Dead Fish at Petsmart

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I have only goldfish in my pond. I went to Petsmart today to poke around. Looking at the goldfish, possibly thinking of buying some nicley colored ones. The three tanks they had contained a fair number of dead fish. Is this normal or is it something I should be concerned with? I have never seen that many dead ones in Petsmart before maybe 1 or 2 per tank. Do you think I just came a time when they had not yet culled out the dead ones? I didn't buy any as I did not want to chance transmitting a disease to mey pond. I really didn't need anymore, just looking for oddly colored ones.
 
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Mcgiiver, I went to Petco last weekend and most of their goldfish were swimming sideways or dead. They were selling baby goldfish that were in sad, sad shape. Maybe the hatcheries that they are using are too hot and the quality of the gold fish that they are producing are very poor. Probably in a few months the quality of the fish will get better.
 

stroppy

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I have only goldfish in my pond. I went to Petsmart today to poke around. Looking at the goldfish, possibly thinking of buying some nicley colored ones. The three tanks they had contained a fair number of dead fish. Is this normal or is it something I should be concerned with? I have never seen that many dead ones in Petsmart before maybe 1 or 2 per tank. Do you think I just came a time when they had not yet culled out the dead ones? I didn't buy any as I did not want to chance transmitting a disease to mey pond. I really didn't need anymore, just looking for oddly colored ones.
i would have put in a complaint poor ... :(
 

HARO

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The old mom-and-pop pet shop has gone the way of the Dodo, replaced by big-box pet supermarkets. Kids are hired to look after things, but they have little knowledge and less will to learn about their charges. Try to find a pond-supply place or garden center that sells fish, they will cost a bit more, but the quality is generally far better. John
 
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The old mom-and-pop pet shop has gone the way of the Dodo, replaced by big-box pet supermarkets. Kids are hired to look after things, but they have little knowledge and less will to learn about their charges. Try to find a pond-supply place or garden center that sells fish, they will cost a bit more, but the quality is generally far better. John

I agree.
The big chain stores deal in quantity not quality. Not only do I see dead fish, I see a lot of deformed fish too.
The koi at the big stores look different than the ones at the pond stores. Could someone explain that?
 
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Were they in the feeder tank for 13 to 17 cents or are you referring to fish they sell between $2-$6? There are always dead and sick fish in the feeder tanks. The fish and animals that eat them don't care and it won't hurt them. If they were in the other tanks then I would agree with you. Petsmart seems pretty diligent about keeping up those tanks. Most of my fish were from the $2-$6 tanks from petsmart and are doing great. The ones I bought from the neighborhood aquarium store did not fare as well. I have also discovered a really large garden center that has very nice fish.
 

fishin4cars

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I wouldn't buy fish at all from any tank that had multiple deaths. If more than one fish even appears to have the same problem it's a good idea to pass it by, If you still think you just have to have a certain one, place it in a aquarium or small hospital tank and monitor it for at least three to four weeks. i do this with all fish, even if they appear to be 100% healthy and been in the tank for some time.
 

koiguy1969

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i brought dead and dying fish to the attention of the manager at Meijers...the ones that were still alive i offered to buy @ $1.00 each. they wouldnt do it. i was told that they get credit for them on the next delivery. and the ones i inquired on were bought by employees and were in a display pond / waterfall out in the garden center. not even in the tanks. i said that it should be the option of the people who bought them and put them in the pond. wether or not i should be able to take them home and give them a good home. they dissagreed..even the cashier agreed with me....to no avail. money money money...thats what its all about.
 

j.w

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Shame on those people. Poor fish could have been given a nice home w/ people who would care for them. I guess that's the problem w/ shopping at the big company stores. It's a business and that's it.............where is the humanity?
 
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yes jw you are so right, those big company stores owned by big corporations just want to make money to keep their stockholders happy so that quarterly profits don't go down, and share prices don't go down too, and then people are losing jobs at those corporations, and our retirement accounts are losing money because we invested in those mean companies, and this was all over a couple dead and dying fish that they wanted to make money off of by not selling them for only a dollar!
 

taherrmann4

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All these companies do with the dead fish is throw them out, they don't save them to show the vendor. Unfortunately companies today do not empower their employees to make decisions like this to make a deal with a customer to buy a fish that may be on its last breath who can rescue them and bring them back to life. There are also people that work in these stores that I would not want making a decision like that because they would probably give the whole farm away. It takes someone to teach them and this often does not happen, they get out of orientation and sink or swim.
 
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its not only fish that get hurt by big companies... look at the underground puppy mills going on as well that companies like pet smat support but will not admit it. when its about the money, its no longer quality orientated...
 

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