[Silent Knight]

I'm little upset cause when I woke up summorning my Gold fish I just bought from walmart from the other night are dead (Jack and Jill RIP 2011). Maybe I just didn't cycle the tank right but this isn't the first time I have had fish from wally world die.
I should of Knew better every time I go up thier they leave dead fish in thier aquariums.

 

[Toirtis]

The fish are usually of poor quality, not quarantined, nor properly acclimated....typically cared for by associates that have no clue of proper care, or how to spot or treat illness or disease. Really, I suggest limiting your fish purchases to specialty shops.

 

[Blacksheep]

Because Wal-Mart mills fish. Have you heard of a puppy mill? Well dogs aren't the only victims. Many places (including but not limited to Wal-Mart) have huge fish operations that are there to produce a mass amount of fish. They don't care whether they're healthy and happy...they just want your money.

On top of that, Wal-mart's pet department isn't just pets but classified as Paper, Pets and Chemicals. Pets don't consist of any hazmat so more attention is paid to chemicals. Yes they keep paper and pets stocked but thats it.

AND nobody is trained to properly keep up the tanks (which at least Petco kind of does.) Thats why most don't have any sort of decoration in them. This creates great stress in fish.

Just in general though, Wal-Mart cares about one thing...money. I work there...I know.

 

[Purple-Hops]

Aw, I thought all WalMarts stopped selling fish!! How horrible!! No, definitely stop buying fish from there for reasons mentioned above. On the other hand, I did have corydoras catfish live for like 6 years or so from WM before but mostly they are poorly bred and kept.

I know at a smaller speciatly store you might pay more but at least it's coming from a better stock. (Ideally).

 

[Sasami]

Aw, I thought all WalMarts stopped selling fish!!

A bunch of them did but not all of them. The one near me ("near" meaning 45 min away) no longer sells any animals but another in the general area does.

 

[Blacksheep]

The one I work at attempts to sell fish but they often just end up dying and clogging the filters. Its gross.

 

[Cynster]

I have never seen a healthy looking walmart fish of any species. Except maybe the plecos, just because it's hard to tell. You can just see the sickness in most of their fish.

Never buy fish from a store with unhealthy fish. Even if the ones that are unhealthy are in another tank, the fish you get might not be showing it. Look for any dead fish, fish with ich, or sluggish fish looking literally sick, tails bitten off or fungus growing. Look for overstocking to the extreme too, where the fish can't swim without touching other fish (except in goldfish and feeder fish tanks - though some are known to have diseases from their tight quarters).

As crazy as it sounds, it's usually better to ship fish from a reputable breeder online. They generally breed one type of fish and give them a nutritious diet, house them with appropriate tankmates, and the fish haven't been crowded in a fish store for weeks after being shipped from a wholeseller. The breeders package their fish correctly so it causes the least amount of stress. Fish in the fish store have have weeks of stress, where being shipped, it's usually just 2 days. You can also get prettier, cheaper, and healthier fish by shopping from a breeder AND you are supporting quality captive breeding programs, which is a good thing all around for aquarium fish and the hobbyists!

Ok end of lecture lol not trying to call you out at all, but just have this information here for anyone seeing your thread thinking about buying a walmart fish

 

[Silent Knight]

The one I work at attempts to sell fish but they often just end up dying and clogging the filters. Its gross.

What in the heck is wrong with that company, so wonder thier getting rid of fish out of thier stores and tg for that. Most stores no longer have a pet department. Yeah I don't think that Ill be shopping for fish thier anymore.
I heard a rumor a couple weeks back that WM is trying to have thier own bank and above all else they want thier stores to have car dealerships (which sounds weird) but the government wont approve.

 

[Purple-Hops]

Walmart is becoming the biggest name in American businesses. (Maybe it already is) . I read online they also have a Netflix type movie streaming site now. They already have credit (affiliation with the banks) and while they cannot sell their own cars the next step would be in competition with Costco which just opened a cheaper wholesale gas pumps. In the ever expanding commercial world where demand for commoditities and material goods/services is ever increasing to "save the consumer money" these things are just happening in a natural cycle. It's awful. But we're all guilty.

The WM's here also are rumored to have bought out all the Zellers (HBC) in Canada (or maybe Atlantic Canada) to open as smaller mini wal marts.


The WM's here also all have removed live pets from their shelves but still have an extensive pet section. Which is good bc I love browsing them!! (Even though I cannot buy Coco fancy toys and treats anymore and the bunny things are no good)

 

[Toirtis]

The WM's here also are rumored to have bought out all the Zellers (HBC) in Canada (or maybe Atlantic Canada) to open as smaller mini wal marts.

All the Zellers across Canada have been purchased, but not by WalMart....by Target, WalMart's greatest competition, which will have all the stores converted over to Target locations by March 2013. WalMart is doing their dead best to convert all the existing WalMart stores in Canada into 'supercenters' (with full groceries, and a number of other services)....we have a couple like this in Calgary now with medical clinics, two restaurants, optometrists, mani/pedi spas, etc.

 

[urofan]

It's been awhile since the Walmart in my town sold fish. I'm not sure whether Walmart should even sell animals, because it is a big box store.

 

[Cynster]

I don't think they should unless they have a specialist for fish with a job specifically to take care of the fish and help customers with fish. They work minimum wage - so it's like another employee, but don't occupy them outside of the pet section - that is all they really need to do. It is not that hard to keep fish in a humane environment. And considering how little people actually buy fish at walmart, they ought to house them like one would at home so the fish aren't stressed and customers get a good idea of how many fish they should have in their tanks

 

[Silent Knight]

Yeah I noticed thier tanks are extremely filled, I wouldn't think It would hurt goldfish but Im no fish expert. When that G fish died he was wrapped next to the filter, I through in some ick treatment in the tank but Im wondering if that could be one of the things that got him.

 

[Cynster]

The only goldfish I see crowded normally are ones that will be food soon lol

I think if you are actually going to be selling them as pets, they shouldn't be crowded like that. And even for food, that's a good way to get diseases.

 

[Purple-Hops]

I saw my share of fish dead, dying, white and fluffy stuck to those WM filters back years ago. What were they like vacuums??!?

 

[Cynster]

I would bet they died and then were sucked in - I've had that happen before :S ew ew ew ewwww

 

[Silent Knight]

I saw my share of fish dead, dying, white and fluffy stuck to those WM filters back years ago. What were they like vacuums??!?

lol, at my WM not even the employees know for sure what that thing is.

 

[Purple-Hops]

LOL what a sin, well (Cynster) they were in-tank cannisters that had a grate which sucked in water from the living area - where the fish got stuck and died- cycled it and spit it back out over the top of the water to cause a bit of a bubbly stream. It was not normal!

 

[Cynster]

yeah that sounds absolutely disgusting lol I bet it was bubbling because of all of the scales and rotten fish being sucked in x____x

 

[Silent Knight]

Help My tank is cloudy every week

I have been having to change my water weekly now I cant really figure it out though whats making the water so dirty and cloudy. I have goldfish in the 10g aquarium but there isn't anyway he's dirtying up the water by himself? The other creatures in the tank are Ghost Shrimp and a Bicher. I don't really believe its the filter either, its a cheaper filter though aqua tech 5-15. If anybody can give me an idea to help keep the water cleaner I appreciate it.