Emailing Petsmart

[RiverStoneBetta]

Here's the story: This Sunday, I was given a school of 6 neon tetras to add to my boy Flynn's newly upgraded tank from a friend who bought them at Petsmart to cheer me up from my crummy week. I had no time or place to quarintine them but after giving them a quick examination, they seemed healthy, so I put them in the tank. (Fully cycled, of course. I know how delicate neons are.) I made sure Flynn wasn't going to eat them, then went to bed. I woke up and found three tetras dead. Flynn was hiding in a knot of his bogwood and refused to come out, which was what first cued me that something was wrong. Flynn always wakes up with me. I went to school, came home and found 2 more tetras dead and Flynn's head covered in columnaris. I freaked out, since I had no Maracyn-II, so I treated with fungus tablets and half-strength Melafix. The next day, I lost the final tetra and Flynn was still infected. I treated a bit more with a direct swab of salt, and went to eat dinner. After dinner, I came back and he was gone.

I am thoroughly convinced the The neglect at my local Petsmart (the one in Sunset Hills Plaza, for those of you in the St. Louis area) has caused the death of Flynn Fishy, and I'm writing a letter to express my disgust and hopefully get the practices at that particular store changed. The letter is complete with documentation of the disease and proof of purchase (my friend gave me the receipt.) But I can't find an email address for Petsmart Corporate Offices. Does anyone else know of a way to contact them?

[Oldfishlady]

I am sorry for your loss.....

This is why QT new fish is so important and I don't want to make you feel bad.....but......it was more your fault than the pet shop....sorry.....even when a fish looks healthy the stress alone lowers immune response-the change from low nitrate to high nitrate can stress a fish as will pH changes...and a stressed fish is a sick fish and a sick fish will make every fish in the tank sick.....its a big risk placing new fish in a tank with established fish....in my opinion the fish shop didn't do anything wrong and its sad when they get blamed for something that isn't really their fault.....one of the many myths "The fish shop fish killed all my fish"....when it was truly the hobbyist fault for failing to QT and properly acclimate...sometimes we get lucky and sometimes we don't.....QT new fish for at least 3 weeks before adding to the established aquarium and properly acclimate during this time as well..

Again sorry for your loss.......don't give up.....it happens to all of us at one time or another......

[RiverStoneBetta]

I know I needed to quarantine, and I still feel bad about that. But the option wasn't available, and at the time, I would have felt really bad about turning the gift away. If I could do it again, yeah, I'd take them back.*

But the letter itself isn't just about the death of Flynn. That's just the spark that lit the fire. That shop is horrible to it's live animals. Fish are kept in subpar conditions, often with incompatible tankmates. (I saw a school of guppies house with a brown knifefish who greedily devoured any that got too close. Or the Siamese algae eaters with the Violet Goby.) Their bettas are kept in a little cubbyhole in a podium, in *appalling conditions (surprise) and they rarely receive enough light, let alone care. I've seen associates literally sling bettas into that cubbyhole and have even witnessed one of the cups break and the poor betta was placed into a female's cup that was occupied. *The staff and management there is hostile, often flat out refusing service, and will not tell me how to contact supervisors or regional managers.*

I realize, after mulling it over, that I do accept responsibility for Flynn's death. But that store is far worse than even my lowest standards, and I'm sick of just letting it happen without doing anything about it.*