Upset at Petsmart

[gto_cowgirl]

So about a month or so ago i started keeping guppies only after that i decided to keep guppies did i find out most of the stores around me only sell them in pairs. Well that would be great and all but guppies need more females than males and none of them seems to understand that.

So usually i'm trying to get them to sell me either 2 females or just 1 female while i'm trying to slowly add fish to the tank. I had it all set except for the fact that one of my females died the other day probably to stress with all this breeding stuff, totally new to it.

Anyway, I wanted to replace it. I go to the store to have the fish sales clerk only let me buy 2 so i figure well i can get another female in case anything should happen again. After i pick out 2 females he then only lets me buy one male and one female. Thats great but i dont want any more males in my tank. So i end up getting one of the females that i wanted and just letting the sales clerk pick out a male while plotting to return the male the next day. I don't have the heart to kill these fish out of the fault of these ignorant stores but with all the stress of moving back and forth and then back in store conditions, i will be surprised if the male survives. I refuse to keep the male and i have no other friends around me that keep fish at all.

I think thats silly that i have to do that! I was upset the whole trip home and everytime i looked at the male. I understand some logic that they do that because the females would never get sold but i wanted 2 females! I'm that close to just ordering some fish online where they don't come in pairs and better quality but higher price. So, i just wanted to rant.

 

[jams.alaskan]

Your problem can be solved very soon... Keep females from your first batch of fry and trade the boys in to the lfs.

ALASKA

 

[bunjiweb]

petsmart are rubbish, im guessing u mean british petsmart? They were useless when i was trying to get info about tropical plants, and they didnt want to speak to me at all, so i thought.... fudge it, bought the tank i wanted then got all the other stuff from a PROPER fish shop which is actually easier to get to!

Ben

 

[guppymonkey]

Depending on how many males you have to start off with you could try getting males that conform to the colors that you want. Its usually good to have a certain number of males and females to start a strain off with. If you have too few males or females the strain could become too inbred and deformities could start showing up.

Dunno how to solve your other problem. I tried getting two males for my gf's tank and they only sold pairs so I gave her the males and kept the females for myself.

 

[gto_cowgirl]

Yeah, i didn't think about keeping the fries from my other guppies but i don't have that many and i wanted a variety of colors in the tank. Plus i was so excited to get another female for a chance to get fry soon, haven't had that many spawns yet.

Plus, I'm not really keep these spawns for pets so i dont' have to worry about inbreding or anything.

Nah, I'm not in England but in the south of USA. I just don't see the big problem, sometimes they will let me buy 2 females sometimes not. It all depends on the person that gets the fish. One time i was able to get 1 fish but they got so upset because they had to do a little work and make the fish price half off. I like petsmarts prices on fish and aquariums supplies. Its usually pretty cheap and okay quality but I have this guppy problem every time i go to buy any more guppies.

Right now in my tank i got 3 males and 6 females which is an okay ratio but i really wanted it to be 1 Male/ 3 Females. Oh and don't get information about fish from pets stores, not the chains anyway. Gosh they are horrible, whenever i go to look at their fish and i hear them talking to other people, its amazing what they let people walk out of the store with.

 

[rollntider]

wow glad I havent seen that here usually the females sale for about 1.50 us and males for 2.50. some stores make you buy pairs but it doesnt matter as long as it is pairs. Yeah i heard a guy at one of the chains (not one I visit often) that the plecos get big and eat other fish. I also heard one guy not to mix goldfish with tropicals, and he wa going on to say that goldfish put off ammonia, and I was like ok , and the guy asked if other fish put off ammonia and he said only the gold fish I had to but in and set the guy straight and tell him that goldfish were cold water species and tropicals werent. I told him all fish give off ammonia, but natural bacteria controls it....what idiots.

 

[MAM]

i had a similar issue, i lost my only female to another fish and a move. left me with males (had mroe males, long story). so i went to petsmart, since they have a nice selection of guppies at this one location, and i asked to speak to a manager. i explained to him that i wanted only females due to the need to have more females than males. he was hesitant, but then when i made it clear that i would take my business elsewhere in the future, he agreed. it is a store policy but if you ask nicely, sometimes a deal can be made.........................

 

[leanne]

Keep females from your first batch of fry and trade the boys in to the lfs.

My experience is that LFS take anything except guppies! I got rid of all my guppies to a friend (bar one yellow male) because I couldn't handle having to leave all the fry in to get eaten.

 

[freak4mollyz]

LFS means local fish store ... right?

 

[Ben]

yeh.........wat i would do with the guppies is i would trade the males in at a proper fish shop that only sell fish, with some females.

 

[sumer_kay]

never had that problem, here you can buy one two or 17 no one cares (long as you don't run away with out paying hahah!) Try another pet store!

 

[Sharlene1385]

Well strange. The Petsmart here sells either pairs or male separate. I hope I don't run into that problem when I go to get some. I really don't want to breed, I just want some guppies. lol. They can breed when I get lucky and get a 55 gal.

I was at petsmart getting my very first fish a few years back, and we were going to get a goldfish and put in a critterkeeper. Just a small goldfish. This guy says you have to have a filter, a larger tank, a light, a heater, and the special foods plus suppliments. I laughed as we left. Mom had kept goldfish as a kid in a fish bowl that lived for years, and if the need all that special stuff how come petsmart sells goldfish bowls and pond supplies to put goldfish in? We got a beta in a 5 gal. instead. But later my friend gave me a feeder goldfish that lived on flake food and 1 light in that 5 gal. She grew fairly large and lived for quiet awhile. Guess I proved him wrong. And I didn't even know what I was doing with fish then, did't even know about nitrite and amnoia. lol I mean I was just a kid getting my first fish on a low budget. If they weren't the cheapest place in Boise to buy fish and the ones that keep fish the cleanest and healthiest, I wouldn't buy through them. I've love to order fish but my budget says no to that.

 

[J_acon]

YES, LFS means Local Fish Store

I never had problems getting females, in here i get them at a cheaper price than males and all sold individually but you get better price for buying a group of them . I keep 2 Females per Male

 

[Ben]

yeh.......in aus they let us chose......but sometimes they sell a deal with 2 females and a male for a few buks less then the usual price for 3

 

[Sharlene1385]

You're in Australia? Cool. Sorry, I'm a bit nuts about everything Aussie right now. I like Keith Urban so I always perk up when I hear that word. lol

I think Petsmart here says one price for pair, and one price for males only. I'm trying to get just males because I don't have room for breeding. Watch, I'll get guppies and name them all Keith or after his songs. lol