The is why I hate local big corporation pet marts.
- Thread starter attackfish21
- Start date
I went into my local pet mart today and the fish looked EXACTLY like that. Usually their fish don't look too bad, the employees are always cleaning maintaining the tanks and seem semi knowledgeable. I bought a Jack Dempsey today that was a little beat up, hope I can save him. 
LFS and chain stores have fish like that depending on where you go....Some people just don't buy the fish and automatic fish shipments create such terriblly crouded conditions
attackfish21;3864419; said:
care to explain what professional experience means?
Sorry, I have no idea why people rip on chains all the time. The people they hire are paid $8/hour. You expect someone to take care of a hundred tanks while getting paid $8/hour.
If you want quality fish, buy from the vendors on this site. The chain stores serve a purpose...for the 10 year old child, new to the hobby...so they can go in, buy a small tank, and a few community fish and be happy for a month.
You can find fish like this anywhere. I can go to my local fish store selling far more expensive fish, and find them in the same condition. I stopped buying fish locally because of this. Every shop I went to had a black discus in the tank, or an oscar with HITH so bad you can barely make out what it is.
One of my LFS had black aros $200 each that looked worse than that, it happens at almost every store from time to time
SpeshulEd;3866174; said:
Yes, I understand that they are only paid minimum wage, but that should not make it ok for the fish to be neglected.
What I mean by professional experience is that when hired, the employers only care if the kids have worked for retail before in other situations. That is what I was told in the past when I applied at these stores. They didn't care that I had real life experience and knowledge with animals, they just cared if I had sold things before.
And I DO buy my fish from reputable vendors and breeders, that also doesn't mean I should just close my eyes when I see fish or other animals dying in chain pet stores, or even in mom and pop fish stores.
No matter how much people are being paid, no matter how many tanks or fish they have to take care of, it still doesn't make it right to let them suffer just because it "happens in most fish shops."
It is never ok to let something suffer. This situation could have been avoided had they simply put the fish in with less aggressive tank mates, or no other type of cichlid.
If being paid minimum wage isn't enough to properly do their job, they need to quit and work at a different place where they aren't responsible for life.
It also doesn't help when the website for the chain store boasts about how much they love their animals, and that they go to the highest lengths to make sure that their animals are healthy and adoptable, when they clearly are not.
I am not bad or wrong or stupid for being mad at this store for this... I just happen to really care when something is obviously suffering and no one will ever do anything about it.
It is just sad, and I felt like venting.
Funny anyone would assume that fish have better conditions while waiting to be sold. 
fish for sale are kept in small overcrowded tanks, many are beat to death by other fish. Even by online vendors.
To the OP do you really expect that a Petsmart is going to provide the 100 plus gallons of tank space to properly house the fish you've pictured. Get real
fish for sale are kept in small overcrowded tanks, many are beat to death by other fish. Even by online vendors.To the OP do you really expect that a Petsmart is going to provide the 100 plus gallons of tank space to properly house the fish you've pictured. Get real
The money and time it would take to separate those fish would be more than their cost. They're just merchandise. It sucks, but that's the way things are.
You have to realize, if this is a large chain store, those fish don't make them any money. You have to think, the fish they sell only make up a very small percentage of their profit. Taking into count their loss with their sales, live fish sales are too minute to give a crap. Hard goods and other things of that nature are more important worries. It basically comes down to money.
I'm not supporting this view, I'm only putting it out there.
The only time the man upstairs cares about this type of thing is if your loss is above 80% or customers are complaining about fish floating on too many occasions. So if you take this into account, the only way you can actually do anything about fish treatment is go above the employees and even managers head and write to the company. A CRO is a B%$#. believe me...
You need to approach the solution by fighting fire with fire. They do this because of money. So you need to get them to fix it because of money. Let Corporate know that they are losing a customer and you are spreading the word (to people who buy more than just live fish). Have others do the same. They will fix it, not because they now know of the fishes suffering, but because they are going to lose money.
You have to realize, if this is a large chain store, those fish don't make them any money. You have to think, the fish they sell only make up a very small percentage of their profit. Taking into count their loss with their sales, live fish sales are too minute to give a crap. Hard goods and other things of that nature are more important worries. It basically comes down to money.
I'm not supporting this view, I'm only putting it out there.
The only time the man upstairs cares about this type of thing is if your loss is above 80% or customers are complaining about fish floating on too many occasions. So if you take this into account, the only way you can actually do anything about fish treatment is go above the employees and even managers head and write to the company. A CRO is a B%$#. believe me...
You need to approach the solution by fighting fire with fire. They do this because of money. So you need to get them to fix it because of money. Let Corporate know that they are losing a customer and you are spreading the word (to people who buy more than just live fish). Have others do the same. They will fix it, not because they now know of the fishes suffering, but because they are going to lose money.
