Pets At Home Cycling Advise

[Skins]

Just to say, I saw the staff at my local P@H (Tunbridge Wells) refuse to sell a goldish, stating that the tank had to be set up for 45 days (I think that was the time period, I may have misheard). Apparently that is company policy. although it seems a bit too harsh for goldfish, even to me!

It looks like they at least now have a policy in place, maybe some stores are more informed than others.

Anyway, while I do out of principle, support my small lfs's, I would not refuse to buy from this particular store, as the tanks seem clean and the fish seem OK. (shrugs)

I guess it varies store to store.

It would be good to see all p@h outlets singing from the same hyme sheet. My p@h store is the complete opposite to how you discribed yours.

Keith.

 

[Jenste]

Just to say, I saw the staff at my local P@H (Tunbridge Wells) refuse to sell a goldish, stating that the tank had to be set up for 45 days (I think that was the time period, I may have misheard). Apparently that is company policy. although it seems a bit too harsh for goldfish, even to me!

It looks like they at least now have a policy in place, maybe some stores are more informed than others.

Anyway, while I do out of principle, support my small lfs's, I would not refuse to buy from this particular store, as the tanks seem clean and the fish seem OK. (shrugs)

I guess it varies store to store.

Can I ask why you think the policy is too harsh for goldfish? They also suffer from uncycled tanks and deserve a stable environment as much as other fish.

 

[Curiosity101]

Am I missing the point... why is it any better for any shop to say 'Set up for 24hours' vs 'Set up for 45 days'. So what if it's set up... it still wont cycle...

Most P@H's I've been into following the policy of 'Run it for a week then come back'.

I don't think for one second it is feasible for any shop (inc one as big as P@H) to turn away customers who want to buy fish. But if they just made their advise correct that'd make things 100's of times easier. And it's not as if they even need to go far to train people, they could easily print up some large posters... 1. Nitrogen Cycle 2.Simple guide to cycling with fish 3.Simple guide to fishless cycling.
And have little pamphlets that go into more detail for anyone who has glanced at the posters and wants more info.

Sadly the 'tank' guides that currently exist are as basic as fill with water, put fish in. I mean you don't get such ridiculous things for other products do you... 'Hmm I've bought a TV, what do I do now' er... plug it in and switch it on? I don't need a 'guide' to tell me to do that.

 

[fishnovice]

Just to say, I saw the staff at my local P@H (Tunbridge Wells) refuse to sell a goldish, stating that the tank had to be set up for 45 days (I think that was the time period, I may have misheard). Apparently that is company policy. although it seems a bit too harsh for goldfish, even to me!

It looks like they at least now have a policy in place, maybe some stores are more informed than others.

Anyway, while I do out of principle, support my small lfs's, I would not refuse to buy from this particular store, as the tanks seem clean and the fish seem OK. (shrugs)

I guess it varies store to store.

It's not 45 days , it's 4 to 5 days they advise you to wait before adding fish at my locl P@H.

Another step backwards is that all their goldfish were kept in a section labelled "Pondfish" so prospective owners would realise they weren't meant to be kept in a small bowl. Sadly they have now taken the "Pondfish" sign down -guess they didn't sell many goldfish that way. Also they are now stocking teeny 3cm baby goldies, not the larger ones they used to have. Call me cynical but without the sign many first time fish kepers will be persuaded to get 5or6 baby goldies thinking they will only grow a couple of inches like mollies and will be OK in a small tank.

 

[Aqua Tom]

Am I missing the point... why is it any better for any shop to say 'Set up for 24hours' vs 'Set up for 45 days'. So what if it's set up... it still wont cycle...

Most P@H's I've been into following the policy of 'Run it for a week then come back'.

I don't think for one second it is feasible for any shop (inc one as big as P@H) to turn away customers who want to buy fish. But if they just made their advise correct that'd make things 100's of times easier. And it's not as if they even need to go far to train people, they could easily print up some large posters... 1. Nitrogen Cycle 2.Simple guide to cycling with fish 3.Simple guide to fishless cycling.
And have little pamphlets that go into more detail for anyone who has glanced at the posters and wants more info.

Sadly the 'tank' guides that currently exist are as basic as fill with water, put fish in. I mean you don't get such ridiculous things for other products do you... 'Hmm I've bought a TV, what do I do now' er... plug it in and switch it on? I don't need a 'guide' to tell me to do that.

I am afraid that lfs's, not just p@h, dont go out of their way to educate about fishless cycling because they make their living selling fish, not ammonia.
Sad but true.

 

[Curiosity101]

They don't even put up posters or anything either though. The information just isn't available to anyone unless they know what to ask for. And even then when they do know to ask they often get fobbed off by someone who doesn't know anything.

I reckon posters are easily the best way to go. That way it's not shoved down any customers throats, staff don't need training(other than to say you might want to read the poster if this is your first tank), and for those that do read them there should be pamphlets below them with more in detail stuff.

Even if they didn't want to advocate fishless cycling (although personally I think most places don't just cause they don't know about it), they could still have the nitrogen cycle and cycling a tank with fish posters on the wall. I might put together an email to send to P@H suggesting the idea and see what I get. Chances are I'll get nothing... but it doesn't hurt to try.

 

[SensesFail]

Am I missing the point... why is it any better for any shop to say 'Set up for 24hours' vs 'Set up for 45 days'. So what if it's set up... it still wont cycle...

Most P@H's I've been into following the policy of 'Run it for a week then come back'.

I don't think for one second it is feasible for any shop (inc one as big as P@H) to turn away customers who want to buy fish. But if they just made their advise correct that'd make things 100's of times easier. And it's not as if they even need to go far to train people, they could easily print up some large posters... 1. Nitrogen Cycle 2.Simple guide to cycling with fish 3.Simple guide to fishless cycling.
And have little pamphlets that go into more detail for anyone who has glanced at the posters and wants more info.

Sadly the 'tank' guides that currently exist are as basic as fill with water, put fish in. I mean you don't get such ridiculous things for other products do you... 'Hmm I've bought a TV, what do I do now' er... plug it in and switch it on? I don't need a 'guide' to tell me to do that.

I am afraid that lfs's, not just p@h, dont go out of their way to educate about fishless cycling because they make their living selling fish, not ammonia.
Sad but true.

Sadly they are out to make money I love my LFS I'd like to think they would advise ammonia but not in the position of buying a tank past that. I think LFS need to tell the truth and advise cycle! When they die surely the LFS look bad so it's in their interestvto advise wait and cycle before selling fish!

 

[Si_B]

Just to say, I saw the staff at my local P@H (Tunbridge Wells) refuse to sell a goldish, stating that the tank had to be set up for 45 days (I think that was the time period, I may have misheard). Apparently that is company policy. although it seems a bit too harsh for goldfish, even to me!

It looks like they at least now have a policy in place, maybe some stores are more informed than others.

Anyway, while I do out of principle, support my small lfs's, I would not refuse to buy from this particular store, as the tanks seem clean and the fish seem OK. (shrugs)

I guess it varies store to store.

Can I ask why you think the policy is too harsh for goldfish? They also suffer from uncycled tanks and deserve a stable environment as much as other fish.

I was under the (possibly mistaken)impression that goldfish are generally more hardy than tropical fish. but there is no reason they should not get the same respect as tropicals though. (Also 45 days was actually 4 to 5 days).

Just to say, I saw the staff at my local P@H (Tunbridge Wells) refuse to sell a goldish, stating that the tank had to be set up for 45 days (I think that was the time period, I may have misheard). Apparently that is company policy. although it seems a bit too harsh for goldfish, even to me!

It looks like they at least now have a policy in place, maybe some stores are more informed than others.

Anyway, while I do out of principle, support my small lfs's, I would not refuse to buy from this particular store, as the tanks seem clean and the fish seem OK. (shrugs)

I guess it varies store to store.

It's not 45 days , it's 4 to 5 days they advise you to wait before adding fish at my locl P@H.

Another step backwards is that all their goldfish were kept in a section labelled "Pondfish" so prospective owners would realise they weren't meant to be kept in a small bowl. Sadly they have now taken the "Pondfish" sign down -guess they didn't sell many goldfish that way. Also they are now stocking teeny 3cm baby goldies, not the larger ones they used to have. Call me cynical but without the sign many first time fish kepers will be persuaded to get 5or6 baby goldies thinking they will only grow a couple of inches like mollies and will be OK in a small tank.

Yup, I misheard 4 to 5 days as 45 days!

 

[Si_B]

And anyway, 4 to 5 days is useless as far as cycling a filter goes, so actually it is futile gesture, although props to them for actually having a policy (ineffective as it is, it's a start).

The shops are not in the business to fully educate every customer, whether buying fish, rabbits, cats or dogs.

They could do more though, but no shop I've been in has even questioned my water quality or tankmates when buying fish. They kind of assume I know what I'm doing.

The alternative is to 3rd degree every customer and lose a lot of sales.

Luckily, anyone with a computer has access to resources like this site, so hopefully fishless cycling will one day be considered an integral part of buying a fish tank!

 

[raptorrex]

Just popped to my local Pets at Home store to get some plants as they are on offer there and I can pick exactly what I want. Had a nosey at the fish and saw a sign "When purchasing new fish, set up aquarium, leave for 3 days before adding fish".

Good luck fish is all that I can say

I feel really sorry for the fish, they had a huge pair of angels in a tiny tank for £30 the pair. Want to rescue some, but I have never had much luck with their fish and stopped buying them years ago.

so what makes this advice any different from any other LFS? yet again we smash P@H for something, virtually, all LFS do. advice varies between 1 and 5 days before adding fish. and that's if they say you need to do anything at all. have you ever been to an LFS, and been told you need to buy the tank, but not add any fish for 6 weeks (cycling)? NO.

so again, what makes P@H any different?

as someone else, said here. its up to the purchaser to know their stuff.

 

[Gladders1980]

Have to agree p@h are no different to most lfs. We bought our tank from a lfs and thy said run it for a week then come back and get some fish.

Also we have bought fish from both lfs and p@h and none of the ones from p@h have died whereas we have lost 3 from the lfs.

 

[Tolak]

Any shop is just a supplier of products. The kid at McDonald's is not the one to ask for nutritional advice, the salesman at the car dealership is not the one to ask for driving advice. They are all there to sell a product, no different from a shop selling fish.

They are not responsible for what you do with their product, whether it be fish in an uncycled tank, medical conditions caused by sodium & fat, or death & disfigurement caused by poor driving skills.

 

[Curiosity101]

They are all there to sell a product, no different from a shop selling fish.

Actually that's only technically true. There are rules and laws on certain furry animals. So although there aren't any on fish (hence why that's technically true), there should be as they're living animals. The law just hasn't quite got there yet lol.

The things that has always annoyed me about shops has to be the lack of correct advice though. Even a lack of advice is better than wrong advice. When I was speaking to some P@H employees they were telling me how the advice they give is correct because it comes from a vet... I was just having a friendly chat, and explained why it was wrong to which I heard lots of 'ooohhhh's'. But the point is that a 'figure of authority' has apparently signed this off at some point... but it's absolute rubbish.

 

[Tolak]

I could post up a bunch of should be laws, ones which I personally think should exist, but in my mind the law hasn't quite gotten there yet. If we went off of that, then I could "technically" justify a whole lot of things. In reality it doesn't work that way, thus we are forced to operate within the current legal parameters.

I'm surprised that someone who feels strongly about this, as many members here obviously do, hasn't made a documentary, ala "Supersize Me" concerning these shops.

The mods & admins here have to keep a close eye on these various LFS horror topics, as at times they edge towards libel, putting the site owner at risk. Rather than put someone else at risk for legal liability go put your own neck on the line if you feel that strongly. We have plenty of members with a lot of computer and video editing skills here, put those to use on a topic you feel strongly about, in that way you have a better chance of making a difference.

 

[drufly]

I went to a new store near me and put a ? To the boy about oscars! Size,compatibility, tank size etc. His reply was shocking. 'Yes mate easily kept in a community with a wide range of fish, and don't get too big.

I asked him then if he knew anything about fish, which he hesitated in amswering.

I had applied for a long on this shop. But they chose to go with the fresh outa school, gcse/a level student that has no clue what hue is talking about.

I have learnt that the best advise is either on this forum or in your own research.