walmart

[dwarf-puffers]

i hate walmart i ve seen dead fish roting in te tanks for days i went there everyday 4 a week to see if they would take out the dead fish and they didnt . i complained to the manenger and he just said he dint notice if you have any stories please rite in!

 

[rdd1952]

There is another thread that I started today about our favorite fish store Walmart (NOT). It is still active on the first page of posts. They are terrible. I sent an email to them today from their website and I will not be buying anything from them again. I'm not talking about not buying fish from them. I talking not setting foot in their store.

 

[dwarf-puffers]

all there stuff is factory reject (stuff that wasnt good enough for the other stores) i hate that place i bought a couple neons from there a long time ago and they didnt last the night

 

[OneCuteShasta]

Hi! I think it all depends on each individual Walmart. There's a Walmart about 20 miles away from my house, that is GREAT with their fish and tanks. Then there's another Walmart that's only about 5 miles away, that is absolutely horrible! Dead fish in the tanks for weeks, the fish are always sick, and they have NO knowledge about the fish they sell.

all there stuff is factory reject (stuff that wasnt good enough for the other stores

As for all their stuff being factory rejects, unless your store is different than most of them, all their merchandise is new and not rejects. I used to work there.

 

[dwarf-puffers]

ya maybe but i have bout jeens from there and the insides we stained i dont no how i didnt notice it there hey

 

[Discomafia]

Exactly. Depends on where you stay I guess, how can you generalise like that. The Walmart nearest to me is alright, and I have bought a few fish from them. Plus, supplies like Melafix and algae tabs and stuff are WAY cheaper than at the lfs around here... Their stuff isn't factory rejects; the tank and filter I bought from them were made by Marineland.

I must admit, the staff they hire there aren't very informed about the fish-keeping hobby, but the tanks are clean and not TOO overstocked. Dead fish, maybe, one or two, but I haven't been to an lfs where I haven't seen at least 1 dead fish in their tanks.

They get a lot of bettas, and sure, they keep them in small cups, and the water DOES get dirty but they manage because they sell a lot of fish quickly.

In summary, if your Walmart isn't good, just boycott them (if you can afford to)

 

[dwarf-puffers]

THE OTHER THING ABOUT WALMART IS THEY DONT HAVE A GOOD SULECTION OF FISH BUT I GUESS THAT MAKES SENCE CUASE IT ISNT A PET SRY SRY BOUT THE CABS LOCK IM TO LAZY TO REWRITE THIS ILL TURN IT OFF AFTER SRY

 

[LoachLover]

Wal*mart should not be able to keep and sell fish. One time they had, I believe pictus catfish and they where using a net (Big no no in the first place) and their "whiskers" got caught in the net and they used scissors to cut their whiskers to get them out of the net.

 

[rdd1952]

From what I have found, their abuse of live fish (and I use that term loosely) is pretty wide spread. It would appear that the good stores are definitely the exception. The 2 that I can go to are both deplorable.

The one I went in yesterday had fish skeletons in the tanks where the fish had died and been completely eaten. There were plenty of other dead fish in various forms of being eaten and fish meat all over the tanks. They also do not use gravel (just bare bottom tanks) as I am sure that is too hard to try to clean. A lot of the fish had major swim bladder problems as they were floating tail up and when they did try to swim, the had no control, crashing into the walls and other fish before floating back to the top.

I "rescued" 2 bettas that were in 16 oz cups (a lot bigger than what you normally see) with about 5 oz of water, about 1". Their water could not have been changed in at least 2 weeks as there was an enormous amount of waste in the water, creating a cloud when you moved the cups. I had to go to another LFS and buy a 2.5 mini bow for one of them (sure wasn't going to buy it from Walmart) as I only had one empty tank at home. I seeded that tank with a filter and plants from my established tanks. I'm sure I will have a little battle with water parameters while it cycles but he's still got to be better off.

I found a sales person and asked where the manager was. She said he had already left. I mentioned the tanks and she said they had showed her how to net and bag fish but not how to clean the tanks. She said the manager fed them once a week but she didn't know how often he cleaned the tanks. I'm pretty sure I know....NEVER.

I found the 2 links below that would lend more credence to the widespread abuse Walmart is responsible for. Sorry this is so long but I get so worked up when I think about those poor fish.

http/www.petitiononline.com/khaki/petition.html

http/www.petlibrary.com/goldfish/walmart.htm

 

[OneCuteShasta]

Hello! If you find something that really bothers you at a Walmart store, don't yell at the workers. They're USUALLY doing the best they can with minimal staff. The best thing to do is go to Customer Service and ask for a comments sheet to send to the head of Walmart. They have to give you one (although they might try to deter you from it). Fill it out and mail it in. If they're getting lots of complaints all about the same thing, they'll fix it. They'd rather fix the problem than loose you business.

I'm lucky I guess. The 'good' Walmart near me, has about 3 people that work in the fish department... who actually know about fish. Their tanks have gravel, decorations, and plants. I've seen them medicating the hospital tanks (they separate the sick fish). As said previously, there may be 1 or 2 dead fish, but you'll see that in any petshop. If I see a fish I want at this store, I don't hesitate the slightest because I know these fish are taken care of (as best as possible in a store). The problem with most Walmart fish departments, is they have a tank maintainance company come in to do the water changes and water testing. And apparently, the company doesn't know anything about fish either!

If there's a certain fish you want, that's not extremely hard to get, ask if they can order it. The one worker at 'good' Walmart said they'd like to get different fish in, but they don't know what the customers want. That's why they stick to the everyday common livebearers, goldfish, and 'mixed' African cichlids (nothing against any of those).

 

[Mariah]

Where I live the people at Walmart didnt seem to know alot about the fish there were selling....

 

[redtailblackshark]

I just cannot believe that they rarely take out dead fish, got lazy of cleaning their tanks and took out the gravel.

 

[rdd1952]

The bad stores can't be selling many fish. No one other than a complete beginner would buy a fish from a tank like that. I can't believe a beginner would even buy them. You would think seeing dead fish being eaten by other fish and decomposing fish bodies would totally turn them against the hobby.

 

[BettaMomma]

PEOPLE - go sign those petitions.
They've not had enough people sign to make a difference.
Let's get our butts over there to sign!!
Here's the links again:

http/www.petitiononline.com/khaki/petition.html

http/www.petlibrary.com/goldfish/walmart.htm

AND...
I know the people who work at WalMart aren't ALWAYS at fault, but the (poor unfortunate) guy who was standing next to me the day I discovered the bloated, near death betta on Sunday was a complete jackass. He was standing there flirting with a girl in the fish aisle - I picked up the betta and he said "We have more bettas up there on the endcap." When I told him the betta was going to die - I showed it to him and he said "Maybe it's pregnant" and he laughed. I said "Um no - it's a male." and then he looked at the girl and started joking with her about having overfed him, then the two laughed and walked away.

And I do make a ruckus at the stores - I don't care if it gets to the point where I have my photo printed up in the back room to warn employees about me. Someone has to be their voice.

I have a betta that's darting around his little tank crashing his face into the glass, rocks, plants, anything that's in his way, because of WalMart. The poor thing probably has suffered brain damage now from all the smashing and bashing he's been doing since I rescued him. He's not even really coherent. Now, maybe he didn't get to that point AFTER he got to the store, maybe it was on the way to the store, or maybe it was at the breeder's place, who knows - WHO CARES? He's in this condition because of someone's greed and neglect. The ppl at the walmart where I got him from didn't even notice that he had turned grey, his to dorsal was half gone and he didn't move from the bottom of the cup. Good thing I came along for him, I guess.

I've even thought about getting a job at WM in the fish department - just to educate the other workers there but I'm sure I'd end up going ballistic and stealing all the fish and moving to Canada.

 

[laboul]

There are a lot of beginners out there. Sometimes people are utterly clueless about how a healthy fish is supposed to look or act. I certainly was when I started. I know it sounds crazy, but it's true.