petco

[tebstan]

they can not treat them with any chemicals and must be done all naturally thru the guidelines that corp set.

Even LFS don't always medicate. Sometimes the best thing is a quality environment, medicine isn't necessary. And sad to say, sometimes it's obviously a lost cause. If something comes in from a shipment near death, it's considered a DOA.


There is only one petco in my area that sells saltwater anymore. The selection is very small, but the prices are fair and the tanks only have as much algae as any other store in town. I hope they upgrade their lights, they're not suitable for corals, but the store and the saltwater section is new, so hopefully they'll step up their game if it proves marketable.

I'm willing to give them a chance. The name on the wall can't care for the animals. Each location depends on the staff, so if they do a good job it will show in the quality of their livestock.

 

[jinks]

Even LFS don't always medicate. Sometimes the best thing is a quality environment, medicine isn't necessary.

You are right they don't always medicate, but they have the ability to medicate. At a LFS (a good one anyways) if you open a shipment and one of the fish was covered in ich you would either put it in a copper system or a quarantine tank. At petco, i assume, the staff would lose their job if they took a 10gal tank, filled it, put a filter on it, and dosed it with copper. Then put the sick fish in it. You would have to add it to the system sick or put it as DOA and toss it, still alive, to keep it out of the system.

Corporate run fish stores are unable to respond to the sudden needs that arise in this hobby. It's not about weather or not the staff knows what they are doing or not. Even if the the worker knows what is wrong and how to fix it, whats the point if rules keep him from acting on it.

The down side is trying to push this issue to anyone outside of their company could start a land slide. No bill is going to get through that says that no chain store can have SW fish. If anything came it would be hobby wide and, i would guess, not for the good. Kind of like how the problem they have with snakes in Florida is now getting pressed on the rest of the nation. No boa is going to live through an Ohio winter so why should that rule fall on me, but in the end it will.

 

[tebstan]

Are you sure about that, from personal experience?

I worked at PetSmart a decade ago. They didn't always have quarantine tanks, but sometimes they did - it was manager discretion. It may be the same at PetCo. An hourly or new hire may not be able to take a 10g off the shelf to set up a QT, but the manager may have the discretionary authority to do so if they feel it's worthwhile.

From a business perspective, it takes a lot of knowledge to make that decision. How much is the fish worth, how long would it take to medicate, would stock be depleted taking away from a potential sale? It's not cut and dry ethics, it is a business. I'd like to see ethics be a larger factor, but it will never replace economy.

 

[scionreefing]

You are right they don't always medicate, but they have the ability to medicate. At a LFS (a good one anyways) if you open a shipment and one of the fish was covered in ich you would either put it in a copper system or a quarantine tank. At petco, i assume, the staff would lose their job if they took a 10gal tank, filled it, put a filter on it, and dosed it with copper. Then put the sick fish in it. You would have to add it to the system sick or put it as DOA and toss it, still alive, to keep it out of the system.

Corporate run fish stores are unable to respond to the sudden needs that arise in this hobby. It's not about weather or not the staff knows what they are doing or not. Even if the the worker knows what is wrong and how to fix it, whats the point if rules keep him from acting on it.

The down side is trying to push this issue to anyone outside of their company could start a land slide. No bill is going to get through that says that no chain store can have SW fish. If anything came it would be hobby wide and, i would guess, not for the good. Kind of like how the problem they have with snakes in Florida is now getting pressed on the rest of the nation. No boa is going to live through an Ohio winter so why should that rule fall on me, but in the end it will.

I set up a tank and didn't lose my job.

Raffle grabber

 

[jinks]

You took a tank off the shelf and set up a qt for a sick fish then left it there till it was ich free? The point is that most people working don't have the power to decide these things. Sw doesn't work well in a setting like this. Yor right in saying it comes down to money.

 

[tebstan]

. Yor right in saying it comes down to money.

That's why I say, Why bother bashing Petco?

Ask the staff at your LFS what they really do with sick fish. They're a bit more hard up for income than a corporate. The places that do quarantine are doing it on ethical grounds, not economical. And while that is commendable, you just can't expect it from everyone. Our economy, our hobby, our society, is just not at that point yet.

 

[m12x13adass]

I wish my petco was as good as some of you guys. I have one across the street and they stink!

 

[foxandhound]

I feel prety bad for the fish at petco. I just keep thinking, who is buying these fish and why? They are really only reaching the first timers customers I believe...well the poorly run Petco stores...

 

[b0bab0ey]

The only way to buy fish from Petco is to get 'em while they're still in the bag from the wholesaler!

 

[matt frizz]

Petco's are privately owned and operated so it's up to the owner to decide how dedicated their saltwater section is. Some people on nano-reef have Petcos in the area that rival the (what we consider) "real" LFS we go to. I've seen some bad Petcos but the one in my area is not that bad. I've even bought 2 fish from them (since traded one to an LFS) both of which were quite healthy.

A few Petcos I've heard of even have coral dedicated tanks just like those we would see at an LFS. They have seperate rows, egg crate, Metal Halide setups, etc.. It's all about who owns the stores and what they choose to order. Any store owner can become lazy and cut corners or order fish/corals he/she is not equipped to house even temporarily. I'll honestly say though that my petco is better than ONE of the LFS in my area. It can't touch the others though.

 

[keywestcoralboy]

No petco in KW but I have seen one and it was very sad.. Hard to look at all those condemned little guys, lookin back at you so scared...

 

[billsreef]

Petco's are privately owned and operated so it's up to the owner to decide how dedicated their saltwater section is. Some people on nano-reef have Petcos in the area that rival the (what we consider) "real" LFS we go to. I've seen some bad Petcos but the one in my area is not that bad. I've even bought 2 fish from them (since traded one to an LFS) both of which were quite healthy.

A few Petcos I've heard of even have coral dedicated tanks just like those we would see at an LFS. They have seperate rows, egg crate, Metal Halide setups, etc.. It's all about who owns the stores and what they choose to order. Any store owner can become lazy and cut corners or order fish/corals he/she is not equipped to house even temporarily. I'll honestly say though that my petco is better than ONE of the LFS in my area. It can't touch the others though.

Nope. Petco is a large cooperation, not a franchise or any other sort of individualized ownership scheme. Every store manager has a district manager to answer to, a regional manager, and on up the line to the cooperate HQ in CA. They all get their paychecks from the same place The biggest place you see differences is in the interpretation of the the cooperate policies...i.e. shades of gray or B&W. The stores and district level management willing to look at policies in shades of gray are the ones that typically have better fish departments. If the management involved does the B&W interpretation bit, than it's an uphill battle for a store to run a good fish dept...even if they actually have a good fish person.

 

[tebstan]

yep, they are a corporation. "Manager discretion" is a huge factor. A manager with a proven and positive history is going to get more leeway when it comes to that grey area.

There is one petco I will go to for dog supplies. They always seem to have more in stock and a wider variety. There's a different petco I'll go to browse at fish stuff - they carry saltwater and keep the tanks clean.

The saltwater store is smaller, cleaner, and better staffed. I don't buy much there because my tank is stocked. But the manager and staff at that location changed my opinion of Petco.

 

[gmate]

The saltwater store is smaller, cleaner, and better staffed. I don't buy much there because my tank is stocked. But the manager and staff at that location changed my opinion of Petco.

This. Stratford Connecticut.

 

[rpjaws74]

any petco employees out there that can shimmy in this conversation and maybe hear a different perspectice on why things are the way they are

 

[pakirri]

Everytime i go to a Petco, I come out sad....

 

[RichardinMa]

I was shocked by the Petco in Leominster, MA. It was fantastic. Proper lighting, large frag tank with healthy frags- even SPS. They even had a display tank with beautiful angels that was thriving. Some of their systems were running wavepoint bulbs, a brand they don't carry, so they must have been purchased by the staff. That place was much nicer than many lfs I have seen. Each location is different and it all boils down to the amount of effort each store want to put forth. Some places have minimum wage staff who don't care. Other ones have minimum wage people who have a work ethic and realize that their level of performance is a reflection of themselves and not a reflection of what they earn.

 

[Drichards36]

My local petco is very good but the guy taking care of the department is a huge saltwater fanatic. Makes a huge difference, he even got a frag tank put together with top equipment.

 

[James77]

I was shocked by the Petco in Leominster, MA. It was fantastic. Proper lighting, large frag tank with healthy frags- even SPS. They even had a display tank with beautiful angels that was thriving. Some of their systems were running wavepoint bulbs, a brand they don't carry, so they must have been purchased by the staff. That place was much nicer than many lfs I have seen. Each location is different and it all boils down to the amount of effort each store want to put forth. Some places have minimum wage staff who don't care. Other ones have minimum wage people who have a work ethic and realize that their level of performance is a reflection of themselves and not a reflection of what they earn.

If anything, Petco's like this should be frequented more often. They will notice the higher aquaria sales over the pee-poor stores and maybe adjust the others. That would be a hike for me, but I'll check it out if I am am near the area.

Alot of the people I have interacted with making at or near minimum wage have a higher work ethic and are more conscientious about their job than others I have met making many times what they make.......

 

[nanodiva]

Just a personal preferance from me but i boycott almost any store that sells live animals that aren't willing to supply me with a list of their suppliers. I use to work in rescue and small animal mills are making a killing using crappy conditions to house their animals selling the "pretty ones" to pet stores and using the rest as feeders, understandable to seperate them out by beauty unacceptable to house them like that. one of the few that i am willing to go to is petsmart for the fact of i know their policies regarding animal care and suppliers (at least within canada)

sick animals no matter how small and "insignificant" go to the vets upon injury or illness. they have tanks set up in the back to treat sick fish and they "quarantine" their animals prior to putting them on the floor.

a friend of mine works at one petsmart and her manager in the pet section has wrote off sick animals that employees are willing to take home and care for. Lizards/snakes who have gone anorexic get taken home to be force fed in a less stressful environment until they start eating again etc.

I have sat in a few of them pointed out sick fish and the employees almost always scoop them up and bring them to the back for treatment IMMEDIATELY as it is company policy and they can loose their job over it.

Of course i have walked in and seen dead fish in their tanks but at least i know if they catch onto illness they try and treat it. fish overstressed from shipping may die, injured during shipping ill before shipped etc.

I haven't personally dealt with petco but from the sounds of it it is a "WYSIWYG" either the people know their stuff or they don't you cant blame the company for having employees who aren't willing to expand their knowledge base.

from talking to a girl who use to work at a petco it is really the employees who determine the "fate" of their stuff, they either know what they are doing or they don't. it is up to the managers at those particular locations to educate their staff on proper care and maintenance of the animals kept.

People can blame "corporate" all they want, but are the corporate guys in the store on a daily basis caring for the animals?? NO.

Believe it or not writing to corprate and calling about the conditions in those store DOES make a HUGE difference. why? because all those stores need is peta to get a whiff of something bad going down and they have a field day!
and you can imagine how that would look on a companies rap sheet with all the animal rights movement people around now-a-days who think "peta" are some kind of demi god.