Can I take pet fish back to the shop?!

[Busytizzy]

I've been having a problem with my fairly new tropical fish - a few have died and speaking to the shop it would seem I was given wrong advice (by them) and have fish which aren't really compatible.

Now the numbers have become less, the fish are becoming aggressive. The advice from the shop is to let the numbers of the incompatible ones dwindle naturally, but I can't sit and watch them harass each other to death, it's horrible.

So if I turn up at the shop with the incompatible ones I've got left, will they accept them?

[which1]

They probably would, they'd have to quarantine them first before putting back on sale though.
Unsure if you'd get your money back.
If you're new to fish, I'd suggest you go with peaceful/community fish. Fish normally are classed with 3 levels of aggression. Mixing different aggression levels doesn't normally work out well.
Good beginner fish would be things like platies, tetra, guppies and such like.

[ProseccoIsTheAnswerHere]

What fish do you have?

Also some shops do accept them. If not, try a local fish group on fb.

[AdalindMeisner]

They should do, my teen daughter returned hers to the pet shop and they took them back (something similar I believe with the fish not getting on).

[DavesNotHere]

Did you buy from Pets at Home by any chance? They have really bad form for giving poor advice and selling sick animals. No idea what their return policy is. We buy from a local independent place in a small garden centre and they replace fish that die within a few weeks of purchase and have swapped fish that have turned out to be incompatible for whatever reason. If you get nowhere with the store, I would post a bad review on Trustpilot as they monitor that closely and respond to every review.

[theemmadilemma]

Most fish shops won't take back a fish once taken away for various reasons, but mainly protecting the health of their stock.

[Busytizzy]

Thanks everyone. I started with some neon tetras, then some small catfish, then zebra danios. It's the danios that are being aggressive. The last person I spoke to at the shop said I shouldn't have been recommended the danios as they aren't really happy at the same temperature as the rest.

It seems so cruel to watch them suffer. I've tried to re-home them on local FB sites, but no takers.

[HotdogSausagedog]

Are you sure it's the fish? Danios are comunity fish and I cant really imagine them actually killing fish. Have you had your water tested? How long has your tank been set up?

[ProseccoIsTheAnswerHere]

I’d agree about the temps, but I’d too be looking at the water itself and whether it’s cycled or not.

[Busytizzy]

Thanks guys - the shop were great and took them back. Phew! I didn't mean that the danios were killing each other, but that because they were becoming aggressive due to numbers being too low, stress could be a factor.

The tank is only a few months set up, and I did buy a testing kit when things started to go wrong, so water-wise all looks ok.

Thanks so much for your help!

[ProseccoIsTheAnswerHere]

Just a bit of unasked for advice but only because I see it a lot - get a good testing kit that doesn’t involve strips. The strips totally lie!
NT labs does a good one, as does API

[DavesNotHere]

A bit more unasked for advice - if you find the neons are not doing well, either dying off fairly quickly or getting sick a lot, I recommend cardinal tetras instead. Very similar to look at, just as attractive, but not so overbred so tend to be more robust. Hope all goes well with your tank. We only started ours in January so it's been a steep learning curve but have had loads of great advice