Rescueing a fish from a LFS

[jgoodrich71]

I have been seeing this more here lately, where someone will buy a fish or coral or something to rescue it from a LFS that does not know how to care for that particular animal. The feel sorry for it because they know it is about to die.

What you don't realize is that just gave the store a reason to get another one. "We sold that last one, need to order another!" When you rescue one, you are dooming another.

I worked for a LFS that gave a guarantee. Every so often, the owner would place an order and order some things I felt should not have been ordered. But people would still buy these things to "save" them, only to bring it back a few days later dead. When I finally confronted the owner about why he keeps ordering these, he says because people keep buying them, and we were making money with them. He did not see that we were actually losing money because of the livestock guarantee. But he had know way to see that on the books.

When you feel the need to rescue something from a LFS, don't. You are only dooming future animals to this same fate.

 

[E-A-G-L-E-S]

most reefers, that i know, that will give their extra time & effort(QT-medicine) to a sickly fish, in true hopes of saving it from a certain death at a pet store.......are usually well educated reefers!
JMO

 

[jgoodrich71]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6481866#post6481866 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by E-A-G-L-E-S
most reefers, that i know, that will give their extra time & effort(QT-medicine) to a sickly fish, in true hopes of saving it from a certain death at a pet store.......are usually well educated reefers!
JMO

I agree 100% with that. But are they going to also purchase the next one that shop gets.

 

[E-A-G-L-E-S]

the shop will get its next fish anyways.... whether a seasoned reefer buys the old, or if it dies in shop, or if a newbie buys it.
At least "THAT" fish has a chance at a life.
IMO

 

[jgoodrich71]

If nobody buys it, there is no money made on it. If no money is made, but is in fact lost, what incentive is there to get another one.

 

[Amphiprion]

I have to agree with jgoodrich71--I have seen this "dynamic" in action for myself. If the certain type of animal continually dies before it is sold, the owner stops offering it. Of course, you have the stubborn ones who continue to order them anyway, but at the expense of making a profit.

 

[E-A-G-L-E-S]

you never spoke of a single problematic fish....only of "a" sick fish, which in pet stores is usually unfortunately abundant. As far as i can tell most stores that have unhealthy livestock, rebuy & restock the same type of fish all the time(at least in PA)
....i'm not speaking of good LFS, more the Petco/Petsmart?Pets Plus stores.
JMO

 

[jgoodrich71]

A store like Petco will always be able to trap someone uneducated into buying poor quality fish. And they, like many others mmay be willing to take a loss on livestock to get the customer in the door to purchase dry goods from them. I see them carrying SW as just a way to get more customers in the store. They make enough elsewhere to cover livestock loss.

But a LFS, good or bad, with its small margin of profit, will not keep replacing a species that they always loose money on.

 

[E-A-G-L-E-S]

well....there inlies a problem. Good LFS will not carry a species that is extremely prone to illness &, or death in home aquariums...or poor shippers.

I suppose bad LFS's would get the drift if consumers would stop buying theses problematic fish and not order them anymore....so regarding this situation, i agree with you.

-JMO-

 

[donta42]

i once overheard an lfs owner persuade a customer to buy nemos and doris to add to their goldfish tanks. the customer didnt even know about salt water and fresh water differences. i jumped in on that quick.

 

[sundance1]

There should be a class everyone must take before working/owning/or operating a pet store.

 

[mhhauser]

In all cases i would put it into Qt and try to revamp it and keep it from dieing, but thats just me

 

[Mishap]

I work in a Pet Supplies Plus in PA, and we rarely order any fish that would have a low probability of survival. Although, any fish that do come in sick I personally take home to nurse.

My friend and I recently saved a Orange Filefish from death in a freezer. He is now eating brine shrimp and doing well.

I can see over both sides of the fence here. I agree that some fish should not be ordered for sale in the aquarium trade. But also, when we order any type of exotic fish, we take great care in finding out about a person's tank, background info on their time and knowledge in the hobby. So not all LFS are bad places, you just need to find one with people who care.

 

[Blown 346]

Its sad to say but it is becoming a rare occasion where you will actually find a LFS who cares and isnt worrying about making a dollar whether the animal dies or doesnt.

 

[jgoodrich71]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6530948#post6530948 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by mhhauser
In all cases i would put it into Qt and try to revamp it and keep it from dieing, but thats just me

So a store gets in 15 orange spot filefish, you would buy them all to "save" them, even though more than likely they are still going to die. The store thinks "we sold them all last time, lets order 20 this time!"

 

[AquaReeferMan]

No we do not have that big of a system. We only get a few choice fish in around 20 total, along with coral. Two orders ago a Orange Spotted Filefish came in. So I found out it only ate acro and it had ich so I took it home. I buy live brine shrimp so I used garlic and he eventually ate them. As Matt said I also work at Pet Supplies Plus and we question buyers on their knowledge of the fish/coral/ect.. that they are buying. If we think that their system will not support the item they are buying we will not sell it. We will suggest something that they can handle. We try and make a difference in our area and promote responsible fish/reef care. We even set-up/cycle/maintaine peoples tanks just so they can experiance the joy of saltwater aquariums without the loss of livestock. As for Petco I agree they are terrible but dont throw the PSP name in there. Me and Mishap and our manager Tom do a very good job down there running our fish systems. Thank you

 

[Mishap]

QUOTE]So a store gets in 15 orange spot filefish, you would buy them all to "save" them, even though more than likely they are still going to die. The store thinks "we sold them all last time, lets order 20 this time!"[/QUOTE]

If we got 15 in that were sick, I'd find a new supplier.

And as for the ordering more next time, I control what is ordered. Thanks for your input, but if you're not gonna be the least bit open minded, don't start an argument. Rule #1 of debating, be open minded to the others opinions.

Thanks,

Matt

 

[jgoodrich71]

I was not making any kind of attack on you or Pet Supplies Plus. I am not the one that grouped you together. I do not even think any of the PSP around here carry saltwater. I was using the orange spot leatherjacket as an example of a fish with a very poor survival record in captivity because someone else brought it up. I myself took home things that I thought didn't have a chance to make it at the store, but we also had a hospital system in the back of the store. I know from working in this business that sometimes you get stuff that is a surprise. It was not what you ordered.

This does surprise me with your answer:

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6548551#post6548551 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Mishap
...and we rarely order any fish that would have a low probability of survival...

So, does this mean that you purposely order livestock that has a poor survivability record?

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6553842#post6553842 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Mishap

If we got 15 in that were sick, I'd find a new supplier.

I would certainly hope that you would never order 15 orangespot leatherjackets. A fish that most likely will not survive. That is the point I am trying to make. I'm not talking about initial health, but long term survivability.

 

[Mishap]

Yes, we purposely RARELY order livestock that has a poor survival rate. (RARELY being the key word there. ) But only after we speak to our supplier who informs us of the condition of the particular specimen.

And I did not mean we would order 15 of that particular fish. I meant that if we ordered 15 assorted fish which all came in sick, I would try to find a new supplier.

Thanks,

Matt