New Store - Dead Fish

[Madam Macaw]

I found a nice little aquarium store while going to a birthday party. The store had some really nice specimens that I haven't seen at other stores. But, in a few tanks there were some dead floating fish - it was late in the evening right before they closed. My husband says that any store will have some fish that die and since it was late - they just hadn't gotten to them yet. What is an acceptable amount of floating fish before you will think that the store is not one you should be buying fish at?

[Ricker]

I would think at least 2 in each tank. It is true. The best fish store we have. All they do is sell fish and tanks and etc... have dead fish to. It isn't the stores falt most times. I even took a test kit to it and water check out water is crystal clears. So some just die. See if they will let you test their water. Always a good idea

[emc7]

I hate to see dead fish in stores. At the very least it tells me they aren't looking at their fish. It used to be that stores would always remove corpses quickly since a dead fish could quickly foul a 10 gallon tank. Now will huge, multi-tank systems a little ammonia isn't going to hurt anything. And fish are always going to die in stores, from shipping, incompatible water, aggressive tank mates, etc. But when I see a dead fish in a store, I think that if that fish died from disease, all the killers now have plenty of time to "jump ship" and infect every fish in store (or at least on the system). See how the store reacts when you mention the corpse. I once mentioned a corpse at a chain store and was told they had to leave the dead ones in until they did their inventory. Gross!

[Madam Macaw]

Originally Posted by Ricker

I would think at least 2 in each tank. It is true. The best fish store we have. All they do is sell fish and tanks and etc... have dead fish to. It isn't the stores falt most times. I even took a test kit to it and water check out water is crystal clears. So some just die. See if they will let you test their water. Always a good idea

That is a good idea. The woman there was very knowledgable and willing to answer questions, even though they were getting ready to close. There was only one or two in a couple of tanks, but it got me to wondering.

[Madam Macaw]

Originally Posted by emc7

I hate to see dead fish in stores. At the very least it tells me they aren't looking at their fish. It used to be that stores would always remove corpses quickly since a dead fish could quickly foul a 10 gallon tank. Now will huge, multi-tank systems a little ammonia isn't going to hurt anything. And fish are always going to die in stores, from shipping, incompatible water, aggressive tank mates, etc. But when I see a dead fish in a store, I think that if that fish died from disease, all the killers now have plenty of time to "jump ship" and infect every fish in store (or at least on the system). See how the store reacts when you mention the corpse. I once mentioned a corpse at a chain store and was told they had to leave the dead ones in until they did their inventory. Gross!

That is a good idea too. Thanks.

[GoodMike]

gotta keep in mind..the fish stores deal with thousands of fish all the time. die off is normal. shipping, stress, disease, defect, etc. you name it. most people lose fish in their tanks, and they are only dealing with a few fish. multiply that by the thousands.

[Clerk]

Yeah, you should think things out. If you have never actually worked at a fish store it may be hard to comprehend, when you are dealing with 6-15 thousand fish, with over a hundred tanks, and its been busy all day, in addition to being understaffed. Then you can talk about it.

All fish stores have loss, the stores you don't see it are not always better. They may also be less busy or have a larger staff.


If everything is dead in the tank, then thats not so good

[CarterNichols]

besides, if they are wild specimens when shipped to the store it is likely that stress will kill them, it probably doesn't have anything really to do with your fish store, what you want to look out for is if there is ich on the fish, or fin rot, or if all the fish in a tank seem to be sickly...

[emc7]

The chain store wasn't busy, they had fish department people free. It was just policy to leave corpses in the tank for management to count so that employees couldn't give away/steal/rescue fish by saying they died. Maybe they save on food by letting them eat each other.

[Obsidian]

I always look at the condition of the fish that are alive. If everyone looks pretty happy and healthy then I don't worry about the dead ones that much. If they have ich or bad fins etc I get more concerned. Then I usually wait until I know that cycle has passed (usually several weeks) and take a look again.

Recently at a petsmart there was literally a pile of dead clown loaches. There were at least 10 all in a corner. What shocked me about this was that I was the one to notice. I mean its one thing to miss a dead fish or two, but a whole pile taking up the entire corner of the tank? The employee I told removed them immediately and then told the manager. I thought that was an appropriate response, if not a bit slow.

[Fishfirst]

I believe that a good fish store will have very few dead total in all of their tanks at any point in time. Massive losses are usually acclimation shock (ref. to clown loaches) but if its a day or two after they get their fish in and there are fish dead all over the place... go somewhere else.

[JustOneMore20]

Like most people are saying in this thread, I don't let it bother me that there are some dead fish, as long as the live ones look healthy.

[emc7]

Went to Marine Fish today, not a single body. The only 'chewed' looking fish was segregated in a planted tank. Everyone else was perfect. Bought live shrimp and blackworms. This is an expensive place, but one of my favs. An example of an excellent place.

[trashion]

It could be that they recently cleaned dead fish out, though.

[emc7]

Of course, one visit is hardly enough data for any place. But I know Paula and she looks and the fish and I know she separates the ones that are being beaten before they end up dead and pulls out causalties. She also gets a lot of fish from local breeders (like me), so she avoids some of the massive die-offs of fish from asia (it prob. happens at her distrubuter instead)