Meet Pete,my PetSmart rescue!

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
He didn't have fin rot -- being in a small bucket overnight with no biological filtration, he produced a bunch of ammonia and ended up with ammonia burn to his fins and probably gills. This happens sometimes when fish are shipped in dirty bag water too. The damaged part of the fins will fall off and grow back. As long as he's in clean water they will heal on their own and usually fairly quickly.

The cloudy eyes are also common when a fish has been in oxygen deprived or poor quality water, as in the bucket. These should clear up too in a few days.

Overall it looks like a really beautiful fish. It's a shame they were going to let it die. Most people hand over their fish thinking someone will give it a good home, but I guess that's not always the case. :(
 
Thanks for the information Ryan.
 
The woman explained to me that they were not allowed to put the Oscar in their tanks because it is not company inventory.

That is BS. The store near me has three 100 gallon long tanks on their own sump that they use for keeping plants that they sell. Anyone that want's to get rid of a fresh water fish can bring it in, and they'll house it until someone takes it home for free.

Some petco/smart's are better than others...
 
Uh hunh....she went on to say that they have a tank in the back for sick fish but her manager would notice the Oscar and wouldn't be happy if someone had placed it in there.
 
+1 honestly I'm surprised he/she made it through the night in the bucket. It may of only survived because the water was cool. slowed down the metabolism and cold water holds oxygen better then warm water. That's a lucky fish! Great pick up.

He didn't have fin rot -- being in a small bucket overnight with no biological filtration, he produced a bunch of ammonia and ended up with ammonia burn to his fins and probably gills. This happens sometimes when fish are shipped in dirty bag water too. The damaged part of the fins will fall off and grow back. As long as he's in clean water they will heal on their own and usually fairly quickly.

The cloudy eyes are also common when a fish has been in oxygen deprived or poor quality water, as in the bucket. These should clear up too in a few days.

Overall it looks like a really beautiful fish. It's a shame they were going to let it die. Most people hand over their fish thinking someone will give it a good home, but I guess that's not always the case. :(
 
krich, you never answered me how big he is. I can't calculate by buckets & your other big fancy fish, since I don't have any.
 
krich, you never answered me how big he is. I can't calculate by buckets & your other big fancy fish, since I don't have any.
Lol,well excuse me all over the place!..I usually lay my ruler on any new fish but I didn't with this one.I've got it eyeballed at around eight or nine inches in length.Good call Strollo.
 
Here's an update...looks like old PetSmart Pete still doesn't have much of an appetite or he must have been fed live gods by his previous owners.The peacock bass that are in the tank with him only get pellets and FD krill and when I feed them the Oscar will take in a few pellets but wil spit them out seconds later,without even chewing them.
 
MonsterFishKeepers.com