Alright - sick of my clowns - pair for sale

Posted By h2so4hurts on 04/07/2009 11:17 AM
Haha, did you get rid of these yet Eric? How's the pink bird's nest doing?
Brian,
Bird's nest is fine - and I need to get your decoration back to you that Landen "lifted" on Sunday!
Regarding the "kitten like" clowns, I need to hold on to them for at least 30 days....
I've been discussing a Tang along with adding to the clean up crew, and my wife, bless her heart, had a Yellow Tang and snails/hermits in the tank when I got home last night.
So...now it's best (and only fair) for me to regard my display tank as a quarantine tank for the next 30 days to ensure the Tang didn't bring anything along from Petco .
Hopefully the clean up crew (from here in N. Libery) didn't come from the same tank that you believe your problem (planaria) originated from.
-Eric

 

Not all Petco's are the same from what I've seen locally.

IC store certainly has some issues!  Fish don't look that great and they have a terrible algae problem - if the glass is clean, they probably just did it.  Fish manager, Brandon, told me that corporate forces them to use tap water, a cheap Petco branded salt, and they can't treat for diseases.

On the other hand, I did buy a Lawnmower Blenny from the store in West DesMoines a couple of weeks ago - their tanks look totally different.  Softies look good and the fish look active and healthy (LMB is fine).  They have several people in the fish department that are active reefers, and apparently they keep the fish and softies in separate banks, with the fish bank running a hypo-salinity of 1.019 for disease.
-Eric

 

I know...but unfortunately I didn't buy the fish...

Just one of those situations where you bite your lip and hope for the best!  Like I said, her heart was certainly in the right place!

-Eric

 

Posted By Phathead on 04/11/2009 01:15 AM
maybe we should get ahold of someone at petco corporate and fill them in on some stuff? Keeping saltwater fish 101
It was explained to me, that at least in the IC store (which is new), the saltwater dept. needs to show an increase in profitability before corporate will consider letting them make changes.  Business 101, but also the conundrum of business expansion/enhancement.  Gotta' spend money to make money, eh?  But if you're not making money - difficult to justify the expenditure.
Also, I've noticed that many companies, large and small, are trimming the fat to stay profitable in this economy.  Somewhere else it was posted that Petco was limiting the size of empty tanks that it will stock, presumably to what sells the best.
It is unfortunate that creatures, in this case fish, could be subjected to potentially less than favorable conditions in certain situations where department profitability dictates the type of care they receive, specifically regarding the types of products used (RO/DI, salt, meds) as the desire to properly care for the creatures is certainly aparent.
It appears that the saltwater department is less of a focal point in the organization than the other pets and therefore I can only presume it's run rather lean - unfortunately the details are sometimes overlooked by someone in corporate that is focused only on the budget and loses sight of other details.
Besides - what's the actual effect of running tap water with a fish only setup?  And cheaper salt?   Algae?  Potentially heavy metals (not the movie)?  Is it possible to harm the fish?  Maybe - guess it depends on what's in the water and the composition of the salt mix - but I'm sure they don't plan on a fish being in the store for very long.
Time for another cup of coffee!
-Eric

 

An update:

Several people have asked about the Petco tang - it didn't look so hot when I got it, appears to be HLLE.  A week ago I picked up some nori that's soaked in garlic - it's always had an appetite and is very active - it now looks substantially healthier!  Garlic is amazing - for us and fish - coloration is nearly solid, doesn't look so sickly thin and I think it'll be fine.  A large part of this is also the lack of stress, stable params and a decent diet - the main causes of HLLE (not sure about the carbon idea).
When I got home a little bit ago, there only seems to be one clown in the tank (female).  My wife's been gone since around 11 this morning and the cat didn't have free reign so that isn't it.  Not on the carpet or anywhere around the tank (that I can see) and I didn't find him in the rockwork (that I can see)...maybe I should stick my hand in the tank?
I've only ever lost one fish, and found it immediately.  If it doesn't show up I either need to tear the rockwork apart or start testing for ammonia.
Morbid question, but approximately how long before the ammonia will start to spike if I don't find it and it is deceased in the tank?
-Eric

 

Not in the overflow - but as I didn't post my build thread here you wouldn't have an idea of what the DIY overflow looks like .
I do have a dozen snails, a dozen hermits and tons of bristles (2 types) - some are 6-8" long and 3/8" + wide.
I'm starting to wonder if it jumped before my wife left - the tank is next to where the dogs sleep and we have a cat.
And...Landen likes to pick things up and isn't afraid of critters - I looked under couches, in drawers, in the toy box, etc.
I may never know!
For the time being, I'll test ammonia every day - if nothing by this weekend I'll move on.
Thanks!
-Eric

 

As of today, 5 days after the "disappearance", I still have no ammonia so I'm not going to worry about the fish possibly being in the rock - if so, it's been consumed by the clean up crew.
Strange development with the remaining female clown - she was the more aggressive of the two, but now with the male gone, she seems to be uninterested in me when I'm in the tank.
We'll see if this lasts!
-Eric

 

Posted By h2so4hurts on 04/25/2009 07:35 PM
haha, get another clown?
Or another Tang - this one perished sometime yesterday.
Petco wants to see the carcass, and by the time I got it out the clean-up crew had done a number on it .
-Eric

 

Posted By h2so4hurts on 04/28/2009 04:08 PM
Haha, PetCo is worthless.
I know there's been a long-standing concern regarding the quality of the marine livestock @ Petco, although many people have purchased from them in the past with no ill effects (pun intended!).  I purchased a lawnmower blenny from the W. DSM location and it's been healthy since day one - and as with most customer related incidents, people with poor service are more than willing to relay that experience.  I also didn't purchase this tang as it ended up in my tank as a surprise. 
Case in point:
I realize that Petco (like others) doesn't have a gurantee on marine fish.  When I went in to chat with Brandon about the tang, he suggested garlic soaked nori, apologized for the condition of the fish and mentioned that they had another tang that had come in at the same time (still had it) that looked sick and wouldn't eat (I saw it).  He told me that the fish came in when he was on vacation, should have been quarantined and shouldn't have been sold.  He went as far as to tell me to let him know if the fish perished and he would work something out for me.
I called him yesterday and he back peddled all over the place telling me that there was nothing he could do for me.  At this point I don't know if he doesn't remember me as it was over the phone or if it's something else.  I know the store manager personally and will let both him and Brandon know of my experience, concern, this posting and my unwillingness to do business with the Coralville location in the future (we also buy dog/cat/bird food/supplies there).
Policy is policy - but when and employee that appears to have empowerment suggests a resolution and then denies they said it, I'm done.
-Eric
Note:
I don't believe the clown perished inside the tank from what I saw of the tang (clown must have jumped) as within 10 hours the tang was completely covered in a milky white sack of nastyness, and when I got it out the clean-up crew had obviously been at work. I don't have that much rock and would have noticed this sack of nastyness from the clown.