Pets at home

[fishywishy]

might as well share my bit with pets at home... last year i went in there to buy more goldfish, about 5 of them.. got them home fine but in about 2 weeks they all died!"!! i already had some other goldfish in the tank and none of them died.. just the ones from pets at home, so i never went back there again.

 

[Cheese Specialist]

might as well share my bit with pets at home... last year i went in there to buy more goldfish, about 5 of them.. got them home fine but in about 2 weeks they all died!"!! i already had some other goldfish in the tank and none of them died.. just the ones from pets at home, so i never went back there again.

You must have had a pretty big tank to fit 5 more goldfish in it.

rorrism, I have to agree with Helium_Junkie. I do not really agree with fish cycling. It should be done with amonia whereever possible to not cause unnecessary strain or harm to the fish. Most people lost fish during the cycling process, using a fishless cycle eliminates putting the fish at risk of poisoning. Sure, there are some fish that are more 'hardy' than others and are less likely to die but just because they do not die, this does not mean that they are unaffected.

Sorry, but I think you were given good advice.

 

[Helium_Junkie]

forcing fish to share a tank with incompatible, or worse still, dead and decaying fish?

What on earth do you mean? Fishless cycling involves using Ammonia to kickstart the growth of bacteria in the filter. This is simulating the waste a fish makes, but without forcing the fish to swim in its own toxic filth for the 6-8 weeks that fish cycling takes.
Fishless cycling, a scientific method, is faster, and allows a greater capacity of biological filtering directly after the cycling period.

There are no dead or decaying fish used, no fish at all during fishless cycling, I really don't get where you are coming from with this remark!

 

[rorrism]

"forcing fish to share a tank with incompatible, or worse still, dead and decaying fish? " was in reference to the state of the tanks at P@H, sorry if this wasn't clear

 

[Helium_Junkie]

"forcing fish to share a tank with incompatible, or worse still, dead and decaying fish? " was in reference to the state of the tanks at P@H, sorry if this wasn't clear

No i am absolutely against this! But fishless cycling is the preferred method of anyone who knows of it really! You should look into it, it is faster and easier, and safer by far for fish. Whoever gave you that advice was a good person!

 

[rorrism]

amonia was never mentioned though, it was just a case of feeding an empty tank full of chemicals. is this as efficient?

 

[Helium_Junkie]

amonia was never mentioned though, it was just a case of feeding an empty tank full of chemicals. is this as efficient?

Well, "cycling products" can sometimes be beneficial...... but what you actualy need is pure ammonia, or ammonia/water product. If it doesnt froth when you shake it, then its what you want.

 

[nutter]

OMG i was in Pets At Home yesterday and i saw 5 fish ( i have no clue on what they were) eating a male guppy and the worst part is the guppy was still alive, he was fighting for his life untill they cornerd him and ripped him apart infront of me i went straight up to the till and gave a frightend looking teenage the lecture of his life, then went to the manager and told him i was going to file a complaint (and i did) and then get this right he told me the guppy was what 'all fish keppers' use as food!!!!!!!!! WTF!!! u should of seen him by the time i left lol

 

[SimonA]

OMG i was in Pets At Home yesterday and i saw 5 fish ( i have no clue on what they were) eating a male guppy and the worst part is the guppy was still alive, he was fighting for his life untill they cornerd him and ripped him apart infront of me i went straight up to the till and gave a frightend looking teenage the lecture of his life, then went to the manager and told him i was going to file a complaint (and i did) and then get this right he told me the guppy was what 'all fish keppers' use as food!!!!!!!!! WTF!!! u should of seen him by the time i left lol

Looks Like He Is breaking the law seen as it is illegal to feed fish feeder fish in the uk(If my memory serves me rightly.)

 

[Gill]

OMG i was in Pets At Home yesterday and i saw 5 fish ( i have no clue on what they were) eating a male guppy and the worst part is the guppy was still alive, he was fighting for his life untill they cornerd him and ripped him apart infront of me i went straight up to the till and gave a frightend looking teenage the lecture of his life, then went to the manager and told him i was going to file a complaint (and i did) and then get this right he told me the guppy was what 'all fish keppers' use as food!!!!!!!!! WTF!!! u should of seen him by the time i left lol

Looks Like He Is breaking the law seen as it is illegal to feed fish feeder fish in the uk(If my memory serves me rightly.)

Actually I am sure it is Illegal to sell Feeder Fish.

 

[bigfish]

Well i will add my little comment about Pets At Home, I have noticed healthy looking fish and diseased fish (coldwater seems to be affected more than tropical usually with ICH)

The staff at my Store CARDIFF are excellent in my opinion and i would love to work there given the opportunity, such a regular customer that i get smiles when i come into the store each week usually. Their advice is spot on when i need it.

They were soooo helpful when my Bio life filter packed up in my Hagen tank, they went out of their way to remove the old filter and even wire in my brand new one and gave me a discount too!!!! all in one weekend, not many pet stores would do that.

I'm not trying to say that they are the best as each and every store is different has different staff, and yes some are muppets but thats properly because they don't offer any training.

I did have a problem with another Pets at Home store concerning a fish tank stand, rang em before i left and said they had plenty in stock and then when i arrived i was told there wasn't any, i said wot about that one (pointing at display stand) oh no you can't have that 1!!! i said why not it would save me from assemblying it myself. (being cheeky) still said no and was very rude with me too, so i asked to see the manager. spoke to the manager and hey presto i walked out of the store with my stand.

Still wrote a complaint to the head of the chain up in Manchester tho!!! for the way i was spoke to in the store by that guy concerned and i had a letter of appology.

Sorry for ranting!!!

 

[plecoperson]

I work in Pets at Home part time and I always do my best to ensure dead fish checks are done every two hours, if not every hour (it is extremely difficult to make sure every check is done on time) as well as livestock checks every two hours and we keep checks on all new deliveries. in addition to this, fish deliveries are off sale for 24 hours after arrival and we make a point of isolating or euthanizing sick fish.

perhaps we are the exception. as i said, it isnt easy for every check to get done on time, and there are frequently long queues on the fish section becuase there never seems to be enough staff - no matter how hard you try, you cant please everyone. its also not as easy as you think to do your job competently when half the other staff dont seem to care what theyre telling the customers. i know PaH isnt the perfect company and not enough time goes into training staff on the finer points of fish care.

i care about the fish so I obviously took the time to learn more about the fish.

a customer came back with dead fish becuase a colleague failed to ask the necessary questions, and sold her a 3ft tank with about 30 fish over 3 days. the customer hadnt done her research, but then the customer came to us for the right info. i refunded her fish (plus extra) and tested her water for free. when I spoke to the manager he registered his amazement becuase her thought this employee knew a lot about fish. I can assure you, he doesnt.
but not all PaH are bad. he is the only "bad" employee there but PaH dont generally make it their rule to train staff diligently on things like sexing fish, as we dont guarantee it anyway.

perhaps if you have bought fish from PaH its not entirely their fault as all my fish came from there and i have had very few losses over 8 months.

 

[bigfish]

do u require qualifications to work in P@H?

 

[fishlover900]

i don't buy from pets at home because i find them a bit expernsive and they don't do much of a range. I frefere to go to the GIANT PETSTORE in norwich near the airport

 

[KentBlokey]

There's one near me and i haven't been there for yonks but it was awfull then.

Also a Wyvale Garden centre near me is appauling, people buying fish from tanks littered with dead ones.