Are all PetCos bad?

[Reaperpilot2014]

Sweet! Post pics!

I have to figure out how =( all mine are too big. And he's got ich = / not too bad, thank goodness I caught it before it was all over, but there is a bit of bi furan in his tank that is making it yellow = / been doing 50% water changes for the last 5 days. Hopefully it won't be too much longer and then he will be better, and I will get a bigger tank! =D

I'm on Ambien right now, and that whole thing blew right over me.

9-07 edit: Makes sense now. I shouldn't be on the puffer forum after taking my meds lol.

[ILoveLola]

Its really hit or miss, from what I've found. Mostly miss, but sometimes you get lucky. The local petco I lived near in Maryland was just absolutely atrocious, there were always dead fish, obviously sick, it was just awful. I go to a Petsmart here in Florida thats pretty decent though. Ive only gotten snails and ghost shrimp from them recently, but they're always clean, and there's a girl there who is very knowledgable about fish care You just have to get lucky.
The only LFS I've found around me is a really small marine/reef store. It's pretty cool, but doesnt help me much..

petco/petsmart around here suck but petsupermarket is usually pretty good and the guys that work there have been there forever and know there surlaW.

^
I actually got Lola from the petsupermarket in San Jose! Worth the drive.

[Reaperpilot2014]

Petco here tells me to grab feeder snails myself. I ask for a net, but they generally just want me to reach in and grab the boogers.

[DrKennethNoisewater]

best of luck to your small puffer! i gave my dwarfs to a friend who seen them and wanted them terribly, and i wanted bigger ones anyway. they look terrible since i did, even though i gave him really good info on keeping them, and referred him here... but ill be there next weekend to straighten things out they are a great fish!

[Pufferpunk]

I'm on Ambien right now, and that whole thing blew right over me.

Just took my Lunesta. I'll be typing funny soon...

[xrayjeeper83]

Ilovelola I got the the petsupermarket on Blanding in OP, the guys are top notch and know there stuff

[goldielocke76]

Ummm... Furan is an antibiotic.

PP, it is this that I am giving: http://uskoi.com/bifuran+.htm

I was told by the LFS that it would work = / maybe I am just wishing him well, but he went from 8 spots of ich (lol yeah, I counted...I was really worried = / ) to 4 spots. Not sure if it's the BiFuran working, the 50% WCs or a combination of both. I just know that finally, PZ is starting to recognize me and he flits like a little bumblebee every time I pass his tank. Only had him since the 2nd and already I'm crazy about him ^.^

[Dadof4]

Yeah...about that spot reduction....more than likely coincidental. Furan and Bifuran have minimal effects on external protozoa, it works on external infections though. Even though Ich is a protozoan infection it is hard shelled and has very little to no uptake of antibiotics.

[RTR]

First off, from any store or merchant, whether local or on-line: Do not expect any salesperson to tell you the truth. Their job is to make sales, not to educate the public, that wastes their time and costs the owner money. If you do not know what you want or need, research it for yourself and decide for yourself. For equipment in living areas, it must be absolutely silent; in the tank room some noise is allowed. I buy for value in life cycle costs - purchase price plus operating costs and all replacement parts or media, etc. for a 10 to 20 year period. The initial purchase price is just one factor in that decision. It may or may not be over 10-plus years relatively trivial compared to operating costs. And I will definitely pay more fro both silent operation and for higher efficiency. The first of those is for my own peace of mind, the second in for economy. Good canisters are highly efficient; excellent canisters are dead silent. I have not used any HOB filter in the last 40 years because I cannot put up with the noise. Efficiency also impacts the operating costs - if a filter has to pass the same volume of water through itself multiple times for good clearance, that costs money in power use as well.

One size definitely does not fit all. My values are strongly tied to efficiency and silent operation and low upkeep. I will invest more effort up-front to plan and set a system which will operate well for a given time period for the least money and do so as quietly as possible. That does require me or anyone to consider total life cycle costs of a set-up. I certainly do not expect any LFS or chain employee or owner/manager to even know what that means, much less understand it or be able to discuss it.

[Reaperpilot2014]

Very well said RTR! An excellent and informational post!

[goldielocke76]

Yeah...about that spot reduction....more than likely coincidental. Furan and Bifuran have minimal effects on external protozoa, it works on external infections though. Even though Ich is a protozoan infection it is hard shelled and has very little to no uptake of antibiotics.

Bummer =( anyone have a product that they recommend for ich? Going out in a bit, I can pick up something so I can get this guy better. =)

[Reaperpilot2014]

Salinity and heat. I also like ich attack and haven't had any problems with it affecting my fish, inverts, or plants, no matter how high the dose.

[sevenyearnight]

Salinity and heat. I also like ich attack and haven't had any problems with it affecting my fish, inverts, or plants, no matter how high the dose.

Make sure you specify herbal ich attack, because they have a blue chemical version that is their regular ich attack.

[Reaperpilot2014]

Good catch. I didn't know that they had the same name. I thought Kordon's only other ich treatment was Rid Ich and Rid Ich+. Those have some nasty chemicals.

[sevenyearnight]

Well, I just looked again, and either I have a skewed memory, or they only have herbal ich attack now.
:/
Sorry, I thought they had 2 products with the same name, except one had herbal.