Petco vs Petsmart

[wphan]

Petsmart without a doubt

 

[Lt.]

I vote for PetZoo! There a regional company here in AK. The people are somewhat knowledgeable, and most of the fish are OK, but the markup on some things is OUTRAGEOUS! But there my only practical option for fish, and only convenient one for most hardware.

 

[CalebZachary]

Petsmart in my area. Although my lutino oscar was really dark when I get her, they said they had just gotten her in that day. they have more fish products then petco. decorations at a better price. i only go to petco cause it's closer.

 

[cheesy318]

Pet Expo. We have a petco and it makes me very sad. I haven't been to a petsmart as we don't have one in the are.

Petco in my area does not hire knowledgeable fish people. I swear they are just Joe schmo off the street. And their tanks are so overly stocked and small.

 

[shellieca]

Depends what you want as others have said. I buy my tanks & supplies mostly from petsmart. I won't buy fish from either from past experiences. My suggestion is to research research research before going to either then ask questions of the staff to test their knowledge then you'll know who you can better trust. I've learned to be knowledgable before I go in so I don't have to rely on them.

 

[Demonknight]

I stopped going to petco years ago when they couldn't keep ANY fish alive for more than a few days..I was buying feeder goldfish/guppies weekly and they lost all the fish, said to try back..came in a week later same story..whole shipment was bad..3 weeks down the road I stopped going in at all. We have a petsmart, petco, wal-mart (I know, but sadly they are better than petco out here) and a couple of LFS...theres almost no one in the petco parking lot these days.

 

[Andy Sager]

If given a choice, I prefer an older established Mom & Pop pet shop. Both chain stores can be good or bad at any given time or area so to ask the nation which is better is not really a fair way to judge your local stores. But a M&P has to know what they are doing to stay in business and an older store has proven that they know what they are doing. You might have to pay a few pennies more for that service but in the long run, you'll save money on not buying things you don't need or on fish that don't survive.
Hope this helps

 

[Kiskadden]

Would kill for a mom and pop store that had a freshwater selection. Both petco and petsmart here suck.

 

[Chsguy88]

I'm closer to a petsmart, and it was always my go to store... Went out of my way to go to petco the other day, loved the layout of the store, selection, and the chick in the fish dept was awesome! Loved her!!!

I love dealing with petsmart, and their return policy and whatnot is amazing.... So I'm not knocking them by any means, but after going to petco once.... I think I'm gonna keep going the extra few miles.

Although its by a small margin,
I prefer PETCO

 

[Andy Sager]

Would kill for a mom and pop store that had a freshwater selection. Both petco and petsmart here suck.

Sometimes you have to do a little traveling. MY "Local" M & P is 45 miles from me. But if I want quality fish and fair prices, I make the journey. Heck I was just on a road trip and found 4 stores that are STATES away from me which I will go back to when I am traveling again there. If you want good choices, sometimes you have to make the trip

 

[Kiskadden]

Sometimes you have to do a little traveling. MY "Local" M & P is 45 miles from me. But if I want quality fish and fair prices, I make the journey. Heck I was just on a road trip and found 4 stores that are STATES away from me which I will go back to when I am traveling again there. If you want good choices, sometimes you have to make the trip

I researched the 10 closest mom and pops to me (farthest being over an hour and a half away) and most of them had not so good reviews... now I can believe that sometimes people only say the bad things about a place but even the pictures of these places looked like crap. I really can't believe that this place has crap for fish passionate people. Even craigslist rarely has anything... their ideal of local is 45 min away.

Has anyone ever been to a local mom and pop store that looks rundown but really sells healthy fish?

 

[Dallascowboys16]

Although I have my favorite Lfs about 10 min. From my house every now and then I will go to a rundown store called south broadway tropicals downtown. Even though the place is rundown the quality and health of the live stock is great so even if a store looks run down give it a shot and you may be surprised. Also around here petco is better even though I don't like to go to either.

 

[Nellynel]

Every state I've lived in Pet Smart is better IMO. If you prefer cichlids they seem to have more and they have a better range of sizes. Petco fish always seem to be too small but Petco has saltwater fish if that's you're thing. I also like the Top Fin products at Pet smart. A few months I went to get a new tube for my old filter that was cracked and wasn't pulling up water. Since they don't sell replacement parts they gave me a new filter

 

[Jev12]

I like petco better but there are a few so-so petsmarts

 

[jwh0818]

How is this a poll if we cant bash store names? I for one think they are both great in their own ways.

 

[Croyarnster]

I just bought a Fluval Spec 5 from Petco since it was on sale there for 20% off. But I noticed Petco's everyday price was $80 but Petsmart was $100. I ended up going into 3 Petco's last weekend and they were no where near the same. The one that said they didn't carry everything actually had the nicest looking fish/plants and were the most helpful people. The lady in Petmart pissed me off and their tanks had dead fish in every one and only the plants in the little plastic containers but some of their chemicals were cheaper. So I'd have to say it depends on what you need as to where you should go.

 

[Rokuzachi]

Petsmart.

Better selection of products for my fish. Better fish selection too. Cleaner tanks than the two Petcos near me, less dead/diseased.

The only time I shop at Petco is during their $1/gallon sale if I need another 40b or can't find the plants I want at LFS/Petsmart.

 

[Coursair]

I shop at Petsmart. I have a PetCo close by, but even though its also clean, prices are higher and they don't have the selection.

I've bought plenty of fish at Petsmart. I used to be a Petcare Lead there. I know how to pick healthy fish. I've bought Otos, Neons, etc.
my last female Harlequin Rasbora refuses to die She is at least 5 or 6 years old and has survived moving, living without a filter, etc. she is the queen of my rimless 10g and Im hoping to rehome her to a club member's 55g with a big group of HR. Her last male passed away recently. He was also at least 5. I know they can go 5-7 yrs. my Petsmart isn't perfect, but they do try.

I'm lucky to have several LFSs within an hour.
AquaForest in San Francisco is tiny but has ADA equipment and lovely tanks.

For Nano fish I trek down to Neptune's in Milpitas CA. Tiny store on a strip mall. They have SW, but they have plants , ADA retailer as well , plus a great selection of uncommon FW including Nano species.
http://www.neptuneaquatics.com/catalog/fishes/tropical-fish

So there is no way to say overall Petsmart or Petco is better than the other. And Ive seen plenty of Mom and Pop stores I will never buy from. It's a nice theory that they must be better, most can't afford to hire enough help and their fish suffer because of it.

You need to remember, the general public doesn't always notice things. Or they might believe flimsy excuses for why there are dead or dying fish. Just because a store is around a long time doesn't mean it's a good store.

Any store will have dead fish. Good stores, pull deceased, record it and figure out what's up if there are large numbers. Good stores try to prevent disease, treat the fish if needed and its possible or refuse a sale if the fish aren't healthy.

There will always be some loss, keeping it to a minimum and helping customers' fish thrive is the goal.

And in San Francisco in an alley is a true M&P store. Looks very cluttered and claustrophobic.
Plants overgrown in every tank. Homemade CO2.
Lots of tanks you can hardly see the fish.

BUT unless you bring a water sample and convince the owner you have the right tank, he WON'T sell you a fish. He has the best Bettas Ive ever seen in a store. His fish are fat and sassy. He has tanks of Guppies all over, all different color strains. His selection beyond Livebearers is limited, but still a cool store to visit !!

But between the sketchy neighborhood and the alley and the first impression, I never would have stayed except my club member told me it was better than it looked.

 

[ElaineSelene]

Petsmart has better freshwater fish and has chemicals for tanks. But only pectoral has saltwater fish and better prices on tanks. I go with petsmart!

 

[Clownfishlover]

The Persmarts near me are great!