Incredible Large Purple Tang Needs to be rescued from Petco on Transit/Main for $75

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Paradiddle7

New member
So, I was at Bestbuy and out of frozen food, so I took my son into Petco on Transit and Main, he likes to look at the fish, snakes, turtles, birds, and rodents. I was shocked to see a perfect looking Purple tang on sale for $75. It's probably 4-5 inches and in flawless condition and there since mid April. I know that a lot of people on here probably wouldn't buy a fish from Petco, but this thing is probably in a 20 gallon tank or smaller. Thankfully it's by itself and it does look happy swimming back and forth. It was initially priced at $150 which is a fair price for a small to medium purple tang, this one could even fetch $175-$200. For someone without a job, it might be worth flipping it even! I just can't house him in my 90g tank and it's not worth my time to flip it, if there's hustlers out there that try and do that.

For those looking for a purple tang and want to see this fish in a proper large tank, this is a great deal. I can post a picture if you want to see it, it's on my phone. It would be a shame to just let it stay in that small tank and I was really shocked to see such a flawless fish of that size and quality in petco.

I promised the girl that I would post this on a local reef forum and that I was confident that someone would rescue this fish. Heck, you might even be able to get an additional 10-20% off if you just ask. She said they just wanted to get rid of it because it's been there for a while. I'm just so thankful that somebody didn't buy a pico tank there and that fish, and shove it in there with table salt!
 
I have enough of a bioload already in a freshly cycled tank and already have a small yellow tang. The purple tang is probably 5 times the size of my small yellow tang and since the purple is more aggresive than the yellow, I'm not sure that would be a good idea either. Trust me, if I just didn't move all my fish from my spare tank into the newly cycled tang, I would have been mighty tempted to purchase him, especially since I could have kept him in the tank by himself to use as a quarantine tank. All I could think about while I was looking at him was that I need a 180 or 220 tank or larger in my new house! This is after I just told my wife yesterday that when we move to our new house, I'm not going to setup a tank right away! Boy, do I regret saying that now!

This fish is so well developed that his little yellow bumps looked like horns in front of his eyes, not sure if those are nostrils or what, but they are almost the size of a match head.
 
I've had my purple tang for over 4 years,it is a awesome reef fish..I have never seen the one at Petco,but even if it is 1/10 as cool as mine you can not go wrong..They love to swim and pick at live rock so you should have plenty of room and rock if you want to keep them..I have three tangs a powder blue and also a blonde Naso and the Purple is midldle of the road as far as temperment,It is ok with other tangs as long as the are not Zebrasoma family..$75.00 for an adult is not a crazy price,I hope it finds a good home..
 
I try to avoid Petco for that reason. Their store in Port St. Lucie Fl. also has 2 of them in stock that I've seen recently,its a shame.
 
I avoid them at all cost, but I would pick up a purple tang anywhere I could get it.

It also gives you a perfectly good reason to finally setup your quarantine system!
 
Personally the only time i support that store is during the $1/gallon sales.

If you are thinking you want to buy it to "rescue" it you should realize it will likely be replaced by another just like it ;(

Also want to add that "flipping livestock" is, well, pretty bogus.
 
It sounds bad, but "saving" fish from petco only encourages petco to keep stocking up on these fish :(


edit: damn justin beat me to it
 
The logic doesn't hold up because you act as if the fish you buy from your reef shop are collected any different or part of a different economy. Don't hate on Petco, they get thousands of hobbyists started. If you want the fish, get it. It's beautiful. I'd call ahead because it's possible someone already got it. It's been there for 7 weeks.

Petco Animal Supplies
4401 Transit Road #600
Williamsville, NY 14221
 
I would assume that petco uses some sort of central skimmer/pump system thought right? So even if its by itself, its proabbaly contaminated from all the other fish in their system.

Ive gone into petco durring lunch to just see their selection (is there anywhere else in the Henrietta area that carries saltwater fish?) and ive seen yellow tangs there every time. They are either selling the tangs or moving them into different tanks cause they are never in the same one as the last time I went. they are only $35 too... Ive been tempted but figure they are probably diseased and my small QT is only going to stress out a really stressed out fish.
 
I bet that the odds of a diseased fish at Petco are identical to your local reef shop. Most shops share water from multiple tanks but have multiple systems, just to prevent a total loss from something drastic.

I know that all the reef snobs will argue that but the dates the fish arrived are on the tags at petco and lots of reef shops still don't share that information. The purple tang has been there 7 weeks and it's a perfect specimen. The diseases aren't coming from Petco, they are coming from the fish and all these fish are coming from the same places. This fish is in it's own long but small tank, but do you really think it's any more stressed than being placed in a 75g tank with 10 other tangs and fish, like you see at your local shop? Also, I bet Petco has a strict regiment of water changes and other maintenance that they have proven protects their investment and insures they can continue to sell fish for a profit. I've been there 3 times and I have never seen a sick looking fish in their marine section. I can't say that for every store in the local area, but they carry more fish than petco, so the chances are that i would have seen a dieing fish at my local stores and I have seen many.

The only reason I would QT it for 2 weeks, if I even had a QT tank would just be to make sure it doesn't get ich from the stress of moving it.
 
I would not trust petco fish. The fish in the west Seneca petco is bad the fish look sickly and the tanks have cynao. I watched one of the employees catch some sw fish drop 2 of them on the floor bag the other fishes and then pick them up of the floor and then bag them as if nothing happened. I buy frozen from there and that's it.
 
Yeah, that's bad!

I can say that I've had horrible luck even at a good and reputable place before, when I lived in another town. We had an awesome place that everyone raved about in Boston and I bought 3 batches of fish from them and only 1 out of 7 fish lasted more than 2 weeks. That's when I started ordering online and I can say that LiveAquaria is my favorite place online and they have superior customer service. I have fish from LA that are 8 years old in my tank and have survived through thick and thin.

lilman024 said:
I would not trust petco fish. The fish in the west Seneca petco is bad the fish look sickly and the tanks have cynao. I watched one of the employees catch some sw fish drop 2 of them on the floor bag the other fishes and then pick them up of the floor and then bag them as if nothing happened. I buy frozen from there and that's it.
Click to expand...
 
They got a ton of them in the last few weeks. I saw 4 big ones in there a month ago and they were cheap. Corporate must have got a mass shipment since my friend in Rochester noticed them there too.
 
Paradiddle7 said:
I bet that the odds of a diseased fish at Petco are identical to your local reef shop.
Click to expand...

I'll take that bet any day.

My logic isn't flawed. My main issue with them is that in every store I've been in, Petco, the aquarium staff is quite uneducated and is trying to sell you something without the true proper information on its care. I suppose this may happen from time to time in our own LFS's but honestly I've never personally witnessed it and I've been in most every shop within 150 miles lol.

I don't mean to sound argumentative it's just that i get tired of seeing, "Hurry up and rescue the Petco fish" threads. The flipping comment was a touch shady too. So what, someone from URS buys it for $75 and then we see it listed on here for $200 and you'd be all like, "Yea that's the way to do it! " I don't get it lol.
 
I was just arguing that the reason not to buy it would be because they are just going to replace it. I completely agree that Petco is shady and that the education level of employees is completely lacking. I just don't think that it affects the health of the fish as much as people think but 100% for sure their lack of training and education puts them at risk when it comes to catching and packing your fish. I also bet that they keep diseased fish in their systems longer than a specialty shop because their employees aren't looking as much and aren't trained.

I've never seen any "rescue" threads, so I didn't realize I was perpetuating anything, sorry about that.

I could care less if someone flips the fish, i just want it in a bigger tank. There's lots of people who finance their tanks by propogating corals, so I was just invisioning a very young person without a job being able to buy that fish and if they don't want to keep it in the long run, they can sell it for more than they paid. I've had some equipment for sale lately and I've gotten some really lowball offers, so I don't like seeing people try to steal my stuff and try to flip it, so yeah, I also agree that I hate flippers, I was just mentioning it. I would never flip anything, it's just a waste of my time.

I don't think we are realy disagreeing on much. I think the fish is healthy and it's a great deal for a purple tang of that size, so I just thought someone might appreciate the fish and be willing to take the risk. I'd like to see the fish in a larger tank and also be owned by someone who is going to appreciate and cherish it. I'm sure we all agree on that.
 
Flipping is an interesting animal. Heck, I would pay quite a bit extra for a fish, if it came from a reputable "flipper" that had a dedicated quarantine system that pre-treated a fish for me. Sounds like a business model :D

I know that I spend quite a bit of money, time, and space on quarantining a fish.

Now lowballers. That's a whole different kind of person...
 
That's a great idea, it's too bad that a LFS wouldn't do it because it's an obvious conflict of interest. I think that everyone who has tried to keep a tang has had one develop ich, and that can come even from the stress of moving or a new environment (even a properly sized and disease free tank).

You are right though, for $75, someone could buy it, QT it and charge you $50 and still get the fish for $125 and everyone wins.

insomniac2k2 said:
Flipping is an interesting animal. Heck, I would pay quite a bit extra for a fish, if it came from a reputable "flipper" that had a dedicated quarantine system that pre-treated a fish for me. Sounds like a business model :D

I know that I spend quite a bit of money, time, and space on quarantining a fish.

Now lowballers. That's a whole different kind of person...
Click to expand...
 
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