Petco RANT

[Alaris]

Originally Posted by Ziggy953

Non of us like seeing the animals that we keep being mistreated or not cared for, but the simple fact is WE can't control what everyone out there does or does not do. So, if you really want to impact one of these chain stores don't buy from them (live stock I mean).

Law and Order: I can't make you behave, but I can make you wish you had.

[slush]

i wont never buy from them again i bought a fish and it didnt even make it home alive so i turned around and went back i told the guy what happened and he had the guts to call me a lier im very disappointed with petco.

[FWaddict]

I thought Petsmart was a good place as well... I went in there to look at their african cichlids... Things were looking pretty well until I took a look at the Ahli Cichlid... One of them had fin rot... AND ICH! I was thinking "Wow how can they not see that a fish is not supposed to look like that?!"

[pirateshake]

Well i havnt worked there in about 8 months but my store did have 6 qt tanks setup and kept everything in very good health. Once we had anchor worm and treated it, took out all infected ect and dosed all the sumps. poor goldies : (

[slush]

i watch this store just dump the fish in the tank didnt acclimate them or anything, they also just leave the dead ones in the tank and they try telling people that chocolate star fish are reef safe. are petco is a BIG joke

[HoCkEyGmC]

the one by me has completely cut out saltwater fish.

[Bidgette]

Originally Posted by crazyred

not be so general about Petco overall. They could have a fabulous store just the next town over where they take VERY good care of thier fish....you can never be too sure.

I agree. I don't live too far from Sherman, and one local store is 1000% better than one just a few miles away!

It all comes down to local management and expertise.

[Didgeridoo]

I don't know... it seems to me that Petco shops vary widely from store to store, depending on the employees and the general managers. The Petco in my parent's town is shabby, run down, has really sickly looking fish, and employees that can't be bothered to answer questions.

But the one in my town is one of the best-kept fish displays I have ever seen in a retail environment, and that includes the three local mom and pop fish stores in my area. Their employees are always very friendly and knowledgable, and their fish all seem very healthy. The little information cards under the tanks are also more detailed than the other Petco shops cards, for some reason.

So I think I would shop at my local petco above the three mom and pop shops (which always have dead and sick fish by the truckload, and really overcrowded display tanks), but would never even consider buying from the one in my parent's town. It really is amazing what a difference a good store manager can make, in my opinion.

And no, I have never worked for petco, petsmart, walmart, or whatever shop. It's also a bit silly that any defense of a chain shop attracts accusations of being a corporate tool. Mom and pop shops are not all rainbows and lollipops either. Although I think the ones in my area are worse than most...

[JonnyKhan]

I live in a fairly small town in a fairly rural area, and PetCo is the only practical option for saltwater fish. The only LFS still open discontinued marine and reef livestock. I'm lucky enough to live only a couple hours from "Wet Pets", in PA, which is the best LFS I've ever seen. I usually go there for anything rare, delicate, or expensive, but it's just not practical for me to spend that much time driving. PetCo is my only option.

I realize the general impression is that PetCo is that it's the worst of the chains, and barely a step above WalMart, but this depends largely on the employees (who are given a certain amount of leeway). Walmart is a foul fish graveyard where you can count on seeing dead mollies three deep on the bare floor and brackish water puffers with their fins rotted off puttering around a tank full of ich-covered goldfish.

By comparison, my local Petco (in Morgantown), hired only active aquarists to work the aquatic section, and I know they are competent because they've given me helpful advice on medication and livestock compatibility. Our Petco does quarantine sick fish (albeit together), and they refuse to sell fish that appear sick or injured. I've never seen a dead fish floating in the tanks or an injured fish being bullied by a larger fish. If you are sensible about observing the behavior of the specimens you want and come back over the course of a few days to monitor them, it's a safe as any other store. Even the inverts in their seperate section look healthy, and one colonial mat I've been thinking about has grown maybe a third again it's original size since it's been in their tank.

On the other hand, the nearby Fairmont, WV local independent store "Animal Kingdom" has the most dismal, plague-ridden, unethically overcrowded aquariums I've ever seen (outside WalMart), including adult Oscars sharing a ten gallon aquarium they literally couldn't turn around in and a Regal Blue Tang whose lateral line and face were so diseased they seemed to be corroding before my eyes.

I guess my point is that so much of a LFS's quality is based on the people who run it, and dedicated and knowledgeable workers at a chain store can make it a lot nicer than an independant store run by bored, lazy, and unethical people.

<The proceeding opinions are my own and do not reflect the management of AquariumAdvice.com. Or Petco, for that matter.>

[podman1973]

wow!! this may be out of line for this thread but my local petco is great (great people, ect.) I guess I should be thankful I visit a good one

[krap101]

I've had a fairly good experience with my Petco's, although it seems that the older a store gets, the more it deteriorates. Petco is also the only carrier of bamboo shrimp in my area (seasonally), but I haven't seen anything outrageous yet..