Angry with Petco for selling diseased fish

My 4 year old son was given an aquarium and two goldfish for his
birthday. A week later, we noticed that one of the goldfish was not
looking right...bloated (moreso than it had looked). The following
day we noticed bumps, and thread like extensions coming off of it on
its body. I had not looked at the fish so closely before, but after
some research found that it had anchor worms. This came from the
aquarium it was in! These were bought at Petco. I am so upset over
this and with Petco. I would HIGHLY discourage anyone from purchasing
fish from Petco because of this.

Don't buy diseased fish! Look at the store tanks and fish. Anytime you
buy a fish you are not supposed to put it straight in with your old
fish in the first place. It is wise to put them in a separate tank for
a week or two, watch them and treat them for anything if they need it.
Face it, you killed your goldfish, not petco...

If your other fish you bought weren't goldfish, then thats your
problem. The fish more than likely weren't diseased, but it is
possible. Goldfish don't exactly have stomachs, so they don't digest
everything they eat properly, causing them to poop LOTS of ammonia
into the water. This is deadly for other types of fish, which is
probably why your new fish died. Also, if they were ALL goldfish, then
its possible there may have just been too many in the bowl/tank.

Fish can be terratorial as well, so adding fish isn't always 100%
safe. It can be very risky if there is a huge size difference too.
Unless your new fish are super fast, they will get picked on almost
always.

Hope this helps,
Take care!
JC

3 days ago, I bought new neons at a Petco in Mass. I should have known
better as their tanks looked terrible, the fish I bought looked fine.
I placed them in a well established tank with other neons. Today, 3
days later, I have no live fish in that tank!!! I've lost 12 fish in 3
days!
I just hope the epidemic does not spread to my other tank.
Petco has a policy that covers the new fish, but there is nothing you
can do about your old ones.
:(

I can certainly relate. I recently had to explain the death of four
fish (two neons and two african dwarf frogs) to my son. I am on my way
to Petco to argue for a refund. My experience with other fish
retailers is that they will be reasonable if you bring in the dead
fish and a sample of water. I agree that you should always keep new
fish (animals) separated from the rest of your fish for 1-2 weeks to
prevent an epidemic. Case in point, a few days after I bought my
"sick" fish I returned to Petco for supplies. I noticed that several
of the tanks were off limits to the public due to an ick outbreak
(including the tank where I got the four departed). I have worked in
fish stores and can appreciate how difficult it is to maintain the
health of so many tanks, but after I get my refund I will drive the
extra few miles to purchase my fish elsewhere.

I just wanted to say Thank you to everyone for your responses.
If I ever do decide to set up my fish tanks I will make sure to keep
all of them seperated.
I know they were just fish but they were like family, they reminded me
so much of my dogs :) so happy to see you in the morning (to get fed)
and when we came home they were splashing around.

(or any new pet owner, for that matter)

When you purchase an animal from a pet store, breeder or rescue, you
have NO idea what those animals have been exposed to , or sick with,
prior to you bringing them home. It is for that reason that whenever
you get a new animal, you should always quarrantine them as far as
possible from any animals you had owned previously. This applies to
fish, reptiles, birds, small mammals, cats and dogs.

I'm sorry that you lost all your fish, but hopefully you will remember
in the future to keep new animals away from your current pets for at
least a couple of weeks, so that you can ensure that the new additions
are healthy and sound. That way, no cross-contamination will occur.

How sad. Pets do become part of the family.
My dog had cancer. I just about died right along with him. He was my
baby.

I'm not a big PETA supporter. I agree with the idea but not always the
tactics. But on the PETCO issue they have alot of info.
http://www.petasearch.org/texis/search?dropXSL=&pr=default&prox=page&r
order=500&rprox=500&rdfreq=500&rwfreq=500&rlead=500&sufs=0&query=Petco

When I first began putting my aquarium together I had the same exact
problem!
I would suggest two things:

1. Shop at petsmart, they have a 14 day policy that you can return the
fish (dead or alive) if you don't like it.

2. Set up a quarantine tank so that you can observe the fish and put
it in with the others once you are sure they are healthy.

Good luck!!! (from a fellow fishkeeper!) :)

At Wal-Mart, I bought a frog (big mistake) and it died the next day.
They allowed me to get a refund. Maybe you can ask about Petco's
policy regarding this? Do you know for sure if the fish were
diseased? I mean, how do you know for sure? Maybe you weren't taking
good care of them, who knows?