Pets At Home

[kaivalagi]

Wild Gourami?

I would think that is the worst thing to do as the species in the wild is affect more...but we're going off topic
Better for breeders to include wild caught here and there in their breeding programs

 

[ian]

the problem with the dead fish is, that in a busy place like P@H, its getting a member of staff to do the tanks regulaly. Normally every LFS will have dead fish. The LFS's that are totally dedicated to fish have time to get the dead ones out. Sadley P@H don't and then you'll get someone come along and say that they are mis-treating fish.

I always nip over to the fish when buying my dog food, and our P@H isn't that bad for fish. I have got chatting to one of the managers there, who is really interested in fish and has a few tanks himself, he was telling me that P@H is bringing in where a dedicated team of staff will be solely for the fish. Which IMO isn't a bad thing.

Also, i have heard a memeber of staff refusing to sell a goldfish for a 30l tank.

 

[kaivalagi]

I always nip over to the fish when buying my dog food, and our P@H isn't that bad for fish. I have got chatting to one of the managers there, who is really interested in fish and has a few tanks himself, he was telling me that P@H is bringing in where a dedicated team of staff will be solely for the fish. Which IMO isn't a bad thing.

Also, i have heard a memeber of staff refusing to sell a goldfish for a 30l tank.

That's nice to hear, especially if it will affect all branches....it might be that P@H become one of the better LFS to visit anywhere soon then...stranger things have happened
Something positive has come from this thread after all, thanks for sharing

 

[ChilliPepper]

I won't buy fish from P@H again. The last fish I bought was a rescue Keyhole two years ago. He was a lucky guy. Unfortunately his pals I bought with him died almost straight away, obviously too far gone, but he is happy.

I find the selection of fish in there bizarre. You have your common guppies, goldies, mollies, tetras... Then Oscars and Bala Sharks who need big tanks, then some random African cichlids. The advice they give is generally not worth wasting their breath on. They often don't take any care when fishing the fish out of the tanks.

This isn't limited to P&H though, you get the same old rubbish in other LFS. It is your duty to research before spending your money, and to make sure you can offer the fish the best life and environment. These places are there to make money.

 

[ian]

i agree Chilli on the research part, READ THE LABELS, on the fish tanks, they don't actaully lie, if it says will grow to 30cm's, then guess what, it will grow to 30cms.

 

[y2blade]

my local Pets At Home are very good actually..sorry to disagree with half you lot

 

[StandbySetting]

Old thread, but to add to the above, too many people are quick to tar the same shop with the same brush, pets at home is a franchised company, so the quality of the store will vary.

 

[y2blade]

ah.....sorry about that, didn't realise it was an old thread

I found it doing a search for SwimBladder problems in fancy goldfish (for a friend of mine)

 

[talisker]

there are lots of stores that don't give great advice i don't know why people are always bashing pets at home, why don't people do there own research first and decide what's right for them.
i personally don't have a problem with them or with any other outlet, it's simple if i don't like the look of something i don't buy it or if i'm not sure i do my own research.

 

[Athena]

My local P@H store (nr Canterbury) has a very good, although small, aquatic section with breathtakingly pristine tanks and healthy fish (well, on the occasions I've been in there). Yes, I was quite impressed by that. Also I like the fact that they have scaped their tanks, to give potential buyers an idea of how attractive an aquarium can look, rather than the plain empty glass tanks overstocked with fish that you see in many pet shops. Whoever is responsible for the aquariums in that particular store is doing a great job IMO.

My only gripe is that many of the floor staff are very unhelpful in there and whenever you ask them a question they say "I don't know... ask at the checkout". I asked one young girl for some aquarium silicone sealant and she said "What's that?". But, never mind, you expect this sort of thing in a mixed-bag pet shop. It's not like they are all trained aquarists, so we shouldn't expect them to know much about the subject really.

I'm very grateful they are there, though, as they often have supplies that my LFS doesn't have in stock and are sometimes cheaper on various items.

Athena

 

[raptorrex]

i too have reviewed these P@H bashing threads. you know what? counting up the comments, they all show more satisfaction than dissatisfaction. thats not to say there are no genuine problems. just P@H are now worse, often better, than the rule of thumb advice and service given elsewhere.

 

[mattshez]

they're not making money through fish, i can assure you. They make there money on pet foods. You cannot bash because they are not all the same. There is some excellent P@H, there is some poor ones. There is some poor Maidenheads, there is some great ones. Shall we start a Maidenhead bashing thread?

as for the Gourami, neale monks (i think it was) wrote some good stuff about the poor quality and wards everyone away from the dwarf gourami. I wouldn't even buy from a breeder. The have some great wild ones at my local LFS at the min, they look totally different.

CORRECT! They make 0% profit on ALL their livestock, both fish and small animals. The money goes entirely onto the breeders

I should know.

 

[StandbySetting]

They must make some form of profit, otherwise they'd be losing money on selling livestock because of operating costs.

 

[mattshez]

They must make some form of profit, otherwise they'd be losing money on selling livestock because of operating costs.

the only operating costs to cover would be tank maintainence. Suppliers deliver the livestock and treated fish are usually sent back within on the next delivery and refunded through the supplier. Compared to teh overall money tehy will take in from food/treatments/tanks, its minimal.

Its like buying a hamster. Theycost £9-10 but the cage will cost £40

 

[Carlovel1]

Is this the 'lets give p@h sympathy, we are too harsh' thread?

But we do nag too much about p@h. Eventually, most comments on p@h threads end up exactly the same as previous threads (people moaning, people sticking up for p@h). My local p@h stores are...pretty terrible, therefore I don't go there, but don't make a big drama about it. Most people on the forum stay away from p@h anyway.

All p@h bashing threads should be deleted as soon as they are posted, but thats my opioion on this matter