One of many new projects

[MrsE88]

A petsmart opened up near me, finally! Now I don’t have to drive an hour or longer for supplies. Yay!

It has also lead me to jump into some unexpected projects. Not planned, but I’m a spontaneous person.
Seems I’m not the only one either. The store turns over stocking almost weekly. Anyway.....

Walking along the fish wall I see a tank labeled “Jack Dempsey” In it are four jacks and another fish. Not a jack.

I can tell right away it’s a flowerhorn. The staff doesn’t know any better either.

I joke with my husband that someone will buy it and be surprised and possibly disappointed later.
Well, I keep going back to him. Watching him, playing with him through the glass.... my husband asks why we don’t just get him. I say idk, and try to move on.
But then I was right back again. lol
So I tell the fish girl I want the one with the red eyes. She bags him and gives it to my son and says “here’s your Jack Dempsey”
So now I have Henry.


He’s not quite 2” yet.
Looks wise he isn’t an impressive fish. No hump yet, if he gets one. Flower line is weak and dull. And he is over all an olive brownish color in his body. Not much red. Fins have been nipped by the jacks and are slowly growing back. I just got done treating him for a very mild case of ich. I haven’t had to do that for a fish in a long time.
But I like his spunk.
It will be fun to watch him grow and see how he turns out.

 

[tlindsey]

I like those spangles on Henry.

 

[Rob909]

Great catch! If you had any problems justifying it to yourself, just think you saved someone from getting a mislabeled fish!

I came up on my first shark like that. It was a baby banded cat shark and was labeled incorrectly so I ended up paying a lot less!

 

[Rob909]

I’ve found that petsmart fish have ich more often than not. I used to call them on it and sometimes I’d return and all the tanks would be blue with meds but I don’t think they ever ran a full dose because the ich was back the next time I returned. A manager over there told me the fish were coming from the supplier with it.
Obviously they don’t have a quarantine system and their entire system is connected so if a couple fish have it, the entire system is prone to it.

 

[Gourami Swami]

A manager over there told me the fish were coming from the supplier with it.
Obviously they don’t have a quarantine system and their entire system is connected so if a couple fish have it, the entire system is prone to it.

Bingo. I work at Petco right now; every week fish come in with ich. The tanks are connected on 4 systems of a few hundred gallons each, so if any fish have it in the system, technically they are all exposed. We do set up quarantine tanks and treat the fish with temperature and sometimes saltwater dips, which is pretty effective. We also won't sell fish out of the system for a week or so and will do double the water changes. But without fail, the next week more fish come in with ich and it all starts over again.

Nice flowerhorn Mrs. E. I raised a petsmart flowerhorn years back; stayed olive green, definitely not a showy showerhorn, but had a personality as good as any. Nice that you will give it a good home

 

[Rob909]

Bingo. I work at Petco right now; every week fish come in with ich. The tanks are connected on 4 systems of a few hundred gallons each, so if any fish have it in the system, technically they are all exposed. We do set up quarantine tanks and treat the fish with temperature and sometimes saltwater dips, which is pretty effective. We also won't sell fish out of the system for a week or so and will do double the water changes. But without fail, the next week more fish come in with ich and it all starts over again.

Nice flowerhorn Mrs. E. I raised a petsmart flowerhorn years back; stayed olive green, definitely not a showy showerhorn, but had a personality as good as any. Nice that you will give it a good home

I’ve found that petco is better at that! They’ll treat the system and put a sign up about the fish not being ready! Petsmart has their entire system on one loop and will sell fish even when the water is completely blue with meds!

 

[Gourami Swami]

I’ve found that petco is better at that! They’ll treat the system and put a sign up about the fish not being ready! Petsmart has their entire system on one loop and will sell fish even when the water is completely blue with meds!

There are still problems with Petco's system, but it's not too bad. Definitely better than what your describing for petsmart.

My biggest problem with Petco's policies is for marine ich- they don't allow us to treat the whole system, only remove fish into quarantine and treat with hyposalinity; so the parasite lives in the main system and pops it's head back up pretty often.

 

[HybridFinatic]

Can’t wait to see his/hers growth. That flowerhorn seems to have a lot more potential than a lot of the fh I see at chains.

 

[MrsE88]

tlindsey Thank you, I do too!

Rob909 Thanks! Haha, that’s what I was telling myself. At least I know what I’m getting into. Someone else might make the mistake of putting it into a community tank and end up with a lot of dead fish>_<
Right now he’s in a tank with a male and female gt. They are both 2” maybe a tad bigger. Yet Henry has claimed the tank. No problems holding his own. The terrors will be short lived roomies.

So far I’ve gotten lucky with this new store. He is the first fish that’s had parasites, but I did lose one African the day I brought it home. I feel it was my fault. I didn’t watch the girl when she caught it and I think she took the easy sick one that was laying on the bottom of the tank. Grrr

I was highly disappointed yesterday with the store. They finally got a Mississippi map turtle in that we’ve been waiting for. BUT.... I’m nearly positive it has fungus
I do have meds on hand to treat it, but I don’t want to spend $40 on a sick turtle that now I have to set up yet another tank for. Ugh. So disappointing.

Gourami Swami Thank you. I won’t mind if he stays green. The personality is reminding me of my Oliver boy. Dominate and fearless. It’s so amusing when a fish under 2” will charge the glass and stare you down. Haha!

HybridFinatic Me too! Looking at the vent it looks male to me. I haven’t gotten a clear picture of it, but I’m about 80% positive it’s a male.
Not sure about his potential at being a good looking flowerhorn, but if I can just get a hump to form I’ll be stoked!
To think I used to think any fish with a humpy head looked weird and misshapen. Now I’ve grown pretty fond of it! Lol

 

[Mitchell The Monster]

A petsmart opened up near me, finally! Now I don’t have to drive an hour or longer for supplies. Yay!

It has also lead me to jump into some unexpected projects. Not planned, but I’m a spontaneous person.
Seems I’m not the only one either. The store turns over stocking almost weekly. Anyway.....

Walking along the fish wall I see a tank labeled “Jack Dempsey” In it are four jacks and another fish. Not a jack.

I can tell right away it’s a flowerhorn. The staff doesn’t know any better either.

I joke with my husband that someone will buy it and be surprised and possibly disappointed later.
Well, I keep going back to him. Watching him, playing with him through the glass.... my husband asks why we don’t just get him. I say idk, and try to move on.
But then I was right back again. lol
So I tell the fish girl I want the one with the red eyes. She bags him and gives it to my son and says “here’s your Jack Dempsey”
So now I have Henry.
View attachment 1347025
View attachment 1347024
He’s not quite 2” yet.
Looks wise he isn’t an impressive fish. No hump yet, if he gets one. Flower line is weak and dull. And he is over all an olive brownish color in his body. Not much red. Fins have been nipped by the jacks and are slowly growing back. I just got done treating him for a very mild case of ich. I haven’t had to do that for a fish in a long time.
But I like his spunk.
It will be fun to watch him grow and see how he turns out.

The amlost exact same story happened yo be but he was labled as a firemouth. Very interactive but died to a heater malfunction a month or so after purchase.