Wal Mart

[Incredulous_Ed]

I know alot of people here have written letters to wal mart complaining about the horrible conditions of the tanks they keep the fishies in. I just though of a great idea. The next time you notify the manager of this, tell them that many of the fish have piscine tuberculosis (which they usually do at wal mart) and that if some little kid stuck his hand in the tank with a cut on his hand or something, he could become very ill. Then the manager or whoever will see this as a health hazard so they should clean up their act fast. Get what I'm trying to say?

[Fishalicious]

Never been in a Wal-mart in my life (am I missing anything?) but I totally get what you are saying... only bad thing is that they will probably swiftly get rid of all the fish they currently have as a precaution causing a lot of maybe healthy fish to come to a quick end... just my thoughts...

[Azear]

that's an awesome idea... tho not sure if it would work... :S Walmart don't hear anything and my local Walmart has the dirtiest tank I would ever seen... there's about 1" in the bottom of each 18 tank of gray-green algae ... Poor fishes... and one other place that have poor condition for fishes is Petcetera (I actually "saved" 3 guppies few days ago...) Their tank is like 6" x 6" x 6"... and they massively overstock them... like... having 8 huge fancy goldfish (like 4" long) in this small tank is animal cruelty...

anyways... So walmart shouldn't sell any fishes cauz their employee don't know how to handle it... and they don't clean and ... blablabla... we all know this song too well.....

[Incredulous_Ed]

Never been in a Wal-mart in my life (am I missing anything?) but I totally get what you are saying... only bad thing is that they will probably swiftly get rid of all the fish they currently have as a precaution causing a lot of maybe healthy fish to come to a quick end... just my thoughts...
lol, they have good prices, so I regularly shop there. The wlmarts aound these parts have33 healthy fish only the first few weeks they are in stock, then they get sick and the tanks look horrible. But if you come in on a day of a new shipment, all the fish are good and the tanks are clean. However, there are some ther with piscine tuberculosis.

One of the worst fish I saw there was a celestial eye goldfish, which I assume was once gold. The eyes were black, the skin was white, it had almost no fins, and each time it shimmyed, it's skin shook. Very gross.

[S13DWS]

I think thats a pretty good idea. Or get a letter drafted up in a thread and let people read through it. Have the letter head as our aquatic community symbol and have it printed off and sent in. We could also get each and every member to send in a handwritten/photocopy of thier signature to be added to it. This way they might see its more than one person complaining that thier tanks are crap, and that its a whole lot of aquarium enthusiest! (sp?)

[A340]

tell them that many of the fish have piscine tuberculosis (which they usually do at wal mart
And you can prove this for a fact?

Many WalMarts have tanks and fish in poor health, as do many other fish stores. Some WalMarts have tanks and fish in great health, as do many other fish stores.

Yes, we all know that WalMart is this big evil corporation who sells shoes made by little chidlren in India (ironically, the same shoes sold at another store down the street for $20 more, but I'm sure those shoes aren't the fruits of child labour) and treats their employees like crap because WalMart doesn't support Unions even though WalMart offers one of the best benefit plans to employees.

Ed, it's great that you are concerned about fish in stores, but please, if you're serious about someting like this, open your eyes and take a look around at many other pet stores, they're just as guilty.

[Algenco]

It all depends on the store. If they don't provide proper care, I doubt they would listen. You might send a copy to corporate with the store number and get results.

I must be lucky, my Walmart provides decent care for their fish, the problems are with the supplier. I have been present numerous times when the shipment arrives, they have been in the bag 2 days and as many as 70% are dead.
Did you know that Walmart guarantees fish for 90 days? Keep the bag they came in and the receipt:c1:

[A340]

I have been present numerous times when the shipment arrives, they have been in the bag 2 days and as many as 70% are dead.
Which has what to do with WalMart? That's the responsibility of the fish wholesaler and shipping company and is not uncommon for a large number of fish to die (to any pet store) during transport. In fact, many species that are rare or quite pricey are shipped in large quantities but in the end, only a couple to a few arrive alive.

[Algenco]

Which has what to do with WalMart? That's the responsibility of the fish wholesaler and shipping company and is not uncommon for a large number of fish to die (to any pet store) during transport. In fact, many species that are rare or quite pricey are shipped in large quantities but in the end, only a couple to a few arrive alive.

I'm just saying that not all Walmarts are bad and it's difficult to sell quality fish when you get crap! I have spoke with the Dept manager and as long as the supplier credits them for DOA Corporate doesn't care.
The supplier to my local Walmart delivers with a van, the route takes 2 days, which means the fish are in the bags for 3 days and set at night in a parked van without heat or AC.
I have also looked over the filtration system, they use large sumps with high flow pumps and UV sterilizer.

Walmarts have the same problems that all chains have, lack of training or concern

[MeganL3985]

My walmart was bad there for a while, I ended up writing 2 or 3 letters in a 2 or 3 week span and they finally cleaned their place up and its been fine for about a month now. Do they still overstock, yes, but I havent seen a LFS that doesn't...its just that, stocking purposes. I agree 100% in writing letters to prove a point or an issue to be corrected, but I don't agree with lying. If its bad enough to write a letter, than i'm sure you can come up with a lot of completely valid reasons why they need to take better care of their tanks.
A corporate giant like that has the resources to not care about that stuff anyway and I don't know about the other walmarts, but ours has it so you cannot get your hand in the tank without having a key to the tank "doors" above. Not saying that walmart is without its flaws, b/c that would be completely uncorrect, but they have the power to make it better, without creating a frenzy over fish that really do not have a disease.

[jeffs99dime]

i am against buying anything living from petsmart, walmart, petco, etc. (any of the corporate entities that carry living things, really.)

[MeganL3985]

I would not buy anything from them, except unfortunately the local "mom and pop" LFS's are disgusting and worse than any of the "giants" around here.

[Incredulous_Ed]

And you can prove this for a fact?

Many WalMarts have tanks and fish in poor health, as do many other fish stores. Some WalMarts have tanks and fish in great health, as do many other fish stores.

Yes, we all know that WalMart is this big evil corporation who sells shoes made by little chidlren in India (ironically, the same shoes sold at another store down the street for $20 more, but I'm sure those shoes aren't the fruits of child labour) and treats their employees like crap because WalMart doesn't support Unions even though WalMart offers one of the best benefit plans to employees.

Ed, it's great that you are concerned about fish in stores, but please, if you're serious about someting like this, open your eyes and take a look around at many other pet stores, they're just as guilty.

whoa, whoa, whoa, hold on here. I was not planning to send a letter to wal mart. I understand that the quality varies from store to store. All I was saying is that I know several people here on this site have written letters to stores that keep fish in bad conditions to clean up their act. And I have noticed that sometimes the store never gets back to them or changes anything. I just wrote this so ppeople who do write letters and contact the managers can have another reason for them for take better care of the fish.
:14: :14: :14:

[cocoa_pleco]

the wal-mart supercentre here got rid of fish, but when i went out of town to drayton valley (small city) they still had fish since hteir only competition is a small pet store.

their tanks are fairly good, but overstocked. the biggest complaint is they ALWAYS since ive known them got huge shipments of dyed white skirt tetras, green, red, yellow, and all of the other colors.

[Bill M.]

Woah woah.. hold up everyone...

Ed and Pat, calm down guys! While it is an important issue, is it really nessicary to argue between posts?

Here is my opinion of Walmart. Great prices for equiptment, crappy fish. Sure, it is not the supplier of the fishes concern on what happens to them after they leave, but they do add to the crappy fish. I talked to a gentleman who worked at WM for a few years in the pets dept. and he told me that sometimes, if there are too many fish, they would just net them and dump them in trash. So I truely believe that it is both parties fault for sub par performance.

[Incredulous_Ed]

you're right bill, sorry patrick if I seemed hostile. I didn't mean it!

[A340]

Oh goody, multiple posts to reply to ... :ezpi_wink1:

Ed, first of all, no apology is necessary, I didn't take your posts (nor anyone elses) as hostile, you brought up a concern and valid points and I share your concerns and thoughts and support them. The problem with the internet, is that its quite difficult to detect the emotion of the poster at times, so I'm sure you (and others) thought that my post was some what harsh or seemed like trying to put yours down, which was not my intention.

Bill, no worries, we're not arguing, just exchanging views. If you want to see arguing, you should come over to the aviation forum I'm a member with. It's gotten so bad there that I rarely even post anymore because of the bashing and low blows. :hmm3grin2orange:

Algenco, as much as we wish it not to be true, but that is how our precious water friends are shipped, and sadly, many do not survive the trip. This not only applies to fish sent from the wholesaler to WalMart, but also to many other reputable fish stores and even wild caught fish from the source to our respective countries. Animal logistics is big business, and cost cutting is important as in any business, unfortanatly many logistic companies (including airlines) don't see fish transport as important as million dollar horse transport. There are of course companies that specialize in fish/coral/invertebrae transport, but sadly, they don't ship countrywide let alone worldwide.

I do agree with you that WalMart suffers from the same problem as other big chains which lack of training and concern.

This is what so many of us need to realize, and I have stated this before. We are very enthusiastic about our fish and aquariums, but in the big picture, we only form the minority. Yes, we do spend big bucks on our fish and equipment, especially when it comes to speciality equipment, but the number of first time buyers who don't know what they are doing out number us and these are the people that most big chains are after because they know that they can sell them everything under the moon even though they don't need it. And, for the stores, that's the bottom line.

Sorry, if I seemed to come off harsh, didn't mean to.

[Tjones]

the trick with wal-mart si you need sombody that works there to tell you when they get their fish shippments in and get the fish before they ever get put into their tanks :)

my brother used to work there like years ago and we did that
also overfed their oscars with the goldfish....
i'll admit its amusing when you get caught...

[CAF]

This is a RUMOR I heard. I have had it confirmed by local WM employees but not from any member of management.

WM is supposed to be closing down all of their fish tanks over the next year due to the amount of complaints, law suits, and other legal action (fines from appropriate parties).

Every time I hear a hard date it changes, so this may be nothing more than a story, but it is interesting...

[MeganL3985]

Wow....thats a relief. I wonder if they'll continue to sell fish supplies if they're not selling fish.

[Bassfan]

Well theres an easy solution to all of this. Dont buy fish from walmart. I actually don't mind Petco. I got my oscar from petco and he seems very healthy, so not all Petco's are bad.

[akatosh]

I like my wal-mart (i actully work there as a truck unloader) good fish, good prices but some very dump people, i went in the other day to buy a few ghost shrimp( my lfs dosen't have them) and the guy getting them for me had to be retarted or something.... frist he was really crazy scooping them up in the net then (It never ever crossed my mind that the would even think about doing this) the guy takes the bag by the top then spins it 6 or 7 times to twist up the top and tie it...... i just walked away... if i had said what i wanted to say i probaly would have been fired....