Freshwater

Chemicals and food
Does the shop have a good supply of chemicals, medicine, and foods available?
You may not have time to wait for a dealer to order medications if your
fish are really ill — it’s much better to have it available when an emergency
arises. Check to see if the store carries a wide selection of frozen foods as
well as food for fish with special or unique dietary needs.
Dealer Practices: the Good, the Bad,
and the Ugly
We classify dealers into good dealers (Do Bees), bad dealers (Don’t Bees), and
ugly dealers (Wanna Bees). We have seen all types during our years in the
aquarium hobby. All we can do is give you a little personal advice as to what
to look for when you are trying to determine who is the good guy and who is
the bad guy. We cannot stress this enough, because if you do not have a good
place to purchase fish and aquarium equipment, you may become frustrated
with fighting a continual uphill battle to maintain successful aquariums.
Do Bee dealers
Chapter 9: Purchasing Your Fish
A Do Bee dealer helps you find success. Some of the signs of a good retailer are
Friendly, helpful, knowledgeable staff members who answer your questions
willingly, go out of their way to help, and who are familiar with
aquarium equipment, the different types of aquarium systems, and individual
species of fish.
A large selection of aquarium equipment, food, medication, and fish on
hand — they carry more than one or two brands.
Free services, such as water testing.
Some type of guarantee on the fish they sell and the commitment to
stand behind the equipment that they sell. A really good Do Bee offers
free repair service on basic equipment that they have sold to you.
A willingness to tell you where you can get a certain species or piece of
equipment if they cannot get it themselves. This includes offering competitors’
phone numbers.
Autopsies of dead fish to help determine the cause of the disease (if the
dealer has qualified staff) and medication advice to help prevent the
need for an autopsy.
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