Do Display Tanks at Pet Stores Have an Impact on Your Purchases?

Posted by Sarah on February 10, 2009

Do display tanks at fish stores have an impact on your purchases?

If you see a beautiful well stocked display aquarium are you more likely to make a purchase?

If you see a tank with too many fish, or fish that shouldn’t be housed together, or fish that are too large for the tank they are in does that make a difference?

I know most fish tanks in pet stores are overstocked, and they often have fish that aren’t compatible in the same tank.

While that bothers me, I think it’s different to have a display tank which houses fish that aren’t for sale in conditions that are obviously wrong.

I would think that if someone was going to the trouble of making a display tank to entice customers then they’d want to put fish in it that actually had a chance of surviving together, and that had enough room for them to move like they want to.

I don’t like seeing fish that zip up and down the tank all day long shoved in a tank that’s barely big enough for them to turn around in, and seeing display tanks that are too small or have the wrong type of inhabitants for the size of the tank, or the other tank mates make me think that the store is more concerned with selling fish, than the welfare of the fish.

Of course most stores are more concerned with that – but if the store obviously doesn’t care for their display fish properly, then I think the fish they sell are going to be more likely to have problems when they come home with you, and if you don’t have a quarantine tank you could end up with a lot more problems in your display tank.

Do the display tanks at pet stores have an impact on your purchases?

If you saw a tank that was well stocked and appropriate for the fish in the tank would you be more likely to make a purchase?

Would a badly stocked, neglected, or too small display tank have an impact on whether or not you purchased fish from that store?