Wal-Mart How To Stop It Before It Stops Us

[GermanRam]

Look, Wal-Mart is the first experience that most people today have to see aquarium fish. The books they sell don't cover the types of fish they sell.
Most people new to the hobby rely on the store help. You can't rely on the knowledge of Wal-Mart employees. I Know. I have stood there and listened to them for a long time.
I have ask an employ once,..."what are you doing"? He said. "giving all the dead fish to the Puffers, they love-em".
Time after time I have told Wal-Mart customers the truth about the care of the fish they was buying. Most was shocked and thankful that someone knew something about what they was buying and what they where getting into.
Today people buy what looks good. And the lower the price the less they do research on it. So if some thing is less than a Star Bucks coffee, then they buy first and then look at the care second, if at all.

 

[erk419]

I disagree I bet if you took a poll with people that know nothing about fish and you asked them if you decided to get a fish tank and fish were would you go. Very few would say walmart most would say a petstore the reason is this is what they do sell pets. Also if you took another poll hell you could do it here and ask people when they started off were did they get fish they would say a petstore not walmart and probaly 98% of the time they will say they were giving bad advise. Like I said your beef shouldn't be in walmart but petstores. Only reason walmart has fish is because they try to have everything but they do nor specialize in this and people don't go to walmart in the intension to buy fish like they would other products food cloths etc. So for them to hire a fish expert would be pointless. Now petstores on the other had this is what they do they specialize in selling pets and supplies so therfore they should hire people who know what they are talking about but they don't.

However after writing this I will admit if walmart is going to sell a living creature like fish they should have at least one person in the department who actually know what they are talking about. The reason I wrote what I did above is to try and explain why they don't. And also why you should be more pissed off at petstores then walmart. If you have something wrong with you you go to the doctor if have a plumbing problem you call a plumber why because there profesional that what they do that's what they specialize in. So therefore if you want a pet like fish or want to know something about them you would go to a petstore because there suppose to be professinals and know what they sare doing

 

[Heavyarm7]

The only two Wallys I go to both have live fish. One in Brighton has clean tanks and rarely any dead fish floating. A newer store on I25 and 136th Has dirty tanks and always a few floaters present.

I totally thought walmarts in CO where done with live fish, must be location.

 

[monstercichlid]

I visited a Walmart a few days ago and they had an Oscar tank with 4 fish and 2 of them were dead. Truly discussed me, but its not like these major pet store chains are any better. Lets boycott wallmart.

 

[Smok3o3]

I Live in colorado the wal marts here dont have any bad ass fishes like snake heads and stuff but ne ways you can tell they dont really take carre of their tanks much all dirty and fishes look like they bouts to die soon how skinny and sick they always look. back in the day it was ku fishes strong and lively but i guess through time the fishes becomin like the employees there only care bout the money

 

[wiseoldowl]

Every Wal-Mart I've been in that sale fish have been pitiful. I've seen
tanks in witch every fish had fungal infections eaten in to their bodies.
Entire tanks with fish coverd with ick. I agree conditions at some lfs are bad.
But none compare with the neglect that goes on at Wal-Mart. At least at lfs they try
to quarantine or treat sick fish. The person at Wal-Mart selling you the fish might
be someone called over from mens were. When I first started keeping fish
I bought from them because they were cheep and I could give a number
of horror stories. 99% of the employes selling fish at Wal-Mart don't
have even a basic understanding of fish keeping. If you have a store
that has better than deplorable conditions it's the exception not the rule.
That's my two cents anyway.

 

[GermanRam]

I know from where I am and where I have been. WM has taken over the pet store fish store seen.
You can go in the nice little fish store in town that has a lady that knows more about fish than she doses about anything else and not find anyone else in the store.
WM on the other hand , any time night or day there is someone buying fish.

Look, I don't have a beef with WM selling fish. I just wish they would have a good standard training course that the employees had to pass to keep and sell fish. The other thing and most important. is that they stop selling fish that are not beginner fish,

 

[crisper]

American capitalism at it's worst im afraid.

 

[altepeters]

While stores like Walmart should be stopped from selling what it isn't trained to deal with, the bigger issue is training and education. I know when my husband and I got into fish initially it was neon's from walmart. As our hobby grew into a true passion we began to read and research all fish that we considered bringing into our home. Currently we have a 75 gal. freshwater that will soon be transfering over into a 220 gal and I'm really excited about the extra space for more fish, which in turn means more research! LOL

 

[GermanRam]

While stores like Walmart should be stopped from selling what it isn't trained to deal with, the bigger issue is training and education. I know when my husband and I got into fish initially it was neon's from walmart. As our hobby grew into a true passion we began to read and research all fish that we considered bringing into our home. Currently we have a 75 gal. freshwater that will soon be transfering over into a 220 gal and I'm really excited about the extra space for more fish, which in turn means more research! LOL

That's cool, that is the way it is suppose to work! You get some simple fish that are hard to kill and then that's starts the learning curve that makes us into fish keepers and a part of this hobby that we all love.
Perfect fish for Wal-Mart and The like to stick with are,
Neons, Guppy, Barbs, Danios, Charachins, Molly and the like.
NOT as our first fish and then dispose of it because we didn't know better.
Don't sell a loaded gun to a kid and expect them to know how to use it, respect it, clean it, or that it can kill.
In the same turn, don't tell a newbie that a GSP can be put in a 10 Gal. fresh water tank with other fish of you choose. I have heard this several times and it makes me about as sick as seeing Betta's in cups of crap.