Petco Fish

[TheTodd]

I have been looking to get a small one spot fox face and a blue eye/two spot bristle tooth tang. Both LFS have not had them, but I walk into Petco today at lunch and guess what they have? Both!

I normally avoid these types as many of their staff are not very knowledgable. Has anyone had experiences with them? I do not have a quarantine tank, so I acclimate my fish and they go in my 75 gallon tank.

 

[Sniperhank]

I'd observe them and see what it is they do. I don't deal with fish that require tanks of that size, but I have purchased livestock from petco and they have done well. Even if knowing the difference between a beyond all hope critter and one that is just starting to fade helps as well. I pulled a carpet nem from of their tanks and it has done great in my tank to where it has almost doubled in size.

 

[Beengirl]

I've gotten a lot of fish and supplies from Petco over the years. I have FW and SW tanks. I just got a starry blenny and some astraea (sp?) snails from there today. I've never had a problem with the fish being sick from there, ever. They usually have what they call "aquatics specialist". I've found that's the person to ask questions to. The guy at my Petco has SW tanks too and has been doing them a while. I also get my SW water from there cuz I don't have a RO system yet and it's only 25 cents per gallon. They don't really advertise the water, but it's available.

 

[TheTodd]

They both looked healthy. I've never seen such a small foxface...was probably just under 2". Thought the Blue Eye was a Kole at first...have never seen a live Blue Eye, only on sites. Maybe I'll go back in a couple days and see how they look.

 

[Beengirl]

They will also special order any fish that u want at Petco. Takes about less than a week at my store for it to come in. So, if there's ever something u want that they don't have, just let them know. My store puts in orders on Friday, not sure if all stores do it that way. The fish usually comes in Wed. BTW, no, I don't work at Petco. Lol. Was reading what I wrote and I sound kinda like an advertisement. Haha

 

[TheTodd]

Both of my LFS will special order and both have requests for either a white tail tang or a blue-eye. Funny that Petco, who usually gets fairly common fish, has that blue-eye. There was no price, so I wonder if it was a special order. Didn't have time to ask today.

I figure foxfaces are the easier to find, so was just waiting to find one that grabs my attention. This one was almost too small.

 

[hype]

I brought a foxface from my local petco about 4 months ago. He has been great in my 65 hex tank.

 

[lovefishys]

Wow! You guys seem to have good Petco's!! We do purchase some supplies there like our salt, since the LFS is $70 more a bucket than Petco!! But the employees stink! Yes they are nice but can't really tell you anything without looking in a book. The book just says what size tank, their length and what they eat. They couldn't tell you if 2 different fish can go together. Also I would say 75% of the fish we have purchased from them have died in a week or 2's time. Also ours tends to have a lot of dead fish in the tank (freshwater) Petsmart isn't any better. I think it may just be our location

 

[DFost]

the petco by me has one guy that knows his stuff I actually end up seeing him at oither lfs's all the time but the other "fish specialists" don't know half of what my 8 year old niece does haha. As far as the fish purchasing it will differ store to store I tend to try and get them shortly after they receive new fish so the employees there at the branch don't have time to mess up. I have had luck with all fish I have purchased but I have also seen some tanks there I wouldn't touch a fish out of at the time. The prices are good so that's a plus.

Didn't know they sold water there that is good to know I will have to look into that more when I go in there next!! 25 cents a gallon is dirt cheap what salinity do they sell it at there?

 

[TheTodd]

I think I will drop by tomorrow and see if either are still there. The guy there knows very little beyond book basics for saltwater. Seems to know his stuff on freshwater though.

They also had a Heniochis Butterfly, which is on my list. Just wasn't planning on adding one yet. Well see what happens...

Thanks for all the feedback. Very different than what I was expecting, but good to hear that most have had good experiences.

 

[KSum89]

It all depends on your petco staff!

I purchased a cheap coral beauty that lived 20 minutes (sarcasm lol) it had swim bladder when i bought it. I was too excited that i decided to buy it... At first i thought that maybe it was just how they swim. It lived for exactly 1 day, i acclimated it slow and put it into qt tank where it died.

I got it all taken care of though and even talked to management that wants me to come in so i can show him areas they can improve on with the marine area... I always see a dead fish, at least 1 laying in their aquariums. Like 3 clowns in one small tank.. I know why he died.

 

[iMax]

I almost want to go work at Petco as the fish specialist

 

[Beengirl]

Yeah, the Petco I go to is really good about keeping their tanks clean and no dead fish. I have been to other Petcos in the area though that have quite a bit of algae and some dead fish and the selection isn't good. Guess it all depends on who is in charge of the aquatics dept. all the stores are a run a little differently.

 

[Lexilove]

The petco near me SUCKS! I only go there for supplies but every time I buy fish from them they always die in at least a week:/ but if youre really lucky you can get a good fish...

 

[MacDracor]

Like any LFS, PetCo will vary from store to store. I am in Tacoma, and we have two great PetCos here, one by the mall, and one in Lakewood. Both have fellow fish nuts working there. But, there are some other Petcos not too far that are... shall we say, less great. *coughs* Puyallup *coughs*
To find out how much the staff knows, do research on a fish that they have in stock, then go in and ask questions that you already know the answers to. Start basic and move to more complicated stuff. Do this for a few items and you'll start to gauge how much they really know about their stock.

 

[smomus]

Like any LFS, PetCo will vary from store to store. I am in Tacoma, and we have two great PetCos here, one by the mall, and one in Lakewood. Both have fellow fish nuts working there. But, there are some other Petcos not too far that are... shall we say, less great. *coughs* Puyallup *coughs*
To find out how much the staff knows, do research on a fish that they have in stock, then go in and ask questions that you already know the answers to. Start basic and move to more complicated stuff. Do this for a few items and you'll start to gauge how much they really know about their stock.

+1 I don't have a petco near me, but most stores are the same. I've fine this questioning method at both my local Petsmart and fish store.
I know in my Petsmart who to ask and who not to ask. One guy is very knowledgeable and does well (he even knew some good info on a fish they don't keep in stock) while a girl there told my daughter there was no easy to know if a Molly is male or female.
The lfs where I bought my gsp does really well. They have a fw specialist and a sw specialist. They work different hours so its kind of hit and miss to get the right specialist. They are up front tho and let you know they do not know much about that outside of their realm. When I bought my gsp I was told info that was spot on with my research.
The biggest thing IMO (as most will tell you here)...do your own research!

Edit: I've never had any problems with buying fish from Petsmart, which I believe is similar to petco

 

[pcdebb]

I prefer Petco over Petsmart. I've found very knowledgeable people at both places that are actual hobbyists themselves, but I've gotten bad fish from petsmart. And Petco is the only one that sells saltwater fish (I just made that revelation today!) Their tanks are always clean, never got a bad fish from them, just wish they were closer to me.

 

[Lexilove]

I think it just depends on the location. For me it is opposite.every store is different & everyone has their own opinion

 

[54seaweed]

I only deal with saltwater only fish stores
you will find a very knowledgeable staff willing to help with all your questions from time you walk in to store till you leave

not like chain stores : Ill be right back I have to ask jack lol
and jack walks up and knows even less than joe and thats even if you can find someone to help you to begin with!!

 

[TheTodd]

I normally deal with the mom and pop stores for saltwater, which is what prompted the original question about Petco. I'm in Palm Springs and there are two good LFS. Petsmart only carries freshwater and one of the PetCos has saltwater. If I saw any of the fish at the LFS, I would not hesitate to buy them. I am just not sure that the PetCos of the world are as good with their fish. Maybe a bad assumption on my part, as it probably is more the people at any given store.

I'm thinking of going by tomorrow after work and see if the blue eye tang is still there. I just saw that LiveAquaria has them and they are on sale, but buying online scares me.