Corals at Petco??
- Thread starter jbittner
- Start date
audioaddiction
New member
not upset at anyone, just the situation
not upset at anyone, just the situation
i've seen a lot of posts about "no refunds on saltwater fish" and "Petco doesn't quarantine!"
can anyone imagine what would be going on if Petco DID have a return policy on saltwater? people buy fish from them all the time without giving them any proper care whatsoever. they would be getting returns and giving out cash left and right all day long to people who'd buy the same wrong fish again and again killing more and more. it's actually not completely about Petco's greed, as Petco loses money on their saltwater. they do this to attract customers who will spend on the dry goods. just last night a couple bought a Clown Surgeonfish (grows 15 inches quickly, 180 gallon tank minimum recommendation) and finally admitted, as i was checking them out at the register, that it was going in a 20 gallon tank (surely with sorry filtration). i tried to sway them, and they just said they were going to "try him out". we can't blame big corporations for greed causing mis-care of fish when it's also we the customers doing the same redicoulous things.
there is no reason to quarantine the fish that come in each week either. they all come from the same place, and they wouldn't go in pristine tanks after the quarantine. they would also be going to just another not-perfect tank than they already have, probably making things worse by stress, etc. there would also have to be twice the amount of saltwater tanks at Petco. the best thing you could do with double the amount of tanks at each Petco would be to just use them as more tanks to sell the same amount of fish, doubling each fish's space!
i work at Petco and honestly spend way more time in aquatics than my managers care to let me. just the other day i finally got permission to vaccume every tank, take out most of the gravel (way, way too deep), stabilize the salinity, etc. it really is a chore to keep those tanks right, and the store's tanks are sometimes going to be in a lot better condition than other times. we have 18 tanks split 12 on one sump, 6 on the other. we occasionally get a few corals in with the usually weekly fish shipment. those are put in the smaller system of 6 tanks, and mostly do fine. they sell quickly, sometimes a a couple hanging around for over a week. people have mentioned that we don't quarantine before we sell. there's no need for all this specialized treatment when shift-changes happen all day long and workers like me have long periods away from it all. if you know how working is, everyone just wouldn't keep track with who's doing what and why.
there are some other pet stores in town, and honestly i'd rather get my fish here then at either of the others, and one of those stores specializes in only saltwater! why? specimens are guaranteed to only from the breeder (you know the history, the relative age, etc). this is not the case at ANY other store in town, where the same fin-nipped, ick-ridden specimens can be found. but not only that! they have old fish, fish coming from some previous customer's agressive tank (which once half-killed the fish you just bought), and absolutely any random place imaginable including the local docks (as i know for a fact many do, and same goes for any of you anywhere near ocean). also i buy specimens from Petco because they are indeed inexpensive or atleast reasonably priced (and that's even before my employee discount). honestly, i hope we all don't pay too cheap for fish in the years to come. this will just lead to more wreckless carelessness of our "mini-ecosystems" to where they're inexpensive enough that some will just let crash and start over!
there are many remarks and questions i could speak on, agreeing with many of them. it is definitely NOT true that "At Petco, our pets ALWAYS come first!". Petco is a huge corporation just like most of the places we go to for deals like Wal-Mart, so why is it such a shock? and each store's aquatics department is goign to vary in quality by the people running them. they hire the same teenagers many of you have. we don't know everything, and MOST of them don't know as much as i do, if anything at all. like with any job, everyone's trying to please those people above them, some more than others. i do take flak for spending "too much" time and may or may not be seen as a better worker for doing it.
(to clear my name
):as an employee, it IS animals first. i'm honest with every customer, as informative as i can be, and when they don't know things, or i dont know an answer, i urge them to research and find out before they make a move.
i think about what we're discussing a lot while at work. if there was going to be a change, it'd only maybe happen if there was a very large country wide protest showing exactly how Petco's slogan is a lie. every person on Reef Central could boycott Petco and they wouldn't even notice. i hope something will change someday... it could happen right?...
this is a late night, and i probably littered this with errors and typo's, sorry in advance! i'll be tagging along though,
zack :rollface:
not upset at anyone, just the situation
i've seen a lot of posts about "no refunds on saltwater fish" and "Petco doesn't quarantine!"
can anyone imagine what would be going on if Petco DID have a return policy on saltwater? people buy fish from them all the time without giving them any proper care whatsoever. they would be getting returns and giving out cash left and right all day long to people who'd buy the same wrong fish again and again killing more and more. it's actually not completely about Petco's greed, as Petco loses money on their saltwater. they do this to attract customers who will spend on the dry goods. just last night a couple bought a Clown Surgeonfish (grows 15 inches quickly, 180 gallon tank minimum recommendation) and finally admitted, as i was checking them out at the register, that it was going in a 20 gallon tank (surely with sorry filtration). i tried to sway them, and they just said they were going to "try him out". we can't blame big corporations for greed causing mis-care of fish when it's also we the customers doing the same redicoulous things.
there is no reason to quarantine the fish that come in each week either. they all come from the same place, and they wouldn't go in pristine tanks after the quarantine. they would also be going to just another not-perfect tank than they already have, probably making things worse by stress, etc. there would also have to be twice the amount of saltwater tanks at Petco. the best thing you could do with double the amount of tanks at each Petco would be to just use them as more tanks to sell the same amount of fish, doubling each fish's space!
i work at Petco and honestly spend way more time in aquatics than my managers care to let me. just the other day i finally got permission to vaccume every tank, take out most of the gravel (way, way too deep), stabilize the salinity, etc. it really is a chore to keep those tanks right, and the store's tanks are sometimes going to be in a lot better condition than other times. we have 18 tanks split 12 on one sump, 6 on the other. we occasionally get a few corals in with the usually weekly fish shipment. those are put in the smaller system of 6 tanks, and mostly do fine. they sell quickly, sometimes a a couple hanging around for over a week. people have mentioned that we don't quarantine before we sell. there's no need for all this specialized treatment when shift-changes happen all day long and workers like me have long periods away from it all. if you know how working is, everyone just wouldn't keep track with who's doing what and why.
there are some other pet stores in town, and honestly i'd rather get my fish here then at either of the others, and one of those stores specializes in only saltwater! why? specimens are guaranteed to only from the breeder (you know the history, the relative age, etc). this is not the case at ANY other store in town, where the same fin-nipped, ick-ridden specimens can be found. but not only that! they have old fish, fish coming from some previous customer's agressive tank (which once half-killed the fish you just bought), and absolutely any random place imaginable including the local docks (as i know for a fact many do, and same goes for any of you anywhere near ocean). also i buy specimens from Petco because they are indeed inexpensive or atleast reasonably priced (and that's even before my employee discount). honestly, i hope we all don't pay too cheap for fish in the years to come. this will just lead to more wreckless carelessness of our "mini-ecosystems" to where they're inexpensive enough that some will just let crash and start over!
there are many remarks and questions i could speak on, agreeing with many of them. it is definitely NOT true that "At Petco, our pets ALWAYS come first!". Petco is a huge corporation just like most of the places we go to for deals like Wal-Mart, so why is it such a shock? and each store's aquatics department is goign to vary in quality by the people running them. they hire the same teenagers many of you have. we don't know everything, and MOST of them don't know as much as i do, if anything at all. like with any job, everyone's trying to please those people above them, some more than others. i do take flak for spending "too much" time and may or may not be seen as a better worker for doing it.
(to clear my name
):as an employee, it IS animals first. i'm honest with every customer, as informative as i can be, and when they don't know things, or i dont know an answer, i urge them to research and find out before they make a move.i think about what we're discussing a lot while at work. if there was going to be a change, it'd only maybe happen if there was a very large country wide protest showing exactly how Petco's slogan is a lie. every person on Reef Central could boycott Petco and they wouldn't even notice. i hope something will change someday... it could happen right?...
this is a late night, and i probably littered this with errors and typo's, sorry in advance! i'll be tagging along though,
zack :rollface:
ILoveLlamas
New member
This thread makes me want to work at PetCo so I can fix up the saltwater department. That would be cool, creating cool display tanks on someone else's dime. Plus, I would no I am helping out the fish there a lot.
acidlittle
New member
I also happen to work at Petco, and I would have to say that the biggest problem in the Salt department, is the fact that they put people there with no FIRST-HAND experience. Then some employees don't ask customers questions.
I honestly have refused to sell people multiple fish multiple times, due to knowing that they didn't know how to care for them.
The fish that have ich usually are shipped that way, and the suppliers need to do a better job. Just today we got a shipment of fish in.....NO HEATPACK.....everything was dead, ****ed me off to the fact that I actually yelled outloud profanity.
Then we also have the inexperience of people making orders. My store actually had some other employee order, 2 spotted Groupers...????? WHY???? They get massive and eat anything smaller than them. Then people put Firefish in with Squirelfish, and wonder where they disappear to.
Next is I told our manager to STOP ordering corals and anem just because they DON'T live under normal output lighting.
I feel bad because I take a lot of offense to the comments people have made, when I agree that some stores shouldn't have salt. But since petco does have salt, don't just complain, if you can or have the time, get a job there, do some good. Please don't Generalize Petco as one store, every store is a shade different, and a lot of it depends on the experience of the Employees...I'm doing my best to get stuff that is going to live and thrive. Not to mention how they understaff the stores, so people DON'T have the time to do the basic maintenence.
Lol don't tell my bosses, but i Ignore a lot of customers just so I can spend more time cleaning and maintaining the saltwater.
Anyways, My rant is over. just know that you all make valid points, but need to know that there are good employees out there that do all they can! and get paid next to nothing to do so...
I honestly have refused to sell people multiple fish multiple times, due to knowing that they didn't know how to care for them.
The fish that have ich usually are shipped that way, and the suppliers need to do a better job. Just today we got a shipment of fish in.....NO HEATPACK.....everything was dead, ****ed me off to the fact that I actually yelled outloud profanity.
Then we also have the inexperience of people making orders. My store actually had some other employee order, 2 spotted Groupers...????? WHY???? They get massive and eat anything smaller than them. Then people put Firefish in with Squirelfish, and wonder where they disappear to.
Next is I told our manager to STOP ordering corals and anem just because they DON'T live under normal output lighting.
I feel bad because I take a lot of offense to the comments people have made, when I agree that some stores shouldn't have salt. But since petco does have salt, don't just complain, if you can or have the time, get a job there, do some good. Please don't Generalize Petco as one store, every store is a shade different, and a lot of it depends on the experience of the Employees...I'm doing my best to get stuff that is going to live and thrive. Not to mention how they understaff the stores, so people DON'T have the time to do the basic maintenence.
Lol don't tell my bosses, but i Ignore a lot of customers just so I can spend more time cleaning and maintaining the saltwater.
Anyways, My rant is over. just know that you all make valid points, but need to know that there are good employees out there that do all they can! and get paid next to nothing to do so...
Slakker
Premium Member
I'm not sure it's valid to tell people to go get a job at PetCo just because they're dissatisfied with the quality care that the livestock gets.
If fish are being shipped to the store with Ich, it should be the stores responsibility to treat them properly before trying to sell them to some poor soul who doesn't know a thing about saltwater. The problem is, while yes, SOME petcos have a competent employee or two, plenty more don't, and they're doing nothing to educate people about the marine fishkeeping hobby, they're just selling it next to the goldfish kits and pocketing the coin.
THAT'S what's wrong here.
If fish are being shipped to the store with Ich, it should be the stores responsibility to treat them properly before trying to sell them to some poor soul who doesn't know a thing about saltwater. The problem is, while yes, SOME petcos have a competent employee or two, plenty more don't, and they're doing nothing to educate people about the marine fishkeeping hobby, they're just selling it next to the goldfish kits and pocketing the coin.
THAT'S what's wrong here.
jbittner
New member
"Poor Soul"--"doesn't know a thing about saltwater" almost every LFS will take advantage of these customers. If this describes you, you are in the wrong hobby. I know of 2 LFS that quarintine their livestock. These stores also charge a heavy premium for the convience. It is a buyer beware market. The uneduacated will get taken advantage of.
samherston
In Memoriam
I walked into a PETCO near me one time and told the manager how bad the tanks looked.. FULL of algae and such. They said that they were understaffed and needed help.. So I applied to come in and work PT to get the tanks cleaned and aslo to maintaine them to keep nice fish alive and to help educate customers.. Got called in for an interview and they were very interesrted in what I had to say and what I could do... and then never heard back from them. I called and left several messages and never got a responce. So its there own fault that they hire anyone off the street to come in and catch a bag fish with NO knowledge at all...
acidlittle
New member
Slakker I agree with you fully. And your comment about the "people shouldn't get jobs at petco" makes perfect sense, I'm kinda a heat of the moment person don't really think when i get on a subject, but I do agree with you!
I agree, i've heard of some fellow employees taking advantage of the local PETCO's because some stores have VERY ignorant people working and you can usually catch them off-gaurd and get stuff even cheaper. The story incase was a feather duster that was attached to a rock that had some mushies and some zoas on it. Well because they didn't know anything the guy got the rock for 15 bucks....Saw the rock and it was a BOULDER prolly a 7lber with 8 deep purple mushies and 20 zoas. It was great!
I just want to clarify that, I do try and educate people on saltwater. People come in and TRY to buy long tenticle anems from me and I always refuse if they don't have adequate lighting or an established tank. Same with Mandarins and ANY corals. I also ask people what they know about the fish they are trying to buy in an attempt to make sure they won't kill it. Like the time the guy wanted to buy 2 lawnmowers and a midas blenny for his 20gal....had to tell him no.
With all that being said, I respect everybody's opinions and experiences!
Thanks all
I agree, i've heard of some fellow employees taking advantage of the local PETCO's because some stores have VERY ignorant people working and you can usually catch them off-gaurd and get stuff even cheaper. The story incase was a feather duster that was attached to a rock that had some mushies and some zoas on it. Well because they didn't know anything the guy got the rock for 15 bucks....Saw the rock and it was a BOULDER prolly a 7lber with 8 deep purple mushies and 20 zoas. It was great!
I just want to clarify that, I do try and educate people on saltwater. People come in and TRY to buy long tenticle anems from me and I always refuse if they don't have adequate lighting or an established tank. Same with Mandarins and ANY corals. I also ask people what they know about the fish they are trying to buy in an attempt to make sure they won't kill it. Like the time the guy wanted to buy 2 lawnmowers and a midas blenny for his 20gal....had to tell him no.
With all that being said, I respect everybody's opinions and experiences!
Thanks all
littlefish72
New member
To make a blanket statement like "all petcos are terrible" is just silly......have you been to EVERY petco? believe it or not there are a few petcos that actually have a knowledgable and caring employee working in the fish section.........trust me, i've seen a few pet shops/fish stores that would love to look as good as good as the petcos i've worked at........like any good LFS, the good petcos try to have healthy fish that are eating and will not sell you a fish unless it's perfect......ANY fish store is only as good as it's employees so please don't bash the ones that actually give a darn.........if your local petco is crap then don't go to it, but do support the ones that are good because you will actually get a good price on most livestock
acidlittle
New member
Amen! LOL
The fish are also only as good as the suppliers pack them aswell. (been having an issue with suppliers recently in our store)
The fish are also only as good as the suppliers pack them aswell. (been having an issue with suppliers recently in our store)
audioaddiction
New member
funny you mention that. today at work we got a horrible shipment in- over 20 nasty looking false-percula's, assorted tangs with messed up mouths, puffer with fungus, half the fish had ich... no kidding. i think our supplier sends the sick.
i talked to the manger for 3 seconds about it...
no wonder petco's have a bad rep.
i talked to the manger for 3 seconds about it...
no wonder petco's have a bad rep.
audioaddiction
New member
funny you mention that. today at work we got a horrible shipment in- over 20 nasty looking false-percula's, assorted tangs with messed up mouths, puffer with fungus, half the fish had ich... no kidding. i think our supplier sends the sick.
i talked to the manger for 3 seconds about it...
no wonder petco's have a bad rep.
i talked to the manger for 3 seconds about it...
no wonder petco's have a bad rep.
littlefish72
New member
I have had a few shipments of diseased fish too.........drives me crazy.......if you have to send sick fish how bout just not send me anything at all
acidlittle
New member
we actually look at our fish, next time i'm there when we get them in, if they don't look healthy I'm going to see if we can return them to the sender.
I really think that some of the problem in is the poor suppliers we have, it also hurts when they hire any JOE off the street and stick them in Aquatics.
Oh on a good note, the shipment that we got, looked GREAT the other day we got a shipment in and i SWEAR TO GOD we got the LARGEST, HEALTHIEST looking Tangs I have ever seen. We got a yellow tang that was seriously larger than a softball, and we got a Powder Brown Tang that is gorgeous, I will have pictures of the Powder Brown in a few days
I really think that some of the problem in is the poor suppliers we have, it also hurts when they hire any JOE off the street and stick them in Aquatics.
Oh on a good note, the shipment that we got, looked GREAT the other day we got a shipment in and i SWEAR TO GOD we got the LARGEST, HEALTHIEST looking Tangs I have ever seen. We got a yellow tang that was seriously larger than a softball, and we got a Powder Brown Tang that is gorgeous, I will have pictures of the Powder Brown in a few days
racrumrine
New member
Here are some more threads on the topic of what's going on at Petco.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=1078265
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=1077158
Best of luck,
Roy
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=1078265
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=1077158
Best of luck,
Roy
cybrsufr
In Memoriam
I am new to SW and Reefkeeping but, have done enough research over the past 8 months before even setting up my 90 Gallon Bowfront reef to know when something isn't right. I too have looked at PetCo's SW systems and even spoke to the manager of the dept at my local store (which just opened) and was plainly that they did not cycle their SW tanks, they just filled them and threw in Livestock. The manager himself stated he was appalled at this practice as he had two reef tanks of his own, but this is what they instructed him to do at the store startup. Also I have taken the time in the last 5 weeks while my tank is FULLY cycling with LIVE ROCK not critters or fish, and scoped out all of the SW aquarium shops in my area. What I have found is the EVERYONE of the chain/franchise stores (PetCo, PetClub, Perfect Pets, etc) had really sh&^^Y tanks that were full of hair algae, marine ich, dead fish with hermits eating them, lateral line disease on tangs, and so forth. It is a real shame that these companies are allowed to torture this livestock like this. Ultimately I have found that the two private LFS in my area have great looking tanks, with proper water conditions, quarentine tanks for new arrivals, and the one I use exclusively also uses only the top of the line filtration, skimming, pumps, ca reactors, and Kalk Reactors/stirrers (ALL Deltec) They also have a $150,000 700 Gallon Deltec Reef tank that has been running for 15 years and is gorgeous. So in the end I am going to say the same thing that I was taught in scuba diving when I first started that several years ago. In diving you are reminded to support you local dive shop for several reasons, the most important is having someone you can put a face to and trust with you equipment which is you life support when diving. I have found the same to be true in this new passion of mine, Reef Tanks. Find a LFS that maintains great quality livestock, has quality equipment, and practices safe reefkeeping practices (monitors water, fish, corals, etc regularly) and support them with you purchases. Noted that just like dive shops, these LFS's will probably have a higher cost associated with their livestock, however most if not all offer guarentees, and you will get much healthier livestock for your aquarium. Just my 2 cents worth.
WreckDiver
aka: Cybrsufr
WreckDiver
aka: Cybrsufr
Faviaphile
New member
I was the head of aquatics at Petco for several years during school and took pride in providing the best care possible and only ordering animals that have a decent survival rate but there are some things that were not my choice. The training program is a joke, most employees know very little. There is something you can do.....
The heads of the departments have a weekly budget that they can use to pick their fish. Some of the fish- yellow tangs, percs, damsels etc. are part of our planogram- we had to order them. Sometimes if Petco got a great deal on something they would send us unusual stuff but primarily if you see something unusual- a Mdragonet or other fragile species the head ordered it.
I urge all of you to speak to the aquatic specialist or a manager if you have a concern. Let them know why the specimen is inappropriate and don't be afraid to get a corporate number and let them hear about it.
If everyone called and let corporate know that we felt it was unethical for a system with one watt per gallon, barely any water movement (those with MARS systems) to house delicates they are likely to listen. Our corporates were good about responding to customers. But, please be polite to the staff they are undertrained and would probably love to know more but don't get enough support from the management- who often know less than the floor staff.
I bet you'll find that a little helpful and polite info/advice will make a big impression especially if your genuine concern shines and could save animals lives!through....
The heads of the departments have a weekly budget that they can use to pick their fish. Some of the fish- yellow tangs, percs, damsels etc. are part of our planogram- we had to order them. Sometimes if Petco got a great deal on something they would send us unusual stuff but primarily if you see something unusual- a Mdragonet or other fragile species the head ordered it.
I urge all of you to speak to the aquatic specialist or a manager if you have a concern. Let them know why the specimen is inappropriate and don't be afraid to get a corporate number and let them hear about it.
If everyone called and let corporate know that we felt it was unethical for a system with one watt per gallon, barely any water movement (those with MARS systems) to house delicates they are likely to listen. Our corporates were good about responding to customers. But, please be polite to the staff they are undertrained and would probably love to know more but don't get enough support from the management- who often know less than the floor staff.
I bet you'll find that a little helpful and polite info/advice will make a big impression especially if your genuine concern shines and could save animals lives!through....
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