Petco Section

[Nativeshark]

Many people think that Petco takes great care of their fish and is a responsible reef keeper? Others think that people who support Petco are irresponsible reef keepers.

Should there be a Petco section on this forum where people can share story and pictures of their experience at Petco?

 

[Mark9]

What about the "Vendor Experiences" forum?
Or do you just want a general griping area?

 

[Grandlotus]

Petco is a big box retailer in comparison to many other FLS's...but even at many LFS's I see tangs stuffed into 20 longs on a daily basis and they will be there for months.

 

[gone fishin]

There is enough Petco threads already.

 

[Ma_reefer]

Petco is a big box retailer in comparison to many other FLS's...but even at many LFS's I see tangs stuffed into 20 longs on a daily basis and they will be there for months.

+1 pecto gets a lot of heat because it's a national chain. The Lfs are no better in some respects

 

[swhobbie1]

I agree... some LFS do not seem to know how to care for marine fish/corals either... however the Petco that carry marine fish/corals do need to significantly raise the bar of their care. Just today I stopped in a Petco at lunch to get a stress break from work and it was more upsetting than usual... every tank had tons of fish (too many for marine setup), all had ick, some of the clowns looked very large - like they could easily be 5 years old... made me think some breeder dumped them. There is only 1 Petco around here that still sells marine fish/coral and from what I can tell this store needs to step up the care or stop. It was really disturbing to see so many marine fish doomed. I'm guessing the only likelihood any of those fish survive is if they quickly fall into knowledgeable hands that know how to QT and treat sick fish.

 

[juniorrocketdad]

I have had several experiences with fresh and salt water fish being sick from petco, most commonly ick. For me I'd say for marine fish it's a 50 percent survive rate or worse, not saying all lfs are better but if you buy from petco make sure it gets atleast a month in quarantine

 

[FinzAquatics]

+1 pecto gets a lot of heat because it's a national chain. The Lfs are no better in some respects

Agreed.. I always have good luck at 2/3 local Petco in my area... The third location not so much, but the 2 that I frequent are always good for healthy/cheap selection

 

[thenewguy997]

Ive gotten sick and ill fish from lfs's, its not petco its people who are uneducated or just dont care

Money talks, if you think fish selling is about the fish dont hold your breath

 

[Captainsreef]

It's true that often LFS don't properly care for their animals I will venture to say that most small business LFS do. If they are smart business people they do in other words. Part of the petco problem is that they are a corporation and another big factor is the systems they use for life support. The saltwater section typically runs off of one or 2 sumps and they keep the salinity in the coral section at around 1.023. I run mine at 1.028 for example. With setups like this if a disease breaks out in one tank then it spreads throught the system. So if you see a sick fish in the tank next to the tank you buy from and both are saltwater then the thing you don't know is that those tanks are sharing a sump. The same is true for their so called quarantine tank thats in the display if they have one. Sure they medicate that tank but when the water flow turns over its spreading throughout the entire system.

 

[thenewguy997]

It's true that often LFS don't properly care for their animals I will venture to say that most small business LFS do. If they are smart business people they do in other words. Part of the petco problem is that they are a corporation and another big factor is the systems they use for life support. The saltwater section typically runs off of one or 2 sumps and they keep the salinity in the coral section at around 1.023. I run mine at 1.028 for example. With setups like this if a disease breaks out in one tank then it spreads throught the system. So if you see a sick fish in the tank next to the tank you buy from and both are saltwater then the thing you don't know is that those tanks are sharing a sump. The same is true for their so called quarantine tank thats in the display if they have one. Sure they medicate that tank but when the water flow turns over its spreading throughout the entire system.

Exactly. Great write up

 

[Betta132]

The quality of care at a Petco depends on the staff.
Just like at all pet stores.
Petco is just a bit less likely to have really experienced people, it seems. Which is a shame.

 

[Captainsreef]

I don't think the quality of care can overcome the factors I have described and what I mean by that is that when you run systems like that and have rules and regulations that are not animal friendly that must be adhered too or a loss of job results then you can only do so much. They don't provide much in the way of supplies either so I mean someone can be one of the best aquarists on the planet but with such systems and rules to adhere too and a complete lack of supplies you still aren't going to be able to achieve much. That's like trying to be a farmer with no seeds. Hahaahaha I think the stores that appear to be better have more to do with luck than anything. Some stores are lucky to get in healthier animals is all and that could be due to them being the first to receive deliveries in the rotation or some other intrinsic factors. I'm not taking anything away from those who have had moderate success in Petco stores because I know there is good people that work in some of the stores and some may be a little better than others but none of them flourish and that is due largely to the corporate rules, supplies and crap systems they run.