Is it legal for Petco, or any other big chain store to refuse to sell someone fish. I understand the over 18 thing but if they say "oh, the fish are going to die if you put them in" or something like that. I went to Petco an was denied buying an Anglefish cuase the guy said that my tank didn't have enough bacteria in it even though it has been cycling a month with fish in it
Can Petco refuse to sell fish?
- Thread starter Earthswater
- Start date
I can't see why not and I don't think your tank is fully established yet personally if its only been running for a month...
why did you need to start a whole new thread on this when it was already dicussed in your last one?
and its not illegal for them to do that, just go to another store if its that big of a deal or just wait a couple days and try again but talk to a different person
and its not illegal for them to do that, just go to another store if its that big of a deal or just wait a couple days and try again but talk to a different person
What the pet store employee should have done is gave you some bacteria from their tanks and then come back a few days later (unless you got some mulm from a friend, different story then), but if you just setup a tank from scratch, then yes, I agree with him, hold off until the tank is ready. It is not a race to setup a tank.
Yes, they can and some do for a variety of reasons. For instance if they beleive you are going to stage a battle between aggressive species or if your tank is not apprpriate for that fish. In the case of Angels, they need an established tank. They also need a large tank. A 30 gallon is only big enough for one angel as they get quite large.
When they said it did not have enough bacteria what they should have said is that even though you have cycled the tank it is not yet mature. It can take several months to get a tank mature.
If you are an experienced fishkeeper then you would probably be able to keep them healthy through this maturing process but unless you are experienced it will likely put them through too much stress.
I know it does not seem like it now but you are lucky that you have a local store that actually cares, many times the staff at the box stores don't know or care at all.
When they said it did not have enough bacteria what they should have said is that even though you have cycled the tank it is not yet mature. It can take several months to get a tank mature.
If you are an experienced fishkeeper then you would probably be able to keep them healthy through this maturing process but unless you are experienced it will likely put them through too much stress.
I know it does not seem like it now but you are lucky that you have a local store that actually cares, many times the staff at the box stores don't know or care at all.
Petsmart has denied selling fish to me before saying that I can feed them to my turtles because they are ornament fish not feeders.....
Peacock Rey;4960812; said:
If they were a type of goldfish or minnows, the employee saved your turtle from thiaminase haha
they probably did not know that though,lol
maybe they did
They have the right to deny the sale of their pets to anyone that they think doesn't have the proper requirements to keep the animals. I've seen them turn away customers. It's shocking and extremely rare to witness knowing the thousands of other people that are allowed to walk away with a Pacu for their 30 gallon tank. But it happens. Get your tank established and just go back when it is ready for fish. There are several ways to speed up the cycling process.
A private business can refuse sales to whomever they want. They don't even have to give you an explanation.
It's possible to cycle a tank within a week using Stability. If your tank is fully cycled just tell the employer there about your test results. I don't see a reason why he would reject your purchase.