up north, Target more popular up here. Ours is struggling, either way I only go to walmart once a month to get worms. I don't buy fish from either store. I am always willing to pay more for a healthy fish from a store that gives good advice, then a healthy fish from a store with clueless employees. Anyway it is really all up to you.

 

[Zeoth]

I am always willing to pay more for a healthy fish from a store that gives good advice, then a healthy fish from a store with clueless employees. Anyway it is really all up to you.

Hmmm....that's something to think about.

 

[pica_nuttalli]

My take on the issue is that I don't think Walmart should sell fish. Full stop. 95% of them have terrible fish departments, the company as a whole has no clue about appropriate stocking and there appears to be little or no effort put into hiring people who know about fish (which would be hard to do anyways since most of the management chain doesn't seem to know much about fish). The only argument in favor of Walmart selling fish and fish supplies is that there aren't many independent LFS in rural areas, so Walmart does at least offer the chance to buy poorly labeled disease-ridden fish.

Thus I think that if you have the chance to buy fish from anywhere that isn't a Walmart, then you should do so. At least when you're dealing with an ignorant LFS employee, you have an opportunity to share knowledge and possibly effect change. Walmart employees are at the very bottom of a very tall totem pole. Even if you do find someone who knows something about fish and feels motivated to keep the tanks clean, there is essentially nothing that person can do to alter the Walmart corporation's atrocious choices of stock and total lack of interest in fish welfare.

--EDIT--
As a side note, I am not complaining about the persons employed by Walmart to take care of the fish. I don't really blame them for being completely inadequate as fishkeepers; I'm sure most of them had no intention of selling livestock when they applied for a job. Plus, let's do a quick review of what they've been told by authority figures:

fish don't feel pain.
a fish will only grow to the size of the tank.
goldfish have 3 second memories.
a teaspoon of salt per five gallons makes a tank brackish.
green spotted puffers are community fish.
oscars can be kept in a 30 gallon.
iridescent sharks stop growing at 6 inches.
bettas naturally live in a half-cup of filthy water; veiltails evolved there.
tattooed fish are just like tattooed people!
it's normal for fish to just live a couple of weeks.
if you clean a tank too often, you'll suck out all the bacteria.
when you clean the tank, you have to replace all of the water at once.
ick is present in all tanks anyways.

oh, and we're going to pay you as little as we can get away with to take care of these creatures along with doing all the normal stocking. the fish are just a loss-leader so that we can sell lots of equipment and chemicals, but you should take very good care of them. we don't expect too many to live since fish die too easy, which is why we grossly overstock them and buy in bulk from the cheapest suppliers we can find. but don't let that stop you from trying! no, you can't have medicines, quarantines, multiple nets or overtime pay from the company. if you care that much about the fish, then it shouldn't bother you to do that stuff for free. (except quarantines. that would interfere with our ability to sell fish on a 24 hour basis.)

 

[Zeoth]

That is an interesting view point. It's not the only store to sell fish. I have two LFS near me also, so yeah, i can go there too...

 

[CrashingWaves]

I try to avoid walmart fish for the most part, unless I can get a really good deal on them. Usually the people working there know absolutely nothing about fish though.

God Bless,
Joshua

 

[Zeoth]

I'am not so sure about the knowlagable staff as there wern't any in the fish department or near it for that matter.

 

[chibi]

I do not buy fish (or rather anything, but that's another subject) from Walmart because most of the stores keep them in deplorable conditions. I don't buy from them so they see that no one will buy them and therefore get rid of them. If people stop buying from there, they'll take it away, so I don't.

Also, if one of their tanks is bad, then I wouldn't buy from any of them. They are all run on the same system. If one tank has bad water, it is going to be spread through all the other tanks.

Plus, why give your money to such a big company? Unless there is no LFS within a large radius of your house, support your local fish store! Buy from them!

Conclusion: Don't buy from Walmart.

 

[Iron Man]

I used to be dept manager of the pet dept at a WalMart so I can tell you from experience it varies from store to store. WalMart has clear outlines of how to take care of the fish, and if you go by those guidelines the fish should be in top shape. Trouble is the dept manager, if he/she does know anything about fish keeping can only go so far with the dept because after he/she leaves then some part-time teenager comes in for the rest of the night and totally ignores what NEEDS to be done that night, sitting in the back and talking on the cell phone.

My local WalMart has a very hard working dept manager during the day and an old man during the night who knows what he's doing for the most part.....so it is always beautiful tanks with beautiful fish...and never ONE dead fish....ever.

You also have to realize that WalMart gets their fish from the same breeder/supplier that all the other LFS's in the area are getting theirs, and the delivery dates are mostly the same for most of them. If you still don't trust their tanks ask when they get their deliveries and be there during the afternoon hours, maybe a little later, and they will have fresh new fish in to choose from that will not have been in the tanks for a very long time, if at all.

Also the pet dept manager can special order ANYTHING you want, just as any LFS help or owner can (short of saltwater varieties).....it just takes telling him/her. It just takes communication.

 

[FeroX]

My take on the issue is that I don't think Walmart should sell fish. Full stop. 95% of them have terrible fish departments, the company as a whole has no clue about appropriate stocking and there appears to be little or no effort put into hiring people who know about fish (which would be hard to do anyways since most of the management chain doesn't seem to know much about fish). The only argument in favor of Walmart selling fish and fish supplies is that there aren't many independent LFS in rural areas, so Walmart does at least offer the chance to buy poorly labeled disease-ridden fish.

Thus I think that if you have the chance to buy fish from anywhere that isn't a Walmart, then you should do so. At least when you're dealing with an ignorant LFS employee, you have an opportunity to share knowledge and possibly effect change. Walmart employees are at the very bottom of a very tall totem pole. Even if you do find someone who knows something about fish and feels motivated to keep the tanks clean, there is essentially nothing that person can do to alter the Walmart corporation's atrocious choices of stock and total lack of interest in fish welfare.

--EDIT--
As a side note, I am not complaining about the persons employed by Walmart to take care of the fish. I don't really blame them for being completely inadequate as fishkeepers; I'm sure most of them had no intention of selling livestock when they applied for a job. Plus, let's do a quick review of what they've been told by authority figures:

fish don't feel pain.
a fish will only grow to the size of the tank.
goldfish have 3 second memories.
a teaspoon of salt per five gallons makes a tank brackish.
green spotted puffers are community fish.
oscars can be kept in a 30 gallon.
iridescent sharks stop growing at 6 inches.
bettas naturally live in a half-cup of filthy water; veiltails evolved there.
tattooed fish are just like tattooed people!
it's normal for fish to just live a couple of weeks.
if you clean a tank too often, you'll suck out all the bacteria.
when you clean the tank, you have to replace all of the water at once.
ick is present in all tanks anyways.

oh, and we're going to pay you as little as we can get away with to take care of these creatures along with doing all the normal stocking. the fish are just a loss-leader so that we can sell lots of equipment and chemicals, but you should take very good care of them. we don't expect too many to live since fish die too easy, which is why we grossly overstock them and buy in bulk from the cheapest suppliers we can find. but don't let that stop you from trying! no, you can't have medicines, quarantines, multiple nets or overtime pay from the company. if you care that much about the fish, then it shouldn't bother you to do that stuff for free. (except quarantines. that would interfere with our ability to sell fish on a 24 hour basis.)

The bolded part is debatable...I've said something along those lines and I work at a reputable LFS chain (Big Al's). I havn't said "you'll suck all the bacteria out of the tank" if you clean it too often, but it's never good to do 50% gravel washes every week like some customers come in saying they do. I tell them something along the lines of destroying the essential bacteria in your tank is bad for your fish and is a likely cause of your deaths.

And the Ick thing is true. It is always present in the tank, read up on it.

 

[Mikaila31]

Doing 50% water changes and gravel vacuuming every week is fine for most tanks, the only exception would be if you have a UGF. A tank with any other type of filter would be fine, the good bacteria is mostly in the filter with very little to none of it being present in the gravel.

The theory that ich is always present in a tank is as much a myth as the 3 second fish memory. IMO this happened because people would treat the ich until it disappears, then stop. Instead of treating for a week or two after the ich has disappeared. You have to make sure it is well gone or else it will come back. It is a very common parasite and it needs a host to survive.

two good sites:
The cichlid forum
Speptical Aquarist

 

[sic0198]

Walmart (for the most part) has horrible looking tanks. But I did find a walmart that had some good (if you can say that) fish tanks. There weren't any dead or diseased fish in there (from what I could see) although they were overcrowded (they had 50 or so dwarf gouramis in one with at least 20 mystery snails together. But since I haven't seen any dwarf gouramis anywhere I've looked and they had females as well as males, I picked 2 up. That's been awhile ago and they're still alive.

Your best bet is to do some fact finding online, prior to buying.

 

[Catfish Jack]

my one and only lfs, while having a great selection, is unfriendly and kinda skanky. they dont give any tiype of guarantee on fish over ten dollars and for fish under that amount, its only for 24 hours. ive actually had more success with the fish ive bought form walmart. my only other option is a petsmart and petland about 2 hours away.

 

[bobross]

I guess I would like to contribute to this. I would disagree with the statement " 95% of them have terrible fish departments"
Dude, have you been to 95% of the stores to justify that? (Think about how many wal-marts that is...like several million) Didn't think so.

For as many wal-marts I've been too, (around ten or eleven) and as many LFS I've been to(way more than 20), I've seen just as many bad fish setups at lfs as I have at wal-mart. Frankly, all of my fish(except my parrots & severum) have been from wal-mart. In over a year, I haven't had any deaths or disease-ridden fish. On top of that, I would rather go to wal-mart for most of this hobby versus the three other lfs in my area.

At least I get honesty from an employee at wal-mart when I need something. All of the times I've gotten fish from there, I've either had a knowledgeable person to deal with... or a late night person with not much of a clue. BUT they were honest enough to say that they were unfamiliar with fish. So, I would usually help them bag my fish. not a big deal.

The three other lfs in my area could care less about the fish and if you ask them questions about something, they give you a pissy response, or they answer your question with a question. Which is, in turn, delaying the inevitable. They don't know anymore than someone at wal-mart would. Or they don't care & are just there to collect a check, clock suckers they are.

You're gonna find that anywhere, not just wal-mart. not just a pet store. That's life, man.


There's good fish stores & bad ones. There's good wal-mart fish sections & bad ones. It's the employees & their concern for the animals' well-being that makes the difference as to which one it is.

Out of all the stores in my area, Wal-mart is the only one that offers a 90-day guarantee on their fish. Bar-none. doesn't matter what you're water param's are, doesn't matter the size of tank, the tankmates, nothing. All you have to do is bring back the fish within three months of purchase, with proof of the animal being dead & a receipt & they swap it for a new fish.
Now granted I haven't had to bring any dead fish back to wal-mart, how many LFS do you know that will do that?

BobRoss

 

[darknirvana217]

Wal Mart fish are bad news. Wal Mart's only goal is to get as many fish (of any quality) sold to whoever. These people don't care if a common pleco goes in a 10 gallon or if you mix guppies and oscars. The staff generally knows very little about fish and how to properly take care of them. The chances of these fish at your Wal Mart being in good condition is very slim, looks can be deceiving.