# Nightmare fish buying experience



## Talonstorm (Feb 16, 2005)

Well, I went to a big "anniversary" sale at a huge pet store in PA (which shall remain nameless). It was a zoo, packed with people (who seemed even more obnoxious than usual) and screaming children. One little girl even kicked me in the fish room as she walked by, and then laughed (which in turn made my sister laugh). Anyway....

I took a number and waited to be summoned to pick my fish. It didn't take long and I was showing the guy the rummy nose tetras I wanted. I asked for 5, he netted out like 15 and proceeded to drop 3 of them on the floor. Then, he brought them (not the floor ones) to be bagged and we continued on. Next I picked out 7 harlequin rasboras, no problems there. Then I asked for 2 small skunk loaches. He netted them and accidentally got a feeder guppy in the mix. His net was too big for the little plastic box they net the fish into, so he couldn't get it out, I figured he would remove it when he actually bagged the fish.

The plants didn't look great, but some of them looked ok, so I picked out a few.

When I went to pay, he had marked 3 skunk loaches on the bag. I explained to the cashier that I only asked for two and SHOWED her that one of the three fish in the bag was a 5 cent feeder guppy. I even offered to just pay for the guppy (but I was not going to pay for a 3rd skunk loach) so I could just be on my way, but no. I had to wait for the manager to come up and take the bag back to the fish room so they could remove the 5 cent feeder guppy. ](*,) 

So, I drive the 2 hours and 20 minutes home. I place each fish type in their own bucket and begin to drip water from the tanks they are going in into the buckets. I turned my head for about 15 seconds and my @%@#[email protected] cat knocks over the one bucket. Rasboras flopping around on the carpet. Put them back in the bucket and scold the cat. Hopefully they will all survive the ordeal. Once all the fish are in their tanks, I notice the 1.5 inch long skunk loaches are attacking every fish in sight. Nice, so now I have to try and catch the little sh*ts in a 29 gallon hex, not easy. I managed to catch one of them, the other is hiding inside a huge wood like decoration. 

I think I might be more stressed than the fish at this point. It is never easy!!

And to actually make this a worthwhile post, not just a crazed rant from me, has anyone else had problems with skunk loaches being aggressive? The guy from the store told me they had a personality like the clown loach, which I have 2 of and they are very passive.

:-({|= 

Thanks, 
Tina


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## Bert H (Mar 2, 2004)

I've never had skunk loaches, but that's quite a story! Those chains don't always know what they've got or how to deal with them. A while ago I was at Pet....
and in their plant tank they had 6 beautiful half black guppies. I asked the guy what they were asking for them. He said he didn't know what they were that someone had dropped them off from their tanks because they didn't want them. He said I could have them if I wanted, for free! You guessed it! They have a new home in my new 50 gal tank, happily swimming and dropping half black fry!


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## Erirku (Oct 5, 2004)

I have had 1 skunk botia, and am never going to have one. He was a torture to all my fish, and even managed to kill a tetra. They are semi aggressive or more like aggressive to everyone, don't know about their own kind though. Good luck with them.


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## JanS (Apr 14, 2004)

Well, that does sound like quite the adventure you had.... At least you were able to come home with some fish, if that's any consolation.

You're right, in most cases when things like that start happening it's _us_ who wind up more stressed than the fish. ;-)


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## Talonstorm (Feb 16, 2005)

Well, they were all still alive this morning. Only 1 rasbora is not eating, but it isn't acting sick either. I did notice that 2 of the 7 rasboras have curvy spines, wish I had seen that in the store so I could have asked for different ones. Hopefully there will not be carnage in the neon tank tonight when I get home. There is one skunk loach left in there, I put the other one in my my Golden Wonder killifish, I think they will hand him his head on a platter if he tries to mess with them, hehe.

Tina


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## vancat (Nov 5, 2004)

hey tina
sounds like you need a big hunk of java fern.


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## Praxx42 (Mar 4, 2005)

While I won't try to defend your particular store, I used to work at the biggest LFS in Dallas. During the aptly-named "May Sale," over 1200 people will show up: velvet ropes, numbers in line, the whole shebang. I can assure you that most of the people working that day do NOT want to be there (and probably don't like their jobs anyway). For the most part, anyone who works a large annual sale such as that is overworked, underfed and severely underappreciated... which usualy comes out as them being careless and easily aggrivated.

I feel your pain. I never shop annual sales just for those reasons. Bad kitty!


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## Talonstorm (Feb 16, 2005)

Unfortunately, the female killi was dead this morning. :-( That seriously sucks, now I just have a single male killi with a skunk loach(the other skunk loach is still evading capture in my neon/rummynose tetra/glo-light tetra tank). Anyone in the Somerset NJ area have an interest in a really nice looking, healthy, male Golden Wonder killi? How about a couple skunk loaches??

Tina


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## mlfishman (Apr 4, 2005)

*take him out*

I can take him out for you if you want....send a message to the other fish (and dont just mean take him out of the tank)...


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## gnatster (Mar 6, 2004)

I've been to their annual sale many times in the past but did not go this year. I didn't miss the kids underfoot, the long lines, or the bad parking situation at all.


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## Talonstorm (Feb 16, 2005)

Things just get worse. Yesterday when I got home from work, I found one of my prized Rummynose tetras (I really like these little fish) with its tail completely bitten off. I have to assume that in a tank of little fish (neons, glo-lights, and rummynose tetras) that the skunk loach is the only one who would have done this. :-( I felt horrible about it and so I shook the log he was hiding in until he came out, caught him, and put him in the killifish tank. The injured Rummynose was dead this morning. Both skunk loaches are swimming around the killifish tank like they own the place.



gnatster said:


> I've been to their annual sale many times in the past but did not go this year. I didn't miss the kids underfoot, the long lines, or the bad parking situation at all.


Yeah, going was a mistake I won't make again. Although, I did go on Sunday and from what my sister said (she went on Saturday), it was much less crowded on Sunday.

Tina


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## ScottH. (May 13, 2004)

I have eight skunk botia in my 55 gallon with rasboras, ottos, and a few other peaceful fish. The skunks never bother anyone suprisingly. The most they do is click at eachother. At first when I got them they had to bother everybody, but the ones who kept at it seemingly were disliked by the other skunks(as they never hung out with the two that chased other fish). I guess to be accepted they finally stopped chasing the fish and now play follow the leader with the rest of the bunch all day. I really like them alot now.


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## Talonstorm (Feb 16, 2005)

I got fed up, I netted them, bagged them, and gave them to the LFS with a warning not to put in any tank with frilly finned or small fish. I also gave up my Golden Wonder killi, I couldn't justify wasting a whole tank just for him. I am going to use it as a quarantine tank as my original quarantine tank has become home to a pair of show guppies I bought. [smilie=k: 

Tina


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