Petsmart Letting Fish Die

I didn't know what section to put this in, so mods feel free to move it wherever it would be more appropriate.

I have a friend who currently works at a local Petsmart, but before he moved in the area he actually helped create an exotic aquarium store down in Florida, where he helped build large, exquisite aquariums for anyone with the money (including a few celebrities!) Basically he moved here for family reasons, and there's just no customer base here for such amazing aquariums, and he's stuck working a retail job. I don't think he's full of it because I was looking through pictures of aquariums, fish, and coral and he was explaining to me in detail how they worked, what fish and coral they were, even scientific names... so he knows what he's talking about.

Anyway, the Petsmart he is working for currently ran out of a chemical they use to balance the pH levels for their fish tanks, and the warehouse they order from has it on back-order. Now, since they are a pet supply store, they even sell the chemical they need, but from a different supplier, but he's not allowed to use it. He even knows many other, inexpensive ways to correct the problem, and he did try once. Since they keep a log of all of the aquarium measurements, they noticed he had corrected the pH, and told him if he did it again he'd be fired because "It's not the way Petsmart does things."

So, instead, they're letting many fish die due to imbalanced pH levels, with more dying all the time (which will cost them more and more in the long run) yet they won't let him take a product off the shelf or use any other method to ballance the pH of the aquariums so he can save those fish just because it's company policy?

This is utterly sickening to me, and makes no sense at all. I usually think PETA goes a little overboard but if this continues... I wonder if their involvement could help in any way? I have no clue... I just feel bad for the fish. I could care less about Petsmarts cost for letting them die OR fixing the pH to allow them to live.

He needs to call PETA. they'll show us a real protest.

That's a spreading sickness in America (probably other places as well, but I do not know). We have tons of folks who can't use common sense. If it isn't protocol, policy, ruled and regulated, folks don't know how to function. The fish are dying but our books don't tell us what we need to do if we can't get what we need, so I guess all the fish will die. What else are we supposed to do?

It's ridiculous but it happens in most places these days including our own government. People seem to be losing the ability to think for themselves and fix things in alternative ways if the solution in the book doesn't work.

I guess there is not much more your friend can do. He may can call the corporate offices to inform them of the situation, other than that though??? He's treading on losing his job.

There was a time where employers valued this kind of thinking and "let's just get it done" attitude. Unfortunately not so much anymore.

Sounds like a sh!tty manager exerting their "authority."
Different varieties of fish do better in certain pH ranges.
There are no special chemicals involved.
Know what your variety of fish prefers. Check the pH.
If it is too acidic, add some dilute lye, slowly, until the water is balanced.
If it is too alkaline, add dilute acetic acid (vinegar) until it is properly balanced.
It's not hard to look up what pH range your fish do best in.

Another thought I had was if they log the fish the dollar amount will be logged as well.

This man can Cal the anonymous hotline or even call a district manager. Office politics aside, this man has to live with his choices and the consequences.

Seems like something a big corporation would do. It's terrible because I can imagine Petsmart doesn't want any legal trouble with the company that's on their shelves but these animals are dying. This is why I try not to support zoos and other places that keep animals in cages or tanks because even though to the layman they may look happy usually they're lonely and mistreated.

Reminds me of the episode of Hey Arnold! when the giant turtle was living in a dirty pool with graffiti on its shell. My man Arnold set the big guy free though.

Don't know, too bad your friend would be fired for helping them. And I suspect he'd probably be canned in two seconds if they found out he leaked it to the net.

PETA is shrouded in irresponsibility. I would never trust that organization. The mission statement is wonderful but they aren't true to helping animals. Thank your friend for sharing this information.

The very last place I'd advise people do their fish shopping is the big box pet stores. Go to the small hobbyist stores, always scope the place first before you do any shopping there. Check the cleanliness of the tanks and the health of the stock. As much as you can, make sure the staff working there knows what they are doing and are giving you sound advice and not just trying to sell you stuff.

Do your own research into what you should and should not be buying for your tank first, always.

And if all else fails, there are reputable places you can order your fish online.

Oh I totally agree. Sometimes just the threat of their phycotics aimed in companies direction works though.


a reply to: Yeahkeepwatchingme

And then customers are buying these sick fish and wonder why they die shortly after bringing them home. Most people probably won't bring them back for a refund, so that's one less sick and dying fish they have to write off.

One of the best places I know of to get fish is on aquarium enthusiast forum trading boards. It's a great way to get unusual varieties of fish and wonderful live plants for your aquarium, often for less than the petstore, or even sometimes free for the cost of shipping. I had some lovely blue platies, and some wonderful endler's livebears I picked up this way, and they were some of the healthiest fish I ever had.

(endlers livebearers - cool little fish that breed like crazy)

BTW, ditch the plastic plants if you have them and go live. Start with easy plants like java fern and anubias. Your fish will love you for it.

They return the dead fish and get their money back thats why they do it. They dont give a damn. Why do you think walmart shreds millions of dollars of clothes at the end of every season when they could be kind and donate them? they just dont give a sh*t.

a reply to: Aldakoopa

Last time I checked Pet Smart wasn't very "smart". They throw live animals in the trash to die. That's one shop I'll never visit.

You need to contact PetSmart's upper management. Also, ASPCA resources to find what you can do: see here ASPCA

a reply to: eeyipes

Yes and no. A lot of people also don't understand "new tank syndrome." You pay attention and you will see a lot of people who go into these stores and buy tank and fish and run home to set it all up all on the same day. It's a recipe for disaster.

You should never, ever do that. Most fish will die horribly.

A tank should always be set up and allowed to cycle fully before you ever add fish unless you are doing a cycle with fish which is cruel IMO and should be avoided.

I walked into a pet store once and saw over ten peach faced love birds in a 15 gallon FISHTANK! I almost started crying right in the store. Some looked lively, others not so much.

If this bothers you, take a look at how many fish die each year due to pollution. Approximately 40% of US lakes are too polluted for fishing, aquatic life, or swimming.

Thanks for the suggestions everyone. I will talk with my friend and see if he is willing to take any action and maybe contact PETA or ASPCA. I forgot all about the almighty power of write-offs. That's just terrible! It's cheaper just to write-off the fish than it is to solve the problem... and that's why they're doing it? They shouldn't be allowed to write it off if it's their own fault for not providing the proper environment for the fish to live in.

If a corporation takes these fish from their natural habitats just so they can make money, it should be their responsibility to properly care for them until the end consumer buys them, it shouldn't be allowed that they just shrug it off like nothing is happening!

I didn't know that. They had the audacity to have that board of community kindness while doing that?!

a reply to: Fargoth

originally posted by: Iamthatbish
I didn't know that. They had the audacity to have that board of community kindness while doing that?!

a reply to: Fargoth

I worked at Walmart for two years and I never saw that happen. I'm not saying that it does not happen at all, I am just saying that I never saw anything like that while I was there. I did see a lot of sidewalk sales for $1.00 shirts and stuff though until most of it was gone.

I do however know that the store I worked for did write off their dead fish. I worked 3rd stocking and sometimes we would have drunks coming in at 3 am because they could not wait to have a fish lol. I had to be trained on how to dip them out, bag them, and to specifically remove and write down any dead fish that I saw in any of the tanks. They used that sheet for the write offs. They did get refunds on those fish. So it is likely that Petsmart may do the same thing.

PETA may just laugh at you, they kill many more animals than you might think. Here's a report from the Virginia Office of Veterinary Services showing that one PETA shelter alone killed 90% of it's animals within 24 hours of receiving them. Killing about 2000 animals year after year.

Are they going to care about some fish? I suppose they might, if they can get some publicity and donations from it.

www.petakillsanimals.com...

a reply to: Aldakoopa

Call a news media outlet. That tends to instill common sense.

originally posted by: Iamthatbish
He needs to call PETA. they'll show us a real protest.

PETA? You mean the company that takes pets for adoption and then kills them in the parking lot? The group that kills the highest % of animals of any I have ever seen? The one that would rather pay for a huge freezer to store dead bodies than to pay for food and shelter?

Yeah, I wouldn't either.