SkinnyPete
Non-member
After weeks of looking at my favorite local fish stores for a peacock mantis shrimp, I found several at Zoo Creatures in Plaistow, NH. They were very active with really nice coloring. Needless to say, I asked if I could buy one and hold it there for a week while my new acrylic tank was being set-up. The guy working there told me "No. You can just come back. These have been here for quite a while. I don't think they'll be gone." Peacock mantis have been there for a while? From what other stores were telling me, they pretty much have a waiting list for peacocks. I wondered why people weren't just buying them here? Should have been my first clue. I grabbed a lawnmower blenny for my main tank while I was there. Got home, tested the water before acclimation...a nice 1.025. After an easy acclimation the blenny is still doing fine.
Fast forward a couple weeks. I call to find out if they still have peacock mantis. "Yeah, we've got a bunch. Small ones, green ones, and bright orange ones." I asked for a price on the larger ones. "The green ones are $60, the orange ones are $75." Much more than other stores, but other stores have a waiting list. "Oh, and we have an octopus if you're interested too"....uuuuhhh, okay, why would you think that I'd be interested in an octopus, Mr. Salesman? No matter. I shoot up there that night and take a look. They have a 5" peacock in an acrylic cage which is sitting in a semi-darkened bottom tank. I ask the guy working a few questions, he has answers. Then, I ask "can we take that cage out of the tank so that I can see him better?" He says "No." I ask "no? why?" He says "because I don't want to take the chance." Take the chance? okay. So, basically he is telling me buy him or don't buy him. Rather than waiting god knows how long for another one to show up - I buy it.
The employee removes the acrylic cage from the tank (finally 'taking that chance'). The acrylic cage has about an inch or so sand and rock rubble at the bottom. He opens a bag. Let me repeat that....he opens a BAG to put him in. He's putting a 5" peacock mantis in a bag. But, there is an empty salt bucket at his feet so I'm thinking, maybe he's just going to dump the rocks and sand in the bag - then give me the shrimp in the bucket. Nope. He double bags with a newspaper between the two bags, then just DUMPS the sand, rocks, and shrimp into an oversized bag..must have been a foot or two drop. He writes $75 on the bag (for the green one mind you, which I was told on the phone was $60) and hands it to me. Luckily, I had an old bucket in my truck so I put the bag in the bucket just in case.
When I get home, I check the salinity using a refractometer. It reads at 1.034. OBVIOUSLY, there's been some mistake so I check again using a different eye-dropper..must have been dried salt in the other one. 1.034. I test my 110 gallon established tank. Surely, my refractometer has gone crazy. 1.025. I begin cursing the store, pick up the phone to call them only to realize that they've closed. So, I begin my long, and probably unsuccessful, acclimation process. What else can I really do?
At about midnight, I introduce him to his tank and he sits in a corner, not burrowing or hiding at all. I keep the lights off all night and all next morning and afternoon. Late afternoon I pick up my new lights from [store name removed] (one of those FAVORITE fish stores I was talking about) and turn on the lights. I notice the mantis is still in the same spot - but, he's missing a smasher. He starts exploring a little and I notice he's dragging the other smasher on the sand...as if it's broken.
Now, it should be mentioned that I'm a very easy going guy. I try not to be THAT guy. The complainer. I don't send back food. I don't complain much. I don't want to give anyone a hard time, but I also HATE the state of customer service nowadays. I call the store and tell them that he's missing an appendage and the other appears to be damaged and that I'd like to return it. I'm told simply 'no refunds on saltwater fish'. I then tell him about the specific gravity. I'm told and I'm quoting exactly..."Sir, I can tell you right now that that's not true. There's no way it was reading 1.034. We check everyday and we keep it at 1.025." I explain that it absolutely was reading at 1.034 and that it took me over 4 hours to completely acclimate him, and I also express my concern that 4 hours isn't even enough time to drop .10. He says to call back and speak with Nick. Yes, that's NICK at Zoo Creatures. Nick tells me that there is no way their salt read 1.034 and we basically have the same argument as I had with the last employee. I explain that after speaking with a marine biologist who specializes in mantis (see Roy Caldwell's note to me at http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=852059 ) that salinity extremes can cause damage to the raptorial appendage. In most cases, the animal will just remove the broken appendage. Wow, what a coincidence. If this is a classic sign of stress shock due to high salinity, then there's a good chance that the animal is so stressed that he may not make it.
I explain that he has removed BOTH his appendages...a smasher with no smashers. According to Roy, it will take several molts 6-8 months for him to fully regenerate these appendages and in his research salinity of 1.035 is fatal to these species. Nick says "I certainly hope that doesn't happen. I hate when animals die." I tell him that I'm extremely unhappy. I explain that the fact is - the water in the bag had high salinity. He says their tanks are all 1.025. He couldn't answer how, if their tanks are 1.025, did my bag of water read 1.034, and how if it was a bad reading it was a bad reading for 4 hours, and how my mantis is showing classic symptoms of extreme salinity shock. There is obviously a problem. I'm not just making this up to have a conversation. He then ended the conversation with "I hope this doesn't give you a negative impression about our store". I concluded with "Are you kidding? I'm never going to buy anything from you again. This is ridiculous" to which he responded "Well, that's your choice."
Now, here are the facts, make up your own mind.
1. They refused to hold an animal for a week after purchase. A nice courtesy that most stores extend.
2. I was not able to inspect the animal before I bought...I must be out of my MIND buying something without inspecting it.
3. I was given a double bagged mantis. For $75 they couldn't spare a bucket?
4. This is the big thing, and please trust me the water IN the bag read 1.034 (in my original post I wrote 1.033 because that's what it was testing at when I wrote the post and I was trying to be kind). I tested over and over with a refractometer and THAT was the sg. I don't care what they are saying their water tests at now, and how they pride themselves in blah blah blah - i've been in this hobby off and on for 10 years - it was 1.034. I tested using the same equipment on the blenny I bought 2 weeks prior and it read fine.
5. According to a respected marine biologist who specializes in these creatures - it appears to be suffering from extreme salinity stress.
6. A beautiful creature, and a $75 beautiful creature at that, may die due to extreme conditions brought on by this vendor.
7. The store made no attempt. NO attempt to make this right. In fact, in not so many words, they implied that I was making the whole thing up.
Think about your favorite store. Can you imagine this happening there? Again, I hate to keep focusing on these two, because I'm sure that all our sponsors are great. These happen to be the ones I visit the most. I couldn't FATHOM having this conversation with [store names removed].
The difference is - our sponsors, at least the ones I've visited - are hobbyists. This is what they do. They are not just someone working at a fish store to pay his Visa card. Okay, ending now because I'm beginning to make it personal.
Just beware of Zoo Creatures in Plaistow. Please, feel free to post any comments - good or bad - about them as a response. I'm curious to see if I'm alone here. I don't see many mention of this store on our forums.
If I'm being blunt - they don't deserve your money. Give your money to someone who's heart is in this hobby.
I will be attempting to obtain the owner's email address and sending a link of this post. Feel free to respond, and sorry for the spelling mistakes. I'm still a little angry and anxious.
- Steve
Fast forward a couple weeks. I call to find out if they still have peacock mantis. "Yeah, we've got a bunch. Small ones, green ones, and bright orange ones." I asked for a price on the larger ones. "The green ones are $60, the orange ones are $75." Much more than other stores, but other stores have a waiting list. "Oh, and we have an octopus if you're interested too"....uuuuhhh, okay, why would you think that I'd be interested in an octopus, Mr. Salesman? No matter. I shoot up there that night and take a look. They have a 5" peacock in an acrylic cage which is sitting in a semi-darkened bottom tank. I ask the guy working a few questions, he has answers. Then, I ask "can we take that cage out of the tank so that I can see him better?" He says "No." I ask "no? why?" He says "because I don't want to take the chance." Take the chance? okay. So, basically he is telling me buy him or don't buy him. Rather than waiting god knows how long for another one to show up - I buy it.
The employee removes the acrylic cage from the tank (finally 'taking that chance'). The acrylic cage has about an inch or so sand and rock rubble at the bottom. He opens a bag. Let me repeat that....he opens a BAG to put him in. He's putting a 5" peacock mantis in a bag. But, there is an empty salt bucket at his feet so I'm thinking, maybe he's just going to dump the rocks and sand in the bag - then give me the shrimp in the bucket. Nope. He double bags with a newspaper between the two bags, then just DUMPS the sand, rocks, and shrimp into an oversized bag..must have been a foot or two drop. He writes $75 on the bag (for the green one mind you, which I was told on the phone was $60) and hands it to me. Luckily, I had an old bucket in my truck so I put the bag in the bucket just in case.
When I get home, I check the salinity using a refractometer. It reads at 1.034. OBVIOUSLY, there's been some mistake so I check again using a different eye-dropper..must have been dried salt in the other one. 1.034. I test my 110 gallon established tank. Surely, my refractometer has gone crazy. 1.025. I begin cursing the store, pick up the phone to call them only to realize that they've closed. So, I begin my long, and probably unsuccessful, acclimation process. What else can I really do?
At about midnight, I introduce him to his tank and he sits in a corner, not burrowing or hiding at all. I keep the lights off all night and all next morning and afternoon. Late afternoon I pick up my new lights from [store name removed] (one of those FAVORITE fish stores I was talking about) and turn on the lights. I notice the mantis is still in the same spot - but, he's missing a smasher. He starts exploring a little and I notice he's dragging the other smasher on the sand...as if it's broken.
Now, it should be mentioned that I'm a very easy going guy. I try not to be THAT guy. The complainer. I don't send back food. I don't complain much. I don't want to give anyone a hard time, but I also HATE the state of customer service nowadays. I call the store and tell them that he's missing an appendage and the other appears to be damaged and that I'd like to return it. I'm told simply 'no refunds on saltwater fish'. I then tell him about the specific gravity. I'm told and I'm quoting exactly..."Sir, I can tell you right now that that's not true. There's no way it was reading 1.034. We check everyday and we keep it at 1.025." I explain that it absolutely was reading at 1.034 and that it took me over 4 hours to completely acclimate him, and I also express my concern that 4 hours isn't even enough time to drop .10. He says to call back and speak with Nick. Yes, that's NICK at Zoo Creatures. Nick tells me that there is no way their salt read 1.034 and we basically have the same argument as I had with the last employee. I explain that after speaking with a marine biologist who specializes in mantis (see Roy Caldwell's note to me at http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=852059 ) that salinity extremes can cause damage to the raptorial appendage. In most cases, the animal will just remove the broken appendage. Wow, what a coincidence. If this is a classic sign of stress shock due to high salinity, then there's a good chance that the animal is so stressed that he may not make it.
I explain that he has removed BOTH his appendages...a smasher with no smashers. According to Roy, it will take several molts 6-8 months for him to fully regenerate these appendages and in his research salinity of 1.035 is fatal to these species. Nick says "I certainly hope that doesn't happen. I hate when animals die." I tell him that I'm extremely unhappy. I explain that the fact is - the water in the bag had high salinity. He says their tanks are all 1.025. He couldn't answer how, if their tanks are 1.025, did my bag of water read 1.034, and how if it was a bad reading it was a bad reading for 4 hours, and how my mantis is showing classic symptoms of extreme salinity shock. There is obviously a problem. I'm not just making this up to have a conversation. He then ended the conversation with "I hope this doesn't give you a negative impression about our store". I concluded with "Are you kidding? I'm never going to buy anything from you again. This is ridiculous" to which he responded "Well, that's your choice."
Now, here are the facts, make up your own mind.
1. They refused to hold an animal for a week after purchase. A nice courtesy that most stores extend.
2. I was not able to inspect the animal before I bought...I must be out of my MIND buying something without inspecting it.
3. I was given a double bagged mantis. For $75 they couldn't spare a bucket?
4. This is the big thing, and please trust me the water IN the bag read 1.034 (in my original post I wrote 1.033 because that's what it was testing at when I wrote the post and I was trying to be kind). I tested over and over with a refractometer and THAT was the sg. I don't care what they are saying their water tests at now, and how they pride themselves in blah blah blah - i've been in this hobby off and on for 10 years - it was 1.034. I tested using the same equipment on the blenny I bought 2 weeks prior and it read fine.
5. According to a respected marine biologist who specializes in these creatures - it appears to be suffering from extreme salinity stress.
6. A beautiful creature, and a $75 beautiful creature at that, may die due to extreme conditions brought on by this vendor.
7. The store made no attempt. NO attempt to make this right. In fact, in not so many words, they implied that I was making the whole thing up.
Think about your favorite store. Can you imagine this happening there? Again, I hate to keep focusing on these two, because I'm sure that all our sponsors are great. These happen to be the ones I visit the most. I couldn't FATHOM having this conversation with [store names removed].
The difference is - our sponsors, at least the ones I've visited - are hobbyists. This is what they do. They are not just someone working at a fish store to pay his Visa card. Okay, ending now because I'm beginning to make it personal.
Just beware of Zoo Creatures in Plaistow. Please, feel free to post any comments - good or bad - about them as a response. I'm curious to see if I'm alone here. I don't see many mention of this store on our forums.
If I'm being blunt - they don't deserve your money. Give your money to someone who's heart is in this hobby.
I will be attempting to obtain the owner's email address and sending a link of this post. Feel free to respond, and sorry for the spelling mistakes. I'm still a little angry and anxious.
- Steve
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