# Pet Shop Fish Question - Dead Fish



## davidc (Dec 15, 2010)

I visited a pet shop in eccles today to see if they still cared so little about the animals as they always had done. The layout had changed and there were different staff in, so I'm guessing they sold up.
There was a notice saying something like "Don't complain about the smells, this is a pet shop!!!" And outside there was a notice saying kittens wanted - is that even legal, a pet shop advertising for kittens?

Anyway, I had a look round, too many gerbils in one cage, though it was a huge improvement on the last owners.
Went to the fish section and two dead fish imediately caught my eye, a catfish and a goldfish in the same tank. I pointed it out and was told "They are feeders." Yet there was a pump in the tank and water. Is this true that goldfish and catfish are used to feed other animals/fish as I wasn't convinced? Especially as it looked like they had died in the tank.

Thanks.


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## Quinzell (Mar 14, 2011)

I suspect that someone was telling you a bit of a porky. For a start, it doesn't do much for customer relations to see dead fish in a tank so if these have deliberately been put in there, I would be surprised! Was he suggesting that they were in there as food for the other fish in the tank? If so, do you remember what the other fish were that were in there?

I can't answer your question about the kittens I'm afraid.


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## Guest (Jul 15, 2011)

What sort of catfish was it.


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## simplysardonic (Sep 1, 2009)

AFAIK it isn't illegal to sell kittens in pet shops, although it should be illegal as it isn't at all ethical:frown2:
as for dead 'feeder' fish in the tank, that doesn't sound right either as they would pollute the water


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## davidc (Dec 15, 2010)

LouiseH said:


> I suspect that someone was telling you a bit of a porky. For a start, it doesn't do much for customer relations to see dead fish in a tank so if these have deliberately been put in there, I would be surprised! Was he suggesting that they were in there as food for the other fish in the tank? If so, do you remember what the other fish were that were in there?
> 
> I can't answer your question about the kittens I'm afraid.


Yeah he said they were food. There were no other fish in that tank, just the goldfish and the catfish. The goldfish was in a funny position, and the catfish was pressed against the glass.



danielled said:


> What sort of catfish was it.


Sorry not sure, I don't know much about fish.


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## hawksport (Dec 27, 2009)

If the catfish and the goldfish were the only fish in the tank and they were both dead they weren't feeding much


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## Guest (Jul 15, 2011)

davidc said:


> Yeah he said they were food. There were no other fish in that tank, just the goldfish and the catfish. The goldfish was in a funny position, and the catfish was pressed against the glass.
> 
> Sorry not sure, I don't know much about fish.


Pressed against the glass like how a pleco would if it were sucking the side of the tank but jot if you know what I mean.


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## davidc (Dec 15, 2010)

hawksport said:


> If the catfish and the goldfish were the only fish in the tank and they were both dead they weren't feeding much


They said they were to feed other animals or fish. Though they had no animals that they could have fed.



danielled said:


> Pressed against the glass like how a pleco would if it were sucking the side of the tank but jot if you know what I mean.


Yeah sort of, but it didn't look right, like it had died in that position.


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## Quinzell (Mar 14, 2011)

If they were to feed other animals, I'm pretty certain that they wouldn't be keeping them in one of their display tanks. The best place for them would be the freezer. 

As has already been said, dead fish can quickly start to break down and pollute tanks. I would suspect that you were told that line just in case you wanted to buy a fish from them. If they admitted that they had died there, then possibly their whole system could be infected.


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## MelissaHersch (Jul 7, 2011)

So-called 'feeder fish' can spread parasites and disease. Luke said to me that diseases spread like 'wildfire' in an aquatic store if all of the tanks are linked in the same system. 

He also mentioned that big Plecs are often found in a 'slumped' position in aquatic store tanks, and that if the fish are dead, they will have decomposed within a few hours.

This all sounds creepy to me!


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## davidc (Dec 15, 2010)

LouiseH said:


> If they were to feed other animals, I'm pretty certain that they wouldn't be keeping them in one of their display tanks. The best place for them would be the freezer.
> 
> As has already been said, dead fish can quickly start to break down and pollute tanks. I would suspect that you were told that line just in case you wanted to buy a fish from them. If they admitted that they had died there, then possibly their whole system could be infected.


Thanks. I had no intention of buying anything from them, they'd always been bad, even under their old owners. Just thought I'd see if anything had changed with the new staff.



MelissaHersch said:


> So-called 'feeder fish' can spread parasites and disease. Luke said to me that diseases spread like 'wildfire' in an aquatic store if all of the tanks are linked in the same system.
> 
> He also mentioned that big Plecs are often found in a 'slumped' position in aquatic store tanks, and that if the fish are dead, they will have decomposed within a few hours.
> 
> This all sounds creepy to me!


Yeah, I didn't buy their excuse but as I don't know much about fish I thought I'd ask here.


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