a talk with a petco employee
 

some lady ( looked like a crack addict no joke lol) came to the lfs i work at a few weeks ago

she was complaining that all the snails she bought died and so on
i asked her if she aclimated them and she said she just floated them .

i told her the salinity change could kill them and she asked what my salinity was at

i told her it varies from 1.022 to 1.026 witht he invert tank usualy at 25-26

she proceeded to FLIP OUT about how " that is way to high i used to be the aquatic specialist at petco and we kept our tanks at 1.018 so that no paracites"blablabla " i keep my tank at 1.015"

i pointed out that is why she killed them.


anyways 1.018 being what they are supposed to keep them at. who came up with that!!!

"who came up with that"

Some cheap SOB that doesn't want to buy salt =P

and someone that got ich in the 1980's

I took a gander at some of the photo shopped aquarium books at petsmart etc. that have pictures of equipment and methodologies used in the 70's and 80's like undergravel filters. One said specifically that salinity should be 1.018-1.021.

It's a shame that books don't need to be edited or scrutinized like scientific journals. When I try to sell someone a "real" book for $25-80 I usually find it stashed away somewhere because they didn't want to invest $25 into educating themselves and instead use that $25 on a "nemo"

1.015, shes almost dabling in brackish. haha

[QUOTE][i]<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11542985#post11542985 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by chrissreef [/i]
[B]"who came up with that"

Some cheap SOB that doesn't want to buy salt =P

and someone that got ich in the 1980's

I took a gander at some of the photo shopped aquarium books at petsmart etc. that have pictures of equipment and methodologies used in the 70's and 80's like undergravel filters. One said specifically that salinity should be 1.018-1.021. [/B][/QUOTE]

Truthfully, there's a load of things going on at Petcos that range from just silly to neglectful in obvious corporate interest favored over sound animal husbandry when it comes to fish (I am not at liberty to speak of other animals at Petco since I do not feel I have enough experience in their husbandry and retail trade to feel any certainty or validity to my claims). It's a problem where, somewhere down the line, a corporate decision was made to place the restrictions of care and keeping, especially that of sick or injured animals, within strict guidelines. Stocking, feeding, and maintenance are, at many Petcos, determined by corporate regulations. Any hobbiest worth their salt (no pun intended) in aquatic husbandry- or really any animal keeper for that matter- knows that there is no precise answer to a situation, that there are factors involved in every incident and tank that can vary vastly.

To their defense, this is not to say that it is entirely Petco's fault. They are simply operating on what we, as hobbyists, consider to be downright ancient information, as well as the mindset that their tanks are not for permanent stocking situations, as do many LFSs in the country. Keeping salinity at a lower specific gravity to avoid parasites was much more commonly recommended in older literature. As opposed to an emphasis on protein skimmers and liverock, many older books point to large filters and uv sterilizers. To make matters worse, Petco is encouraged to continue in such practices by continued consumer support.

However, just like LFSs, you [B]CAN[/B] find Petcos staffed with wonderful, knowledgeable, caring individuals who do not support the care recommendations and regulations of corporate and take matters into their own hands, albeit in a sneaky manner.

One would think that the livestock die off due to improper conditions would be enough of a loss to encourage proper husbandry. I would love to be able to compare the cost of maintaining proper conditions with the cost of constantly replacing all the sea critters that don't make it.

I just read an article in Science Magazine (14 December 2007) which stated that the US is responsible for importing 60% of all the wild harvested live coral...given the conditions at most large pet stores (Petco) how many of those creatures could possible survive and make it into the home of a loving aquarist? In a way I am glad I don't know the answer to that question because I'm sure it would be sickening.

We need to get an expert in marine aquariums on Oprah or something to guilt trip Petco and inexperienced aquarists into educating themselves BEFORE they kill more of these amazing animals.

"US is responsible for importing 60% of all the wild harvested live coral"

It's actually a lot higher than 60% according to most sources.