EPS (evil pet shop) Rescue

[Bumblebee]

Found this little fella today in a local chain petstore he was about to be consigned to another customer who was being advised to 'feed him two pellets once a week' and keep him in a new contraptin even smaller than the disgusting 'betta hex'. He was quickly sold while the other person was over looking at what form of torture tank he was going to live in for the rest of his probably very short life.



Currently very happy and tolerating all guppys in his new 10 gal home .

[bettagupp]

Good on ya bumblebee. You know it still surprises me how hopeless most aquariums and pet shops are about keeping them in a tight cold space. I dont know if you have them where you are but quite a few shops here have a small staire'd blue shelving unit that the wholesaler probably supplies. The fish are in the smallest cup, about half the size of a coffee cup with no heating at all and two inches of water. There is always a couple dead and a few dying.....even when you bring one home there is a good chance of finrot brought on by past stress to come.
Considering how knowlegble some aquariums are with most fish, I still only know of three here that present their betta's kindly. You'd think the wholesalers would not supply unless proper care was taken with them by the shops but I guess it's a 'get rid of them by numbers' game.
Some keep them in unsuitable tanks too, more water but harassed constantly by tankmates. There's a shop in the eastern suburbs of melbourne that keeps the betta's in the centre row of tanks and it's a shocker.
Not one fish in good condition and plenty of dead ones. I wish it was more like those market breeder type shops in singapore etc that keep them in larger rectangle tanks at a good temp with plenty of quality fish to choose from.
I have about 14 rescues at home all but 1 are doing great.....a couple of deaths along the way though.

I like the colour on your new guy. Best of luck with him.

[Bumblebee]

Thanks, he is good and eating well, but just spied a large lump that covers the entire dark blue patch just under his dorsal (both sides) looks like a kind of benign tumor (like those raised dark moles on people), never seen anything like it on a fish before. carefully examined it and it doesnt look like either a paracitic cyst, growth, infection or solid tumor just a strange raised spongy patch of skin wherever the blue doesnt have the irridescence over it.

It was one such 'wholesaler provided' deathtrap that he was being offered on, with several other poor half dead specimins, $24 for a 2.5 litre tank, $14 for one of those rediculous hex things.

[tidus97]

there kept in little compartments . it saves space and money. but some shops actualy do something bout giving the fishes a better home. on shop had this sort of setup:

not only did the fish look lively, but they lookd more buyable. if that made sence
the water was nice and clean also and the fish where just, active!