Petco - save the fish

[reg828]

I know some of you doesnt like petco because they dont take care of their saltwater fish well. but, when i went there at petco, some of their saltwater fish are not that expensive compare to my lfs, where i always buy my healthy fish. for example, dispar anthias at my lfs, sells about $30 dollar, but at petco they only sells $14 dollars. so, my lfs, sells double the price. are some lfs raise their prices high? so i went to petco and bought the dispar. even though i knew that they always have ich, but you always have to qt youre fish and ich can always be treated with hypo and will go away. and then you also save the fish from petco. so, what im meaning is, from my experience at petco here they have some good deal than my lfs, i took the chance of buying those fish and saving them. sometimes, they have some nice selection of fish. also, now they sell live rocks. and corals. save them if you can...

 

[Pandora]

Thanks for your input, reg, but I don't really agree on the "saving fish" concept: here's why. If you see a store that sells fish that are consistantly sick or have a problem, but you buy a fish to "save" that individual:

1) There's no guarantee that you will be able to cure it in your tank, even if it's QT (and much worse if it's your main tank if you don't QT!) Not all stores will give you your money back if it dies at your place, but you knew it was in that condition when you took it. Hyposalinity often works for ick, but what if that fish is stressed by ick and gets a secondary bacterial infection? That's common, and not always as easy to cure with antibiotics, it's kind of a hit or miss situation.

2) They are just going to get another fish to replace it. And because you spent money on a sick fish, their mentality is going to be "ok, well, I don't have to care for our fish any better, because people are going to buy them regardless of how they look". Stores are businesses first, and they look at the bottom line: $

That's my take on it. I just don't like taking those chances myself, and prefer to not support industries that have shown not to care about their livestock or their customers (in my own experience, many Petco's are like this, but some do at least try and put in an effort).

I hope your anthias does well, either way.