petco?

G

gowebster

New member
is every petco bad..i mean i have one close by and i get my fish shipped in to me..its just funny i always feel bad evertime i go into petco at home and the tanks are in bad shape and the fish are in bad shape..where do they get there fish and who is selling the poor fish to them knowing how bad it is..
 
I know how you feel. I can't hardly step foot into the local petco becuase I too feel bad for the fish. It is to the point that I won't buy anything there. IDE rather go to petsmart. The don't keep saltwater fish but they do keep their fresh water tanks in really good shape.

As to if all petco's are bad? I cannot say, but I do see a trend in all the ones I have been In. The fish are in bad shape 98% of the time and often there are dead or dyin fish in the tanks as well.

IMO petco get's salt water fish because they have deep pockets and have money to spend. Again IMO most distributers don't neccessarily care who they sell to as long as they pay their bills on time. Anyway just some food for thought

~~Guac
 
They are a mega box retailer just moving product for profit with no concern for the fate of the animals. They loose a tremendous number of fish right there in the store within days of receiving them. Too bad there isn't a law preventing them from selling livestock. Most of the employess have very little if any knowledge of the livestock they are selling. The one near me recently started selling corals. They suffer the same fate as the fish. Dumped in dirty tanks without proper acclimation and displayed under insufficient lighting. Given the critical state of the the ocean's reefs it's a shame they are taking corals from them with most destined to die in the store or when sold to the uneducated and inexperienced "reefers" that buy them.
 
I know 2 Petcoa in California that aren't that bad. Actually they beat some LFS i know. One of them have a display tank qhen you enter the store.
 
The only good thing that I have happen with petco is I got a purple tang for the price of a blue hippo. The person there didnt know the difference between one or the other. So a $19.99 purple tang is well worth it. It wasnt in the best of shape but a month in my QT and it was good as new.
 
Aqua Keepers said:
If you support one of their stores, you are supporting them all.
Click to expand...

We have two Petcos within a few miles of us. At one the tanks/fish are so-so. The other has an employee who has convinced the manager to push the saltwater fish "department." They have good looking fish, good looking tanks, and even an impressive frag selection.

I figure by supporting the Petco that is doing a good job maybe than can convince management of the benefits of a respectable SW fish department.
 
mempho reefer said:
They are a mega box retailer just moving product for profit with no concern for the fate of the animals. They loose a tremendous number of fish right there in the store within days of receiving them. Too bad there isn't a law preventing them from selling livestock. Most of the employess have very little if any knowledge of the livestock they are selling. The one near me recently started selling corals. They suffer the same fate as the fish. Dumped in dirty tanks without proper acclimation and displayed under insufficient lighting. Given the critical state of the the ocean's reefs it's a shame they are taking corals from them with most destined to die in the store or when sold to the uneducated and inexperienced "reefers" that buy them.
Click to expand...
The petco near me just started a coral tank too.Its sad.really sad
 
The problem with Petco is not where they get the fish....of the fish. The problem is the employees. They are not trained properly....or at all.
 
My girlfriend went to mandy's to shop for a dress so to kill some time there was a petco right next door.Went to the fish dept. they had just receivied a shipment of fiji live rock they had assorted sizes with nice purple coralline allover it. At the time i was starting a seahorse tank and looking for some LR for it so i asked the girl for the price of the rock she said $12.00 for small $13.00 med $14.00 large.Ran next door got the credit card from my girlfriend went back to petco needless to say came home with 50lbs. of premium live rock for around 60.00 gota love it.....
 
well, i would say it is depend on your location. i only have one LPS and a petco up in Fairbanks. if you buy fish from Petco, get them the day they get in so less suffering for them. i would have to rate the Petco here higher than the LFS (actually both of them are bad), base on the good deal. a sixline for 18 dollars VS a sixline for 40 at LFS. sorry, i love fish but i need money too. as for online order even liveaquaria or most of online stores are not so good for us up in Alaska. they ask to much for shipping or will not ship up here period.
 
Our petco is awesome! Tanks are in great condition all the fish people have saltwater tanks at home and our fish here are always in great shape. They always make a special arrangement with me to order whatever I want at their buyer price and they handle the shipping and communication and I get it straight from the wholesale breeders and they call me and hand it to me after they inspect and QT the fish for health approval.
 
I just bought 20 nassarious snails fro
their buyer for $18.

We got our sand sifting goby for $14.

Never had a problem with our petco.
 
It's the unfortunate lack of knowledge that Petco employees have that is the downfall. I work at a Petland in Missouri, our owner is a saltwater fanatic and I specifically work in the fish department. I know at least at or store and I believe all petlands train their emploees on specifics. I would say if you have a good idea about saltwater and know your petco has good employees then go for it. The prices are great. If you are inexperienced then go to a better store.
 
I've bought two different fish from two separate stores that both died of ick in my QT. T

PetCo.= :thumbdown
 
I work for petco in Sacramento Ca at the Arden way store. unfortunately you are right about the lack of training that is offered to the employees. our tanks are getting better since i have been there. but most of the way things are cared for are dictated by company policy. they take their advice from some quack vet that doesn't know crap about fish. i how ever don't follow company policy when it comes to fish. and the stores that have corals are test stores that the company has picked to put them in it has nothing to do with what the associates and managers want. when ever i get a new marine hobbyist in the store the first thing i do is tell them to come here and do some research and that i don't care if they buy products from us as long as the get what they need to do things right. so i guess not all of us petco employees are as dumb as you think......
 
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Not here to argue, but ripping into petco with "support one = support all" and such is a bit unfair. Do you have any idea what losses are like for the supplier of your LFS? Chances are they are worse than what you would personally be happy with. If you support one store that has a "bad" supplier you are supporting the supplier in the long run. I have seen my fair share of crappy petcos, but if you have a decent one in your area I don't think it is fair to try and talk you out of it. If enough people support the better ones and NOT the worse ones demand for higher quality will be seen and company standards may change.
 
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