Petco experience

[Brandon.Helvie]

Hit up petco today for the dollar/gallon sale. Picked up a 29 gallon tank for my QT, slowly working on my build. I just happened to wander over to the fish section. First thing I see is a powder tang covered in white spots followed by a dog face puffer laying on the bottom of the tank. Mind you. These are all 10 gallon separated sections. I happened to see fire fox being sucked and stuck by the overflow so I told the lady. Her response "what's an overflow? It'll figure it's way out, sometimes they like to hang out by that water spout thingy". Absolutely disgusting. Probably 10 tanks with fish with heavy ich, white spots and clouded eyes.

I will never go back again..

 

[BAGGERZ13]

It's hard to see that kind of stuff from the pet stores...the only thing I ever go there for us salt mix and good deals on maintenance stuff. I would never buy a fish from them. My LFS quarantines my fish for me and everything. They are great guys unlike petco...

 

[Fitz19d]

Mine where I used to live, and picked up a 55 for emergency replacement I discovered has restructured. 70% fancy dog/cat crap. Then massively revamped fish area with a bunch of salt water and a frag table.

Guy still working there 13 years later is in charge of it seems to care and know. They still have tangs in small tanks because of what corporate sends them. But other wise seem pretty well cared for. Just got in some pom pom crabs.

I think though with how terrible some are, kinda overhangs any of the nice ones. I'm sure there's gigantic waste, would think its financially beneficial to have someone with a clue.

 

[BAGGERZ13]

Well since they are a corporate system they want to get items in and get them out. They are more about making the dollar then just giving good advice. A good LFS has a business to run but keeps a customer comig back by giving them good advice.

 

[Dr. Reef]

Petco = deathco

 

[Guss]

Unfortunatly we have no LFS to support the closest we have is That Fish Place in Lancaster, and 2 petcos within driving distance. One of them has good inverts with a large selection, kept in a seperate housed system. However the fish look iffy. The other has fish that look as good as any I have seen anywhere else. We purchased an orchid dotty from them kept in Qt for 6 weeks no issues. I think it depends on the people who work there, Sometimes location limits where and what you can bye.

 

[hossa81]

Ours have some good supplies, but is more expensive than websites and other stores. The fish never look super healthy, but their is usually nothing their, like the parking lot. What also bothers me is that the live rock was TEN BUCKS A POUND!

 

[CHG107]

I guess I am very lucky to have a really good petco in my area. I have bought a few frags and fish from there and they are all still alive to this day. Everything always looks amazing.

The guy who runs it has been in the saltwater hobby for over 20 years and is great when it comes to questions. I asked him to see what there water parameters are at because I was on the fence but parameters were damn near perfect.

 

[Brandon.Helvie]

I'm sure that they are not all bad, and ive seen some down south that we phenominal. i had a friend that worked there that quit because they would not allow him to care for the fish the correct way. It just puzzles me. But as with a lot of things it's a business first , not a care center.

 

[jhill]

From my experience the employees of big box stores are not the brightest of the bunch. That goes for petco, Walmart, Home Depot, ect. If you ever look to those companies for advice and quality items you are asking for trouble.

With that said, I went to one of the smaller LFS that people recommend and they had a lot of dead fish floating in their tanks.

 

[Ghstwolf]

It totally depends.. There are 2 Petcos here in Spokane..

One of them you couldn't pay me to walk into.. The second one is hit or miss.. The aquatics section has 2 employees that know what they are doing. Both of them have both fresh and saltwater setups in their houses, and are willing to openly tell you "you can't put those fish in the same tank" or "your tank is too new for this type of fish"..

Other employees however shouldn't even be allowed to own seamonkies.. I've had to pick my own coral and net my own fish before because the employee in the section at that time didn't know how to do it..

But then again the only LFS around here I don't trust either.. When the owner tells you "I never get aptasia in my tanks" but yet you walk around and lose count on how many you see. Or you go the sps frag tank and see aptasia growing on the same fragplugs that the sps is on. Or the bags of dry sand you sell clearly say "Silica Sand"..

Sorry I'll stick to petco when the guys I know are working..

 

[blue98ls1]

You'll find that in any chain store. There's a few around here that have staff that are veteran saltwater keepers and those like that lady that didn't know what an overflow was.

If I happen into a store where the livestock looks like hell, I'll call the corporate line and give them a heads-up. It has worked in the past.

 

[Aquat]

I'd have to agree. It depends heavily on the manager and its staff.

I'm for one is lucky to have a Petco guy who's actually a member of this site!:bounce1:
So, I've been getting tips from him though I hardly ever ask for help and advice at a chain pet store.

 

[Bpb]

These chain stores will have a corporate set of standards as far as their actual displays are set up, and it's all typical. The care for their livestock will depend entirely on the diligence of that personal store manager and their training. You can have one petco with pristine tanks and healthy fish, and another that the fish will die in the second they hit the water.

That being said. My local petco falls somewhere in the middle. I'll see white spots on the tangs on occasion. And a dead fish once in a while. But things are generally clean and algae free. The only livestock I've ever purchased were a couple peppermint shrimp for $2 each. I don't even buy gear from their. It's all so over priced. Rock of purple mushrooms for $75!?! Clarkii clowns for $75!! Bubble coral frag with mostly skeleton and 2 little bubbles for $50??? No thanks. I just drop in to window shop every now and then.

 

[Aquat]

That being said. My local petco falls somewhere in the middle. I'll see white spots on the tangs on occasion. And a dead fish once in a while. But things are generally clean and algae free. The only livestock I've ever purchased were a couple peppermint shrimp for $2 each. I don't even buy gear from their. It's all so over priced. Rock of purple mushrooms for $75!?! Clarkii clowns for $75!! Bubble coral frag with mostly skeleton and 2 little bubbles for $50??? No thanks. I just drop in to window shop every now and then.

I'm pretty sure all of their live stocks has a fixed price. So, portions, quality doesn't matter. I usually go on their delivery day (Friday for me) to check out new stocks. Softball size LT anemone for $25, not a bad deal. Zoa colony, I'd say 20 polyps, went for $13.

So, it entirely depends on the supplier.

 

[blue98ls1]

Another benefit is their buying power. There's a Petco that I've bought a few things from in the past. They had a healthy looking Powder Brown marked at $29. Although I'm at my Tang limit until the 180g is done, they said they could always order me one at that price.

 

[steve888]

My Petco is Pretty Decent

My Petco is Pretty Decent

The guy who manages the Fish Department has 18 years of FW and SW experience and is very knowledgeable about everything and anything. He also has a very solid staff working with him. The tanks are all very clean and the fish appear to be very healthy whenever I visit them.

But I know there are some real horror stories out there so I'm grateful I've got a decent store in my area. :bounce1:

 

[glddrgn06]

we have two petcos in my area the one has given up on caring saltwater fish the other still doesbut they look horrible

 

[Fizz71]

I would never buy a live fish from petco but I do shop for dog supplies and fish food there and have to admit...I LOVE to wander by the saltwater fish when they're "giving advice". It's usually not too bad, but it's always entertaining--I wish I could slip a ReefCentral or NCPARS business card into their pockets when petco's not looking.

 

[JohannesFTL]

I would never buy a live fish from petco but I do shop for dog supplies and fish food there and have to admit...I LOVE to wander by the saltwater fish when they're "giving advice". It's usually not too bad, but it's always entertaining--I wish I could slip a ReefCentral or NCPARS business card into their pockets when petco's not looking.

Why wait? I've actually cut the representative off when he told someone that a green spotted puffer is strictly freshwater and can be put in a community tank with guppy and shrimp. Or the favorite, "Oh yeah, that koi will be fine in this half gallon bowl with 50 fake plants."