The Puffer Forum

Yeah...the best thing you could do to Billy is to return him to the store. He will definitely not be able to live for much longer if your tank is not cycled and not nearly large enough. I wish the store had cared enough to ask you what kind of tank you had, your fish-keeping experience, or at least told you about the basic requirements of a porcupine, before making the sale.

well. i woke up this morning and billy was stuck to the filter upside down. =[ The shark wasn't lookiing so hot either and by the time i got home from school, he was gone too. I think the puffer got a cut from when he puffed up in the pet shop and was put into the little box thing they use when they catch the fish. The manager himself said he'd "Be fine, he's been here for three months." He obvously wasn't okay and I have reason to believe my shark died because he tried to eat him and got poisined.

sounds very fishie

sorry about ur loss

haha, fishie.
it's okay. I'm just a bit mad that all the guy at the store cared about was getting his money.

refund?

nope, there's no refund on saltwater fish. stupid petco.

PETCO?

I am almost certain your fish died from ammonia poisoning, not from a small cut or trying to eat the dead puffer - you have to eat a puffers liver or gonads to get poisoned, typically, picking at the outside won't do it. You have a tiny, uncycled tank not nearly big enough for any of the fish, in that condition, it only takes a day or two before ammonia kills everything. Nearly nobody at petco knows ANYTHING. If they know something, they came there with the info, not got it from training. Do not buy more fish for your tank - get it cycled, and then think about a couple smaller fish, perhaps a clownfish would be OK.

Not sure if you would travel out here. but petco in smithtown knows there salt-water.
Some what.

okay. Don't think just because I'm younger than you means I'm stupid. My shark did fine in a 10 gallon freshwater tank with a blue gourami as a tank mate. I got the salt water tank, put him in it and the gourami in my pond and they were both happy. The shark swam all over the tank and was doing great with no signs of sickness or anything. I put the puffer in and he got sick. The puffer was in a 5 gallon tank at the store for most of it's life, I think he was happy to be in something even a bit bigger than that.

and Sponge bob, new york is a bit far away from tennessee. =/

ik.nick lives on longisland.
well im a kid to.young one.
its ok.know you learned alot didnt you?

I guess I just reminded myself why I stopped going to PetCo...

aw..petco is good for lil things.maybe like foods and tanks.sometimes not fishies.my petco by me is pretty good with fish.i look at the feeder goldfish and none dead

The feeder fish tank at the one near me had a carpet of carcasses.. it was gross. and they had some hermit crabs in with some damsels and the crabs ate the fish. it wasn't very nice, they had no idea what they were doing.