Where is the best place to buy fish?

[brianb4536]

I have 3 oscars in three tanks...but everyone has been sick when i got it and i have basically nursed it back to health and had two die on me. I bought them all at petco. I have seen them at petsmart and i want a new one....haha i love them. Where is the best place to buy fish? A chain store like petco or petsmart? Help please, i dont want anymore problems.

[dancethenparty]

honestly. it depends on where you live. i hate my petco and petsmart b/c all they care about is profit and i've never been in there where a fish isn't sick. however other people on this forum seem to have success with those stores. personally i really like dennys. idk go to google maps and type in pet stores and see what comes up

[brianb4536]

is dennys a pet store

[dancethenparty]

is dennys a pet store
yes. they have helped me so much. and they don't sell for profit. but they are kinda expensive.

[Oscar_freak12321]

Some independent pet stores can be phenomenal on fish supplies and live fish. :22:

[Northernguy]

Brian how big are your tanks?
They need space.The large tank also helps because of all the water helps to keep the toxins down and the stress levels down.Both of those will really do a number on an oscar.Oscars are also filthy fish and need a ton of filtration and large water changes.
I got my two at a local LFS that makes me cringe when I look at her tanks.
A healthy diet is very important too.

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[chronic]

Brian, a fish isn't a kite, or a slipper! Its an animal that requires care and an environment that allows it to flourish.

You need to keep your oscars in a large aquarium! they grow up to be 15" fish, a 30g tank will not allow that!

You're asking alot of questions for your sick oscar, but you haven't supplied alot of important information.
Test your water with a good test kit, and buy a big aquarium with good filtration!!! That will provide you with a healthy fish!


You can't buy a good fish, and put it in a sub par tank expecting it to be 100%

[little hawaii]

I have 3 oscars in three tanks...but everyone has been sick when i got it and i have basically nursed it back to health and had two die on me. I bought them all at petco. I have seen them at petsmart and i want a new one....haha i love them. Where is the best place to buy fish? A chain store like petco or petsmart? Help please, i dont want anymore problems.

I won't ussually buy from the big boxs, I prefer to go to the family run places were people accually care about fish. I have bought at boxs before and had huge losses. I believe this is because most of these places are running huge UV sterilisers now, they are a detriment to the industry. They kill everything in the water and the resistance of the fish goes down. As soon as it is placed in a tank without UV, it is prone to get sick and die. There are some real good ol sites too.

[aspects]

oscars are prone to disease. its just the nature of the beast.
you can minimize this by buying directly from a reputable dealer, or buying WC fish, but the chances of disease are still pretty high.

[jay2487]

I have had better luck from independent dealers than from the big boxes and it's really common sense when you think about it. A multi-million dollar a year store with corporate backed advertising isn't going to have a single problem getting people in the doors. If every true aquarist stopped going to petco there would still be plenty of noobs who saw a commercial that would keep them in business. CEOs have shareholders to answer to which means the name of the game is profit which means they will tell you whatever you want to hear or whatever it takes to get you to spend the most and buy the best. On the other hand a small family owned independent shop has to fight the big boxes for customers, they can't do this with advertising as they don't have 1200 locations around the country to pay for it so the only advertising they fight for is word of mouth, meaning giving every customer great service hoping they will tell there friends about how great a time they had shopping at "such and such". It seems that I see a lot more pros in the independent shops than I do the big boxes.