petco by me has a very knowledgeable fish "expert" that keeps the tank in top shape. freshwater section is significantly better looking but the salt section. id never buy fish or coral from petco even though they look relatively healthy most of the time. seen bouts of nasty ick hit there tanks every so often. compared to the LFS i go to, petco has nothing on them lol.
PetCo is terrible - Photos
- Thread starter dustinkimpel
- Start date
banjowalker
New member
The petco in hickory, NC is actually a pretty decent store. I've spoke with their fish "expert" and I never feel like they know enough, but as far as care for the fish their tanks are always clean and never have overstocked or mismatched stock in the tanks. Their live rock is absolutely beautiful, and their corals always look very healthy. I haven't ever seen one that didn't there. I will be purchasing some of my stock of fish and corals from this petco because I don't have any lfs around me (that im aware of) that actually have quality saltwater products to sell. I will definitely be getting some of my LR there because they have great looking pieces that are covered in coraline. I guess all petcos are not created equal.
Gandolfe
New member
support your local shops huh? well I have one that has new owners that have no clue... All the employees that have been there for years except a few have quit, the prices jumped, I went in last week and they were cycling a tank with damsels, they took a bunch of live rock from a customer to sell that was covered in aptasia and were selling it at $5.99 a pound, there tanks had multiple dead fish in them, one even had a flame angel dead and covered in hermits picking it apart.... another store near me has a live rock and coral tank that has every inch of the rock and most of the corals covered in cyano. So it's not just PETCO that sucks. I live near Tampa,Fl.
Reef_Me
New member
Lol I do this.... I don't interrupt the people at Petco but if I hear some misleading info I will definitely tell the customer otherwise. The Petco near me is filled with folks my age (early 20s) and the aquatics director is rarely in. I saw a clown trigger the other day.. in a 10 gallon... Wish I had the Petco from Tacoma!
According to Glassdoor the average wage of a PetCo "Aquatic Specialist" is $11 an hour,They are not full time, working on average 34 hours a week. That's barely a livable wage let alone enough to support a Hobby like Reef keeping
People can rightfully complain about the treatment of the animals in these stores but don't forget to look at the employees as well who may also be "mistreated"
I read this thread and I noticed a pretty common story about how one store had great tanks and a fish expert who was on top of his game then he leaves and the store goes to hell. This is because someone who has the intelligence and motivation to keep a wall of fish tanks clean and healthy is the type of person who will not put up with being paid $11 an hour. He can find a new job much more easily.
The truth is these big box stores from Petsmart to Walmart all hire people with no schooling or skills and you get what you pay for. The ones they do hire who show motivation,aptitude and knowledge either leave for a better paying job or get promoted.
The employee turn over rate for retail in America is 67% and it costs $3500 to train a $10 an hour retail employee so companies will actually go out of their way to hire people who have little to no other options and will stay the longest. They are not hiring for the welfare of the animals in fact it's quite the opposite.
It's a fine line between hiring a drug addict who won't show up or steal from you and hiring a single mom who needs this paycheck so she will work overtime. Neither of them give two shits about the care of the animals they just need a paycheck.
Tldr; Shop Local anything if you can, People care when they have something invested, If you can't shop online..
p.s Sorry my first post was a rant It's nice to meet you all.
People can rightfully complain about the treatment of the animals in these stores but don't forget to look at the employees as well who may also be "mistreated"
I read this thread and I noticed a pretty common story about how one store had great tanks and a fish expert who was on top of his game then he leaves and the store goes to hell. This is because someone who has the intelligence and motivation to keep a wall of fish tanks clean and healthy is the type of person who will not put up with being paid $11 an hour. He can find a new job much more easily.
The truth is these big box stores from Petsmart to Walmart all hire people with no schooling or skills and you get what you pay for. The ones they do hire who show motivation,aptitude and knowledge either leave for a better paying job or get promoted.
The employee turn over rate for retail in America is 67% and it costs $3500 to train a $10 an hour retail employee so companies will actually go out of their way to hire people who have little to no other options and will stay the longest. They are not hiring for the welfare of the animals in fact it's quite the opposite.
It's a fine line between hiring a drug addict who won't show up or steal from you and hiring a single mom who needs this paycheck so she will work overtime. Neither of them give two shits about the care of the animals they just need a paycheck.
Tldr; Shop Local anything if you can, People care when they have something invested, If you can't shop online..
p.s Sorry my first post was a rant It's nice to meet you all.
mcozad829
Premium Member
Impressive first post! Welcome to RC
accordsirh22
New member
very true.
thats why i avoid big box/corporate stuff like the plague. no petsmart, walmart, petco. they all suck, i'd rather give my money to their competitors. of course, fish wise, i have a store, so i can get whatever i need anyways
thats why i avoid big box/corporate stuff like the plague. no petsmart, walmart, petco. they all suck, i'd rather give my money to their competitors. of course, fish wise, i have a store, so i can get whatever i need anyways
Dmorty217
Saltwater Addict
If you don't like petco.com (tropical fish international or cis holdings) you buy from LA/DD and pay a premium. Or you can find a wholesaler from another country talk to them and spend 1500$-2500$ and eat 5% loss on dead fish and try and keep the 20-40 other fish alive long enough to get them to people who ordered with you or into a large tank and hope you can get everyone eating and healthy/disease free, which isn't as easy as it sounds...
Completely agree. Especially in my area.
ChelseaRanee
New member
I'm the head of the fish department for a chain store in New Zealand. We don't do saltwater though. I get minimum wage (about $11.60 NZD after tax) and work 32.5 hours a week. I then spent about 10 hours on top of this (unpaid) doing research and trying to improve the systems as well as creating information sheets for the rest of the staff to get their fish knowledge up to par. If that wasn't enough I did a year long course in fish husbandry last year (the course was paid for by work, but all of the time I put into it was unpaid). This year I also paid $650 out of my own pocket for another year long Advanced Aquatics course through a University here. Quite a few of my regular customers are also friends with me on Facebook so they can see updates of my personal tanks too. I know it might be different in the States but it all comes down to who is actually in the store. Some of us really do care 
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myram
#347, 19 years
My local Petco has a pretty good Saltwater section with a brand new frag tank. The 2 guys that do the majority of the hours are both hobbyist with degrees in the field. But their hands are tied by corporate policy......which really limits what they can/can't do for the welfare of the livestock.
I go to approx. 6-8 stores in a 1 hour radius and some are very good, and some are very bad.
I go to approx. 6-8 stores in a 1 hour radius and some are very good, and some are very bad.
alton
Well-known member
I applaud you Chelsea for making a difference. I ran into an individual once at a Wal Mart who worked in the fish department. She knew everything about the fish, knew when they came in, and cared for them as her own. I don't think it is how much money a person makes, its the fact a person cares about what they do.
My Purple Tang is scheduled for today, I will post later on how it works out.
My Purple Tang is scheduled for today, I will post later on how it works out.
recently went into my local Pet Supplies Plus for some dog treats and as i always do, wandered over to look at the saltwater fish. ich everywhere. of course, all of their tanks (including an "invert tank") are on the same system so it's pretty much a lost cause. the girl who works the department told me she really hated to sell ich infested fish to unknowing customers but that's what they do. it was awful, every single fish was absolutely covered in it.
she told me they "have a saltwater guy" who comes in once a week to "take care of things", whatever that means. he was there the night before and put garlic in all the tanks. told her it would take care of the problem in a couple of days.
i just had to walk away. i've offered advice to them in the past but obviously, they didn't take it. i told her they were doing a real disservice to their customers because we all know 99% of the people who shop these stores don't qt. *sigh*
she told me they "have a saltwater guy" who comes in once a week to "take care of things", whatever that means. he was there the night before and put garlic in all the tanks. told her it would take care of the problem in a couple of days.
i just had to walk away. i've offered advice to them in the past but obviously, they didn't take it. i told her they were doing a real disservice to their customers because we all know 99% of the people who shop these stores don't qt. *sigh*
PJtree23
New member
I wont interrupt the customer/employee engagement but I would confront the employee after and ask them about what they had said and why. :deadhorse:
PJ
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