Petco Fish?

[ajremington68]

This is going to be crazy, but I'm here for it.

I was cruising Facebook and went on a post of a 50% sale on Petcos livestock and shipped out of their wholesaler. Lots of duels in the comments, and one person ordered one and it came dead and he got the option of a refund or new fish. After lots of thought and watching others roll the dice, I also rolled the die. Will be receiving a medium Purple Tang from Petco in a few days. Might be one of my biggest mistakes, but I have a 20-gallon QT that has been up, in the process of pulling the copper out with a full 20-gallon water change. Will continue posting on this thread with pictures of the shipping box, the state it came in and, alot more just for others who want the dream fish like me, but don't want to break the bank. I mean $125 for a 2.25-3.25in Purple Tang... Come on now. If you have any experience with doing what I am doing good or bad please share to either get me excited or regretting all my decisions lol

 

[TangerineSpeedo]

I have a number of fish from Petco, never shipped, but local. But I think one of the distributors they use is quality marine. I feel any shipped fish is a gamble from whatever vendor. Even if the fish is in good health when it left, it may be subject to many stresses on its journey to you. Buying a fish from a LFS, you can see it eat, its general condition etc.

 

[steveschuerger]

I have a number of fish from Petco, never shipped, but local. But I think one of the distributors they use is quality marine. I feel any shipped fish is a gamble from whatever vendor. Even if the fish is in good health when it left, it may be subject to many stresses on its journey to you. Buying a fish from a LFS, you can see it eat, its general condition etc.

Yah, my local PetCo is a good one. My clowns, cardinals, orange spot blenny , and Melanurus came from them . I’ve gotten fish shipped with mixed results . That being said the best vendor I’ve found online was Blue Zoo. I have a very healthy Leopard wrasse and Bristletooth Tang from them

 

[TangerineSpeedo]

Yah, my local PetCo is a good one. My clowns, cardinals, orange spot blenny , and Melanurus came from them . I’ve gotten fish shipped with mixed results . That being said the best vendor I’ve found online was Blue Zoo. I have a very healthy Leopard wrasse and Bristletooth Tang from them

I was actually looking at the petco 50% off sale... It makes some fish especially the ORA ones cheap. Also clams... So.... cheap... But it dealers choice on color, but they are from ORA also I am pretty sure.

 

[steveschuerger]

I was actually looking at the petco 50% off sale... It makes some fish especially the ORA ones cheap. Also clams... So.... cheap... But it dealers choice on color, but they are from ORA also I am pretty sure.

Yeah, my guy Adam(aquarium section manager) orders from ORA and will special order if you have a special one you want.

 

[TangerineSpeedo]

Yeah, my guy Adam(aquarium section manager) orders from ORA and will special order if you have a special one you want.

Also just looking at it, free shipping is before the 50% off. So spend $100 bucks get free shipping. Might have to look at a few things...

 

[Daes]

I ordered a few fish from Petco last weekend. A hippo tang, hawkfish, a few firefish, and a gramma. I received them yesterday. All but the gramma come in looking great. Unfortunately, the gramma didn't make it. The rest are in qt, doing great and eating well.

 

[Hot2na]

That being said the best vendor I’ve found online was Blue Zoo.

Blue Zoo is an absolute Joke ! they play bait and switch all the time..then contact you to say they cant find the item you selected..Stay clear of them .

 

[ajremington68]

I ordered a few fish from Petco last weekend. A hippo tang, hawkfish, a few firefish, and a gramma. I received them yesterday. All but the gramma come in looking great. Unfortunately, the gramma didn't make it. The rest are in qt, doing great and eating well.

Did you order your selection of fish due to the 50%? How quick was the shipping as well (like what day you ordered and when did you get them), also where are you located I have seen someone in Michigan get theirs the next day, just trying to get a general time line. Also, how do you like the hawkfish? See them in lots of youtube videos and is a dream fish in the future. So much personality.

 

[ajremington68]

I was actually looking at the petco 50% off sale... It makes some fish especially the ORA ones cheap. Also clams... So.... cheap... But it dealers choice on color, but they are from ORA also I am pretty sure.

What does ORA mean?

 

[Sharkbait19]

I took advantage of the sale - got a longnose hawk, orange spot blenny, banggai Cardinal, royal gramma, canarytop wrasse, clown goby, and 2 fw dwarf puffers.
The clown goby came dead, and the wrasse and gramma weren’t looking too hot either and eventually died within the next day. They gave the option to replace (with no additional shipping cost), but later said they are out of stock so I just got the refund instead.
The rest are healthy and eating - I’ve ordered from them in the past and was happy with the order as well. I’d definitely do so again for the price.
I would never get a fish from the tanks at my local petcos though.

What does ORA mean?

ORA is one of the leading captive breeders of saltwater fish.

 

[steveschuerger]

Blue Zoo is an absolute Joke ! they play bait and switch all the time..then contact you to say they cant find the item you selected..Stay clear of them .

Well it wasn’t my experience. I got exactly what asked for. The leopard and tang. Leopard in particular was larger than the size listed when ordered

 

[ajremington68]

Leopard wrasse is a future want once I upgrade my tank. So much color and flash on them it looks almost fake. Is the tang a tomini tang?

 

[ajremington68]

I took advantage of the sale - got a longnose hawk, orange spot blenny, banggai Cardinal, royal gramma, canarytop wrasse, clown goby, and 2 fw dwarf puffers.
The clown goby came dead, and the wrasse and gramma weren’t looking too hot either and eventually died within the next day. They gave the option to replace (with no additional shipping cost), but later said they are out of stock so I just got the refund instead.
The rest are healthy and eating - I’ve ordered from them in the past and was happy with the order as well. I’d definitely do so again for the price.
I would never get a fish from the tanks at my local petcos though.

ORA is one of the leading captive breeders of saltwater fish.

Question What day did you order? What shipping package did you pick? When did your fish come?

Also, did you just start up a tank and use this opportunity to fully stock it? Lots of new fish lol

 

[ajremington68]

@Sharkbait19 Also what was your experience like with having casualty after putting them in your tank? Did they give you a hassle or are they good about it? Do you know if they have a 7-day guarantee or what? Also, did you float and drop or float and drip and then drop?

 

[benaharoni02]

Leopard wrasse is a future want once I upgrade my tank. So much color and flash on them it looks almost fake. Is the tang a tomini tang?

About to say the same, doesn’t look like a purple tang imo. It also doesn’t appear to be the classic Zebrasoma shape either

Edit- messed up who was who on the phone. Disregard my statement

 

[Sharkbait19]

@Sharkbait19 Also what was your experience like with having casualty after putting them in your tank? Did they give you a hassle or are they good about it? Do you know if they have a 7-day guarantee or what? Also, did you float and drop or float and drip and then drop?

They do have a seven-day guarantee, and from my experience, they honor it very well, requiring only a single picture of the dead fish. When the royal gramma died after a day of being in QT (appeared to be a bacterial infection), and they were quick to offer a refund/replacement. I floated it and then did a short drip acclimation, then dropped the fish in.
While they were unable to replace the deceased fish due to stocking issues, they refunded all doa fish and fish that died within seven days. If the remaining fish were to die within the week, all I’d have to do is call them and provide the order number, and they’ll refund/replace them too.

Also as I’ve mentioned, an added bonus is that they’ll cover shipping on a replacement fish, which a lot of places don’t do.

 

[Sharkbait19]

Question What day did you order? What shipping package did you pick? When did your fish come?

Also, did you just start up a tank and use this opportunity to fully stock it? Lots of new fish lol

I ordered them last Wednesday (before thanksgiving), and the fish arrived Tuesday night. The package tracking wasn’t working so I have no idea when they were packed and shipped out, though I assume it was after thanksgiving weekend.
I recently had a significant loss in fish so took the sale as an opportunity to restock the system.

 

[samb5590]

This is going to be crazy, but I'm here for it.

I was cruising Facebook and went on a post of a 50% sale on Petcos livestock and shipped out of their wholesaler. Lots of duels in the comments, and one person ordered one and it came dead and he got the option of a refund or new fish. After lots of thought and watching others roll the dice, I also rolled the die. Will be receiving a medium Purple Tang from Petco in a few days. Might be one of my biggest mistakes, but I have a 20-gallon QT that has been up, in the process of pulling the copper out with a full 20-gallon water change. Will continue posting on this thread with pictures of the shipping box, the state it came in and, alot more just for others who want the dream fish like me, but don't want to break the bank. I mean $125 for a 2.25-3.25in Purple Tang... Come on now. If you have any experience with doing what I am doing good or bad please share to either get me excited or regretting all my decisions lol

Never shopped online for fish from them, but my local petco is amazing. Aside from them, the closest LFS is over an hour away.

The staff is really knowledgeable and friendly, and takes care of the fish there. I’ve only ever had one fish not make it, but outside of that I’ve never brought home anything nasty.

Plus… the 20% off of everything for being vital care is where it’s at.

 

[chrishaire22]

I took advantage of this deal. I ordered a medium foxface, medium flame hawkfish, scooter blenny, pincushion urchin, 2 coral frags. All in was $400 but with the 50% off and free shipping was only about $200. My order was shipped overnight with UPS. It was delayed by a day and both days temps were down to 30 here. Heat packs were cold as was the water in the bags. Fish looked dead at first but as I slowly brought the temp up they all were alive. The foxface only survived a few hours but the rest seem to be healthy and were eating just a few hours after I got them in my tank. I made the call to customer service. The call only took 5 minutes and I emailed the dead photo while I was on the phone with the rep. Was offered a replacement or refund. I opted for the replacement. It was processed while I was on the call with zero questions asked other than for the photo.