Petco

[inetjnky]

Stopped in at Petco tonight to pick up a 10g for my QT setup... While I was there I was looking at their salt fish selection... I noticed that several of their tanks had observation only stickers on them and after looking at their fish a few blue hippos had ich on them.

So as I'm standing there a guy starts doing some maintenance on the tank... Dropping in a hydrometer in each of the ich tanks checking for salinity. He then takes the same hydrometer and tests in their other tanks that aren't infected with ich...

Makes me not want to ever buy fish from that store.

 

[zwulfke]

UM WOW really :eek:

 

[Pete polyp]

Normally all their tanks use the same sump.

 

[eliramos]

every day for those fish is like a walking dead episode, whose going to get infected next! poor guys!

 

[Dtackett]

petco quality depends on the individual performing the maintenance and care for the animals. we have one that used to be really good, then the aquatics manager got promoted to store manager and by company policy hes not allowed to perform any maintenance. he still does from time to time but hes really tried to teach the new aquatics manager how. she is an expert in fresh, but don't know squat about salt.

best thing you can do in inform them of what theyre doing wrong and what the best way to do it right is. you also have to understand how things are ran and that many issues we have with petco is due to company policy. however, as a term of their purchase of foster and smith a lot of policies are being changed and new setups are being installed providing a much better environment for the fish in general, both salt and fresh.

in this instance, the best thing you could have done was to explain to him that he should be using a different hydrometer for the sick tanks vs the clean tanks and that each time he didn't, he was transferring the sickness into the clean tanks. if he didn't correct it, file a complaint. petco isn't playing games anymore and all complaints are reviewed. most often they are reviewed by the district manager. ive been contacted directly by my local district manager a few times and even met with him at the store to show whats going on. he has made big changes since then.

 

[SeahorseKeeper]

best thing you can do in inform them of what theyre doing wrong and what the best way to do it right is. you also have to understand how things are ran and that many issues we have with petco is due to company policy. however, as a term of their purchase of foster and smith a lot of policies are being changed and new setups are being installed providing a much better environment for the fish in general, both salt and fresh.

in this instance, the best thing you could have done was to explain to him that he should be using a different hydrometer for the sick tanks vs the clean tanks and that each time he didn't, he was transferring the sickness into the clean tanks. if he didn't correct it, file a complaint. petco isn't playing games anymore and all complaints are reviewed. most often they are reviewed by the district manager. ive been contacted directly by my local district manager a few times and even met with him at the store to show whats going on. he has made big changes since then.

This!! The best thing is to politely speak up to the associate. I know that a lot of associates that work in the fish departments of Petco and PetSmart want to do what is the best for the pets. However, they are giving limited training and benefit greatly from advice from the customers.

 

[Dtackett]

This!! The best thing is to politely speak up to the associate. I know that a lot of associates that work in the fish departments of Petco and PetSmart want to do what is the best for the pets. However, they are giving limited training and benefit greatly from advice from the customers.

exactly. while they are limited on what they can do or use based on company policies. most just lack the knowledge and we bash them for not knowing. they don't really get paid enough to keep a reef tank so we cant expect them to have personal experience in most cases (although our now store manager keeps a 350 mixed reef, a 250 predator and a 90 seahorse but hes an exception) so their only knowledge comes from either personal research or what the company teaches them. and lets face it, now a days, the company knows so little about animal care that its pathetic.

 

[twilliard]

They look at me funny when I go in to buy flat worm :-)

 

[inetjnky]

I thought about saying something but I too am new to the Sw world so I don't want to overstep my bounds...

 

[Dtackett]

you would have been fine. basic knowledge is easy to share. you weren't trying to explain advanced reef chemistry to him, just what should be common sense.

 

[Pete polyp]

With the amount of fish being turned over at any lfs (not just petco) it's safe to assume that every fish has ich. As I said before, all their tanks are in the same system. Using different equipment for each tank would be completely useless since the same water is in every tank. Just look at the top of the tanks and you will clearly see slots at the top where the water goes through.

 

[Dtackett]

With the amount of fish being turned over at any lfs (not just petco) it's safe to assume that every fish has ich. As I said before, all their tanks are in the same system. Using different equipment for each tank would be completely useless since the same water is in every tank. Just look at the top of the tanks and you will clearly see slots at the top where the water goes through.

that's with the old system, and even then its only for certain systems. many used a sump or canister system for each of the stacks. 1 stack was 1 system. with the new systems they are installing (albeit slowly) each stack has its own full sump under it, and each tank can be cut off from the rest and a sponge filter put in place for treatment. they also have new quarantine procedures that will help the quality and health of the fish as well. it may not be a 30 day setup but its a 3 stage setup and each stage takes a set amount of time. all fish are treated with copper, unless the fish is sensitive to copper, then placed in a calm observation tank for 1 day. they are then placed in a community tank to observe aggression (based on the type of fish) and signs of stress. then if they appear healthy they are placed into the retail tanks within 3-4 days from arrival. if they show signs of stress they are placed back in the observation tank.

now, this is the idea but that doesn't mean its always going to happen. as stated before, they don't know much about the animals theyre selling anymore. so obviously they don't know what signs to look for, and they don't understand that 3-4 days may not be enough time for any issues to become visible. that also says the store manager or aquatics manager doesn't just push the fish straight into retail. there are so many factors at play here that no matter what policy is in place, theres no promise of healthy fish.

 

[steve&mari]

I must admit I was at the store by us yesterday killing time before getting kids from school and the sw looked best it ever has at this one. I don't know if I'd trust anything with other fish in qt that seems healthy from there. I am lucky we have a lfs about 15-20 minutes away and another about a hour away. They both qt fish for min of a month. I've never worried about anything I've gotten from them and never had a sick fish fw or sw from either store.

 

[Bryce Peterson]

petco quality depends on the individual performing the maintenance and care for the animals. we have one that used to be really good, then the aquatics manager got promoted to store manager and by company policy hes not allowed to perform any maintenance. he still does from time to time but hes really tried to teach the new aquatics manager how. she is an expert in fresh, but don't know squat about salt.

best thing you can do in inform them of what theyre doing wrong and what the best way to do it right is. you also have to understand how things are ran and that many issues we have with petco is due to company policy. however, as a term of their purchase of foster and smith a lot of policies are being changed and new setups are being installed providing a much better environment for the fish in general, both salt and fresh.

in this instance, the best thing you could have done was to explain to him that he should be using a different hydrometer for the sick tanks vs the clean tanks and that each time he didn't, he was transferring the sickness into the clean tanks. if he didn't correct it, file a complaint. petco isn't playing games anymore and all complaints are reviewed. most often they are reviewed by the district manager. ive been contacted directly by my local district manager a few times and even met with him at the store to show whats going on. he has made big changes since then.

Dtackett is absolutely right about Petco Corpoate being very responsive to complaints. Still can't bring myself to buy fish there after the house of horrors I witnessed last time. I'll pay 20% more to a small business man or woman and get healthy fish that has been quarantined prior to being offered for sale.