Water Garden Gems Garden Center — Local services in Cibolo

DO NOT BUY THE GOLDFISH FROM THIS PLACE! My fiance decided to give this place a 2nd try, we had previously bought two goldfish from them earlier this year, both of us being new to fish keeping we didn't realize/weren't able to tell how bad the condition of the fish really was (both were sick and dealing with major parasites) I spent a lot of time and money nursing these two fish back to health; both of them are doing well now and are two amazing fish. About 2 months ago we went back to WGG to look at the goldfish, my fiance was insistent on getting a specific type of goldfish and we were having trouble finding the goldfish he wanted. The condition of the goldfish then was horrible; all the goldfish looked distressed and were all dealing with major health problems. We decided to not buy a goldfish at that time, learning from our previous experience. Last Monday (July 1, 2019) we were in the area and decided to stop by WGG to look at the goldfish selection. The goldfish selection was pretty sparse but my fiance still managed to find 2 that he apparantly couldn't live without. I was opposed to getting these 2 goldfish after what we dealt with the last time we bought goldfish from this place, but my fiance ended up buying them anyways :( BIG MISTAKE!!!! Since now, again, we're dealing with nursing these two fish who are dealing with some sort of parasite. -_- For a place that touts that they routinely check the fish for parasites (signs posted near the tanks) it's a shame that every fish we've bought from this place always ends up having them.

——————————————— (Friday, July 19, 2019) I appreciate your reply to my review and unfortunately did not see your reply until just now. I’ve been out of town for work and have not had phone service or access to my personal emails.

Update: Both goldfish are doing better, they look healthier and are no longer exhibiting any major signs of parasites. We’ve been treating them with Seachem - Polyguard; this stuff worked wonders on the first two goldfish we bought from you who were also dealing with parasites when we got them.

To your reply, I’m not going to bother calling or texting you. I don’t want a refund and I’m not returning the fish, both fish are actually thriving now and that’s all that matters. I’ve learned my lesson and hopefully my fiancé has as well and now we’re dealing with....again. It’s a shame we couldn’t take them all. If you really want to sort things out please actually take some time to care for the fish you’re selling. After 2 months (when my fiancé first reviewed the conditions of the fish) I would have hoped that substantial improvements would...

On Sat., May 12, 2018, my friend and I visited Water Garden Gems. I wanted to purchase a koi fish priced $59. The sales person told us that koi were very social and suggested we buy another. I did. The fish were placed in a water filled plastic bag and they injected oxygen in the container. We were told that the fish would be ok for 2 - 3 hours. My friend dropped me off and went home. He immediately put the fish in his established pond. One fish went to the side. The other, Clyde, blended in with the goldfish. In the morning, my friend went to feed the fish and found the second fish, Bonnie had died. On Mon., I called the store. The person answering the phone was very polite. He mentioned that it was suggested that the bag containing the fish be placed in the existing pond for 20 minutes before releasing the fish. I told him that we weren't told this by the sales person. He said on Saturdays, they were so busy the often didn't mention it. He continued that if you had an existing pond, you'd know this! I asked if they would replace the fish and was told that the fish was healthy when it left the store. I don't know how they can be certain every fish that is sold is healthy. I also don't know how the sales people have enough time to sell you another fish but don't have enough time to tell you about a successful transition from the plastic bag to the pond. He said that they would not replace the fish. The poor fish is dead and I'm out $59. This is one of the worst customer service experiences I've had. They sell the fish but do not back up their product. DO NOT BUY FISH FROM THIS STORE! In fact my friend and I will not patronize this store in future. They also have a special that if you buy three fish, they give you a fourth for free. Their fish supply is obviously adequate. Their customer service is not! I am not a...

This is a beautiful place, and the only place I’ve found in the San Antonio area that sells multiple kinds of fancy goldfish in their more unusual colors (calico, blue, matte) and varieties (lionheads, butterfly telescopes). The prices are also reasonable. My partner and I went to WGG yesterday in the hopes of adding a third goldfish to the two, a blue oranda and a gold lionhead, we purchased approximately a month ago. Although we realized as soon as we got them into our tank that they had ich/ick—which we treated—we’re very happy with both of the fish. This time, I was looking for a butterfly telescope, ideally a calico. There were few to choose from (one red and white, a couple mostly orange, and one calico), which was disappointing. But what astonished us was the sick state of virtually every tank of fancy goldfish (with the exception of the smallest, the $15 tank, which also had the fewest fish in it). We saw multiple fish with swim bladder issues (floating upside down, but alive and distressed), many fish in the $25 and $35 tanks hovering at the bottoms of their tanks—as if they were laying down, barely moving their fins. And, most of all, the fish were covered in ich/ick: dots of white all over the fins and bodies and wens. When we realized this, we decided against purchasing any because we didn’t want to nurse even a healthy-looking fish from a tank with obviously ill ones. We left disappointed because, as I said, WGG is the only place that routinely carries these harder to find varieties of fancy goldfish. The only other (far more expensive) option is to order them online. But until the fish in their care are more obviously healthier, we will not purchase...