PetSmart writes Back *Here's What they Said!*

[@icarlsw34]

The only fish stores near me are Petsmart and Petland. So I have neccesarily bought fish from both stores. I noticed the petsmart near me has to suspend sales periodically in order to quarantine their fish because of an outbreak of something. Probably because all the tanks are connected. I quarantine my fish for 4 weeks before adding them to any tanks. And this has been mostly successful for me.

[@seansquill8773]

Fantastic Video Ben…and the music at the end after the video was over was simply GREAT! Love me a little jazz!

[@BenOchart]

Thank you Sean!

[@keithduwe2647]

Another awesome video, Mr. Ben I think the bottom line is quarantine all fish that are bought from any fish store.

[@BrianClarkston-j3u]

Hey Ben, Hello from Morristown, Tennessee. I think discus would be a great addition to your fishroom. I've had discus for a little over a year now. I treat them just like all my other tanks, except for a lil higher temperature (82-83 degrees) is what I keep them as well as "weekly" water changes (about 30-40 percent). I have several tank breed along with a few wild caught. I lost 2 in the beginning, but since then all has been well. I think you can do it. Good luck in the New Year & I love your channel. Thank you for the videos you make.

[@BenOchart]

Thank you Brian. Very encouraging😀👍🏻

[@tubingtomtom]

My local petsmart is dismal at stocking and maintaining its fish. Often has warnings posted to not buy fish due to an outbreak in the system! lol I will give them props for the warning though. On the other hand my local Petco has an awesome fish department. The staff are all experienced fish keepers themselves. The manager orders fish beyond the normal set list at least every other week. Keeps two isolated quarantine tanks for stressed and sick fish. I’m lucky to have it

[@j.t.cooper2963]

Yep. They gave me the same song and dance almost word for word when the fish I got from them had Epistylus.

[@robertjohnston25]

Would need to have a lot of people complain in a short amount of time for them to make any meaningful changes. Also congrats on your specially labeled Northfin food! I look forward to trying it when it becomes available in the US!

[@raymondbardeen6450]

It is very important to remember; we are in the throws of a renewed era of corporate monopolies that require the consumer to return to the time of the Industrial Revolution and adopt the “buyers beware” philosophy.

[@BenOchart]

Between corp monopolies and the usual wave of scams that are presented, it's amazing we have any money left, LOL!

[@chicanitajaquez2678]

Good evening 1/4/25 Happy New Year to you and your familia

[@stevemacdonald2303]

The store should make sure the fish are safe

[@artvanderlay2390]

Its the business model for those large box stores. There is enough information on KZbin on how to take care of aquarium fish. And I believe this is the gateway for people to get into the hobby now.Btw Ben why not just use plastic containers for emergency quarantine purposes?.

[@edcctf]

I think if you luck out and walk in to a chain store that actually has employees who know aquaria you're probably ok... (they'll be doing the right things) But if not, they probably aren't going out of their way to train them correctly. If no one there really knows what they are doing how can anyone get trained correctly.

[@Scallywags_Fish_Bowl]

So, to me it sounds like you got an A.I. generated response, working with it in the way I do, it seems like that is what they did, lol!

[@stevemacdonald2303]

You know we all need a 10gal aquarium to put the fish in for a month then put them in with the fish

[@jmsadms]

Why would Discus need a bare bottom tank?

[@pacificreefer4495]

They don’t “need” a bare bottom, but it’s recommended for a cleaner, healthier tank

[@jmsadms]

@ gotcha

[@TankMatesAquaponics]

The empire strikes back vibes :)

[@Brianhahahaha]

They get new fish so fast and sell them so fast there isn't time for them to do anything. Even healthy fish from a local fish shop can get ick in the process of bringing them home and putting them in a tank. You run a risk adding new fish from anywhere.

[@radioraffa]

Wow I do agree that these box stores have some questionable practices and their Associates are not that well versed. But, part of the issue was that you added fish to a quarantine tank that had fish in it already that had been there for some time and were on the later stages of quarantining. The new fish should have went into a total separate tank.

[@BenOchart]

In retrospect, despite having done that successfully many times in the past, it certainly put the first batch of fish at risk, but if you haven't already done so, watch the first video to get the whole story on why I was upset with PetSmart.

[@markbaumgardt2868]

Hi Ben im a discus keeper with my discus they are Malasian imports the water has to be 30 degrees Celsius with the Discus i have Altum angels and Congo Tettras i used to have cardinal tetras but my very large discus ate almost all of them Rummy nose did allright

[@thehairywoodsman5644]

whoa, hold on Ben! my favorite beverage is wild turkey 101 on ice, if i drink a cup of that this early in the morning i wont get anything done! i think i'll just have a coffee.

[@BenOchart]

Let's start with coffee and work into the Wild Turkey, LOL!

[@stevecox8066]

I very much like watching your channel. But I can't say I'm in agreement with today's concerns over big box stores. I honestly thought most people understood they are a retailer and basically a layover for animals. Expecting them to have quarantine tanks and a month of time for every fish is absolutely crazy. You would never see a fish for under twenty bucks again if this were the case. That's why they give you two to four week guarantees. I've been in the hobby longer than most of their Salesforce have been alive. I don't expect them to know what I know and no one else should either. Can all this quarantine be done? Sure. But any store doing that is going to lose business to everyone else except advanced hobbyists willing to spend extra. All of us have access to learning materials on FB, KZbin, etc. My Petco was fantastic but that was due to one kid who was a bigger fish nerd than me and he knew his stuff. They lost him to a local SW store and their fish department went downhill immediately. But keep in mind, these box stores simply have departments. They aren't fish stores and holding them to those standards just isn't right. You are expecting far too much!!

[@BenOchart]

I hear you but I think they could come up with a better way to transition fish from supplier to customer that would result in less die-offs and a better chance of creating a new life long fish keeper. It starts with some rudimentary education of the staff, as discussed in the original video. When a store has a fish nerd as a manager or head of department, the area runs well, so I know it can be done without driving prices way up. Ultimately it would be a win for them since they would have more long term fish keepers continuing to buy fish and supplies from them. Unfortunately, it's all about short-term gains, even if it means a disservice to the clients. Thanks for watching and commenting.

[@kinglyzard]

It depends on many things, but mainly what will move the needle and spur action on the part of Petsmart is a hell of a lot more feedback from unhappy clients regarding this issue. Corporate entities really don't give a damn about their clientele until we start dropping the shovels and going home.

[@josephgadway8950]

Lip service.

[@michaelprince7825]

It sounds like empty rhetoric to me! I've never seen PetSmart or Petco quarantine fish at my local stores. Their new shipments go directly into the display tanks. At my PetSmart, I have seen dead fish floating in the tank and the ones alive are clearly infected with Ick. I will notify an employee and they act like they don't care. Sometimes they don't even bother to take the dead ones out. On top of that I have never seen my local PetSmart or Petco quarantine fish or put signs up and treat diseased/sick fish. The only chain store that has treated sick fish and put quarantine signs up that they are sick and they are off limits is my local Pet Supplies Plus.

[@cyndyyoungschimke5936]

I like your idea of offering to do a five minute video but I would add a recommendation that all employees hired to work in the aquatic department should watch the video. Also, I feel like their response was pretty standard. It would've been nice if they had offered to refund the expenses you incurred.

[@icarlsw34]

I doubt if petsmart is going to refund all his expenses like for meds. They simply can't guarantee their fish is going to be free of all parasites. That would be impossible. The responsibility is really going to fall on the buyer to quarantine their fish. And even then there is no guarantee. I would say the responsibility for his other fish getting sick is on him for quarantining those fish with them. That is not Petsmarts fault. They do however offer a 30 day refund policy for fish provided the sample of water quality you provide them is good.

[@stevemacdonald2303]

I lost some fish because of parasite

[@cyndyyoungschimke5936]

I will also like to add that if you can't afford to pay a minimum wage which is still very low in the grand scheme of things, the real issue that should be addressed is corporate CEO's wages. They make millions/billions a year and then whine about having to pay a McDonald's worker more money. That's the real issue. Corporate greed.

[@BenOchart]

A solid CEO that gets things accomplished is hard to find ... but what CEO is worth 50-60 million a year??? Truly a massive gap multiple of what an entry level person can expect to receive. Now, add into that inflation where a 500 sq ft apartment is $2,100 a month. Insane circumstances!

[@garyquinn5724]

Have you guys ever looked into the petsmaet CEO's salary? You should becuase you a wildly off base.😮

[@kinglyzard]

​@garyquinn5724 The obvious point here is that no one at big box stores are paid enough to give a shit about their wares😢

[@oruwatching]

I have two PetSmart's and two Petco's where I live. It is totally up to the store manager. I have one PetSmart and 1 Petco is good. I won't go to the others. Sadly the LFS is bad also.

[@ubermausse306]

I'm pretty sure the lack of quality is the only thing keeping the hobby semi-affordable. Think about it, if the farmers had to spend extra on quarantines, proper diet and selective breeding, then the same thing goes for the shipping companies and then petsmart, the price of a $1 fish would skyrocket to $20 or more. From what my local pet shop told me, the fish are the ONLY thing bringing profits from that department and it's not much, which is why they've been steadily downsizing it over the years. In my opinion I'd much rather risk losing a dollar or two in a tupperware quarantine bucket than to pay top betta prices for basic feeder fish😅

[@ColossalSwordFormAndTechnique]

From my experience. Ordering high grade fish is better ☝️ Than from diseased Petsmart

[@stevemacdonald2303]

You know petsmart has to get them from somebody else.

[@stevemacdonald2303]

They replace your fish that you lost

[@sfloridapatriot5572]

I work at an un-named fishstore, lately the guppies come in DOA, so we do not even order them. Neons die off in a day or two. If only we had space for quarantine tanks! We get some customers who have quarantine tanks and follow proper protocols. Others look at you like you are nuts. I do refuse to sell any fish that looks off, I also try to teach the customer to look at each tank and look at the fish in that as a whole. Look at the behavior, do they look stressed? Swimming strangely? Spots? I tell them straight up,do not buy that fish. It is frustrating that we cannot spend more time educating, cleaning, everything is rush rush rush. I have no control when not on shift. Trying to get everyone to use s clean net between tanks. I do suggest to each customer various videos. I would love a pamphlet to hand out and a link to a video to give the customer. We simply do not have the time to do an in-depth education. In the small animal & reptile departments, same thing. If the manager knew how often I sent them home empty-handed, way too often, telling them to do more research. I am allowed to outright refuse to sell someone a fish, animal or reptile. I refuse to sell fish and a new setup at the same time. I tell them to go home, set it up, and let it sit. In the mean time watch videos and study. And bring a water sample back. Also, I encourage start slowly, do not stock the tank in one fell swoop. I could go on and on. Great video and topic.

[@mikerosenzweig]

The letter from PetSmart was fluff. Not sincere. You should have heard from an actual human being and they should have offered a “laurel” (a gift certificate, for example). The staff at my local PerSmart are good people, but corporate is another story.

[@michaelhanewich245]

All the stores have terrible looking fish now. Worse then 20 years ago.

[@current9455]

They don’t care

[@ColossalSwordFormAndTechnique]

Facts

[@stevemacdonald2303]

I lost some fish because of parasite