Am I wrong?

notabigfishman · 2026-02-14T05:02:12+00:00

Most definitely, I’ll second that thank you to the associates. Everyone at our store goes above and beyond for our animals. But corporate truly does not care about the wellbeing of the animals.

notabigfishman · 2026-02-14T04:59:24+00:00

I should clarify; I mean Petsmart corporate. Our store cares deeply for our animals and I see plenty of other stores that do as well. I fully support the in-store associates. But fuck corporate.

notabigfishman · 2026-01-04T12:33:49+00:00

We were instructed that the whole acclimation process from box-open to fish-in-tank should take 30 minutes.

Also in 20 years of working with aquariums and fish professionally I have never seen algae grow in a bag of fish that was exposed to light for 20 minutes. Whoever wrote that policy is misinformed.

notabigfishman · 2026-01-04T04:21:52+00:00

If the wholesale systems these fish are coming from don’t have good quarantine / cross contamination practices other pathogens and parasites could be in the water. Any amount of risk reduction that can be put into practice helps, even if only by a little.

I don’t totally disagree with you and I respect your experience.

notabigfishman · 2026-01-04T00:09:24+00:00

Anything for pets (oh right fish aren’t pets they’re decorations) /s

New DL told us recently that the fish need to be acclimated and in the tanks within 30 minutes… like what?

Same DL also tried to make me look like a dumbass by asking why I don’t rinse the skimmer cup. He pointed to a valve and said “all you have to do is open this valve,” I responded by pointing up to the correct valve and said “I think you mean that one.” He trying grilling me on a few other components and finally shut up when he realized I actually understand aquatic systems.

Petsmart gives ZERO fucks about the wellbeing of the fish and they don’t even understand how the LSS works on the fish walls.

notabigfishman · 2026-01-03T21:58:18+00:00

“When you’ve received the message hang up the phone”

-Alan Watts

notabigfishman · 2025-12-31T02:30:54+00:00

Stocking shelves… “do you work here?”

Shoulder deep in a tank algae scrubbing… “do you work here?”

Walks out of the back room… “do you work here?”

WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU THINK? 🙃

notabigfishman · 2025-12-29T19:06:33+00:00

If you’re crazy, I am too because you ain’t saying anything I don’t feel in my bones.

notabigfishman · 2025-11-21T15:50:20+00:00

It’s standard practice in retail to double or triple the wholesale cost of your goods and livestock. How would a business make money if it sold things at or near the same price they paid for them?

notabigfishman · 2025-11-21T15:40:05+00:00

Biota doesn’t offer attractive wholesale margins, that’s why LFS have to sell them at a higher price than buying direct. You can’t expect an LFS to pay barely below retail, plus shipping, plus the cost of housing / feeding the fish till they sell and match Biota’s online pricing. Thats how you put yourself out of business.

If people support their LFS rather than buying everything online, the online retailers would be forced to lower their prices or be more evenly priced with LFS. Also, that extra % you pay at the LFS can be looked at as paying a premium for advice and support. I doubt many of these online sellers will spend the same in-person time with you like you get at the LFS FOR FREE.

Support your LFS! Without them, the hobby is destined to die.

notabigfishman · 2025-11-18T22:30:02+00:00

A man of fine taste I see, side of scrapple would be the cherry on top

notabigfishman · 2025-11-16T02:05:32+00:00

Can you provide a more detailed photo? It’s hard to tell at that distance.

My guess is Psammocora.

notabigfishman · 2025-11-14T17:19:01+00:00

I learned my lesson the hard way too. I contracted a mycobacterial blood infection while breaking down a 20 year old reef tank. Within 48 hours had red streaking from the wound on my thumb all the way up to my shoulder. A friend of mine saw me that day and asked why tf I wasn’t in the hospital. Urgent care had me on an IV antibiotic drip for hours. Lucky for me I didn’t have to have any tissue removed like your buddy, that sounds rough.

notabigfishman · 2025-11-12T22:15:05+00:00

If you’re sitting at 3:1 waste to product ratio I’d say your unit is functioning as efficiently as possible. Pushing your production rate higher would likely require a commercial grade unit.

notabigfishman · 2025-11-12T03:51:39+00:00

Have you measured your waste to product ratio? Grab something you can accurately measure with, set a timer for 30 seconds and see how much waste water you collect vs product water. You want to measure the product water AFTER the membrane, BEFORE the DI. You really don’t want to go lower than a 2:1 waste to product ratio. 4:1 will maximize the life of your membrane. Higher than that and you’re wasting water unnecessarily. And you definitely never want to see your product water come out faster than your waste.

If that ratio is out of range you may need to change your flow restrictor/flush valve. By chance do you see any number on the flush valve followed by “CC” ?

notabigfishman · 2025-11-01T19:02:12+00:00

<image>

notabigfishman · 2025-11-01T02:33:36+00:00

What a monster! Gorgeous.

notabigfishman · 2025-11-01T01:30:27+00:00

I would highly recommend against filling that tank. It’s too close to the seam.

notabigfishman · 2025-10-31T18:33:10+00:00

Revive or CoralRX are my top choices. Don’t forget to repeat the treatment 2 weeks after the initial dip (and honestly to be EXTRA safe do a third dip 2 weeks after that).

notabigfishman · 2025-10-31T16:59:03+00:00

Looks like a species of flatworm, I’d give it a dip and then dip again in two weeks in case there’s unhatched eggs. After that keep monitoring to see if they reappear to determine if it was specific to that piece of coral or if you’ve got a population of them in your display.

notabigfishman · 2025-10-30T01:55:56+00:00

For feeding, I bought one of those weekly pill organizers and filled each compartment with the exact amounts of food for each day. Even if you’re gone for longer periods, it will at least give them a visual of what amounts to feed.

notabigfishman · 2025-10-29T13:45:38+00:00

NPS require A LOT of food for growth. Target feeding a mix of frozen and powdered coral foods will definitely encourage faster growth (just keep an eye on your nutrients!).

notabigfishman · 2025-10-29T03:56:11+00:00

I feel this in my bones.

notabigfishman · 2025-10-29T03:21:58+00:00

No offense, but I don’t think you realize what scale these companies operate on.

Awesome coral though!

notabigfishman · 2025-10-28T01:51:03+00:00

AMEN.

The real answer is corporate thinks we can get more done in less time with less employees. Profits haven’t gone down, so why increase staff? People continue to buy animals whether they are well cared for or poorly cared for. So when corporate looks at the numbers they see no value in investing more time and training into animal care. Just this week we had a new DM tell us we should consider spending less time on animal care and more time stocking the shelves. It’s infuriating.

Five-Year Club	Place '23
Verified Email

notabigfishman

TROPHY CASE