I was told by a friend not to buy my fish from Petsmart, K-mart, Walmart or any other retail chain store. Is there a reason for this? Pretty much all the fish in my aquarium are from petsmart and are healthy and happy as far as I can tell. Where should I buy my fish from?
Petsmart fish??
- Thread starter jennypoo
- Start date
There are any number of reasons why your friend could have told you that. The stock is extremely limited (sometimes boring), the conditions of the fish aren't always up to par (sickly, stunted, or worse), the cost may be too high for certain species compared to a private owner, etc. Heck, some people won't buy fish from any store that keeps betta's in little cups.
A lot of hardcore keepers tend to shun the chain stores simply because they feel they have transcended beyond that stores capabilities once they start acquiring oddballs and monsters. Strange mind-set, but everyone has their issues.
Most of the time people just don't like the uninformed employees of a chain store or the way they go about keeping their stock.
Some of these reasons are good, some are less than good, but it really depends on how you feel about your local Petsmart. There are three Petsmarts near me and only one of them has healthy and high-quality fish worth buying. The species offered simply do not interest me.
If you like what's there and the fish are healthy... keep on buying! Just make sure a local fish store doesn't have better fish for cheaper prices.
A lot of hardcore keepers tend to shun the chain stores simply because they feel they have transcended beyond that stores capabilities once they start acquiring oddballs and monsters. Strange mind-set, but everyone has their issues.
Most of the time people just don't like the uninformed employees of a chain store or the way they go about keeping their stock.
Some of these reasons are good, some are less than good, but it really depends on how you feel about your local Petsmart. There are three Petsmarts near me and only one of them has healthy and high-quality fish worth buying. The species offered simply do not interest me.
If you like what's there and the fish are healthy... keep on buying! Just make sure a local fish store doesn't have better fish for cheaper prices.
I wish we had a petmart 
maybe a bit of competition will ensure all the shops here make fishes cheaper.
maybe a bit of competition will ensure all the shops here make fishes cheaper.
doesnt matter its just the way fish r treated like betta which were mentioned ..however ive bought fish from walmart and there ok and ive bought fish from walmart that wernt.... sometimes u look in there tanks n they leave dead fish in there and most tanks have disease........ by the way u live in bethpage i used to live in levittown..
You'll find alot of people against buying fish from retail department stores and chain pet stores. For somebody new to the aquarium hobby I would agree with this and advise them to stick with a reputable specialty store. For a person with the experience to identify possible health problems with fish I would say buy from any place that has what you want at a good price. Not all retailers are the same and an experienced fish keeper can usually tell the good ones and bad ones apart.
I have bought a lot of my fish from Petco - Petsmart. Not from Walmart but that's just because the Walmarts around here don't really sell fish. The ONE that does, the tanks are gross.
Lucky for me the fish girls at both Petco and Petsmart, while not super awesome fish experts, seem to have some decent knowledge of the fish and those particular stores around here take decent care of their fish as well.
I suppose it's just what you are comfortable with and your own good judgment when it comes to picking your fish out.
Lucky for me the fish girls at both Petco and Petsmart, while not super awesome fish experts, seem to have some decent knowledge of the fish and those particular stores around here take decent care of their fish as well.
I suppose it's just what you are comfortable with and your own good judgment when it comes to picking your fish out.
I love going to local pet stores for fish. Most of the time these places hire people that have no knowledge of fish. So when you can feel these people out, you can get some great deals. My last great deal was an albino longfin bushynose pleco. There was a sticker on the tank marked $49.00. On the other side of the glass right next to the sticker was the longfin pleco. I asked the guy "do you have any more longfin plecos?" he said no, but we have regular bushynose's. I asked how much and he said $9.99. I said is that a bushynose? He came over and looked at it and said yes, I said bag it. So he did, when he rang me up I knew there were 2 people there that knew their stuff so I quickly bagged the fish out of sight, paid my $9.99 for a $49.99 fish and left. This happens all the time. When you ask how much a fish is and they know what it is, go back the next day and if that guy isnt there, ask someone else that may not know what it is and more than likely, you will get a deal. This was at Jacks Aquarium in Ohio. Then at the Jacks in KY, I got another $49.99 fish, an Ornate Bichir, CLEARLY marked with the price, I told them, hey I want a senegalis, I pointed at it, then asked how much and 3 tanks over I found the price $7.99, she said $7.99, I said bag it. There are deals out there if you can spot them. Another thing I do is scan all the tanks for unmarked fish, those are deal makers as well.
Here's a conversation I had with a friend about petsmart fish:
Her: I'm never buying fish from Petsmart again.
Me: Why not?
Her: Because they always die right away.
Me: Well how did you cycle your tank?
Her: Huh?
If they have the fish you want, and it looks healthy, it's just as good a place as anywhere to buy it.
Her: I'm never buying fish from Petsmart again.
Me: Why not?
Her: Because they always die right away.
Me: Well how did you cycle your tank?
Her: Huh?
If they have the fish you want, and it looks healthy, it's just as good a place as anywhere to buy it.
I got quite a few fish from petsmart and some of them were much better then what I find at lfs and sometimes they are not. Over all I have been pretty happy with fish I bought from them. There are a few stores that have an oddball everynow and then if your lucky and if they dont know what it is then you usually can get it cheap. It really just depends on the store and how that store keeps up with maintaining the fish/diseases. I think its more of a personal thing for people.