Ever feel really sad after visiting fish store?

[Dash]

Hope I'm not out of line here but I'm so bummed, have to get this off my chest. I was in the neighbourhood so thought I'd check out a certain fish place in [***]. It was pretty grubby & I was about to leave when I saw rows of tanks holding SW fish. Man. They had a few good-sized porcupine puffers (5-6") priced at $99.
2-3 looked so bad I thought they were dead, all pale & crumpled up in a corner barely moving. They have eyelids & these were drooped down - their expressions were so pathetic Quite haunting. I'm not the sentimental type but jeez, I was quite bummed. They had a fair variety of livestock, but seeing the black jellyfish puffing around in the dirty little tank made me question if we are bad for taking these creatures out of the ocean.
Sorry for being a downer

[dino]

i also have this Delema often. No matter how well we treat our creatures so many die in shipping and in stores and from improper care. I guess I justify it by picking carefully and giving the best care possible

[Coasting]

[********] is a disgusting horrible place with horrible morals.
Don't be afraid to name them and warn people.

I've been twice. Will never go again. Said I wouldn't go again after the first time but went to the detail shop next door so popped in quickly to see if things had improved. And they didn't.

Between the owner trying to convince me that severely ick infested fish were totally safe to add to my tank, (this was after I phone and was told the fish had like 1 spot and were healthy), watching a fish get eaten alive with a staff member right beside me refusing to move the fish as he's kind of chuckling. Listening to the owner give dangerous bad advice about livestock to a new hobbyist 1 row down from me. Seeing obviously dead for days fish in the tanks. A poor sailfin tang that was blasted against the egg crate by a power head having its skin stripped off.

There are good stores, and healthy captive bred fish. The best we can do is give our business to the retailers that care.

[Moogled]

Like Coasting says, vote with your dollar and spread the word.

Hopefully any fish store that isn't worth its salt will eventually close down.

[Dash]

Thanks for being a sounding board. Like I said, I'm not squeamish/sappy but I felt crappy seeing those poor sad fish eyes. Those animals were so disposable.

[Jakegr]

There is a big welfare problem in our hobby that many do not like to acknowledge. There is significant mortality and pain/suffering due to the way the industry works with collection, shipping, at fish stores and finally at home (with inexperienced fish owners). I feel for you, seeing fish in that state isn't easy.

[Potatohead]

Originally Posted by Coasting

[*********] is a disgusting horrible place with horrible morals.
Don't be afraid to name them and warn people.

I've been twice. Will never go again. Said I wouldn't go again after the first time but went to the detail shop next door so popped in quickly to see if things had improved. And they didn't.

Between the owner trying to convince me that severely ick infested fish were totally safe to add to my tank, (this was after I phone and was told the fish had like 1 spot and were healthy), watching a fish get eaten alive with a staff member right beside me refusing to move the fish as he's kind of chuckling. Listening to the owner give dangerous bad advice about livestock to a new hobbyist 1 row down from me. Seeing obviously dead for days fish in the tanks. A poor sailfin tang that was blasted against the egg crate by a power head having its skin stripped off.

There are good stores, and healthy captive bred fish. The best we can do is give our business to the retailers that care.

I'm not going to go quite this far but last time I was in there a customer mentioned he was waiting for his tank to cycle and he was doing a fishless cycle, the owner of the store then went on to say that fishless cycle is boring and a waste of time and he would never cycle a tank that way. I was pretty blown away at what I was hearing. Kind of sucks too because the place is five minutes away.

As to the OP's question, yes I feel the hobby is really quite selfish. I don't know how many people agree with me but I would have no problem paying a lot more for fish (2-3 times even) if it meant less were caught and less died or got sick in transport or in stores. At the end of the day with less fish losses it would likely come out about even anyway and the ocean would have more fish. Up until my latest acquisition which is looking good I have lost my last four, FOUR in a row purchased fish in quarantine. I have been keeping fish a long time and that is bad.

[DKoKoMan]

I think there is good in bad in every store. What you described is terrible and I would strongly recommend not supporting these habits. For every one responsible LFS there are the few that don't make the cut. I too would have a hard time seeing the fish in a sad / depressed state and instantly boycott the store. It's important not to continue to spend money in these stores until the doors are close (eviction notice posted) or their unruly habits are changes...MHO.

[Dash]

It wasn't my intent to disparage this hobby in any way. I've had my SW tank for just a year but I've jumped into this addiction whole-heartedly - it's been a real blast. There is a difference I think in losing livestock despite striving to provide a good home for them, and this way of conducting business in such a neglectful way.
Anyway, I just felt I had to raise awareness of the conditions I saw.

[Coral Hoarder]

My opinion is that if we are taking animals out of the wild we need to do our absolute best to keep them happy and thriving. anything other then that is disgusting and Thoes people do not deserve to own animals like fish and corals.