Walmart

[shimanocono]

Well I went to Walmart 2 weeks ago, I took a quick look at the fish and guess what I noticed. BETTAS! I'm pretty sure my Walmart never carried them before but they do now. There advertising them with those cat in the hat bowls. I wonder if they'll take care of these fish, the little cups didn't seem to dirty but I think they were knew. I seen one I wanted to get but don't have the money or room so I put him at the front as he was in the back and hopefully someone will take him home to something better then a cup.

 

[Phantom Thief]

Good thinking!

I would never have thought of that. But then, the 1st betta whos now 2nd will be mad at you! I, too, saw a nice betta today. All different colours so unique. I really love bettas!

P.T.

 

[Tempestuousfury]

They've had bettas at the walmarts here for years. I wouldn't recommend buying them from walmart b/c they will be sick. I've never seen a truly healthy fish at walmart. Petsmart has Bettas (male) for $3, on sale. They don't have female bettas (I haven't asked, though) but walmart does.

 

[Auratus]

I don't know what people have against Wal-mart. I bought my female betta their two days ago. I found my tri-colored crowntail there, my dark blue almost melano betta there. I also buy all of my otos from there (11) and I didn't loose one. I bought my glowlights and some neons, white clouds, my auratus cichlids and they are just the best fish ever. I also like the prices and quality of the food and decor they sell there. And my walmart has bettas in big cups!!! None of the fish have had ich in a year, ever since they had this new guy working there. He always asks me about the fish when I go in, lol. Everything is cool at my wal-mart!

 

[Inchworm]

... None of the fish have had ich in a year, ever since they had this new guy working there. He always asks me about the fish when I go in, lol. Everything is cool at my wal-mart!

Hi Auratus

You are fortunate to have someone who seems to know something and care about the fish at your Walmart!!!

I guess it's true that every rule has some exception! I know I'd never buy fish from my Walmart. Well........maybe if they had some of those pretty bettas I might give them a try.

 

[Tempestuousfury]

I don't like the walmarts around here b/c their tanks are infested w/ parasites and diseases. The bettas they had literally looked like they were dying! I wanted to get a job their as an associate for fish, and despite my lack of experience in employment, I would probably do a better job than the people who work their.

Oh, and I ended up buying 17 fish from there for a 5 gallon tank. That tells you a lot about my stupidity when I began caring for fish and the stupidity of the associate that worked there.

 

[Sea_Monster87]

when I started my tank I got fish from wal-mart because I wanted to "rescue" them. It worked. I had the male guppy for 8 months and the algae eater for 1 1/2 years!!! I was totally amazed because I thought they'd only live for about two days. I guess I was wrong...very wrong.

 

[Tempestuousfury]

Good for you. You never know, some fish have amazing immunities.

Take my story about the 17 fish in the 5 gallon as an example. Three of those fish survived (the iridescent shark and two goldfish) and they were very healthy.

Oh yeah, and something that I don't like about any store is that they sell fish like iridescent sharks to people, despite the fact that they get to well over 4 feet in length!

 

[lizard]

They've had bettas at the walmarts here for years. I wouldn't recommend buying them from walmart b/c they will be sick. I've never seen a truly healthy fish at walmart. Petsmart has Bettas (male) for $3, on sale. They don't have female bettas (I haven't asked, though) but walmart does.

All four of my Bettas have come from Wal-Mart. They're all healthy. I won't buy any other fish at Wal-Mart though, as their conditions are horrible. My latest Betta has a huge bubble nest right now

Pamela
aka Lizard

 

[wuvmybetta]

The bettas they had literally looked like they were dying!

All the more reason to give them a good home IMO. With the exception of maybe 5 , all of mine came from Wal-mart as rescues. ALL of them have lived no matter how sickly they were when I bought them. It's amazing what some clean water, a home to call your own, some good food & love can do for a down & out betta.

Don't get me wrong I too would NEVER buy a fish out of their aquariums, not even for a feeder. But bettas are a totally different story. They're not carrying the diseases of a million different fish, nor are they going home and going in your community tank (if you keep them alone as I do).

It breaks my heart to see filthy bettas at places like Wal-mart. I've been harassing my lwm on a weekly basis for months. Every time I'm in there buying something I swing by the bettas to make sure they're being taken care of (I usually buy the worst of the bunch )
If the water isn't clean or if I see dead bettas I have someone call management back there and I ask why they're this way etc,etc.

You'd be surprised at how much they've improved, it works, try it, go on and on about how cruel it is and how unappealing it is to you as a buyer, and if they can't care for them why do they carry them,blah,blah,blah.


But for now....ya can't knock the fish because of where he ended up, he didn't request to be a Walmart prisoner

 

[Tempestuousfury]

By no means am I knocking the fish... just the caretakers.

Too bad volunteering at Walmart wouldn't be possible. If people really want to save bettas, they could easily set up a small betta hex for under $15, and once it's healthy, they could sell them or swap them w/ people here. There is some merit to this, IMO, but there are also problems (i.e. Walmart makes $ and doesn't make he homes better for them)

But you're right. Some bettas do look healthy at Walmart, but the last batch I saw made me really sad b/c I couldn't help them and I knew some would go to families that wouldn't be able to treat their ailments.

 

[jazzx101]

I'm one of the few people here (Apparantly) who doesn't see Walmart fish as being so horribly bad. Maybe it's just the store I go to, but the fish are in pretty decent shape. I wouldn't attempt to buy any sort of fish that's known for being fragile from Walmart, but the first fish I bought since I was a kid came from there. 3 Zebra Danios, all still perfectly happy and healthy.

But, I forgot to mention, I have seldom ever seen Bettas there. When I have, they have been basically about the same as a Betta you'd get from Petsmart or Petco. Not in great shape, but not destined to definately die as well.

 

[fuman_chica]

I have gotten all of my adult fish, except for one, from Wal-Mart. When I got my first tank, which was 1 gallon vase, I bought 3 fish from Wal-Mart. The first night I had them, they all tried to commit suicide...they all three jumped out of the vase. I found all of them before anyone died, and put them back in the water with a lid over it so they couldn't jump out. Later that night one of them died. The next day I went back to Wal-Mart bought three more fish, and a 1.66 gallon tank, with lid.
With in a few days, all of the five had ich. They started dying off from there. Soon, I only had one of them left. I kept her by herself for quite a while before I decided to get a frog for her. I got the frog from Wal-Mart. They were together in the 1.66 gallon for a little while before I decided to get a ten gallon tank.

After I went to get the tank, I got two more frogs and two more fish, from Wal-Mart, about two weeks later. I had the survivor fish and the three frogs in the ten gallon. The two new fish went in the 1.66 gallon for quarantine. After a week they went in the 10 gallon.

Since then, the three frogs died, but the fish are all okay. The survivor fish seems to be the happiest and healthiest of them all.

In the fish story, there was about 10 other fish I didn't mention because they all died of ich within a few weeks of having them.


I also got one betta from there. He is doing good...but he has an attitude.



there have been a few times when I went into Wal-Mart and found almost ever tank infested with ich. there have also been a few times when I went in that I found one or more dead fish, in the same tank, more than half eaten by the other fish because the worker at Wal-Mart didn't take them out as soon as he noticed them. I know that because someone was buying fish out of that tank that I saw the dead fish in.

 

[Sondan]

Well I recently bought 5 guppies from WallyWorld and I kept them in their own tank for isolation. Almost immediately I had an Ich outbreak in the tank. I lost one of the males even after I started treating the tank. The guy who came to help me didn't even work in the department. He asked me what I wanted and then he asked me what the difference was between a male and female guppy. I ALWAYS tell people to NOT buy Wal-Mart fish unless they have a compeletely seperate tank to put them in a for a month or two for isolation purposes.
Signed,
Sondan

 

[chaotica2010]

Wow this is always a hot topic. I had a pair of Blue gouramis wipe out half my 55 gallon tank with ich and fungus befroe I got it under control. There are 2 Wal Marts near me and the conditions of their tanks ranges from barely satisfactory to abismal. I do have 3 female bettas from Wal Mart and have bred one. I got lucky with those 3. I was recently in the store and they have upgraded from smaller cups to larger ones to display the bettas, at first I thought good for them until I stopped by a week later on shopping trip and most of the cups were just filthy some of the water was so bad you could barely see through it. The bettas were in obvious distress.

The problem is that Wal Mart is a retail store first and fore most that happens to carry fish (thank god they don't carry puppies and the like) and the employees they hire are based on retail experience not a particular specialty. Those of you that have had any positive experience at Wal Mart is because they got lucky and hired someone with a modicum of fish knowledge.

It is tough but I think that when we see fish in such distress at Wal Mart and buy them we are simply perpetuating the problem. The best bet is to find the manager and show him/her and keep doing it until they get sick of your complaining and do something about it. I would rescue fish from Wal Mart but only if they were offered for free. I am not putting more money into there pet program that they can't run.