Dead Fish In The Tanks At My Lfs....

[MattM1124]

Let me just say that I have been posting questions in one thread but wanted to ask this in a new topic just incase Waterdrop and MW weren't available tonight. I'm getting fish tonight after a long fishless cycle so wanted to make sure it was answered by then

I went into my lfs which is Petsmart just to get a few more plants and look at the fish before I get them tonight. I noticed that there were some dead fish in some of the tanks. I also asked if all of the tanks were connected in the back and they are and I then asked when do they get the dead fish out. She told me in the morning and afternoon.

I don't think it's a big deal to have some dead fish in the tanks since there are so many and I've seen dead fish in just about every pet shop and even a fish shop that just sells fish. Just wanted to get your thought on the whole dead fish in the tanks at the stores. I'm pretty sure every time I would go their would at least be a few dead fish because of how many they have. Should I be concerned though about disease?

Thanks in advance
Matt

 

[Spishkey]

at the end of the day its your call, if its just a fish here and a fish there that were dead, i wouldnt worry too much and just put it down to laziness/business or the staff havent noticed.

if its a lot of fish in many tanks, then i would, personally, give the place a miss.

 

[8inary]

when fish are shipped in from oveaseas and distributed around the UK to various shops, unfortunately, you will get fish that die, there is a certain percentage although I cannot recall what it is, although I remember it being very high.

so, seeing dead fish in tanks isnt something in itself, something to worry about, unless the numbers are high and are seen on a regular basis. there are other things to watch out for

1. fungied covered fish - one example, i saw an eel in one shop covered in fungus and was in a right state
2. white spot and other diseases
3. condition of the water
4. over crowding etc

i personally do not buy from that store you mentioned, due to significant issues a lot of my friends had noticed, and thereafter myself. essentially the 4 points i highlighted. however i am sure this is different from store to store.

 

[waterdrop]

My first round of fish came from the same chain and yes I've seen some dead fish there. Going to my other choices would have involved more driving than I wanted to do that particular time. The fish I got there have turned out to be fine, extremely happy and healthy now. I intend to still consider driving to farther away LFSs for less common fish or having them shipped in.

~~waterdrop~~
ps. I've decided (differently than when I was younger and felt more personally attached to each fish/plant) that I'm going to adopt an attitude that yes, sometimes I'll just have to replace fish and plants that don't make it and I plan to be quicker about it and spend less emotional energy on it. I've decided that when you see beautiful tanks, there may be more of this begin done behind the scenes than I used to think. I'm not saying I won't always try for the best water and care and remedial care for diseased fish, cause I will, but I don't know, just trying to describe a small change in attitude.

 

[kubora666]

yeah i used to work in a nice lfs, and i had to constantly waterchange, algae scrape, clean the tanks and filters, fill up the sumps etc so the water was all good, but there was still the ocasional dead fish i had to remove. i found it was livebearers and bottomdwellers that died the most. im not sure why but that was the way. either way if the other fish are all bright eyed, swimming around happily and coem to the top if you move ur hand up (like you are feeding them) then they will appear to be in good health and I personaly would risk it. cause i ahve before. and ive never got a fish home that randomly died

 

[Miss Wiggle]

yes any shop will have some dead fish, and it's impossible for us to judge over the internet really if there is a geniune problem or not. We'd have to inspect the tanks and so on. As a rule of thumb though I will politely point out the dead fish in the tank and if there's any obvious disease I'll tell the staff, I guage my attitude for the shop from their response. A good LFS employee should go to look at the tank, remove the dead fish, inspect it and the other tanks occupants and if they find anything suspect mark the tank up as 'quarantine not for sale' or something similar. If they display a liase faire attitude then this is not a shop I want to buy from. If they're decent, get on the case and take appropriate action then you can be relatively sure that there's no general problem with the store.

However I never ever buy fish from a tank with dead fish in and if I can avoid that filtration system then I will although I've strayed from that rule on occasion.

 

[rdd1952]

I think everyone has pretty much covered it but I will add one more thing. Since this is your first fish and not a matter of adding new fish to an existing tank, it's not quite as much of a concern if there is a disease in their tanks. You don't have to be concerned about introducing a disease to your healthy fish. Since they are all in water that is going through a central filter, if there is a disease, all will be affected and you can treat the entire tank. No need to quarantine for 3 or 4 weeks.

For me, since I would be eventually putting new fish in my existing tanks, I won't buy from a store with dead fish. I was actually in Petco yesterday to get some more neons (on special 5 for $5) but there were dead fish in almost every tank and a few fish that were in pretty rough shape too so I left empty handed.

 

[MattM1124]

I think everyone has pretty much covered it but I will add one more thing. Since this is your first fish and not a matter of adding new fish to an existing tank, it's not quite as much of a concern if there is a disease in their tanks. You don't have to be concerned about introducing a disease to your healthy fish. Since they are all in water that is going through a central filter, if there is a disease, all will be affected and you can treat the entire tank. No need to quarantine for 3 or 4 weeks.

For me, since I would be eventually putting new fish in my existing tanks, I won't buy from a store with dead fish. I was actually in Petco yesterday to get some more neons (on special 5 for $5) but there were dead fish in almost every tank and a few fish that were in pretty rough shape too so I left empty handed.

Thanks for all the help everyone! rdd, good point about them all being in the same boat and I'm not adding them to an already present fish community. I read somewhere on these boards...can't find it now that some people when getting a new batch of fish just treat the whole tank for ick just as a precaution. That's probably not a good idea though is it to add those chemicals in if it's not needed?

Also, if I go back tonight and the dead fish are still in the tank from this morning then I probably won't buy them there and just wait a little longer. At the time though the woman was cleaning the gravel so I'm sure she would get the dead fish out and all the tanks looked really clean. I've been to Petco numerous time and would never by fish from them. Their tanks always look dirty and usually the tank lights don't work.

 

[rdd1952]

Anytime you get new fish to go in an existing tank, you should quarantine them and treating them for ich certainly wouldn't hurt anything but if you quarantine them and watch for signs of problems for 3 or 4 weeks, you should be fine. As far as Petco and Petsmart, it reallly depends on the employees. I've been in some that were terrible and some that were great. The Petsmart near where I worked about 3 years ago had some of the cleanest tanks I'd seen. I was generally in there at least once a week and never saw a dead fish in their tanks. That's just the way chain stores are, totall hit or miss. Good luck.

 

[kubora666]

i agree with you, she shoulve checked and cleaned them all,
where i used to work as soon as a dead was spotted it was instantly removed, infact i had to go around every now and then to check.

 

[MattM1124]

yes any shop will have some dead fish, and it's impossible for us to judge over the internet really if there is a geniune problem or not. We'd have to inspect the tanks and so on. As a rule of thumb though I will politely point out the dead fish in the tank and if there's any obvious disease I'll tell the staff, I guage my attitude for the shop from their response. A good LFS employee should go to look at the tank, remove the dead fish, inspect it and the other tanks occupants and if they find anything suspect mark the tank up as 'quarantine not for sale' or something similar. If they display a liase faire attitude then this is not a shop I want to buy from. If they're decent, get on the case and take appropriate action then you can be relatively sure that there's no general problem with the store.

However I never ever buy fish from a tank with dead fish in and if I can avoid that filtration system then I will although I've strayed from that rule on occasion.

Great point MW! One time I was in wal mart to shop and I always make my way to the fish section just to look. I would never think about buying from there lol...The one time I went over I was appalled. There were numerous dead fish in every tank and most looked like they have been dead for a week or so. Of course no one really works in that department so I asked to speak to a manger and told them about the horrible fish deaths. She seemed to care a little but not much so when I got home I emailed walmarts corporate headquarters and complained about the problem. I got a call back from some upper management guy from headquarters and told me that he had talked to the store and they were now going to have someone working that department more frequently.

I went back a few days later and everything was clean and no casualties. And every time I go back I check and everything's good so hopefully my call did it!

 

[drobbyb]

I used to work for Petsm@rt. Their fish department is understaffed and underpaid thus resulting in bad quality people. They had a 3 hour training course that allowed you to sell fish in the store. Three hours isn't nearly enough time to grasp the concept of fish husbandry much less master it. I quit working there because of some of their policies. I just couldn't sell oscars to people who bought a 10 gallon tank that very same night. It just didn't sit right with me.

 

[j19dul-fishlover]

here in the uk we have pet shops called pets@home i never use them i use one man band shop i think there a lot better that's all they look after not like these big super store places

 

[jonp]

here in the uk we have pet shops called pets@home i never use them i use one man band shop i think there a lot better that's all they look after not like these big super store places

Tis funny how opinion varies - I would actually place the local store as fourth place) (out of around 10 or so stores round here for LFS.....

 

[petertr]

Pets @ Home seems to vary wildly from one shop to another.