buying fish

[maaudiosubs]

i have read alot on the interent and got simple guide to freshwater aquriums and ive herd if u walk into a petstore and u see 1 dead fish for ever 6 tanks then u should go to another store they arent a good petstore. the problem is moost stores around here have about that and somedays more dead for every 6 tanks.i have 2 private owed fish stores,walmart,petco and another big store i cant think of the name but they all arent neer what ive read a store should look liike when buying fish i go to petco becuase there within 5 minutes the others are 20 minutes or more away. i was just wondering where u all get your fish and why?

 

[Tempestuousfury]

Don't follow those general "rules".

Go with what you feel is right. Stick with one supplier who you trust and keep going there. Never buy fish out of a tank with dead or sick fish unless they have guarantees and you can quarantine. I agree with the people who say that chain stores are bad, though the one Petsmart I go to is pretty good (and my main supplier).

Petco and Walmart are normally pretty bad. Make sure the associates that help you knwo what they're doing, and research the fish in advance because you don't want faulty advice.

 

[Dwarfs]

P.P.W= Petco, petsmart, and walmart. They are good for food and equipment but not fish

 

[maaudiosubs]

so most the pet stores around here are about the same from what ive read and hurd then most of them are no good for buying fish. but my dd lives in a town of like 500 but he herd some old lady is breeding fish so he might be able to get better stuff from her.

 

[maaudiosubs]

that would be a long drive from my dads ife she has good fish its over an hour ddrive is that to much stress on a fish.

 

[StanTheBetta]

In my experience the petco I go to isn't bad for fish. All the tanks are clean and the only dead fish I've ever seen were some smaller ones that got sucked to the filter.

 

[Synastic]

Petcos and Petsmarts are awesome in Southern California. They're clean and well stocked, but Wal-marts on the other hand __________ (fill in the blank.) Wal-mart does have awesome bettas though and they keep them in the bigger cups.

 

[StanTheBetta]

Heh not the wal marts in my area. They got the bettas in the 10 gal tanks seperated by little clear plastic thingies (I call them jail cells )

 

[maaudiosubs]

where would u buy from then if all your fish stores arent that good?

 

[noelberg]

A lot of the time pet stores in the same area will buy from the same supplier, so chances are that no matter where you go locally you will get fish that were raised at the same place. Some lfs' will buy from local breeders - these are usually superior fish to the farm-raised kind. Anyway the ultimate quality indicators are how well the people in charge of the fish department know their fish and how well the tanks are maintained over time. The last time I was at WalMart there was only one or two "floaters" but I couldn't have gotten someone to help me with fish if my life depended on it, let alone get anyone who knew crap about fish .... while my most trusted lfs had a neon tank with 4 or 5 dead fish in it, but I've had the best luck with fish from that lfs.