PETsMART...stay away!!

[fishfight]

OK, I went to petsmart yesterday because I wanted to buy a strange fish called a golden shark, unfortunately I settled on a cory catfish. The lady put him in a bag, tied him up and we were on our way. About halfway to our house the catfish tipped over and never came right side up again. We made the decision to take him back when he flipped completely over and stopped moving. I don't know much about corys, but I know this isn't right.

We took him back in, explained whats wrong, and the lady took him from us. She then proceeded to puch the bag until he landed right side up, then claimed he was fine, and basically we were nuts. She then...and this is the kicker...POURED THE HALF DEAD FISH BACK INTO THE TANK WITH THE HEALTHY ONES!! She scooped another one, and we were very sceptical at this point to put him in our tank. We watched him for a while, and finally decided to drop him in...he LOOKED healthy. The only problem was a few red spots around his belly, which I know now is a bacterial infection. He was vibrant, and found a spot on the bottom. He even swam to the top a few times when we fed them.

The next morning(today)I woke to find he was dead, and had to give him a little porcelin funeral. My question is, did he infect my tank, and what do I do?

 

[OoHeatheroO]

First of all, i'm sorry for your loss!! I would talk to the petsmart manager immediately about the sales associate who did this. And demand your money back.

Second, test your water parameters and do a water change on your tank, change your filters for a start.

Hopefully other people with more knowledge will reply to this post

 

[black angel]

Its always wise to quarantine new arrivals to stop anything like this from happening.
I would have taken that one back and got my money back. It is possible your fish could now get sick so its a good idea to watch them closely and do a few partail water changes to hopefully get rid of any bacteria.

 

[BettaMomma]

I'm sorry for your bad experience.
I would agree that you should call PetSmart and tell a manager what happened.
That's completely uncalled for.
I do have to say the PetSmarts around here are pretty darn good.
I point out sickies to them and they usually take them out and take them right back to the fish "hospital room" as they call it. And they seem to appreciate it when you tell them so other customers don't have to see it. That's how it SHOULD always be.

It's also always a good idea to quarantine your new fishies before you put them in the tank, too, even though we don't always do it.

I'd just keep an eye on your other fish and see how they're doing. If you notice anything odd get them on treatment.
What else do you have in there?

 

[joss81]

i have recently had a bad experience with petsmart too! i bought a beginners aquarium from them that incuded a heater and filter but no air pump. they simply said that an air pump is not a neccersary part of an aquarium. well, thanks to them my beautiful fire eel died as it had no air, and i had to make a mad dash to the fish shop i bought my fish from ( as i'd been recommended not to buy fish from there) to save the rest of my fish from dying. brilliant advice in there from teenagers who dont know what they are on about!!

 

[abstract]

the 2 petsmarts in my area are very good as well....

also, you do know that cories should be kept in groups of at least 3, right? generally speaking, single cories don't fair as well as a group of them

 

[plecoguy]

i have recently had a bad experience with petsmart too! i bought a beginners aquarium from them that incuded a heater and filter but no air pump. they simply said that an air pump is not a neccersary part of an aquarium. well, thanks to them my beautiful fire eel died as it had no air, and i had to make a mad dash to the fish shop i bought my fish from ( as i'd been recommended not to buy fish from there) to save the rest of my fish from dying. brilliant advice in there from teenagers who dont know what they are on about!!

technically air pumps arent neccassary if the filter is doing its job. air gets into the tank with surface movement...if the water at the top was moving..then there was oxygen exchange and your fish probably died from somthing else. not always the petstores fault either, i always do my research before i do anything so i know what is right when i go to buy somthing. its so easy to blame the petstore though..isnt it

 

[rdd1952]

Petsmarts here are also very good. As a matter of fact, my favorite fish store is a Petsmart. I'm in tere probably 3 times a week. They also have a 14 day guarantee so if a fish dies on you, take him back for a refund. What the first cory was suffering from sounds similar to a swim bladder problem, especially if he started swimming again when she poked at him. It may have been because he was sick or just from the stress and change to the bag.

 

[joss81]

i have recently had a bad experience with petsmart too! i bought a beginners aquarium from them that incuded a heater and filter but no air pump. they simply said that an air pump is not a neccersary part of an aquarium. well, thanks to them my beautiful fire eel died as it had no air, and i had to make a mad dash to the fish shop i bought my fish from ( as i'd been recommended not to buy fish from there) to save the rest of my fish from dying. brilliant advice in there from teenagers who dont know what they are on about!!

technically air pumps arent neccassary if the filter is doing its job. air gets into the tank with surface movement...if the water at the top was moving..then there was oxygen exchange and your fish probably died from somthing else. not always the petstores fault either, i always do my research before i do anything so i know what is right when i go to buy somthing. its so easy to blame the petstore though..isnt it

i know its harsh to blame the pet shop, but since i installed my air pump all my fish have been perfectly happy so that was the only thing i could pin point being wrong. i suppose i would have liked more thorough advice from them thats all!

 

[rdd1952]

i know its harsh to blame the pet shop, but since i installed my air pump all my fish have been perfectly happy so that was the only thing i could pin point being wrong. i suppose i would have liked more thorough advice from them thats all!

As for the airstone, the only time I use one is during cycling to make sure I have plenty of aeration to help the bacteria form. I do have one running on my betta tanks. Since I have the filters turned down as low as they will go, I seem to get a light film on the water surface. the air bubbles keeps it broken up. Other than that, the air doesn't serve any practical purpose. The bettas maybe would be happier without it in there.

 

[joss81]

i know its harsh to blame the pet shop, but since i installed my air pump all my fish have been perfectly happy so that was the only thing i could pin point being wrong. i suppose i would have liked more thorough advice from them thats all!

As for the airstone, the only time I use one is during cycling to make sure I have plenty of aeration to help the bacteria form. I do have one running on my betta tanks. Since I have the filters turned down as low as they will go, I seem to get a light film on the water surface. the air bubbles keeps it broken up. Other than that, the air doesn't serve any practical purpose. The bettas maybe would be happier without it in there.

i dont know then, very strange, maybe my filter is playing up but it seems to be ok. before the air pump, all my fish were at the top of the tank with their heads sticking out of the water, as if gasping for air?! since the air pump, they are all acting normally and never go to the top. anyway, i dont mind as long as they are all happy and living!!!!

 

[sylvia]

I actualy think the air pump would not have been the problem as a filter alone is fine in a correctly stocked tank - either you were over-stocked or the tank was still cycling.

As for how bad petsmart is... well I haven't been in one for years but you should deffinately talk to the manager about that incident and also do some more research before you buy a new fish in future.

 

[OrkyBetta]

Sorry to hear that, the petsmarts in my area are VERY well run, so maybe it was just a bad employee? Definitely test your water and do a partial change, but also, next time if this happens, don't flush the fish, because this could pollute water, if the fish had an illness.

Is there a warantee on fish at your petsmart? Like 24 hours, etc?

 

[FishHeads]

OK, I went to petsmart yesterday because I wanted to buy a strange fish called a golden shark, unfortunately I settled on a cory catfish. The lady put him in a bag, tied him up and we were on our way. About halfway to our house the catfish tipped over and never came right side up again. We made the decision to take him back when he flipped completely over and stopped moving. I don't know much about corys, but I know this isn't right.

We took him back in, explained whats wrong, and the lady took him from us. She then proceeded to puch the bag until he landed right side up, then claimed he was fine, and basically we were nuts. She then...and this is the kicker...POURED THE HALF DEAD FISH BACK INTO THE TANK WITH THE HEALTHY ONES!! She scooped another one, and we were very sceptical at this point to put him in our tank. We watched him for a while, and finally decided to drop him in...he LOOKED healthy. The only problem was a few red spots around his belly, which I know now is a bacterial infection. He was vibrant, and found a spot on the bottom. He even swam to the top a few times when we fed them.

The next morning(today)I woke to find he was dead, and had to give him a little porcelin funeral. My question is, did he infect my tank, and what do I do?

Wow, that's horrible. That makes me hate PetsMart, even though I worked in the specialty department. I was always carefull with the fish, and always grabbed healthy ones and removed sick ones to the sick tank. I was the only one that even took care of the sick tank...pathetic.

 

[FishHeads]

Sorry to hear that, the petsmarts in my area are VERY well run, so maybe it was just a bad employee? Definitely test your water and do a partial change, but also, next time if this happens, don't flush the fish, because this could pollute water, if the fish had an illness.

Is there a warantee on fish at your petsmart? Like 24 hours, etc?

Fish and small animal return policy is 2 weeks with reciept AND body. No body, no replacement, yet they are a bit more leniant (sp?) with presentation of body with no reciept...I used to exchange them because I was nice like that.