Petsmart

[koi]

today i went to petsmart and they're having a sale for all these fish till the end of the month.
Oto cats-1dollar
angels-2dollars
Most tetras-1 dollar(cardinal and neons are included i cant remember all the other ones though.)
Just wanted to let you guys know on the oto cats especially. Never seen it cheaper

[makatak123]

are the angels good??? reliable?

[koi]

Ehh I dont know if angels develope full color and pattern when they're around the size of a quarter. They're around the size of a quarter(fins included) But they had some veiltail i belive. But hey at 2 dollars not so bad.

[Sea-agg09]

Just make sure the fish don't have ich...

[Lori]

There fish can be iffy. I just go there for the feeder's. The little girl that alway's help's me doesn't count very well. 2 dozen turns into more like 4. Hope Dad didn't spend alot on her education. LOL

[Sea-agg09]

are the angels good??? reliable?

I would be very careful when you buy fish that are readily captive break. The store has no clue where they come from, because they don't even order the fish; corporate sends out fish based on their sales... If things are wild caught, then you might be ok. Things that are captive bred are probably terribly inbred, which is why you can get them for cheap.

Do the research before you go buy fish. Don't expect the retailers to have the correct info. It is a personal pleasure of mine to wander in and find "oddities" and get them for a steal only because the retailers don't have a clue what it is. My favorite was when I got threadfin rainbows for $2 each because they were labeled as common swordtails...

[koi]

what do you mean by terrible inbred?

[BeefyG]

The last time (and will be my last ever) I bought fish from Petsmart, I bought some female guppies that were on sale because I had just picked up some male guppies I wanted to try breeding from an auction. I didn't QT them because up until that point I had never QT a fish before. Whatever those fish were carrying, it wasn't ich but it wiped out my entire 25 gal community tank within a month. I only buy from LFS I trust now or better yet from box members. If you're going to buy from Petsmart, QT them for at least a month. I would rather spend a few more dollars and keep the rest of my fish that I've spent much more on safe.

Captive bred fish don't have the same genetic diversity that wild caught fish do because the number of fish that are breeding is much more limited. If the breeding stock aren't rotated out with fresh stock every now and then you can get new generations breeding with old generations and passing on or amplifying genetic defects. Thats my understanding anyways. Someone with more experience probably can answer you better though.

[Sea-agg09]

Captive bred fish don't have the same genetic diversity that wild caught fish do because the number of fish that are breeding is much more limited. If the breeding stock aren't rotated out with fresh stock every now and then you can get new generations breeding with old generations and passing on or amplifying genetic defects. Thats my understanding anyways. Someone with more experience probably can answer you better though.

You're description is right on. Less than reputable dealers use the same line of fish to create their entire stock, which leads to the fish equivalent of the blue people of kentucky (google that, and be afraid!). Can we be sure that cheap fish are inbred? No, but I am not going to trust a place who doesn't know where their fish come from. Reputable stores know their wholesalers by name, and the wholesalers know that a reputable fish store will drop them like a rock if their inventory is bad.

[d1c3r]

i like going to petco and asking for the "peppermint shrimp" i get the skunk cleaners for like 6.99 wooot, ignorance is bliss

[Lori]

I went again last night and scored big on the rosey reds again. If this chick ever get's fired, i'm screwed. LOL

[makatak123]

Pet smart has been good for me lately. I have a few dainos from when i got my first aquarium 3 years ago still alive. I have $ Red Wag platies that breed. Pet Smart has been good for me, but petco is not so well.....

[amilcar]

personally I mostly go to two petsmarts and one petco for ocassional fish sales....the petsmart at westheimer and dunvale has fairly healthy stuff....Ivs got lots of stuff for cheap from them...ex silver dollars,bala sharks,penguin tetras,tinfoil barbs, all for a dollar each...and good sized too!!!....the other good petsmart is the one at south shepard...were that old theater was...well I got allot of cheap stuff there too...and their large feeder goldfish are really healthy and big....and amazingly also saw the healthiest rosy reds ever....now the best petco so far is also on south shepard...they have really healthy fish for a petco and they still have their salt water up and running.....since most other petcos are almost terrible at about the same level as wal-mart fish....so yea this is what I have experienced from these so far....