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Petsmart is horrible. I don't/haven't worked there but a close friend does.I'm willing to bet they don't worry about cycling at all! I worked at PETsMART for 3 years, but I wasn't there when the store opened. My experience with them is that they give the associates the knowledge that's going to make the company the most money. I honestly don't think they are too worried about training associates in the tried and true methods of fish, reptile, and small animal keeping because they know that most associates that work for large corporations are there to make a living first and foremost and not necessarily very experienced in the actual care of all these animals. I was one of the few associates in my store who actually took an interest in learning as much as I could and in the 3 years I worked there I didn't learn a whole lot and a lot of the things I did learn weren't accurate. They are more concerned with training for customer service and give extremely limited training on actual animal care. I would be willing to bet they dumped a gallon of Cycle in the system and let it run for a week or 2 then called it good. You have to realize the size of these companies and the money they pull in. Them losing half their fish stock due to uncycled tanks for the first month or 2 that the tanks are running is something they know they will bounce back from. The tanks WILL cycle eventually. The thing is that these corporations don't view these individual animals as their own. They are money to be made. Any losses are tax deductible so they may actually not mind losing a couple thousand dollars worth of fish in a week. It adds to their write off and tax savings at the end of the year and they want to get their max tax deductions. This is definitely what happens because they do take inventory of fish loss every night and I assure you it's not to find out what can be going wrong with their tanks. I'm not trying to paint a picture that these companies absolutely don't care at all about their animals they sell, but I GUARANTEE you that their #1 concern is the bottom line and their shareholders! PETsMART, PETCO, Pets@Home, etc. are glorified "WalMarts" for animals and animal care. WalMart, by the way, is the ONE place I will NEVER purchase a fish or ANY live animal they may sell in the future! At our local WalMart they actually have a sign up at their bagging station for their associates stating, "Do NOT use tap water to bag live fish, it will kill them!" I don't know about you guys, but that's not a place that I want to encourage to sell me a fish.....
Petsmart is horrible. I don't/haven't worked there but a close friend does.I'm willing to bet they don't worry about cycling at all! I worked at PETsMART for 3 years, but I wasn't there when the store opened. My experience with them is that they give the associates the knowledge that's going to make the company the most money. I honestly don't think they are too worried about training associates in the tried and true methods of fish, reptile, and small animal keeping because they know that most associates that work for large corporations are there to make a living first and foremost and not necessarily very experienced in the actual care of all these animals. I was one of the few associates in my store who actually took an interest in learning as much as I could and in the 3 years I worked there I didn't learn a whole lot and a lot of the things I did learn weren't accurate. They are more concerned with training for customer service and give extremely limited training on actual animal care. I would be willing to bet they dumped a gallon of Cycle in the system and let it run for a week or 2 then called it good. You have to realize the size of these companies and the money they pull in. Them losing half their fish stock due to uncycled tanks for the first month or 2 that the tanks are running is something they know they will bounce back from. The tanks WILL cycle eventually. The thing is that these corporations don't view these individual animals as their own. They are money to be made. Any losses are tax deductible so they may actually not mind losing a couple thousand dollars worth of fish in a week. It adds to their write off and tax savings at the end of the year and they want to get their max tax deductions. This is definitely what happens because they do take inventory of fish loss every night and I assure you it's not to find out what can be going wrong with their tanks. I'm not trying to paint a picture that these companies absolutely don't care at all about their animals they sell, but I GUARANTEE you that their #1 concern is the bottom line and their shareholders! PETsMART, PETCO, Pets@Home, etc. are glorified "WalMarts" for animals and animal care. WalMart, by the way, is the ONE place I will NEVER purchase a fish or ANY live animal they may sell in the future! At our local WalMart they actually have a sign up at their bagging station for their associates stating, "Do NOT use tap water to bag live fish, it will kill them!" I don't know about you guys, but that's not a place that I want to encourage to sell me a fish.....
As said I highly doubt the big pet stores cycle their tanks at all. Sometimes I wonder if they even bother with dechlorinator.
At my local petsmart, they use one giant filter for all the tanks and they're all linked up to the one system (apparently). Also, every tank is infected with ich but they don't tell customers this. They can only say "yes" if the customer asks if the fish is sick, but cannot identify it as ich. When I went there the other day they had a full tank of tetras and loaches covered in white spots and everything was still up for sale.
I knew petsmart was bad but after hearing that, I'm never buying fish from them again.
Yes I share your feelings. I was in there to buy fish and as soon as I saw the ich I was out of there asap. I would like to give them none of my business, but unfortunately there is limited aquatic supply here so some products I have to buy from them. But as for livestock, I will definitely be hitting up lfs.Petsmart is horrible. I don't/haven't worked there but a close friend does.I'm willing to bet they don't worry about cycling at all! I worked at PETsMART for 3 years, but I wasn't there when the store opened. My experience with them is that they give the associates the knowledge that's going to make the company the most money. I honestly don't think they are too worried about training associates in the tried and true methods of fish, reptile, and small animal keeping because they know that most associates that work for large corporations are there to make a living first and foremost and not necessarily very experienced in the actual care of all these animals. I was one of the few associates in my store who actually took an interest in learning as much as I could and in the 3 years I worked there I didn't learn a whole lot and a lot of the things I did learn weren't accurate. They are more concerned with training for customer service and give extremely limited training on actual animal care. I would be willing to bet they dumped a gallon of Cycle in the system and let it run for a week or 2 then called it good. You have to realize the size of these companies and the money they pull in. Them losing half their fish stock due to uncycled tanks for the first month or 2 that the tanks are running is something they know they will bounce back from. The tanks WILL cycle eventually. The thing is that these corporations don't view these individual animals as their own. They are money to be made. Any losses are tax deductible so they may actually not mind losing a couple thousand dollars worth of fish in a week. It adds to their write off and tax savings at the end of the year and they want to get their max tax deductions. This is definitely what happens because they do take inventory of fish loss every night and I assure you it's not to find out what can be going wrong with their tanks. I'm not trying to paint a picture that these companies absolutely don't care at all about their animals they sell, but I GUARANTEE you that their #1 concern is the bottom line and their shareholders! PETsMART, PETCO, Pets@Home, etc. are glorified "WalMarts" for animals and animal care. WalMart, by the way, is the ONE place I will NEVER purchase a fish or ANY live animal they may sell in the future! At our local WalMart they actually have a sign up at their bagging station for their associates stating, "Do NOT use tap water to bag live fish, it will kill them!" I don't know about you guys, but that's not a place that I want to encourage to sell me a fish.....
As said I highly doubt the big pet stores cycle their tanks at all. Sometimes I wonder if they even bother with dechlorinator.
At my local petsmart, they use one giant filter for all the tanks and they're all linked up to the one system (apparently). Also, every tank is infected with ich but they don't tell customers this. They can only say "yes" if the customer asks if the fish is sick, but cannot identify it as ich. When I went there the other day they had a full tank of tetras and loaches covered in white spots and everything was still up for sale.
I knew petsmart was bad but after hearing that, I'm never buying fish from them again.
Every betta that I have bought from Petco and Petsmart (3 to be exact) died within a few weeks of ich. I will not buy from them again. I am reluctant to think I am doing something wrong, as I have a betta that I have had for 6+ months that I bought from a local fish shop (not a chain) that is doing great. I never cared for them any differently than the other. I bought my newest betta 2 days ago from that little fish shop and he is the happiest little guy in the world. I don't think I will ever buy from petsmart or petco again.
So true!!
Hey, Which one do you work at? I'm at the bradford branch and we did the same thing. We also wouldn't sell any fish the first week we got the new stock in.
To others:
P@H have a list of things we need to do every day on the fish section- water changes are every 3 days, but we test the water every day. Each bay of 6 tanks has its own filter system- ask to have a look next time you go into one.
There are alot of people on the forum who think our stores are bad, but at the end of the day one of our company rules is PETS BEFORE PROFIT, I know in my store we live by this and do refuse animal and fish sales if we think there is a danger to the fish. I can't comment on other stores but I'd like to think they do the same.
Some stores need to look closer at the fish though, my branch had a nearly all eaten Gourami still in a tank
Hey, Which one do you work at? I'm at the bradford branch and we did the same thing. We also wouldn't sell any fish the first week we got the new stock in.
To others:
P@H have a list of things we need to do every day on the fish section- water changes are every 3 days, but we test the water every day. Each bay of 6 tanks has its own filter system- ask to have a look next time you go into one.
There are alot of people on the forum who think our stores are bad, but at the end of the day one of our company rules is PETS BEFORE PROFIT, I know in my store we live by this and do refuse animal and fish sales if we think there is a danger to the fish. I can't comment on other stores but I'd like to think they do the same.
Hello
I don't want to mention which branch I work at on here, but I'm in the south region.
Some of the assumptions people make on here make me laugh, the procedures are all in place to make sure the fish are properly cared for, in store and by customers. If some stores choose to not follow those procedures they should be singled out, critisised and reported to head office, not the company as a whole. It all comes down to the staffing.
Some stores need to look closer at the fish though, my branch had a nearly all eaten Gourami still in a tank
Hey, Which one do you work at? I'm at the bradford branch and we did the same thing. We also wouldn't sell any fish the first week we got the new stock in.
To others:
P@H have a list of things we need to do every day on the fish section- water changes are every 3 days, but we test the water every day. Each bay of 6 tanks has its own filter system- ask to have a look next time you go into one.
There are alot of people on the forum who think our stores are bad, but at the end of the day one of our company rules is PETS BEFORE PROFIT, I know in my store we live by this and do refuse animal and fish sales if we think there is a danger to the fish. I can't comment on other stores but I'd like to think they do the same.
Hello
I don't want to mention which branch I work at on here, but I'm in the south region.
Some of the assumptions people make on here make me laugh, the procedures are all in place to make sure the fish are properly cared for, in store and by customers. If some stores choose to not follow those procedures they should be singled out, critisised and reported to head office, not the company as a whole. It all comes down to the staffing.
