[ir0n_ma1den]

I JUST bought 3 guppies (2 female 1 male) from petsmart, and when I got home the male guppy was found dead in the bag.:icon_cry:

Is this normal when you buy fish from petsmart because it seems that every time I buy livestock from petsmart, a portion of the fish end up dead.

 

[tropicalfish]

How long is the trip from the store to your house? What is the average temperature outside/in your car when you get the fish? How bumpy of a ride does the fish bag go through?

 

[NewMariner]

You know I have never had to good of luck with petsmart's fish...I always ended up losing a portion of what I buy, then I go back and replace it with their 7 day guarantee...then the replacements ended up dying as well..I just shop at the LFS now, even though they only have a 24 hr guarantee, but I havent lost any fish...

 

[spypet]

interesting, I've had a perfect track record with Petsmart thus far.
I wonder if it has to do with the fish not acclimating yet since
the wholesaler. It's usually a good idea to buy a fish a few days
after they arrive at the store. That way any of them weakened
by transit and acclimation will die at the pet store, not with you.

 

[daFrimpster]

I have had good luck with PetSmart fish here too

 

[cjyhc4]

I've had better luck with PetSmart fish than LFS fish.

 

[rich]

Doesn't petsmart use that ridiculous central fitration system garbage? The one that flows the water down through every tank from top to bottom? If it is, mortality could have a lot to do with those conditions. Also, dying in transit may be because the fish weren't bagged properly and the air level or pressure level changed dangerously between home and the store. Usually guppys are prtty nuke proof, but lack of oxygen and big time transpport stress can probably do a number on them

-Rich

 

[snafu]

petsmart is the only place i'll buy my otos. the one by my house is fairly well maintained and sometimes carries cardinals, hachetfish (silver), colombians (red/blue), and emperors. every once in a while i'll go there and it looks like they slacked off mostly likely due to employee churn. they're a little on the pricey side compared to other lfs. but can't beat the return guarantee.
-snafu

 

[Color Me Blue]

Some Petsmarts take better care of their livestock than others. I have 2 near me; one is great at taking care of their inhabitants and the other one is problematic at times. I too get my ottos at Petsmart and never have a problem.

If I were you, I wouldn't buy fish at that Petsmart anymore. Find another source for your fish purchases.

 

[CampCreekTexas]

I agree with Christin. It seems like some PSmarts have great people working in the fish departments and others ... well ... not so great people.

There are two other Petsmarts I go to in Austin and both have wonderful fish keepers working in that section. I've never seen a dead fish in the tanks at either store and have never seen them dirty. One guy at one store will stand there and talk your head off about aquariums if you let him. LOL! He's obviously passionate about them. Last time I was in there, I noticed a tiny fish in a tank all by itself and asked about it. He said he didn't know what kind it was ~ it'd just came in with a shipment of tetras (it obviously wasn't one). I asked what was going to happen to it and he told me it was going home with him. :biggrin: Needless to say, every fish I have gotten from that store (though admittedly not many) has had no problems at all.

 

[LeapingGnome]

My local petsmart is pretty good, you just have to be careful about who you let net your fish, some are good others don't have a clue what they're doing and will really stress out the fish.

I have gotten guppies at mine and had mixed experiences. If it died in the bag there was some problem and you should take it back. My first group of guppies I got there (2 males 5 females) all but two ended up dying of columnaris within two weeks. Since then whenever I buy from there I do a slow acclimation to my tank over 3+ hours, I use a little plastic betta house that is maybe 1 quart that I bought there for like $3, put the fish and pet store water in there and a couple of sprigs of naja grass for covering and throw a hand towl over the top, add 4 tablespoons of my tank water every half hour for 3 hours, let them relax. Then I pour all of that into a big ziploc freezer bag and float it in my tank for 30 minutes to adjust the temperature. Then I net the fish out and put them in my tank. I dose Melafix for 3 days and do a 15%-20% water change on the third day. It sounds like a lot but it's really pretty easy.

I have not lost any petsmart fish since doing this, including another round of guppies and some otos.

 

[zergling]

The mollies that I bought from PetSmart were good, up until ICK hit 'em and pretty much the rest of the tank. The guppies that I bought from them (prior to stumbling onto Frank's website) died within days.

The ones I got from PetCo were pretty healthy and most of them are still with me -- 10 neon tetras, 1 betta, 2 yellow/gold dwarf gourami, 1 common pleco.

 

[Gatekeeper]

I have a great petsmart near me. Fish are usually pretty healthy and the staff is very helpful, but not that knowledgable. But they do have the 7 day guarentee, so, you have some leverage.

I have had very good success with all the fish I have gotten there (only a few random casualties, but no more than any LFS).

 

[awrieger]

It could be the fish was new stock that day so it hadn't recovered from the stress of transport before being netted and bagged and stressed more within hours.

I ask my lfs if the fish they have there that I want are newly arrived and if so, tell them I'll come back in a few days after they've settled.