I have been burning over this scandolous event since Christmas. Tonight I lay dreaming and woke from a sound sleep. It's late and the house is quiet. My dog is snoring and the bird is complaining every time I hit return. But I had to complain! A friend of mine at a bulletin board gave me this link.
Starting at the beginning. This Christmas season, my mother purchased 2 bettas for my brother and I. She went against her spouted policy of "I won't condone backyard breeders, I won't buy creatures from mega stores. I was thrilled by the whole idea. I know my mom helped her grandpa with show fish and that she likes fish herself. So my brother and I went to petsmart while my dad's friend went next door to Hollywood video. Money is hard to come by at my age. I am 8. I am saving towards a parrot and just bought a snowboard. Even harder for my brother. But he makes money pulling weeds, raking gravel and blowing driveways. The neighbors reward him by paying him generously.
WE each bought a 1 gallon mini tank. I was caught by the movement and color of other fish and the bettas were all a bit dull looking. I asked about neon tetras. They sold me 5. And the bad part? What I didn't know? I was sold 5 neon tetras (a tropical fish) with no mention of heat needed, and a tank on the same day (no mention of the bneedd to cycle/age tank) and there is no real filtration in it (when tetras and the like require clean water condition. Worse... They were sick.
Neon Tetra disease got 3 of them and the water quality finished off the rest. Sure, I went and got my money back. I was loud and impolite waving my traumatic bag of dead fish (and we had a blizzard so they were like 5 days gone-ick!) They gave me the shush money. But that shouldn't excuse them! They did a bad thing. I would have never chose them if I knew there were extra care steps needed. My brother cried for every fish that sunk to the bottom and turned gray. Had they lived my mom would have had to go buy an appropriate sized tank and all the required items to go in it. I felt so bad and guilty. Somehow that strikes me as some kind of dishonesty. I just don't know what it is called!
Our bettas all came down with "ich". (Actually it is a bacterial attack with some other name). My fish had parasites calleed anchor worms. Like getting mangy dogs with fleas from a dog show! Each fish is in it's own tank. They can't catch it from each other. And the two pretty gourami I got at a little fish shop downtown have not had any problems. They even had more Gourami! But as every trip to the local fish shop for medicine racks up a visa beep I get madder! I help with some of these extra costs out of my money. I still have 700 left for my bird (not from a pet STORE, beleiiiive ME!).
But i think there should be a law against big feelingless mega-monster discount stores being allowed to handle living things like stereos (actually circuit city is pickier on where you put a remote down!). I have seen horrible things at megastores. Like rats all eating off a rat that died. How yucky is that? And dead floating fish all over a tank. Least they should like scoop them out or something! Petsmart answer to me for all this?
Contamination from other fish or/and "stress". Yeah it is stressful to be in a water that turns the tester paer red for dead and to have several diseases eating away at you at once!
The employee adult was rude to me when I first asked if there was anything wrong with them (one of the fish wasn't glowy. It looked like a tuna) They'll be the experts around there Babalooey! Well Phooey on them! Pickett or at least refuse to buy living things from megastores. Local born critters are less expensive anyway! Least that is this kid's opinion. I am trying to see if mom will order all her stuff form Foster and Smith again and then we can avoid Pet-not-so-smart-Co inc ever again!
I am not even sure this post will make it since I do mention the real name once. I was told ny a fellow member of a Aquarium site I now frequent that the MegapetMartCo that ripped me has a rep for shutting down BB s and forums that have members posting trash about them. OooP! I better go to bed! Its tomorrow already!
~victim 8 up too late
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