The Puffer Forum

That's so sad.

Good for you, PurpleCandle!

UPDATE: All of their eyes are clear!!!!!!!!So, melefix + good water is definitely the cure for this problem. I got these guys on Sunday and last night was their third dose..I will give a few more doses.....I hurdle Jumped!

Zombie: You are right about talking with people/managers. Months ago (before I took a firm stance on not buying from Walmart) I rescued all of a tanks contents of dying GSPs...I did so because the fish department guy said that they were not going to get more in because they just kept dying + I was only charged 30 cents for them. But, even though they were not going to sell anymore I told the guy why they were dying and what type of food they should eat and so on and so on, they guy seemed really interested. So, weeks later when I went back, they still had GSPs BUT these were some of the healthiest GSPs I had ever seen! And they did not just get them in because other tanks were sold out of fish...So I called for the fish guy...and the same guy was there and I asked why they were still selling them...he said that after what I had said, him and the manager had decided to use some of my advice and ignore their distributor..and they gave selling GSPs another shot. They could not get away with buying the best food for them...but they were using freeze dried worms and such...not just letting them starve or giving them a food stone. Not a total win, but definitely an example of reaching an employee's heart.

Agreed. i work in a vets office, so i see many dogs and cats that could be and should be rescued, but i cant. maybe thats why i want to rescue these fish... lol But trust me, i wont do anything without really thinking on it, i was just putting my two sense in.

I have a question though. I saw one at my walmart that had basically no side fin. I'm not sure if it was chewed off or a deformaty. If it was chewed off, would he have a chance to grow it back? He actually looked to be in a bit better shape than the others. He was nice and round, and no signs of bad illness.

Once again, just curious.

Dukeskeeper36 wrote:Agreed. i work in a vets office, so i see many dogs and cats that could be and should be rescued, but i cant. maybe thats why i want to rescue these fish... lol But trust me, i wont do anything without really thinking on it, i was just putting my two sense in.

I have a question though. I saw one at my walmart that had basically no side fin. I'm not sure if it was chewed off or a deformaty. If it was chewed off, would he have a chance to grow it back? He actually looked to be in a bit better shape than the others. He was nice and round, and no signs of bad illness.

Once again, just curious.

It is really an ethical debate isn't it? with no clear solution on what to do in THAT second you see something in need of rescue.

My GSPs with chewed fins have grown them back. but, Are you sure it was not just clamped tightly? I have not seen many with side fins chewed off..usually it is the tail fin...however, he does sound like a cool fish fin or not You could call him Nemo!

I talked to the fish manager of the store nearest middletown, CT. I mentioned they prefer basically sea water as they get bigger, grow 6" long and need very big tanks, and can't eat flakes. She said that they usually don't refuse freeze dried stuff, and the marine conditions and adult size aren't her problem because they don't stay in the store long enough for her to have to worry about that, and anyone should research or ask before getting them. She sells approx. 6 a week.
Interesting that she knew at least some basics, and odd that she'd keep ordering them and selling them having a damn good idea they're never getting anything near what they need.

I wish the LFS' would hand out a flyer with the fish they sell... a basic "how to" or care guide like you get with anything else you buy.

My LFS is selling painted glass fish as FW, GSPs as FW, F8s as FW ... it irks me to no end.

They shouldn't be selling painted glass fish AT ALL!!!

no joke .... I totally agree with that 200% very cruel

Pufferpunk wrote:They shouldn't be selling painted glass fish AT ALL!!!

really sickens me everytime i see these

Used to fight with the store manager at my old pet store gig about them all the time. He said people buy them all the time and there's no use fighting it, or they just go right down the road to petco and get them there, along with all their other fish; the same number of fish are abused and we lose sales and a chance to teach them how to do other things right.

Finally, I started telling anyone that asked about them about the dye injection, risks of secondary infections, loss of the color over time, and got the sales on them to drop to where we hardly ever had to restock. For his part, even when I did it right in front of him, he didn't stop me from talking down about the fish, even hough it was against the owners policy to discourage sales when the buyer had the right tank to house the fish.

A compromise, I guess. We were selling about 1/10th what we used to.

I think everyone on this forum should move to the same city and we can all open up a giant fish store. lol.