I need help!!! these angelfish are gonna die!

[uliabear]

i just went to walmart to get bedding and i couldn’t help but look over the fish area praying they were getting good treatment but i know it wasn’t likely. My favorite tropical fish is the angelfish so i instantly looked for them, i saw silver dollars with some fish i couldn’t recognize at first but i soon realize they were young baby angelfish, i am very sensitive and i instantly grabbed my family to show them while i was balling, my brother could barely even look. I know silver dollars are part of the parana family which makes them terrible nippers. All the silver dollars fins were gone and there were 3 baby angels(pictures above) my question is what do i do. Ik some may say nothing because walmart is a terrible place and i hate going there for anything. just a part of me can’t let those guys die they are just baby’s and haven’t even lived. what’s my best bet to save them or to leave them? i could try talking with someone to inform them. I plan on going tomorrow to save them but i wanted experienced aquarists to help me figure this out. all i know is if i buy them they will end up getting more to mistreat. these guys can barely swim. i have a cousin who works there and she loves animals aswell and she’s told me she hasn’t seen anyone feed them before. ik this site is for personal aquariums but i didn’t know where else to go

 

[Colin_T]

The silver dollars are missing bits of tail too so they are either eating each other, or something else in the tank is eating them.

You could point it out to the store manager (not a worker but the actual manager) and see what they have to say. Don't make a big scene in public, just ask to see the manager and then talk to them about the matter in a calm rational voice. They might not even know it's happening and if you create a scene you could be asked to leave and not come back.

If the shop is one of a chain store, you could contact head office and inform them. See what they say. Perhaps suggest that angelfish and silver dollars do better in separate aquariums due to the different behaviour patterns.

You could contact ASPCA? I think you lot have that. It's like a society for the protection of animals. Inform them the fish appear to be starving and are eating each other while alive.

You could ask to have the fish or get them for a significantly discounted price because they have been damaged and might not live.

If the store is good they should separate the fish and feed them up but that might not be done.

And if you really want to kick up a stink, write to the local newspaper and submit an article or post a letter to the editor about mistreatment of fish in local pet shop. They might not publish it, but then again they might.

 

[NickAu]

Don't make a big scene in public

Do make a big scene in public, let all the customers in the store know that the fish are in poor health so they wont buy them.

Last week I was in a petbarn and noticed one of the tanks was dark with a sign fish not for sale due to Ich, People were looking at fish in the next tank and the sales girl was about to net some for the people, I stepped in and advised them not to buy the fish because they could also be infected as petbarn uses a common sump for all their display tanks.

I was asked to leave the store yet again but at least I save the customer some time hassle and money.

 

[uliabear]

The silver dollars are missing bits of tail too so they are either eating each other, or something else in the tank is eating them.

You could point it out to the store manager (not a worker but the actual manager) and see what they have to say. Don't make a big scene in public, just ask to see the manager and then talk to them about the matter in a calm rational voice. They might not even know it's happening and if you create a scene you could be asked to leave and not come back.

If the shop is one of a chain store, you could contact head office and inform them. See what they say. Perhaps suggest that angelfish and silver dollars do better in separate aquariums due to the different behaviour patterns.

You could contact ASPCA? I think you lot have that. It's like a society for the protection of animals. Inform them the fish appear to be starving and are eating each other while alive.

You could ask to have the fish or get them for a significantly discounted price because they have been damaged and might not live.

If the store is good they should separate the fish and feed them up but that might not be done.

And if you really want to kick up a stink, write to the local newspaper and submit an article or post a letter to the editor about mistreatment of fish in local pet shop. They might not publish it, but then again they might.

wow thank you so much for the great advice, i plan on going back tomorrow to see what i can do to help them and speak to the manager about it, if worse comes to worse i will try to get the fish discounted and do my best to save them, i haven’t noticed an aspca near where i live but i will check it out. if i have to i’ll bring in fish food or buy some there and feed them all and take it into my own hands, i’m hoping for the best and that they listen to me, thanks again for the help!

 

[uliabear]

Do make a big scene in public, let all the customers in the store know that the fish are in poor health so they wont buy them.

Last week I was in a petbarn and noticed one of the tanks was dark with a sign fish not for sale due to Ich, People were looking at fish in the next tank and the sales girl was about to net some for the people, I stepped in and advised them not to buy the fish because they could also be infected as petbarn uses a common sump for all their display tanks.

I was asked to leave the store yet again but at least I save the customer some time hassle and money.

nice job! that’s a really brave thing to do, of course i’ll be listened to less because i am 16 i am considered brainless to many older folks, i’ll do my best to give them an ear full and tell them that these fish aren’t all the same, there were rainbow sharks and another type of shark i can’t remember the name but it was grey and had a black tail and they were together, the rainbow sharks were really torn up and in some tanks there were piles of bones and skeletons on the bottom of the tank, how long does that even take!

 

[Colin_T]

I was asked to leave the store yet again but at least I save the customer some time hassle and money.

LOL Nick, you're a trouble maker

For the OP, don't buy food and use it there. What you could do is ask if they would let you do volunteer work at the shop. You might be able to go in for a couple of hours after school or on weekends and help out by feeding the fish, doing water changes or wiping the algae off the glass.

Don't tell them you want volunteer work specifically to feed the fish. Just ask if you could do some volunteer work there because you have an interest in fish and would like to see what it's like working in a pet shop. Most schools even send secondary grade students out for 2 weeks volunteer work, (usually during school holidays). So you might be able to get the school to organise it for you.

If you get to do some volunteer work you will be able to help the fish there and might even be able to make some suggestions that will enhance the tanks and improve the fish's overall long term health. But be careful about how you tell other people because the current employees won't take kindly to being told what to do by a work experience kid.

 

[uliabear]

LOL Nick, you're a trouble maker

For the OP, don't buy food and use it there. What you could do is ask if they would let you do volunteer work at the shop. You might be able to go in for a couple of hours after school or on weekends and help out by feeding the fish, doing water changes or wiping the algae off the glass.

Don't tell them you want volunteer work specifically to feed the fish. Just ask if you could do some volunteer work there because you have an interest in fish and would like to see what it's like working in a pet shop. Most schools even send secondary grade students out for 2 weeks volunteer work, (usually during school holidays). So you might be able to get the school to organise it for you.

If you get to do some volunteer work you will be able to help the fish there and might even be able to make some suggestions that will enhance the tanks and improve the fish's overall long term health. But be careful about how you tell other people because the current employees won't take kindly to being told what to do by a work experience kid.

got it! i will definitely do that, thanks so much!