Would you purchase a fish from Petco.com?

[krollins]

I once visited petco and some of them were covered in ick, brokenalla, and urmena. They told me a sixline wrasse would be a good first fish.

 

[Rusty_L_Shackleford]

And just for clarity, I am lucky to have 5+ good saltwater reef specialty stores nearby too.
But petco (at least here) has had some good things. Not always super economical but when there is a sale, it is.
Purple fire fish. Long nose hawkish, triggers. Even maxima clams. All depends on the local steward of the fish program. They will even order things for you if they can.
Just my experience.

Honestly petco has upped their game and has been pretty solid for me. I have 3 specialty stores within 90 min but I still check them out, especially bc they have crazy good deals occasionally. Also: they will price match if you ask. I recently got some nano stream pumps for $15 there and have a few fish I've picked up as well.

 

[Jimbobalou622]

Hi guys! I have been interested in a Yasha Goby, and noticed that Petco.com has one at a decent price. I'm not real impressed with the fish from my local Petco stores, and probably wouldn't buy anything expensive or saltwater from them, but I'm wondering how Petco.com might be. Has anyone ordered fish through Petco.com? Do you think they might be a little higher quality than the local stores?

https://www.petco.com/shop/en/petcostore/product/yasha-goby

Thanks for your help!

No I wouldn’t buy from petco. The standard of care is too low.

 

[Fish Fan]

Hey guys, thanks for the replies, but my question was really about buying from Petco.COM and not from a local retail Petco store, who's quality seems to vary wildly from location to location. I ended up finding the fish I wanted from a LFS instead of Petco.com after all.

 

[Reefing102]

I’ve ordered from Petco.com. Everything came in healthy and the low free shipping threshold is nice. Plus 7 day gurantee. It was shipped directly from quality marine (one of the largest importers/wholesalers(still had the stickers on the bag))

I did have one complaint on a mushroom they sent and called customer service they credited no issue.

To clear up some things. Petco did own Liveaquaria as part of the Drs foster smith buy out but sold liveaquaria in 2020 to Tropical Fish International

 

[Luisn17]

Hey,

Yes, I took my “chance” and placed an order from petco.com when they had a 50% off sale. I purchased a clown goby, Midas, royal gramma, half-black tang, and the biggest gamble: a naso tang. They came in a Quality Marine box to my door, next day air, free shipping and no box charge. The bags were triple bagged, full of air, but none had that black covering which LiveAquaria uses. Everything else was typical: packing peanuts and Korean newspapers. All had labels with the name of the fish inside on the bags.

Since I QT everything, I was not concerned with diseases. I dropped all the fish into 2.0 copper and they all ate right away. They all looked healthy and similar to what I see from reef beauties or LiveAquaria. I mostly buy online, easier to find the selection I want and price. 5 months later, all the fish are doing great, and in my DT. Getting a naso tang for 35 bucks, he was about 4 inches, was a great deal. I actually regret not getting a purple tang and more fish on that order. Been waiting for that deal again.

I do plan on ordering again from them. I was actually trying to figure out who supplies the clams for them when I saw your post.

 

[Fish Fan]

Hey,

Yes, I took my “chance” and placed an order from petco.com when they had a 50% off sale. I purchased a clown goby, Midas, royal gramma, half-black tang, and the biggest gamble: a naso tang. They came in a Quality Marine box to my door, next day air, free shipping and no box charge. The bags were triple bagged, full of air, but none had that black covering which LiveAquaria uses. Everything else was typical: packing peanuts and Korean newspapers. All had labels with the name of the fish inside on the bags.

Since I QT everything, I was not concerned with diseases. I dropped all the fish into 2.0 copper and they all ate right away. They all looked healthy and similar to what I see from reef beauties or LiveAquaria. I mostly buy online, easier to find the selection I want and price. 5 months later, all the fish are doing great, and in my DT. Getting a naso tang for 35 bucks, he was about 4 inches, was a great deal. I actually regret not getting a purple tang and more fish on that order. Been waiting for that deal again.

I do plan on ordering again from them. I was actually trying to figure out who supplies the clams for them when I saw your post.

Thanks for your reply! I did end up getting the fish I needed from a local store, but I guess I didn't realize that Petco.com does a 50% off sale. I'll have to watch that for future purchases.

 

[OrionN]

When I get fish, I either see them healthy or else has problem(s) that I can treat. It I order online, sight unseen, I like to get them from the ocean to my tank (QT system) as quick as possible. I really like to have control, and not depends on other people to take care of my animals. LFS or fish wholesalers are definitely not the place to keep the fish "to get them healthier."
I never ordered from Petco.com but got fish ordered by Local Petco for me, and animals I got from the Petco in Corpus Christi. I am not a high-volume fishes/animals' purchaser so I can't say I purchased a ton of animals from them.
Whit that said, I got a lot of fishes and animals that well worth the price I spend on them at Petco. Most of my experiences with Petco have been great. Fish died sometime. I never blame Petco for the animals that did not make it in my tank.
These are a few animals I got from Petco over the years. They don't all look like this initially but this is how they eventually look after going through Petco's tanks.

 

[wunderlong88]

When I get fish, I either see them healthy or else has problem(s) that I can treat. It I order online, sight unseen, I like to get them from the ocean to my tank (QT system) as quick as possible. I really like to have control, and not depends on other people to take care of my animals. LFS or fish wholesalers are definitely not the place to keep the fish "to get them healthier."
I never ordered from Petco.com but got fish ordered by Local Petco for me, and animals I got from the Petco in Corpus Christi. I am not a high-volume fishes/animals' purchaser so I can't say I purchased a ton of animals from them.
Whit that said, I got a lot of fishes and animals that well worth the price I spend on them at Petco. Most of my experiences with Petco have been great. Fish died sometime. I never blame Petco for the animals that did not make it in my tank.
These are a few animals I got from Petco over the years. They don't all look like this initially but this is how they eventually look after going through Petco's tanks.

You have a beautiful selection of fish. I am familiar with some if them. Can you tell me what they all are?

 

[OrionN]

You have a beautiful selection of fish. I am familiar with some if them. Can you tell me what they all are?

If you click of each picture, It will bring up the (label) name of the picture. I label all my fish pictures as: Name of the fish and date that I took the picture.
Fore example:
BlackLeopard2025062701Male
This mean picture of the Male Black Leopard taken on June 27, 2025, Picture #01

 

[wunderlong88]

If you click of each picture, It will bring up the (label) name of the picture. I label all my fish pictures as: Name of the fish and date that I took the picture.
Fore example:
BlackLeopard2025062701Male
This mean picture of the Male Black Leopard taken on June 27, 2025, Picture #01

Oh..ty. I didn't realize.

 

[OrionN]

Oh..ty. I didn't realize.

That is just how I label my pictures. Definitely not the same for everybody. I tend to loose interested in taken picture of a fish that I have plenty good picture of, except in case I wanted to demonstrate something. My fish files has thousands of pictures all classified according to species and chronological.

 

[Fish Fan]

That is just how I label my pictures. Definitely not the same for everybody. I tend to loose interested in taken picture of a fish that I have plenty good picture of, except in case I wanted to demonstrate something. My fish files has thousands of pictures all classified according to species and chronological.

Thanks for popping back into this thread! You don't just have great looking fish, you take fantastic photos of them