# Poor fish care at pets at home taunton



## chief3 (Oct 21, 2013)

I have just visited pets at home in taunton having vowed never to buy a pet from there again after the last time and other friends experiences. And all I wanted to do was buy a goldfish for my sister. When me and my sister went up to the tanks, we was greeted with a goldfish with nitrate poisoning and was bent in half lying at the bottom of the tank. I went to fetch the member of staff who had just left the area and told him that there was a poorly fish and he seemed completely disinterested and really couldn't be bothered. I wasnt going to let the matter drop so I stood there waiting to show him but after a few minutes he finally and seemingly reluctantly came over for a look. This is where it got interesting! He looked at the fish then looked at us like he wanyed us to go away which we wouldn't. He then commented that "he would keep an eye on it because they check them every half hour". Because we were still stood there still looking at him in disbelief, he went and got the steps and the net, caught the fish in the net and then proceeded to put it infront of the pump outlet which was very strong after he had turned up the oxygen level. The poor fish started spiraling and swimming upside down so he caught the fish again after two or three attempts of putting it in front of the pump, put it in a bag and stormed out the back with it returning seconds later. There was no courtesy or a thank you from him and we are not only shocked and disgusted at this mans attitude but also the manner in which these poor animals are kept. We left the shop immediately after and made our purchase elsewhere and we totally recommend that other follow suit. Its such a shame we didnt record it. 
Nitrate poisoning is not something you would expect from a professional company.


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## NaomiM (Sep 22, 2012)

I've pointed out a half-dead fish in [email protected] before and been told that their policy states they can't do anything about it until it's actually dead.

Having said that, there's one very good staff member at my local [email protected] who I've heard explaining the fishless cycle to a customer, and told her to do this before he would sell her any fish. (And not the "leave it standing for 3 days" rubbish like it says on their signs - he was talking about proper cycling with an ammonia source.) And I've seen customers sent away without any fish because they were trying to buy goldfish for a little 'starter set' tank.

I think, on balance, my [email protected] is one of the better ones (and definitely better than the other local shop that I went to when I was a newbie).

I've heard plenty of [email protected] horror stories though... in fact there's a whole board devoted to them here... Pets at Home Horror Stories


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## Fishyfins (Feb 28, 2009)

Dead fish in dealers tanks is a very tough subject, and is a minefield!

On the grand scheme of things, dealers act as the "middle man" between the breeders and your tank. a sort of service station on their way to you. Whilst at the dealers, they are usually kept in basic tanks, passed by people every day, with children banging on the glass all the time. And thats after what could have been a huge stressful journey from the breeder/distributor.

They get very stressed. Deaths are therefore likely to happen, especially with hundreds of fish. Most experts agree that this is unavoidable, and the sight of 1 or 2 dead fish in a dealers tank (across the whole store) shouldn't be seen as a "bad" thing. Yeah, we would prefer there to be none, but even experts admit the limitations in the system. For one fish like you describe, it would be pretty normal, and cannot be avoided. Its especially tricky when the fish is still alive, and cannot really be removed in such a state due to various laws and ethical viewpoints. They usually have to wait for the fish to die and then net it out, hence what they did in your situation. Its not great, i know, but its just the way the system works.

Now, im not supporting [email protected] at all. I worked for them for 3 years, and they then fired me cos i complained about the welfare of the in-store tortoises (true story!). I actually dislike them, and certainly wouldn't buy fish there, but every shop you go in will be the same sadly, its just unavoidable. Your best bet is to accept the odd dead fish and continue shopping, otherwise, you will soon find that you have no aquarium shops left in the area to shop at!

I would also like to know how you diagnosed "nitrate poisoning"? as Nitrate is a non-toxic byproduct of the filtration system with no impact on fish health? [email protected], for all their failings, do test the water every day. Its possible it was either ammonia or nitrite poisoning, but if so then i would expect many more fish to be affected, and not just goldfish, which tend to be the last to fall in such events. I would suspect in this case it was just a weak fish from the distributor that succumbed to stress, which wouldn't be the fault of the shop, more an issue with the stock quality (which again, cannot be avoided, as the fish are all mass produced on fish farms in the far east).


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## NaomiM (Sep 22, 2012)

I think the difference here is the attitude of the staff though. Yes every shop will get a few dead fish (especially on new stock which is still in quarantine), and yes it is a stressful environment for the fish (though again, the better shops I've been to don't overcrowd the tanks so much, provide the odd plant etc to give the fish some hiding places, and have signs asking parents to supervise their kids and not let them bang on the glass, and staff who enforce this). However, on the rare occasions I've spotted a dead fish at my local MA, it's been dealt with immediately and sympathetically.


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## Wiz201 (Jun 13, 2012)

My sister stocks her tank with fish from specialist shops. The last one we went to had their tropicals housed in tanks in a quiet area, all healthy tanks/fish and continually supervised by the shop owners.


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## Phoenix24 (Apr 6, 2013)

Maybe the original poster meant to put nitrite poisoning, not nitrate. Although if it was nitrite poisoning you would expect to see fish gasping at the surface and deep reddening of the gills. Once a fish is bent over like a comma there's some serious damage done - and in my experience its not necessarily nitrite (or ammonia) poisoning. In fact the last few fish I lost bent like a comma too, but I could find no water issues not any other signs of ill health in the affected or unaffected fish. What caused it remains a mystery to me.

Goldfish are some of the most delicate fish out there; even though they have a reputation for being tough, or in some cases thought of at 'expendable' (i'm thinking of when people were told to use a goldfish to cycle a tank!!), they are actually quite sensitive to their environments, and in inexperienced hands are usually the first 'beginners' fish to die - if not from ammonia/nitrite poisoning then from stunting and digestive disorders due to being kept in too small tanks. 

Every time I go to pets at home, and many other fish stores too, there are always dead, dying, and clearly unfit goldfish on display. In fact one visit at our local [email protected] an entire system with various goldfish types were all 'sunk' - ie suffering a swim bladder issue probably due to being overcrowded. 

I think even the best stores can lose fish, but its the ones with the staff that take the time to try and educate the customer on the correct care of fish, and the tanks that look clean, with appropriate decor and substrate for the livestock, and that are not overcrowded, its those stores that you might still find a dead fish - but know and accept that unfortunately its a sad fact of the trade that is unavoidable, no matter how hard the dealers try. My local store's owner in my opinion does everything he can for his livestock - the tanks are clean, and look great, and he can explain everything about how his system works. He still gets fish dying, and I know he does what he can - he medicates sick fish, quarantines new stock, is careful with which species he mixes together. 

Pets at home... well you can barely get the staff to sell you a fish, let alone explain anything detailed about them. The amount of fish I have returned to mine because they were not the fish I asked for (I got 3 chinese loach when I wanted otocinclus - but I wasn't familiar enough to know at first sight the difference - not until I got them home!!), and I have seen whole systems go down with white spot. 

New fish to a store are going to be stressed and susceptible to problems, you would like to think the staff do what they can to minimise it. You can always tell when they do, though, and when they don't.


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## blitzens mum (Jul 15, 2012)

i must be lucky at my local [email protected] as the staff that sell fish there both keep them at home and are very knowledgble, where as the aquatic shop up the road who advertises themselves as being extremely knowledgeble will sell you fish, with no questions asked


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