petco

[scionreefing]

Boycott petco, petsmart and don't forget to boycott one of their main suppliers ORA. That's right ORA is in bed with the devil!

I think that's a little harsh.

Raffle grabber

 

[scionreefing]

Petco employees at the store level are limited on what they can do, so half the problem is the employee and the rest of the problem is the corporate structure. For example, at one store the department manager is very knowledgeable and asked me to send a complaint to customer service because of an infestation of flat worms. 3 days later they replaced everything in the tank since they were not allowed to use flat worm exit.

They also can't use any real lighting in their reef tanks (unless it's a full-blown magnet store), so buying corals isn't worth the effort unless you know the coral was just received (ie. still in the bag). A good Petco near me buys from Quality Marine, Segrest, Sustainable Aquatics, O.R.A., Apet, and A&M Aquatics. This specific store is the only Petco I'll buy any livestock from (this Petco and their manager are respected and they are a sponsor to the local saltwater club too).

I pulled a t5 fixture off the shelf and set it up. I said screw corporate.

Raffle grabber

 

[scionreefing]

I would never shop at petco for any kind of fish and coral. Why? I've been told by a ex-employee that they are told to dump the fish in right when they come in, dont feed them, and sell as many as possible as fast as they can. he quit because he wanted no part in this. I have also seen this with my own eyes. i went in to buy some dog food an i see this petco worker just dumping in the fishes strait out of the bag from the shipping box.

Wow that's not how we do it here at my petco.

Raffle grabber

 

[matt_wahoo]

when i was in college i worked at a petco store. i was the aquatics supervisor. at this time i had been keeping reef tanks for the past 5 yrs or so. the problem starts at the top, policies that dont work for certain fish and corals. then you get to the district level and try to talk to them and still no help. store level managers dont care and they hire people for the fish dept that have never even kept a goldfish let alone a reef tank. they are there for the $$. i made so many suggestions that were cheap easy fixes for the health of the fish and corals but they didnt care. These fixes would also save them money in the long run due to now having the high dead loss. My tanks were spotless when I worked there but the health of the fish and corals were terrible. The fish come in covered with ick and the corals covered with all sorts of algae. The manager who was doing the ordering of fish/corals before I took it over had no idea. They would order high light corals or nems that would die because of having such low lights. IMO dont buy ANYTHING from petco. They are WAY over priced and the fish and corals are very unhealthy

 

[duncantse]

well i kinda respect petsmart because they dont sell marine animal but do carry marine related product as light n food those kind of things.

Are you saying that you dislike petsmart just because they sell marine equipments? I really don't understand your thinking.

 

[duncantse]

oh i agree wit u but i doubt tht the guy would set it up right lol

n here the pics of the tang tht i save from petco it doin better but acting little weird

I hope you didn't put that tang in your 29 gallon.

 

[Reefermandan]

It really depends on the Petco. I feel much more comfortable purchasing livestock from one local particular Petco than my LFS where they know nothing about saltwater! This Petco happens to have someone dedicated to the saltwater section who knows what he is talking about. Tanks look great and fish seem to be very healthy.

 

[Gill_bucket]

I think that's a little harsh.

Raffle grabber

You wanna see harsh, go look in a petco's tanks.

 

[TommyA]

In this district the petco's have no hospital tanks.They have old systems that were treated with copper.The so called magnet store here is a joke!It kills me to see so many corals and fish dead or dieing in these stores.

 

[evanski]

This HAS to be the worst!

This HAS to be the worst!

I was at the Petco in Carson City, NV today on Topsy Drive. The SW tanks were brown with algae/diatoms, and had multiple dead fish, including a GORGEOUS flame angel.

The 4" powder brown tang was in a small isolation tank, MAYBE 4G total volume. It was circling the drain, swimming upside down, gasping, with pale spots on its sides. I was disgusted. Worse was when I brought this to the attention of two managers (including the manager of the fish department) who told me to "tell corporate" with a look and tone that clearly said "F-you".

I did call their hotline, do not expect this to do anything.

I toyed with the idea of offering/demanding to take the fish without charge to take it home any try (no chance, I know) to rescue, butmy tank is not big enough, and I did not want to lose my healthy fish. I think the main problem was lack of flow and oxygen, but not worth the risk IMO.

Sigh...very sad.

 

[reefmanmatt]

the systems they run are all the same ! horrible ! i got into reefing in boise idaho and can say they had the nicest petco reefs ive seen to date . other than that i hate the thought of stopping , but im 1 1/2 hours from a reef shop so the inevitable stop for food ,media bags , etc leaves me disappointed every time here in pa . i reply to a petco topic atleast once a week .... nothing will ever happen . you should see wholesale if you think the fish come in any better for the most part . all i can say is build the biggest reef you can and rescue every darn blenny ,hermit, tang, or harlequin shrimp you can get your salty lil reefin' hands on .

 

[evanski]

Thoughts in retrospect...

Thoughts in retrospect...

I stopped in Petco for the 10G tank I plan to use for my Q tank. I would not have risked putting the tang in my 50G shallow (I know, not big enough by far, but would have saved it perhaps, then given it away) because I would hate to lose my existing fish.

Any thoughts about the best course? Leave it? Take it and pull 10G out of my tank and try to rescue it in a 10G??

Still bothers me. There does not seem to be a way to save the poor fish given its conditions and my limited tank resources...and no way I would EVER pay for the fish, rewarding the store.

 

[reefmanmatt]

i highly doubt they would give it up anyway ...i have the same problem , and if its bad ,another bag , move , new water , ten gallon .. etc probably wont help a bit honestly =(

 

[cynster]

I wouldn't ever buy or take a fish to "save" it from a fish store - but if I did see a dwarf seahorse in a situation where a bad brine shipment came in - I would bring some in for the lfs for free so it could make it till the next shipment. But that won't happen My lfs is going to be hatching their own brine shrimp before they get dwarfs in

uh back on topic - I agree with not rewarding bad fish stores and there is no way they are going to give you a free fish. I wouldn't visit that pet store anymore and avoid the heartbreak of seeing sick fish. When I see sick fish in larger chains, I don't go back, because I won't ever be able to trust that store or the employees again (and I'm talking widespread sickness, not just one ill fish) And that's more than just not buying fish there - when I go to a fish store, I stock up on medicine, food, various equipment/accessories, so stores that don't keep their fish in top shape lose my entire business and it's obvious that the people in my area do that too, because bad fish stores don't last long around here. We also review them using google too Because that's the first thing you check when you're looking for fish stores in the area - I nearly always review the fish stores I go to and include the good, bad, and the ugly.

 

[reefmanmatt]

the one by me is pretty much limited to condi's and clowns . they still get sailfin's in ...but otherwise i think they hit the spending peak some time ago and are progressing downward now quickly this year . when i first moved back to pa they almost handed a dead scooter blenny to my girlfriend as an "adoption fish " , which was free i might add ! luckily the employee noticed it didnt move too much when he tried to net it but it would have been good for the tank cycle if she got it so who knows hahahah

 

[cynster]

Geez! That is crazy - I'd be appalled! I mean I'm glad he finally noticed, but I would kind of expect the employee to know it was acting a little sickly earlier or something. And that thought alone would make me wary of buying anything. I highly doubt it just up and died without showing some signs, unless it was shock I guess.

 

[reefmanmatt]

i only wish i was there ! she said it wasn't in view , and when he "got" it (it was hiding) out from around the rock it wasnt good at all ... but never expected dead .. im sure it was sick when it got there or immediately after , they have a good variety of terribly sick fish there upon every visit . i dont look anymore , try not to go at all but as i said im stuck once in a while

 

[cynster]

I actually ask the employees to help me pick the ones that eat the most and are the most lively - assuming I trust the employee to know that.

 

[scionreefing]

You wanna see harsh, go look in a petco's tanks.

My tanks look good.

Raffle grabber

 

[mroccoralman]

Just dont give them business I know most petcos arent great but I bet there are some out there that are good but I havnt seen one yet.