Petsmart vs petco

[nshepler]

Okay so here's the short story,I have a petco and a petsmart within like a 5 mile radius of my house. So I used to only buy fish and fish supplies at petsmart. Petsmart hired a new guy who manages the fish department of there store a few weeks ago. Today he complete pissed me off. I'm not gonna get into it but I basically freaked out and pointed out everything that was wrong with there fish section. I then drove to petco and had a much better time. So what do you guys think? Petco or petsmart? For fish and fish supplies only.


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[Ulrichsd]

The petco by my house has a very small fish section, seriously a lot of people on this forum stock more fish than it does. I went to get a 10 or 20 g for a qt tank and they didn't even have one of either size. So I'd say my experience with petsmart has been better, but I probably wouldn't buy fish from either place. I'm sure it all depends on the individual store.

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[dcutl002]

For Fish, I would go with the store that had the healthiest fish. For supplies, I would go with the best prices. I have Amazon Prime and get most of my supplies online. To be honest they (Amazon) are cheaper IMO.

 

[Fishfanboy]

Both the petco and smart in Boise are pretty good. I'd say they are about even

 

[Delapool]

There are 5 out of 6 lfs that I visit here plus online stores of about 6 (maybe I need a new hobby!). I find they have their good and bad points. The lfs I have been going to lately has better than average plants but the prices on other stuff is expensive. I do find I'm going down that road now too where fish, plants and food I get at lfs but other stuff online. Mind you what I spend on plants makes a dent lately in the funds so still think I'm supporting the lfs some what.

 

[mikem691]

For Fish, I would go with the store that had the healthiest fish. For supplies, I would go with the best prices. I have Amazon Prime and get most of my supplies online. To be honest they (Amazon) are cheaper IMO.

This is what I do

 

[Andy Sager]

Unfortunately, each store can be judged only by the people working there and not the brand name of the store. I have been in multiple locations of both stores when I travel and some have really good people and stock and some have terrible people and stock. So I would suggest, as others have already, go to the one that services you best in both quality and price. My first choice, however, would be a locally owned Mom & Pop shop. They may be a little more expensive but that type of shop tends to have smarter people running them and have a greater knowledge of caring for pets than those working in the chain box stores. (IME)

Hope this helps.

 

[Ynotony]

I worked at both part time....and personally I wouldn't shop at neither when it comes to buying fish there staff generally aren't knowledgable on what they carry. And when I worked there I was told to sell whatever the customer wanted and not to ask questions.....I got fired from PetSmart for refusing to sell a gentlemen oscars for a community tank my manager said it wasn't my place to ask questions.....so for that reason I shop at neither now.


I buy all my fish from a lfs and liveaquaria.

 

[Ynotony]

But that's my opinion I don't know how other stores work

 

[Dallascowboys16]

Around here both have dead fish with fungus growing in their eyes and ick all over and dead and dying saltwater section but a clean store. both are terrible in my opinion but I only have 1 of each in my area but I only buy fish and supplies from my 35 year old mom and pop with awesome rare and healthy fish selection both fresh and salt and employes that have been working there for most of the time its been open and are active hobbyists. Even though you pay a high premium there for sure I still support the small business as they are an awesome store.

 

[Andy Sager]

Around here both have dead fish with fungus growing in their eyes and ick all over and dead and dying saltwater section but a clean store. both are terrible in my opinion but I only have 1 of each in my area but I only buy fish and supplies from my 35 year old mom and pop with awesome rare and healthy fish selection both fresh and salt and employes that have been working there for most of the time its been open and are active hobbyists. Even though you pay a high premium there for sure I still support the small business as they are an awesome store.

Just another example of "You get what you pay for." Support the Mom & Pops, 100% ( But I am biased as I grew up in that environment )

 

[PB_Smith]

I have bought supplies at Petco and get food and fish from lfs in the area.
The one Petco I go to is about middle of the road, not horrible, but definitely room for improvement.
Then I discovered that I live less than ten minutes away from Marine Depot and they do will call, so that is where I have been getting most of my supplies.
Still not sure about purchasing livestock online, I like to actually see the critter before I purchase.

 

[Mebbid]

This discussion doesn't actually accomplish anything TBH. The choice of stores is completely depending on location. You can have an amazing pet co / smart in one city and in the next it will be awful and full of dead fish.

 

[Delapool]

It's interesting though - I get the impression most of us want to see the fish they buy? I was looking at an online shop that will ship fish. It all sounded ok but half the fun for me is just looking at fish, even ones I can't buy and just looking up and down the shelves.

 

[jasonfishaddict]

I've had the best experience from Petco.


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[elephantnose]

This discussion doesn't actually accomplish anything TBH. The choice of stores is completely depending on location. You can have an amazing pet co / smart in one city and in the next it will be awful and full of dead fish.

Agreed. Unless you ask someone specifically in your area you will get mixed answers which wouldn't help much. Anyways here is my input even tho It won't do much good. IMO petco in my area seems to have better stock and take better care of their tanks. My store actually took the time to plant their tanks a good amount. They do cost a little more. At petsmart the prices are very cheap. They are currently running a special were every single fish is on sale. They are always having a sale were fish are only a $1. But it seems petsmart sometimes has bad stock.



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[Fishfanboy]

It's interesting though - I get the impression most of us want to see the fish they buy? I was looking at an online shop that will ship fish. It all sounded ok but half the fun for me is just looking at fish, even ones I can't buy and just looking up and down the shelves.

I agree

 

[nshepler]

It's interesting though - I get the impression most of us want to see the fish they buy? I was looking at an online shop that will ship fish. It all sounded ok but half the fun for me is just looking at fish, even ones I can't buy and just looking up and down the shelves.

Yea I love looking at all the fish, I like to see them all so I just have that extra knowledge of all the fish.



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[Andy Sager]

One of the wonders I had as a child was walking around the local pet shop to see what was available. It was where I learned about all kinds of animals, not just fish. From that, I developed a desire to become a veterinarian which made me want to keep and understand how to keep all the different animals so my house was a zoo thanks to my parents. I've had so many types of house pets ranging from ants to just about all the most common and some uncommon reptiles, birds and mammals. ( My all time favorite still has to be my monkey ) My interest in fish really blossomed from the weekly trips to my Mom's friend's pet shop. Seeing all the shapes and sizes and colors really sparked my curiosity. Talking with all the pet shop owners or managers to gain knowledge of their stock was an integral part of my education. You can't get that from a stock list on a web site. So why do I bring this up in this thread? Sadly, I don;t think either of the stores in question here can do for today's hobbyists what the stores did for me in the past. The onus now is on the hobbyist to GUESS what they are doing is right meanwhile paying a dear price for their wrong guesses. Again, sadly, this is the state of the aquarium hobby in many areas.
So once again, Petsmart vs Petco, I choose LFS over them both.

 

[shirleyi]

petco versus petsmart

Okay so here's the short story,I have a petco and a petsmart within like a 5 mile radius of my house. So I used to only buy fish and fish supplies at petsmart. Petsmart hired a new guy who manages the fish department of there store a few weeks ago. Today he complete pissed me off. I'm not gonna get into it but I basically freaked out and pointed out everything that was wrong with there fish section. I then drove to petco and had a much better time. So what do you guys think? Petco or petsmart? For fish and fish supplies only.

Not that I am a expert and just starting out myself but, the first two guppies I bought from petco both died, a day from each other . They were not very helpful either, as they told me nothing about setting up a aquarium etc.. My third guppy I bought from petco a nice healthy male still doing well after three weeks .. I think petsmarts tanks also looked better maintained then petco


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