What is your opinion on tanks raised clowns from Petco

[bigj11]

Petco near my house has captive bred Perculas for $15. The only problem is they have a huge red algae problem. I have never bought anything from them before. Can I buy one of these fish and not get their crap in my system? Other than that, they are huge (2-3") and they swim really well and look healthy. Would you advise this purchase, or am I better off with my LFS's $32.99 wild perculas? Thanks!!

 

[garygb]

I've bought tank-raised ocellaris and tank-raised maroons, and they are all very hardy. That is one thing I would recommend people consider buying from Petco, their tank-raised clownfish. I wouldn't worry about the cyano myself. That is more a result of low water flow and excess nutrients. It would be present in any tank with the right conditions and absent in any tank with the corrected conditions. I suggest you stay away from wild-caught clowns. They often harbor parasites and are much less hardy. Also, supporting tank-breeding is a good thing, in my opinion. Are you sure they are true percs? I would think for $15 you are getting tank-bred ocellaris. Whatever the case, ocellaris are great pets. I have a pair of ocellaris and an individual wild-caught true percula (I couldn't find any tank-bred true percs at the lfs here or I would have bought one), they're all great and equally full of personality. My tank-bred ocellaris are prettier though, with a much deeper orange.

 

[DOTZ]

I have bought many clowns form petco over the years and never had one problem. I mainly attribute that to watching the fish for a while and not buying anything in the tank that shows signs of disease which can be hit or miss there.

 

[Slakker]

If you can find fish that are actually healthy and not housed with fish that look like their on death's doorstep it's probably fine.

I would never buy a wild clown, but i'd also never buy one from petco...so I'd be in quite a pickle if I was looking for clowns in your area I guess.

 

[jejton]

I bought both of my CB True Perc's from a local Petco ( the only LFS out of 5 within a 30 minute drive that carry captive bred Perculas - one or two others on occasion get other captive bred clowns but not regularly ) for about $15 each. They are alive and doing well three months later. Just use the same precautions as you do buying livestock anywhere else. I have to give Petco kudos for having a policy about buying just about only captive bred SW fish ( they carry some WC but mostly its CB ). If you find a Petco that has a knowledgable fish person, then they can be better than many LFS's.

 

[NCSUsalt]

^ um, except for our clowns and some dottybacks/gobies ALL of our livestock is WC, same as any other store. basically the only CB stuff we have comes from ORA.

All PETCO clowns come from ORA, the same supplier that many LFSs use for their CB clowns.

 

[hellssephiroth]

personally i would never buy from petco EVERY time ive bought something from the petco near me hasn't lived more than 2 days and almost always come with ich. yours might be different but ive learned my lesson...... if you do buy one there i would deffinately quarantine it to make sure. just my 2 cents

 

[Lmecher]

I think it depends on the particular Petco. I live in Chicago and there are many around here in the burbs. Most of them have aweful saltwater tanks, neglected, full of algea, unhealthy fish and corals. There are a couple that must have very knowledgable managers because it is like night and day. I would not hesitate to buy a fish from one of the "day" stores.

 

[tpdpercula]

Never had any problems with clowns purchased from them. I believe I currently have 3 pairs from them and have had them for over 2 years now.

 

[cdness]

just remember... petco is a chain store that sells all those limited edition fish with the white spotted coloration... No matter what fish they carry, you can get it with the "special" petco coloration for the same price or sometimes cheaper than those other fish stores...

Please tell me you read the above statement with loads of sarcasm...lol

I will NEVER buy anything from PetCo. They are basically just trying to sell the fish faster than they kill them. you have a 90% chance (at least in Fargo) of that fish having ich or some other disease. Order from DrF&S and they have a live arrival guarantee. I know the shipping can be bad ut it is worth it to have a healthier fish. I was lucky to get mine from a local store that takes very good care of their fish... Sorry for the rant...

 

[garygb]

I echo the sentiments of several of the other posts, some Petco stores are good and some are not. There is one here in the Los Angeles are, Pasadena to be exact, that has very healthy fish. The guy who runs the fish department keeps anemones himself and is very knowledgeable. There are other Petcos here in L.A. that no longer carry saltwater. I think that is at least in part, because of their incompetent staff who had such bad luck with SW fish that it was a financial liability. In summary, if it's a "good" Petco, then the tank-bred clowns are superb.

 

[miwoodar]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13897439#post13897439 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jejton
I have to give Petco kudos for having a policy about buying just about only captive bred SW fish ( they carry some WC but mostly its CB ).

The reps at one of my local Petco's gave me the same line. Their tanks were clearly stocked with wild caught fish (tangs, angels, triggers, etc). I complained to the manager that they were mis-representing their stock and the manager shrugged his shoulders as if to say 'who cares'. I wouldn't be so sure that your 'tank raised' clowns were in fact tank raised.

None of my Petco's have a good understanding of saltwater fish. I routinely see a half dozen identical small angels housed in a single ~30 gallon tank beating the tar out of each other.

 

[tufacody]

I have had 2 clowns, on different occasions, ship for LA and both had broklynella and were euthanized.

 

[jubjub]

....welll.....what i found petco's are hit and miss.....the one 15miles from my house everything there looks like its on death's doorstep...although the one 2miles from my house, i know the guy that runs the aquatics section and all their fish are silly healthy.... so if they look legit go for it....your petco might have someone that knows what they are doing

 

[aph]

I think Petcos are hit or miss too. There are some that I have seen with plenty of healthy looking saltwater fish, and then there are some I have been to where I saw 8-10 yellow tangs packed into a 20 gallon tank.

It just depends on the workers and how responsible they are, as well as the volume of saltwater customers.