I am the aquatics manager at the Petco 2 miles from my home. Hearing some of your stories saddens me. It appears that a few bad apples can ruin the whole tree. I don't seem to have any of the problems mentioned here at my store. Yes occasionally we have sick fish, and yes occasionally fish do die. If you have ever kept fish as a hobbyist I am sure that has also happened to you.
If this does occur, say one damsel comes in with ich, I will put up a sign on the entire system that houses that fish(our systems consist of 12 about 15 gallon tanks and 2 about 30 gallon tanks, about 240 gallons total with a 20 gallon sump) and I will begin treatment and not sell a single fish from that system until everything looks better. I am not allowed to use any medications(which is fine with me). The way that coorporate would like us to deal with ich is 50 percent water changes daily until signs of ich are gone. This might help some but does little to help the fish that have it. Don't tell anybody but I do hypo. I just do it I don't need to contact some bigwig and ask him how he wants me to deal with a problem. I am the one there, these fish are in my care, I hold myself responsible for their well being and I will utilize the most effective means to do this.
Part of the problem lies in the fact that there is usually only one aquatic specialist in an average store. What happens when I am not there? Sometimes, employees give bad advice, or sell a fish to someone who had no business buying that fish. This has stopped happening since I have implemented a few policies(my own,not coorperate). I have posted compatibility charts for salt and freshwater fish, I make a list weekly of uncommon fish we don't normally receive and I list their needs and care requirements. I make sure all fish are properlly labeled and I do have a cellphone that I encourage anyone to call if they have questions when I am not there.
I also have been to some Petcos that looked pretty bad. I don't purchase items there and I will do my best to make something up to get some of there fish transferred to my store. The last thing I want is to allow them to sell sick fish or even support them by purchasing dry goods.
I have found that the key to success at my store is simple. Only order species I know I can properly house and care for. I could care less if customers come in and say " Comeon when are you gonna get something cool in". I simply say there are plenty of tank raised clowns, dottybacks,cardinals and the like to choose from and those are all very cool fish. The most expensive and exotic fish I have ordered in a year was a clown trigger. Came in about an inch longer and an inch taller than a pack of marlboros
((sorry its the only thing I had in my pocket at the time to hold up to the glass for reference....cough...cough...cough). After acclimating him(yes I drip my fish although p&p does not include that) I was happy to see that he was looking very healthy. I was a little nervous at first cause clown triggers have always been my fav agressive salt fish and I didn't want someone to sell him on my day off to a jack*** with a 55 gallon tank. But I left a note on the desk about him and hoped for the best. 2 days later he was still there and I was back to work. A customer showed interest in him, I put an under observation sign on his tank, observed and personally fed him for 7 days called him, told him he was eating fine and looked great. He came in that day and bought him. I gained a lifelong customer, and a clown trigger gained a LIFELONG home in a 220 with a dragon moray(thats it).
I suppose by now you can probably notice that I don't really have a point in this post. I am just simply embarassed by some of the stories I have heard and I just want to say that I can assure all of you that the fish at my store, in my fish department, under my care, are doin just fine. :smokin:
