Petsmsrt vs. lfs?

[Jakepen]

I know petsmart has lower prices than my lfs, but do you guys know the quality of their cichlids? Is it worth getting my fish at petsmart, or no?

 

[calfishguy]

I know petsmart has lower prices than my lfs, but do you guys know the quality of their cichlids? Is it worth getting my fish at petsmart, or no?

No. Most petsmart have small overstocked tank.

 

[Jakepen]

Ya most of their tanks are ten gallon, how many juvenile cichlids in a ten gallon, would be unhealthy?

 

[shellieca]

I would say it depends on your LFS. Look closely at both places. I know there have been many posts on here from people who have gotten fish from petsmart & had an ich break out. New fish should be QT'd regardless of where you purchase them.

 

[Samphotog]

Every single tank in the petsmart here is connected to the same filter. Not sure how they survive that

 

[Musicfreak]

I think it really depends, I have seen nicer tanks at Petco than at some LFS. Although the LFS around me is great, I think they actually breed cichlids I'm not sure though.

 

[Skeletor18]

I've read somehow and what I've seen their mbuna cichlids are not great quality. LFS vam be a little more $, but pays off for the quality/coloring. I personally don't buy there anymore and choose a few LFS and online 2 times has been great from Dave's and Californiacichlids

 

[kjacks]

The care that petsmart provides their fish differs from each location I was told they get their fish mostly from asia but that could be misguided information. I have ordered online few places so far the best has been from here

http://www.floridatropicalfishdirect.com/5152/5173.html

They sent me 27 fish and a free bag of food I only ordered 19 fish

Then I have ordered from daves 2 times this last time i got 6 fish n i spent just as much with him as i paid for the 19 from florida

 

[Riot84]

I definitely agree with the fact that the care of the fish from one store to the next varies. I work at PETsMART and at my particular location we do a good job of keeping up with care and tank maintenance but I've been to other stores that have really bad looking tanks and fish. My store actually gets fish from the same supplier as the lfs in the area. It really comes down to looking at the fish at each store and choosing good, healthy looking specimens. And as always quarantine any fish before adding them to an established tank cuz even the cleanest best looking lfs could end up selling you a fish that may look healthy at the time but has something wrong.
Btw about 90% of the fish I have came from the store I work at and all are happy and healthy.

 

[Jakepen]

Tropical fish direct wants 4o dollars for some males, is that normal online? And buying unsexed, obviously the sex of the fish just hasn't been determined, meaning you could wind up with three males?

 

[Mogurako]

Then I have ordered from daves 2 times this last time i got 6 fish n i spent just as much with him as i paid for the 19 from florida

Dave's is expensive true but he has some of the best quality fish, most are Wild caught F1/2 and he has tons of rare and hard to find fish. Buying from Dave's or a fish farm in Florida is a no brainer I'd choose Dave's every time.

 

[kjacks]

Dave's is expensive true but he has some of the best quality fish, most are Wild caught F1/2 and he has tons of rare and hard to find fish. Buying from Dave's or a fish farm in Florida is a no brainer I'd choose Dave's every time.

I do have 2 sets of daves and he does have good fish but the fish i got from the other are good too you cant tell the difference in them quality wise and actually they got my order more accurate then dave did both times after i specifically told him if they were a certain size i didnt want them was told they were bigger n when i got them they werent as big as he said now im stuck with slow growing fish in a tank i didnt want to keep up and running

But to each its own

 

[Skeletor18]

Dave's is expensive true but he has some of the best quality fish, most are Wild caught F1/2 and he has tons of rare and hard to find fish. Buying from Dave's or a fish farm in Florida is a no brainer I'd choose Dave's every time.

I saw that his prices (mbuna) were pretty evenly prices vs Wetspot and Cichlidstore. Shipping is a little pricey though

 

[Tetra1990]

It depends on you LFS and local big box store. I have 3-4 pets marts in town and only 1 is really good and I do buy most of my fish from them. But just like everything else, DO YOUR HOMEWORK FIRST!!! My LFS are good, but can be pricy. I paid $10 for a blueberry shrimp and bought 5 of them.

 

[mfdrookie516]

Since each individual store is different (whether chain, or not), the only way you'll know is to look at their stock and make your best judgement.

To prevent a bunch of uneducated, extremely opinionated posts, this thread is now closed.