Is my PetCo telling me lies?????

hilarious... i went to petco recently and their sign was screwed up and i found the humor in it and took a photo... from my phone sorry bad quality

 

That is classic!!

A word of advice to OP or anyone else peeping in on this subject. Large chain stores IMPO are the one's that are usually(not always of course) going to be in it for the money. If you look at small mom and pop shops or regular hobbyist stores, they would usually try to steer you in the right direction(most of them).

 

my recommendations at this point is to gather all the information learned from this thread, go into petco with whatever is still alive, and immediately ask to talk to a manager, explain to him the exact situation and demand your money back as well as an address to write a letter to their corporate office if the manager is not cooperative. managers do Not like that.

Welcome to 3reef btw and im so sorry for your horribly bumpy start...

goodluck buddy

 

BJE, that picture is priceless!!! +k just for sharing that with us!

To HelpMe!: I'm sorry for your loss. I wish you didn't have to go through this.

All I can tell you, from my human being point of view, is to start over. Keep coming here, the people is SO helpful that will save you time, money and trouble.

I'm also a new fish tank owner and just like you, I did not know everything that was involved. I remember saying more than once "If i knew how it was going to be, I would have gone with fresh water tank and fish". I was also set up wrong... well, in fact, I was setup in an obsolete, not good for corals, way and had to strip my tank and re-start from scratch. This may be also what you have to do. Don't get discouraged. Knowledge is power and here you'll find sooooo much knowledge that everyone is willing to share. They will help as they help me almost daily in my journey.

Like GuitarMan said, a salt water tank requires a lot of dedication. Read the pinned threads on the "New to the Hobby" forum here at 3reef.com. They will make things a lot more clear. In this hobby, as in many other things in life, patience is a virtue. I started using chemicals to "speed things up" and then regret it.

I know you're upset, even I am upset for what happened to you and believe me, I would like to help you as much as everyone else that have posted in your thread. The best advice is to research. Something you can do, to temporarily save the rest of your fish is to get a bucket, mix salt and check it with a refractometer. Keep the water oxygenated while you strip that tank to the bone and clean it very well with reverse osmosis water and vinegar. Fill it up with new reverse osmosis and add a good salt mix (instant ocean, reef crystals, sea lab, etc).

I would strongly recommend giving your fish to a friend that has an established tank while you do all this though. But even if you don't have anybody, putting the fish in a clean tank with oxygenated salt water will be better than leaving them the way they are. Also, remove the anemone as suggested. It will definitely not make it like everyone said earlier.

Read, read and read. Research, research and then act.

The very best of lucks and come back to let us know your progress. You'll be full of rewarding results when you follow the rules. And again, these rules are there, or better said, they're here. Just read and ask. There are no stupid questions and if there are, they will also get answered here.

It's not your fault to be inexperienced, it's not your fault you were taken advantage of. We'll help.

- Mag.

 

I guess to sum this all up Take what is left alive to somewhere it can be taken care of, Petco will likely not take them, but offer them to them first. Money back 50/50
Allow your tank to continue to run with water Sand and some live rock. (Find a local Reef Club and beg for a free piece from a member, then offer him 10 - 20 $$ for their help)
Buy test kits and refractometer
Do not add anything until you are certain the cycle is complete.
Read Read and Read some more....Got to your local club meeting and Learn Learn Learn
Use only RO/DI water for replacing evaporated water.
Use saltwater made with RO/DI for water change every week.
Go to the local club meeting in July and get some low cost frags from your new friends.

Give the folks over at the Monkey another chance, your story looks like a fake, just to get everybody upset at Petco and it is not a good thing to happen on any site.

 

Now that is funny!!! (referring to the photo above)

Legally, you may not be able to sue for damages and win, unfortunately. I had a sickly Petco percula wipe out my $300 platinum percs and there really wasn't anything I could do about it. I had to bite the bullet and chalk it up as "I should have quarantined the bugger longer than 3 weeks."
That being said, your situation is a bit different. I would definitely call or go in and complain to the manager and let him know EVERY detail of the transaction and the "professional advice" from the "professional Petco aquatics associate." Do make it a point to let him know that you heard him laughing with his buddies after the sale was completed. Not only is it money lost, innocent life was lost as well. Animals that didn't need to die, died over his malicious misinformation! If he doesn't even attempt to rectify the situation with at least store credit, let him know that you will lodge a complaint with the BBB and also with PETA. Petco had a huge mess with PETA a few years ago and they are the last thing they want to hear about again.
I'm really sorry you went through all this, I hope it gets resolved.

Just an FYI, since it wasn't mentioned:
1. Tangs do not use anemones as shelter, those are clownfish that use them. <--- mention this to the store manager too.
2. The cheapo strip lights that come with their starter kits are in no way, shape or form adequate/strong enough to sustain an anemone. <--- mention this to the store manager too.
3. A tank needs to be at least a year old to be mature enough to house an anemone. They are extremely delicate and need extremely stable water conditions to survive. <--- mention this to the store manager too.
4. If an anemone dies, it actually doesn't "release" toxins (as compared to a toxic fish like a boxfish) when it dies. What happens is that it will liquify and foul the water by causing severe ammonia/nitrite/nitrate spikes that become extremely toxic to the tank and will result in a tank wipeout if the anemone carcass isn't removed before it biologically breaks down.

 

I thought big chain stores have a fish guarantee?

Anyways, all the online information and research will probably overwhelm you, so it's best to start talking with fellow hobbyist in your area and the local fish stores. You learn much faster that way, especially if they let you see their setups. At local fish stores (LFS), it's much more open where you can see every single piece of equipment used so you can get a better sense of what is required.

 

Most places will not have guarantees with saltwater fish. The reason is because the general public thinks it's ok to put "Nemo in a goldfish bowl filled with water and table salt." Then they wonder why the fish dies within minutes and will take it back for a guarantee replacement. Well the stores understand that now and eliminated the guarantee for those reasons.
The problem with LFS is that they are there to make money, first and foremost. They are a busniess and that is their priority. Making friends is secondary. Even the LFS that I have gone to for the last 20 years recently lost my business over blatantly telling me lies. I asked how much their juvenile misbar perc was and he told me "oh that's a picasso, he's $90 because he's rare. Want me to bag him up for you?" The fish was obviously darn well not a picasso, but he tried to pull a fast one on me to get the big sale. The best people to ask are those that have nothing to gain, like fellow hobbyists and the people here at 3reef. Ok, maybe I'm a little biased here lol.

 

True that. even professional and knowledgeable and mom n pop LFS may look for profits. But that's where all of us go, so talk to other customers, who are usually fellow hobbyist, rather than the employees.

But at the LFS, you can see all of the equipment making it easier for you to understand and ask questions (if you have never ever seen a setup before especially).

 

First off.. welcome to 3reef... IMO the best Forum out there. Everybody is here to share their knowledge and help! I can only re-emphazise the importance of doing your own research. Don't trust the advice of an employee of a petstore. They are out to make money and just as yourself, I had a similar experience when I purchased my first tank.
I hope you will get your money back but PLEASE learn from this experience and do it right next time. You MUST let the tank cycle before adding any lifestock. This has already been explained by others, so I am not going to repeat it. But I wish you the best of luck and keep coming back to our Forum!