Buying fish from Petco

[99problemsandatankisone]

Well I was certainly at the mercy of the individual employee today.

I told her that I was interested in one of the Sharknose Gobies and she pointed at fish in 2 different tanks and asked ‘that one?’ I then had to point out what a Sharknose Goby was (they had less than 10 different marine fish in stock so I was a bit surprised at this).

Then she set about trying to net one with a fury I’ve never seen at a pet store before. Rather than try to coax a fish into a corner she just chased it down, knocking all the rock over in the process. She put 2 in a small breeder box for me to choose from and was going for a third, but I had to stop her as I genuinely thought she was going to crush all the fish in the tank! This was pretty stressful for me so I feel for the poor fish. I now have one in my QT and I am hoping it will do ok, but this can’t have been easy on him/her.

There was also one of the display tanks where the return pump wasn’t working (still full of fish), which wasn’t ideal. I didn’t see anything dead today though, in fact, there was a clown snuggled up in an anemone that looked quite happy.

I also asked if they could order fish in and was told no, which is at odds from other people’s experiences at other stores.

I might not have much option other than to go back in the future but, fortunately, my Nano tank can only hold 2 or 3 fish max so hopefully it won’t be a regular occurrence.

This isn’t entirely a reflection of Petco, but just one individual in one store.

Sorry to hear that. Petco is a place that has marine fish but may or may not have Marine hobbyists working and that’s why everyone dogs on them. There is no screening for knowledge because the employees are paid so little.

let us know how you’re little guy does!

 

[Rjmul]

If you have a quarantine tank then you're good to go. Petco is hit or miss. Mine was very very very good for a couple years. Then the smartest guy in the store got transferred to a different store and now everything sucks.

 

[mobehtaReefs]

Every fish but 2 in my tank is from petco
The one I go to is ran by a guy who has a 150 gallon reef tank at home and he basically runs the store like his personal tank space.....the fish always look well cared fir and he actually takes orders for you as well and to make it gbetter,cheaper...saw a gem in there for 800 and a purple for 200..both about 2inches long...well cared for in their solitary tanks

 

[mobehtaReefs]

Very true

anyone else read the title and just had the words "uh-Oh" or "oh no" be the first 2 words in their head?

lol all jokes aside.

It's 100% on who's managing the saltwater department.

If you have an avid Salt head or hobbyist in there it's probably as good as any other LFS.

But that's about 1 in 30 petcos.

 

[kingjoe]

There is a Petco 45 minutes down the road from me in Santa Fe. Given my increasing frustration with online retailers (the nearest marine and reef specialty store is in Albuquerque, about a 6 hour round trip for me), I'm tempted to give it a try. I've given their tanks a cursory look-over on several occasions when I lived in the area, and the fish, inverts, and aquariums don't look bad. I have a quarantine tank for both corals and fish, so it may be worth a try.

 

[FishyFishFish]

Well, my little dude made it through quarantine and is now in my DT He seems quite happy in there now.

I would still prefer to go to a decent LFS but there isn't one nearby, so I might go back to Petco to see if they have anything else suitable for me to rescue!

 

[reefinatl]

Well, my little dude made it through quarantine and is now in my DT He seems quite happy in there now.

I would still prefer to go to a decent LFS but there isn't one nearby, so I might go back to Petco to see if they have anything else suitable for me to rescue!

Pics or it didn't happen

 

[mickeysreef <*))))<]

ive had surprisingly good luck buying from petco online. those fish ship direct from the wholesaler in CA. petco never gets them.

 

[Oldsman]

I've had good luck buying from one petco , the closest one is an awful place , but a short 50 minute cruise is completely different . their tanks are always clean and fish look very healthy. Our coral beauty came from them, and has been fantastic.

 

[albano]

I've had good luck buying from one petco , the closest one is an awful place , but a short 50 minute cruise is completely different . their tanks are always clean and fish look very healthy. Our coral beauty came from them, and has been fantastic.

Where in NY? Same situation here…local Petco sux, 30-40 mins away in Poughkeepsie &/or Brookfield Ct are 2 good SW sections

 

[Saltyanimals]

I’m told by the marine manager that Petco’s have an internal tier system whereas some stores appear to have stronger buying powers and access to order a wider range of fish. Ie the higher volume stores can get pretty much anything from quality marine. Ask to see their buy sheet for the week usually on Tues.

 

[FishyFishFish]

Today I went in to buy my second fish.

The first thing I noticed was half a dead fish (the front half) stuck to a powerhead. There is no way that had just happened and they should have cleaned it out at opening time MO. There was also a Cardinal and a Clown that looked a bit wonky. Most of the corals were just skeletons.

I was approached by a sales assistant and was asked if there was anything I liked and I mentioned that the half dead fish kind-of put me off. She told me that it probably got into a fight and wandered off to scoop it out. I left at that point.

They did have a few healthy looking fish but nothing suitable for my tank at the moment. I do think I am going to have to be super selective to buy from there though.

What grates me most is that their new advertising slant is directed as 'health and wellness'. I'm not sure the fish and corals at this store would agree with that.

 

[Saltyanimals]

Today I went in to buy my second fish.

The first thing I noticed was half a dead fish (the front half) stuck to a powerhead. There is no way that had just happened and they should have cleaned it out at opening time MO. There was also a Cardinal and a Clown that looked a bit wonky. Most of the corals were just skeletons.

I was approached by a sales assistant and was asked if there was anything I liked and I mentioned that the half dead fish kind-of put me off. She told me that it probably got into a fight and wandered off to scoop it out. I left at that point.

They did have a few healthy looking fish but nothing suitable for my tank at the moment. I do think I am going to have to be super selective to buy from there though.

What grates me most is that their new advertising slant is directed as 'health and wellness'. I'm not sure the fish and corals at this store would agree with that.

It really is hit or miss with Petco and the local aquatic management. I'm lucky and the ones that I frequent near me have really clean tanks. Of course I would still treat incoming petco fish, but they fair no different than some of my other LFSs. For example, my Petco had a powder blue in the tank for over 2 weeks. That's a ich prone fish and usually quick to see issues. Having it there for weeks spotless does say something about the tanks which they're not allowed to use copper. So nothing was suppressing disease. I've never bough t coral there since they all look ugly in white light, so I can't see what I'm buying. =)