vito is hooked
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Got my ACHILLIES from them 1yr ago for 29.99. That's a DEAL.
link for petiton to end PetCo abuse of marine life
- Thread starter epiphanus
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benzreef
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which store did you work at? how long ago? As bad as some of the stores are, it's an industry problem and not a Petco problem. Our RCAC loves our systems and lets us tweak policy to best suit the animals in our environment. No waiting for approval on medicating fish and we have outstanding results and very little loss.
Fishfirst
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"it's an industry problem and not a Petco problem."
yes it is an industry problem, but lets not forget that probably 80-90% of petcos have very very poor fish practices and that your store is in the minority... 30% loss is the goal, and some stores can't even make that! Lets also not forget that they have 1000 stores or so...
even without any "help" from corporate I had some of the best sales for my district, and met the loss goal, however I was far from pleased with the store... and its gotten considerably worse since I left... last time I was in there they were selling fish with oodinium, and ich (pretty much the whole system had it)... nope, not a single sign saying not for sale either.
yes it is an industry problem, but lets not forget that probably 80-90% of petcos have very very poor fish practices and that your store is in the minority... 30% loss is the goal, and some stores can't even make that! Lets also not forget that they have 1000 stores or so...
even without any "help" from corporate I had some of the best sales for my district, and met the loss goal, however I was far from pleased with the store... and its gotten considerably worse since I left... last time I was in there they were selling fish with oodinium, and ich (pretty much the whole system had it)... nope, not a single sign saying not for sale either.
benzreef
New member
Did you work at east? about 6 or so years ago? There is one issue I do have with them however. We can take any small animal to a vet and no matter the issue, the company will pay every penny. Since they don't educate the managers on FW or SW parasites very thoroughly, many have no idea at what they are supposed to be looking at. We may use medications at any time they are required, but for very specific conditions such as oodinium they fell short. This is when we go outside the company to purchase specific medications and treat as needed (albeit, with approval.) if we could prove to our RCAC that the treatment is needed and that we completely understand the procedure, she has every bit of confidence that we can remedy the situation, which is one of the reasons i'm still happily employed trying to make a difference.
Fishfirst
New member
I don't work in the valley... and to protect myself I will not include the location. However, my RCAC, GM, DM, etc would never allow me to use medications besides the ones given... and even then it needed approval (out of the 100's of times I asked for approval I got approval twice). I could not use Formalin, I could not use copper (even when I suggested a test kit to control the dosage, which makes copper extremely safe for almost all saltwater fish). I had to do freshwater dips on almost two dozen fish daily on average to ensure that things would be acceptible for sale, even then I was extremely nervous to sell ANYTHING.
The whole company doesn't understand disease, or acclimation, or even basic husbandry practices... instead of getting better filtration like a good skimmer, we wasted it on snake oil such as "Microb lift," pretending it would kill algae and disease...
The whole company doesn't understand disease, or acclimation, or even basic husbandry practices... instead of getting better filtration like a good skimmer, we wasted it on snake oil such as "Microb lift," pretending it would kill algae and disease...
benzreef
New member
fair enough. I haven't noticed a thing and that stuff's expensive. there are so many better avenues to take than that such as a UV sterilizer. our SW system has the unit, but no bulb. We can use them on the goldfish system and the turtle system, but not for SW where it counts the most. It'd be a matter of upkeep chain-wide i suppose. I think that stores without employees knowledgeable about SW should not keep their system's running. The company's motto is "Where the animals always come first," so we need to take a proactive approach to make sure every employee is trained in at least basic knowledge of SW husbandry, disease, maintenance and so forth. If they would pay me to drive to different stores and educate the employees in SW--especially stocking hearty species, leave the delicate ones to the LFS experts--, i'd do it in a heartbeat. That would make a difference (providing they keep with it and do their own research outside of work) at least in my area I feel. I am by no means an expert, but I know i could make a difference.
jhildebrand
New member
What exactly is the reasoning behind the corporate policy? How is it justified? The 30% loss goal is staggering. That info if put out in the open to the general public would be a PR nightmare for them. I can't even go in there to pick up dog food without getting angry when strolling through that department.
Seasapience
New member
lol, people really buy sw fish from petcos? Probably the same people that enter and get out of the hobby within 6 months because their fish keep dying and they think it's something they're doing wrong.... You know what they say,
"Petco, it's where the pets go...to die!"
"Petco, it's where the pets go...to die!"
tdukes
New member
^ I work at both a LFS and at a PETCO. I have many customers that come to me in both locations and their fish do very well that they purchase at PETCO. I have had very good results with PETCO fish following a good quarantine procedure and I make sure to treat any outbreaks in the store so that people don't buy sick fish. there are just as many LFS that are the same or worse than your average PETCO
^^ 30% actually isn't that high, its not 30% of fish it is 30% at retail value vs. sales. I know many LFSs have similar or higher loss ratios when comparing sales to value of fish lost.
^^ 30% actually isn't that high, its not 30% of fish it is 30% at retail value vs. sales. I know many LFSs have similar or higher loss ratios when comparing sales to value of fish lost.
loosecannon
New member
Beer-guy is right , The pet .co by me is all ready out of bis nice . All other stores are going Strong. What does that say a bout pet . co!
if it was 30% of fish, i'd agree. But if you read my post it isn't that, it is 30% of the value. so say you sell $1000 worth of fish a week. The want you to lose no more than $300 retail value of fish. it is not, get 10 fish in and lose only 3. say you have one or two expensive fish die but get 20 cheap ones in that do great, it is still easy to hit that 30% goal at retail value which is what they are looking at. PETCO doesn't look at individual deaths, its all $$$$
Seasapience
New member
hmmm, lol... Future slogan maybe?
Fishfirst
New member
"PETCO doesn't look at individual deaths, its all $$$$"
hmmm... kind of proving my point. Also usually its not expensive fish that die... oodinium affects not just the expensive fish but the cheap fish as well. Its not much of a goal, especially when stores can do MUCH better if the company would get out of the dark ages of fish keeping.
hmmm... kind of proving my point. Also usually its not expensive fish that die... oodinium affects not just the expensive fish but the cheap fish as well. Its not much of a goal, especially when stores can do MUCH better if the company would get out of the dark ages of fish keeping.
you got a thing for velvet don't you...
I actually see very little oodinium, at my place it is mostly crypto and flukes. which is why I acclimate all fish with prazi now. as for ich, cupramine takes care of that as well as mixing selcon and metro into all frozen food before feeding.
Can and should PETCO improve their marine husbandry practices? absolutely, but at the same time it isn't fair to bash the entire chain. Especially when there are many people that work hard taking care of the marine section at their respective stores and know their stuff only for people to come in and act like we're idiots because people that work at PETCO obviously can't know what they are talking about. It's like any LFS, talk to and get to know they person that runs that section and you may find out that they have their stuff together. There are plenty of LFS owners and employees that know jack as well, and I wouldn't step foot in their store.
I actually see very little oodinium, at my place it is mostly crypto and flukes. which is why I acclimate all fish with prazi now. as for ich, cupramine takes care of that as well as mixing selcon and metro into all frozen food before feeding.
Can and should PETCO improve their marine husbandry practices? absolutely, but at the same time it isn't fair to bash the entire chain. Especially when there are many people that work hard taking care of the marine section at their respective stores and know their stuff only for people to come in and act like we're idiots because people that work at PETCO obviously can't know what they are talking about. It's like any LFS, talk to and get to know they person that runs that section and you may find out that they have their stuff together. There are plenty of LFS owners and employees that know jack as well, and I wouldn't step foot in their store.
Fishfirst
New member
I've never "bashed" the lower level employees... I've always said that the problem is the upper level, and on a huge scale. I personally wasn't able to do much with my department, and I know of a lot of employees that were not able to do anything with their department as well throughout the country. Why do you think that there are so many threads all over the internet about this company and its practices?
I have a problem with velvet because that was MY personal problem that I had at the store... freshwater dipping didn't seem to work much on velvet... which was my only (forced) coarse of treatment for pretty much everything. I had ich too... but didn't lose nearly the amount of fish to it. We would also get a bacteria that would eat the flesh of the fish right off... our Maracyn Plus didn't do anything to it either, I asked to try different anti-biotics since there are bacteria that are totally unaffected by one anti-biotic but completely dead with another... I was denied. Again I'm going to reiterate... I have nothing against its STORE employees (some of them are very good for the company, some have no knowledge what so ever just like any other LFS) But most of the big wigs, and the policies that are created by those big wigs are absolutely idiotic and have very little science behind it. And when you enforce these policies on 900 stores... that is where I have the problem.
I have a problem with velvet because that was MY personal problem that I had at the store... freshwater dipping didn't seem to work much on velvet... which was my only (forced) coarse of treatment for pretty much everything. I had ich too... but didn't lose nearly the amount of fish to it. We would also get a bacteria that would eat the flesh of the fish right off... our Maracyn Plus didn't do anything to it either, I asked to try different anti-biotics since there are bacteria that are totally unaffected by one anti-biotic but completely dead with another... I was denied. Again I'm going to reiterate... I have nothing against its STORE employees (some of them are very good for the company, some have no knowledge what so ever just like any other LFS) But most of the big wigs, and the policies that are created by those big wigs are absolutely idiotic and have very little science behind it. And when you enforce these policies on 900 stores... that is where I have the problem.
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