Petco?

[CAPSLOCK]

Anyone have any good or bad experience with Petco's saltwater fish?

I was thinking of getting a tank bred percula or occilaris (sp?) clown from them. They had some healthy looking ones, all the ones in the tank looked healthy. But I can't quarantine, and I don't want to bring in something that'll spread in my tank... so what are your thoughts on Petco's quality of SW fish?

 

[OCCFan023]

Well when I was going to the Petco near me I didnt have a salt water tank but Id always like to look at them, except that like 1/4 of the fish were sick or dead. I saw a couple regal tangs that had ich as well as a tang, and saw like 4 dead fish. Then they revamped the entire store and made new display tanks and new merchandise tanks but even then I saw a couple of sick fish but it was much better (and then it Blew up). I personally wouldnt want to deal with them (especially if you cant QT it), but it depends on the store and there care methods because not all are the same.

Id find out their return policy and and just look for a specimen you really feel confident in and go with that, and then just watch him closely in your tank

 

[CAPSLOCK]

So it's like Walmart-depends a bit on the store. And a little bit of luck... guess I'll have to see how they look.

No where around here has ANY guarantee at all on saltwater fish or organisms.

 

[Henry22]

what, occs local petco blew up. thats funny and also sad, poor fish and dogs, i dont really like cats soooo

 

[OCCFan023]

So it's like Walmart-depends a bit on the store. And a little bit of luck...

Thats exactly right.


Also on the guarantee issue, I never asked about it at the Petco, but thats a little troubling, although I doubt they have guarantees on there freshwater either so idk.



As for my local Petco, yea it blew up about 4 months ago.

 

[RockingCricket]

I have always been impressed with the appearance of livestock at my local Petco. I have however never purchased from them, just because I never think of going there and not because of the quality of thier stock and husbandry.

Just assess your local store and use your best judgement.

As for WalMart, have you seen how they net and bag their fish? I know every store and every employee is different, but my word!!!

 

[aresgod]

well there are plenty of excellent LFS in mass, many most likely very close to you.

 

[JNevaril]

Petco does not have a guarantee/return policy on saltwater fish, due to their highly specialized needs. (it says it right on the back of my fish ticket from petco)

14 day fish guarantee only applies to freshwaters.

 

[wayne]

I'm not super worried about return policies , as I try not to buy fish that die mysteriously, but if you can't QT then buyer beware as the range of treatments for most all dieseases you wil see is going to be very limited.
You ill be very annoyed if it brings something nasty in and all your fish die.

Why don't you use the 10 gallon? All you have in it is a couple of danios and kuhlii loaches.

 

[CAPSLOCK]

Aresgod- what good LFS's do you know about? I'm right next to Worcester.

I've never been in a good Walmart fish department either, but I've heard from others around MFT who have. And I've never had problems with Petsmart, but there are people who say theirs is a deathtrap.

I can't really use the 10 gallon-it's got fish in it that I can't rehouse in my other tanks (they're already overstocked), and don't want to get rid of... plus, I'd have to catch the kuhli loaches. I've been dipping my new SW fish, I figure that's better than nothing.

 

[aresgod]

well, dipping could in turn just induce more stress, which could cause a disease to break out, so not always better than nothing, well Capslock, if your willing to drive an hour there is a great LFS that I used to work at in agawam. Its all just straight out on the mass pike.
www.aqua-dreams.com
there are some other good ones near Boston, so I would say an hour in either direction and you should be able to find some great stuff.

 

[wayne]

Dipping won't do anything for ich or velvet.

 

[D'Cecilia]

Petco

I have bought about 15 fish from the petco near me (4 Platties, 4 Guppies, 3 Betta, and 4 Neon Tetra) and they are all well. I have had them for about a month now and there is no sing of sickness at all. and the Petco stores i have been to, there is 2 of them near me, they are well maintained and have exceptional fish. i have also been to a couple of Petsmart's and the quality of pets is the same as petco,
maybe all of you just have really crappy petco's near you.

 

[quaddity]

Heh 1. this thread is 5 years old that you are bringing back up as your first post and 2. it's in the saltwater section.

But since you brought it back up about half my fish in my reef tanks are from Petco. I have newer one near me that has great prices and they take care of their fish. They also carry salt fish I haven't seen at any local LFS and they are two of my favorites in my tanks. The red banded sand perch and the talbot damsel. There's another Petco near me that's old and they are very bad at keeping their fish. They did so bad with the saltwater they got rid of the whole section. Always dead fish there.

 

[BalaShark]

as I try not to buy fish that die mysteriousl

How do you know if they will die mysteriously? Please share the secret...

 

[DarthPadre]

Petco (online) is one of the least expensive places to procure live rock. You can't see what you're getting, so that's a BIG problem. However, $2 - $4 per pound is hard to beat.

 

[Sarbear4464]

i used to have a saltwater tank and every fish i bought from there died a few days later I made sure my tank was perfect like everything was fine bu his fish always dided. and now i just have a freshwater tank, and the first freshwater fish i bought from there died. 3 days later.
so idk you can try im sure it not like that at every petco store and maybe i was just having some bad luck, but thats my experience