I was in the Matteson Illinois Walmart on Feb. 2nd and the sales tank were full of fish. As usual, many dead or dying, but they were there.

We should all be glad that Walmart isn't seling fish anymore!

I work for a local pet shop, and my boss emailed me an article regarding this. Not ALL Walmarts are ceasing the sale of fish, but are large percentage are. They say it is due to that part of the store not making enough money, and that they want to focus their pet department more on dog and cat supplies, because there is more business there. That is probably for the best! :-)

It reminds me of the time when Docktor Pet & Lotsa Pets and Stuff made a big splash on the market. They may be okay for birds or cats aor dogs, but tropical fish were definitely a courtesy and they largely didn't know what they were doing. The best places are those that are NOT a chain pet store, but one started by a hobbyist, specializing in tropical fish.

I am so glad to see our walmarts arounf here have pulled out their tanks. I have complained for years to management and written letters about the horrid condition of their fish. When there are a half dozen or more fuzz coated bettas on any given trip into the store (and obviously different ones because I make them dispose of the dead ones and medicate sick ones as I stand there) and any number of dead, sick and maimed fish in every single tank--well something is wrong with that picture!! I am VERY glad to see an end to the fish graveyards in walmarts!

I've noticed that the Walmart near where I live has decided to keep their fish. THey completely redid their fish tanks though!! New gravel, new decorations, healthy fish, everything. Except for their bettas. :( half were dead. I spoke up to the lady though and she got mad at me.

One of the Walmarts near me has removed their tanks.

On the Bettas, I know they probably don't care for them properly, but if ay of you ever saw how they were imorted you would be horrified. They are packaged in bags that are about as wide as the betta is long. There is maybe 2 ounces of water (many are nearly dry because the water leaked out), and the inflated bag was about 2.5 inches high, most have deflated. There are 2 layers in each box of 250. There are supports and a piece of cardboard between the top and bottom layers, but many of the bags in the lower layers get flattened. 4 of these boxes fit in a large shipping box. If the box gets too hot or to cold along the way losses can be heavy. Some show signs of fungus right off, and we used to put them into cups with medicated water, if we didn't use medication, losses would usually be very high. The whole way they are shipped really sucks, but no one wants to pay $10.00 for a betta so they keep shipping them poorly.

Speaking from experiance after owning a pet shop for 10 years, all I'll say is, you can have a 100 tanks of fish, and no one will tell you that 99 of them look good. You will be told all day and all week long about the one tank of sick fish, over, and over, and over again, even if you have a note on the tank telling people that they are sick, and not for sale. There are always a few "EXPERTS" that are willing to guide you, with what is usually either very old remedies (just add salt to the water), or what is really poor advice (just move them to another tank) are a couple of examples. So please, think before speaking.

Also keep in mind, that Lady at Walmart, probably doesn't know anything about them, doesn't care about them, and is just stuck trying to take care of them. Not everyone shares our interests.

Walmart, and the "Chain stores" have ruined the hobby, there are fewer and fewer Mom and Pop stores, where you can go and get good solid advice, and healthy fish. Think about that next time you even think about patronizing one of them.

Thank goodness for Aquabid! Where you can find high quality fish from breeders, beacuse all you'll see in those stores is the same old stuff over and over.

Why are you even looking at the fish at Walmart?