new fish

[rabbitlady]

hello all sorry it's been awhile.
just to update you all walmart has decide to give some other fish a chance so we can get some heartier fish in so not some many death's will happen anymore.
1st month-dojo loach
2nd month- albino channel cat and a clown knife fish
anyone have info on these fish please let me know so far both the albino and clown knife have done well 4 days and none dead.. yeah and swimming fine

 

[BettaMomma]

WalMart is going to start selling stuff like clown knife fish?

Heaven help the fish population.

 

[rabbitlady]

why what is wrong with clown knife fish they are cool looking and doing very well in my tanks at work... i would like to know more about them .. i have very little info so far on them..

 

[nc_nutcase]

Ghost knives are very cool fish. I used to have one in a gourami tank a long time ago. Currently I'm considering breaking down my Terrarium (which has been a lethal pain anyway) and making it into a heavily planted dwarf cichlid tank with a ghost knife in it as well. From what I can remember they are easy to care for as long as they aren't with aggressive fish. Just make sure they have some sort of tube to hide in.

 

[rdd1952]

Rabbitlady, I don't know about the Walmarts near you but I definitely would not buy a fish from either of the 2 I have been in. Your's may be the exception but most of them have as many dead fish as live ones. Look at the threads on this forum below from the last 2 days. They should be banned from selling fish. I will never shop there again.

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=79825
http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=79743

 

[rabbitlady]

i run my fish dept. in my store and i take care of the fish as do my assoc. that work in my dept. i am the dept . manager and i expect everyone to take care of the fish as if they whould a cat or dog of other animal. our tanks stay clean and if we have dead fish we find out why. we do not carry glass fish or any other died fish in out store and we research the fish we sell i have been useing this forum off and on for about a year now just to learn about the fish i carry and i pass on the info to the customers also. i also had out pamplets on cycleing that i got here..

 

[nshockeyplaya]

Man i wish my LFS's had managers like you. I think thats great, and with that type of management, sales should go very well.

 

[rdd1952]

You are definitely the exception. The one I went in on Tuesday was so filthy, there were tiny fish skeletons and fish meat in every tank. Those fish had died and been completely eaten by their tank mates. Numerous other fish were in different states of being eaten. One tank had several SAEs that were feasting on the slime coat of the LIVE tetras, danios and mollies in the same tank. Other fish were diseased and dying.

The one near where I live is the same way. the last time I went in it, there literally were more dead fish than live ones. I am considering calling the ASPCA and reporting both stores. It is sickening. Neither of them have any gravel in their tanks, I guess that makes it easier to clean when they do it every 2 or 3 months.

Since you are a manager at Walmart, please explain to the powers to be that they need to have someone like you in every store to manage the live fish department. It would be wonderful if they had a supervisor like you that could visit every store in a territory weekly to make sue the fish were being treated properly. These aren't bags on dog food on the shelf. They are living, breathing creatures. God's creatures. They deserve better.

Sorry to ramble one but I am infuriated by what I saw on Tuesday. I will get off my soap box now.

 

[SuckerLove86]

Every once in a while, a town is blessed with WalMart that has someone who knows what they're doing.

Rabbitlady, you're a blessing to your town.

As far as info on the fish goes, all I know is a little bit about the dojo loaches. I believe they are commonly referred to as weather loaches because they are great forecasters. They kinda freak out with changes in the barometric pressure. Also I've seen them sold as both tropical or coldwater.

 

[BettaMomma]

OOPSY, I guess I wasn't clear on my previous statement.
Clown Knife Fish are VERY cool fish - I didn't mean my point to come out as if they weren't.

I just meant that now WM is going to try to get into fancy fish like that, before you know it they'll progress into saltwater tanks, then on to hamsters, etc. etc.

Sorry about the confusion.

 

[SuckerLove86]

Also, on the clown knife, can't they get fairly large? Like 3'+?

 

[BettaMomma]

AND rabbitlady...
I also wish our WMs had someone like you in the fish department.
The last time I examined tanks at our east side store I was horrified.

Keep up the good work, and PLEASE don't forget about the bettas, crabs and frogs in those horrid little cups.

Thank you.

 

[rabbitlady]

ok as for my bettas they get water changes everyweek and i keep dates on them so i know what day i got them and that way if they don't sell soon i don't order more till these little guys get a good home. we hand out betta info too.
as for frogs i only carry the dwarf frogs and info on them also.
the frogs are in the tank not cups .
the new idea of the fish of the month was a great idea i think what we are trying to do is to get not fancier fish but heartier fish to lower the death rate.
we are taking suggestions on new fish that you would like to see us sell. to lower our death rate so we are not selling so many sensitive fish for them to just die .
as for talking to the power people i have and we are working on the main problems as to hire people with knowledge to work these dept.s
i also listen to people like you guys that may come to my store so i can get more knowledge myself so keep talking to those dept.s managers some are listening even if you think we are not..

 

[BettaMomma]

rabbitlady - the betta cups should be switched out every day, every other day at the longest in my opinion. I think the fact that they (and this happens everywhere) sit in their own filth for so long is part of the reason why the bettas on the shelves everywhere are in such poor condition, and why they get sick, and why they die so often.

edit -
Just FYI - 4 days ago I rescued little Jasper from WM in Madison, WI - I highly doubt he's going to make it. I'm completely sad about it, but at least he has had a great home with me since I got him. I'm also convinced that the reason he got so sick is just plain neglect. His top dorsal fin was half gone (dunno if it was rotted away, ripped off, or what), and he just lays on stuff in his tank all day long, struggling to come up for air. It was a big production at work today when he ate 2 food pellets. 2 food pellets!!! That's all he's eaten in 4 days. I'm sure i'll be stopping by the forum within the next days to let everyone know he's passed on, but i'll just have to go back to WalMart and find another dejected little guy that's sick and needs to be saved. It's an emotional roller coaster ride saving little fishies (or trying to anyway) and the most heartbreaking part is knowing that all this suffering could be prevented.

 

[rabbitlady]

well, as for changeing those out that often i would do that but most of the time i don't have them that long. most of the time i sell them in two days after i receive them . i don't keep alot of stock just for that reason they don't have to long to stay in those cups..
as for the others i do change there water if it gets nasty or cloudy
i check them every morning and i feed them 6 days on 1 off. so they have time to digest.. you know.. alot of my little guys unfortunatly come in ripped up fins looking torn. that is mishandleing in shipping i think.
do you also know we have some customers that will dare to put two male betta's in the same cup just to see what happens that makes me so mad. i also carry like 6-8 females in my store.. and the info on breeding.
and i do not sell fish if i know that they are just going to kill them..i ask how long and what someone uses when setting up there tanks. sometimes unfortunatly i have someone lye and say they did things that they didn't to set up.
and i had one lady that came in got fish took them into her classroom killed them came back like 3 times like this then when i refused to sell them to her again because i asked her to bring in a water sample and she didn't i got into trouble.. but i took care of that now she doesn't have tank or anything..

ps good luck with little jasper..