Pet Shops

[dennis]

I think u all be a litte hard on andrew all he said was why he will not buy

from that shop ppl were asking about shop in wgtn he did not he did not

ask u to boycot the shop i can not ceck has the post has gone

i had ppl talk about that fish in tauranga

[ajbroome]

Kellz said...

> A good shop I have found in WGTN well not wgtn is one

> is in lower hutt.. by the famous red burger shop, kinda

> in a street behind it... it is WELL stocked and competive

> prices...

Sounds like The Hutt Pet Center (I think) in Pretoria Street

which is kinda behind the McDs...

I haven't been there recently, it used to be very good (15 years or

so ago) but the last few times I went there I thought the fish side

of things had slipped in favour of the 'cute furries'.

The trick with shops is to find one you like and *support* it.

That means telling people that you shop there and why, buying

all your stuff there even if they're a few cents more expensive

than the chain shop down the road and even perhaps selling

them your excess stock in preference to using TRADEME or

the classifieds in your local newspaper.

JMHO, of course.

Andrew (not @ndrew)

[Kellz]

Aj got it spot on.. yeah its kinda behind.. the burger palace.. I dont no L hutt very well.. but that place always help me find it..

The fish have slipped a bit... however they make it up in accessories and quite often they have discus at good prices for shops I get my $16 clowns there , if you like neons you can get 10 for $15 .. their fighters 2 weeks ago.. they had about 6 at $10 each.... They had a kribendreous that I was tempted to get if my tank was overstocked..

[Benny]

They're cheap because they cut costs on fish care and quite frankly they don't take proper care of their fish. But, they get alot of species that you can't get anywhere else in the wgtn region. There's ALOT of dead fish in their tanks, I've walked in their alot and have seen 4 1 foot long pacus in a 3ft tank and fish that have been ripped to shreds because they place them in with uncompatible species. Even Gavin's (the huge giant gourami) tank is far far too small for him. I go there occasionly, and I haven't had any problems with their fish as I've looked for normal behaviour before I buy them.

I didn't see the post that was deleted, but I think, providing that the post isn't a personal attack or anything too maliclous, deletion should be kept to a bare minimum as it is censorship and freedom of speech should be valued.

[Ira]

Wait, Kells is talking about the hutt pet center as being good? Unless I'm misunderstanding which one @ndrew meant, that's the one he and I were saying is HORRIBLE. They don't just cut costs on their fish, they do on their pets too.

Anyone remember the sulphur crested cockatoo they used to have there that was missing most of his feathers? Had a disease called Psittacine Beak and Feather Disease. Extremely contagious, almost always fatal, and all his parrots there will likely be infected now.

[Benny]

I think Kellz is saying how good it is because its so cheap. I walked in there a while back and they had a native eel in with the giant gourami, a slow death for the eel.

Yeah I remember the cockatoo, terrible.

[Ira]

Don't know if you noticed, but the cockatoo disappeared for about 6 months. My wife and I had it. The guy told us to the effect that it wasn't sick, it had just gotten a fright and lost all its feathers. We didn't really believe that, but he said he'd give us a chance to try and nurse him back to health. Over the 6 months we did more research and found out a lot about PBFD and eventually he started showing signs of it effecting his beak(It basically gets distorted enough for the bird to be unable to eat) so we gave it back to him. That's when he said, "Yeah, I knew it had PBFD, we had it tested." He eventually had it put down, which he should have done as soon as he knew it was infected.

[@ndrew]

I like Ira live in Upper Hutt – Ira who is your preferred vet in Upper Hutt?

The birds you are referring two in the concerned pet shop (better be safe and not state the name) – Was it the birds which sat at the entrance to the shop?

I feel sorry for many of the birds and animals in the concerned pet shop – pack into small cages, animals that should never be in pet shops, and just a general disregard for the happiness of the animals.

Can you please imform should a huge exotic bird be kept in a small cage so it can’t even spread its wings (what the point of the wings they are never going to be used?).

What do you think about that huge fish in the unsuitable tank?

What would you do if you were given custody of the fish? –

Could it be homed any where it could actually have good chance at life?

I would insist it get put down (the best thing that has ever happened to the animal)

[Ira]

I don't really have a prefered vet, we usually use the place in silverstream just because it's closest.

I'd say that giant gourami is doing ok in that tank. It's actually a pretty big tank, even if it is small for the fish. He seems to be pretty healthy, so I wouldn't say he's better off being put down.

The cockatoo I'm talking about was in addition to the 2 near the door, he was usually in the back with the rest of the birds.

[Benny]

giant gouramis don't move much anyway. What do you think are the tank's dimensions?

Ira, have you seen that juvenile GG they had in the back with the oscars and midas? It got ripped to shreds.

[Ira]

I'd have to make a wild guess, but I'd say somewhere around 4 feet wide by 4 feet tall by 2 feet deep. It seems a similar depth and width as my 400 liter tank but is a lot taller, at least twice as tall or more. Guess 800 liters. Haven't seen it in a while.

[Benny]

I'd say thats a good guess, Gavin would be about 50cm minus the tail and he can just turn around. 4ft tall is madness, they would have to get in the tank to actually reach the bottom.

[Ira]

Nah, just use a long gravel vac to reach the bottom, there are also long gripper things they could use. Pain in the ass though for anything like a planted tank, which his definitely isn't. I should know, got a 3-4 foot tall hex tank, can't even come close to reaching the bottom of it.

[Ira]

I just got back from there, stopped by while I was at the mitre 10 next door. The tank the giant gourami is in is probably more like 3 feet wide by 3 feet tall by 1.5 feet wide. Still a fairly good sized tank. They've got a bigger one next to it that is empty now. I had a good look at the rest of their tanks. They had a pair of red devils with a few hundred fry. But, I'd say about 1/3rd of their tanks had at least 1 dead fish or the remnants of a dead fish. Quite sad since they do have a better variety than most. They had some bumble bee gobies, I've never seen them before, was tempted to buy them since they were only $6, but they were really tiny and in a tank with a couple skeletons laying on the bottom. There really doesn't seem to be anything wrong with the fish tanks that couldn't be fixed by having someone put an hour in the morning into the tanks, I think. At the very least have a quick look for dead fish once or twice a day and wipe any streaks off the front of the tanks.

[Midas]

how big were their red devils?

[Ira]

Ughh...I'm horrible at guesstimating sizes. I'd say 5inches, somewhere around there.

[Benny]

Actually Ira I do remember a while back asking about the size of the tanks and he said 'around 400 litres'

Bumble Bee Gobies is pretty exotic, that's the one thing going for him is that gets a good range in. He's always got really cool fish like fire eels in. Speking of fire eels, my guy is nearing the 1.5 ft mark

[Goldie]

WOW he is almost taller than me Nice 1. Have you had any shocks off him??? I was just reading up on them the other day when trying to guess the "What fish am I?"

[Jadie]

Hi all *wave*

HAPPY NEW YEAR!! (gosh haven't been here for ages as have not been online much lately).

Anyway, w/ regards to the topic in question for Pet Shops in Wellington - here are my thoughts :-

The difference in Pet Shops in Wellington areas are that you may find 2 pet shops selling an item for the same price and find that same item at another pet shop either more expensive or cheaper. Funny thing is at the pet shop where that item could be cheaper, another item that the other 2 pet shops is selling actually is more expensive. Different things they set at different prices - so it does pay to look around.

Tawa Petzenta?:

I find it pretty good there, I received good advice from the ladies there (have a very friendly uh.. white parrot??*sorry not good with birds). Prices seem pretty competitive - but my regret is my stupidity in buying a bag of polished river rocks for $35. *sigh* and now the white river rocks are turning brownish colour on the brink of looking rusty - tried to wash the brown colour off BUT it won't come off, it seems the brown seeped into the rock itself. GRRRR

AnimalZ in J'ville:

I got my first set up there, very friendly staff and not pushy to sell me things. The lady that served me was concerned at my first small tank as I wanted to buy lots of fish but she educated me about how many LT / fish. Prices are also competitive -will probably buy the items/fake plants from here. Will also make this my regular visit place to buy goldfish.

Pet Corner in Porirua Mall:

When I went there, I saw a few sick fish and got scared from buying them. But I bought 2 goldfish there and they still look pretty good (just had to quarantine them). But my gosh, they were expensive for small goldfish. Prices is more pricey (probably to help cover their rental).

Goldfish Supplies & Waterlily in Upper Hutt:

I checked it out but I think when I went there, there wasn't many different varieties - lots of comets. And lots of the goldfish they had that I wanted to buy were "NOT FOR SALE" arG! I'll try to persuade them to part w/ them one day! hehe - the only problem I had was seeing the goldfish through the water, they had green algae all over and the water and some tanks had murky water so I could not see the goldfish properly =( I ended up not buying any goldfish, but I will definitely go back and check it out in hopes to find a nice one =)

Fins & Fangs in Welly:

Not many goldfish at all! Me sad! but lots of tropical varieties! Prices were alright (they sell cycle cheaper by $2-$3). Have some cute tank accessories which I'll probably get from this store.

Animates in Ngauranga:

I was approached by a very well informed staff there, his name is Jamie & he works Fri-Tues. He is a very avid fish keeper (I believe he said over 20+) years xp and he even admits honestly to me that I may think he has a big head but it's coz he knows he is knowledgeable about fishes.

He introduced to me a fantastic product (he says it is better than water ager), PRIME!! My god, I read about Prime online and didn't think they will sell it in NZ but thanks to Jamie, he convinced his managers to import PRIME!

Quite pricy but it's worth it. I find the staff there very helpful, have been there nearly 4 times and each time, a staff member will ask me if they can help me.

I really like their goldfish stocks there, and intend to buy some as soon as my other 2 goldfish have finished quarantine period to be placed in the big tank. I will probably just buy my goldfish from this place and wet products only. (ie Prime)

They have lots of tropical fish too - so far all their fishes look really healthy to my newbie eyes.

Another thing is I checked out Wet Pets @ Palmy (I made a trip up specially) they ran out of goldfishes!! I was very sad.. But their accessories/items are CHEAP! Thinking of buying the Millenium 2000 but still thinking about it.. hehe.. I intend to make another trip up to Palmy in about a week. THIS TIME I'll ring first to ask if they have sufficient fishies in stock.

Golly, I am giving them all business (Uhm, I hope these comments aren't offensive or bad in any way?.. )

[Pegasus]

Hi Jadie,

Interesting post.

You seem to certainly get around the shops, and obviously take notice

You said:

but my regret is my stupidity in buying a bag of polished river rocks for $35. *sigh* and now the white river rocks are turning brownish colour on the brink of looking rusty - tried to wash the brown colour off BUT it won't come off, it seems the brown seeped into the rock itself. GRRRR

You might find that washing the rocks in a mild bleach solution will restore them back to the original, but make sure you really rinse them well before putting them back in.

Bill (Pegasus)

[Ira]

The algae and whatever in tanks seems to do a great job of staining things. I'd thought the sponges in my filters were originally red or brown, cause that's what they looked like after a really good cleaning. I was quite amazed when I bought a new set that they were white. After a month of use they were back to red/brown. I've noticed wood seems to get stained brown too, even if it starts out bright white.

[frank]

To all on this topic,

If you use your scroll bar and go back up to the top of this page you will see that a simple question was asked, however the wrong words were used. The question should have read - Where in another part of the country other than Wellington can I find a pet store that has pushy staff that work for about $9.00 hr, know little about fish, where the prices are high and a big fish is cramped in a small tank.

Come on guys, while many of these points may be valid and make for hot debate, they in no way answer the original question.

Remember we are talking about what is for most of us an enjoyable pleasant and relaxing hobby, the retail side of which should also be so. In my experience no one store can be all to everyone, some have a great range of stock, some have experts offering great advice, some carry unusual live stock. Take the best from each and leave the rest, and remember that in most cases, it is the retailers that keep us supplied with all the bits we need.

I believe this page is called Beginners corner.

If the original question here was mine I would be leaving this site as a beginner, thinking that there were no good pet stores in wellington or in any other part of the country, because the people I had asked for help could only tell me where not to go.

I don't believe in dodging important issues, but a place where new comers to our hobby go to learn and get advice is, in my opinion not the place for debating the negatives.

Andrew, I don't live in wellington but if you are ever in Christchurch I can point you in the direction of a number of good pet stores, each with it's own strong points. (Including Animates).

Remember to enjoy your fish, that's what the hobby is all about.

Frank.

[Caryl]

Well said Frank!

[ajbroome]

Frank said...

> ... thinking that there were no good pet stores in wellington ...

There aren't, IMHO.

> ... but if you are ever in Christchurch I can point you in the

> direction of a number of good pet stores...

From my experience, Chch and Auckland are the only places

in NZ with a couple of decent shops. There are others

scattered around the country but not several in one place.

In general people will have to make do with what they can

get locally. Here, in Palmerston North, I'm lucky enough to

have a good (but not perfect)00 shop nearby. The next

closest good shop is several hours away (Tirau, Hamilton

or Tauranga) then Auckland. All IMHO of course.

Andrew.

[Jac]

Have only just read this but in defence of Animates in Christchurch, I go to both stores but particularly the Papanui one. Unlike what an earlier post said, they have several staff at least including one in particular that is very knowlegable about tropical fish. Unlike fish I have bought from other stores Animates fish seem to be survivors. I have a fire eel which is over a foot long now which I got from the Papanui store - the staff member who sold him to me still asks after him - I also don't find the staff pushing me to buy stuff either.

I will have a look at the other ChCh stores mentioned earlier too.

Cheers, Jac