Why does Petco sell marine life?

[LouH]

I recently walked into a Petco in Reno, NV and was shocked to find a display housing about 20 corals of various types. Every one of them was in very poor condition and guaranteed to die at the store or shortly after being placed in some novice aquarist's tank. It's bad enough that they attempt to sell marine fish, but to sell corals on a national level is appalling. Petco has shown me time and again that it does not have the in-house expertise to keep marine fish healthy. Nearly every marine tank I've observed in their stores housed fish with obvious signs of Ich, the tanks were covered with diatoms, and the inverts were dead or on the way. That being the case, who knows how many corals are doomed to die in their stores before they realize that it not a money maker. I personally will not shop at Petco for the simple fact that they care more about making a buck than the health of the animals that they sell or the ecosystems that they were taken from. I encourage you to do the same.

LouH

[vexeclipse2007]

i agree...our local store has a dog face puffer and I feel so bad for him..hes covered in ich and on top of that he just stays curled up in the corner in a 10 gallon tank...
1 time when I went in i saw 3-4 dead clownfish just floating...and that very same day a tomato clownfish was poking at a coral band shrimp and I told the worker and their response was..."ill deal with that later im busy"...

[LouH]

This last time they has a 75 gallon bow front near the front of the store and it was obvious that it was recently set up. It didn't have an overflow, so it couldn't have had a sump/skimmer/ATO, etc. The tank housed 4 medium to large tangs which were skittishly skimming in and out of the rocks of which there seemed to be plenty (one good thing). Obviously a stressful environment for the fish.

[C-Water]

Question is -why do they sell any livestock? It's always in terrible health with dead floating at the local Petco.

[BR12349]

Same thing down here in sunny FL. The fish always have ich and battered fins. Its sad.........

[TripleT]

They do it because of $$$$$.

Make sure you don't buy any livestock there, or even dry goods.

A few Petcos seem to do better than others, but that can change overnight when responsible employees move on.

[jerrym21]

No diff here in New Jersey. I remdember a while back there was a Dad and his son in the Petco by me asking about salt water aquariums. They asked what to do with the salt and how often you have to add it. The Petco employee told them " you just have to add about a cup every other week". When I tried to interject, I got an attitude and dirty looks from the employee. I told the dad the name of the LFS about 1.5 miles down the road and then I left the store.

[RenoR1]

Let me take a wild stab at which Petco...the Northtowne location? By Ross and Del Taco?

[justin_g]

I don't disagree with the fact that most Petco's have substandard conditions for their animals, but this is because of the stores themselves. The corporate management is adament about providing quality care for the animals in their care. Yes I used to work for them some years ago, and can account first hand to the companies, albeit may not the employees, desire to provide the best care possible.

[89Foxbody]

I currently work at Petco and it depends on what store you go to. If you find a store that has people dedicated to aquatics and have an interest in caring for the aquaria, then you will know what I'm talking about. That's all I will say about that.

The stores vary greatly though. The 2 stores closest to mine both have great aquatics departments with knowledgeable, dedicated specialists maintaining them. The 3 of us speak frequently, sharing what works and what doesn't, and what techniques we can use to ensure the health of our systems.

Keep in mind that there is only so much we can do. We don't have separate isolation tanks set up in the back, we have to isolate individual tanks in the display wall with a plug. This allows us to medicate to an extent but we still can't use copper because then we'd never be able to put inverts in there again due to silicone absorption. We can use hyposalinity. I've said a few times that we should be keeping our systems around 1.016-1.017 to help make the transition from vendor to retailer easier on the fish and help control ich.

Part of the issue here is that the Aquatic specialist can only be there for so long. We only have so many payroll hours in a given week. If a customer comes in and has detailed questions when I'm not there, then there's not much I can do except encourage my coworkers to call me, or write down the question and have me call the customer back when I come in the next day.

I understand everyone's gripe with Petco. I'm just saying that the entire company is not like this. Can the company do more to make things better? Of course they can. But every company can say that about some aspect of their business. Do I think some things need improvement? Absolutely. But I share them via company channels and not out in public. If you don't like it, you can ask to speak to the GM of the store and voice your concerns. There is a number you can call to share them as well.

[RenoR1]

No, you are definitely right. I asked him which Petco exactly in Reno because we have two. The one in the south of town is great. well maintained, good staff, disease free.

The one in the North of town however....Well lets just say if the Sea Shepard heard about it, S would hit the Fan.

[capps_caitlyn]

The only place that sells saltwater in my area that I trust is PETCO. We used to have a LFS but it closed due to the economy. Two of the people who worked there work at petco and everyone I've talked to in the salt water dept. have tanks at home and know what they are talking about. Their tanks are always clean. The fish are generally healthy ( the did have a ick outbreak a few month back but now it's taken care of). The coral is all in good health and I have never had any problems with anything I have bought from them. There are three other places that sell saltwater but none of them take care of their tanks. Their fish always die and the tanks are never cleaned. So there is at least one petco that has a good saltwater collection.

[bathompson]

I went to our local PETCO in KY yesterday and was extremely surprised at the good health of the livestock. The store just opened a couple months ago too. The kid working there didn't have much knowledge of SW but he was trying and learning. I bought a couple clowns and would buy again.
This is the ONLY PETCO I have ever been to. My opinion is kind of narrow.

[sslak]

One word: Profit

Clearly they've managed to make money even with the amount of livestock that dies and I suspect the corporate management/CEOs have little or no concern for the animals themselves. They are viewed as "inventory" and nothing more.

I do believe some managers care more than others, and a lot depends on staffing. Some stores are probably better than others, but that's the individual managers of those stores who succeed by hiring knowledgable people.

[Fibinotchi]

Although I to am bothered by the way the animals are taken care of and large retail chains, I have seen mom and pop shops where the fish aren't taken care of also. My first saltwater fish was a clownfish from petco and he is still going strong.

One good thing about stores like petco having saltwater fish, is it gets young people into the hobby, and gets them passionate about taking care of animals, which is good for the hobby because without constant newcomers into this hobby, even mom and pop stores might not be able to survive.

So, although I don't do my shopping there anymore, they are still bringing new people into this hobby for us to help and teach, everyday.

[LouH]

I might give them more slack if the animals that they sold were all aquacultured or maricultured. At least the fatalities wouldn't come at the expense of a living reef. This is not to say that I am any less saddened by the death of aquacultured or maricultured fish or invertebrates, but it is the lesser of two evils. I can understand the point that exposure to marine life brings more people into the hobby, but I'm not so sure that is all that great either. Most saltwater customers come into the hobby, buy a ton of gear (tank, pump, skimmer, heaters, etc.), keep a couple of fish for a year or two after killing countless animals as they learn, and then get out of the hobby due to loss of interest, time constraints or expense. I'm guessing that people who continue to keep marine aquariums 5 years after starting are a significant minority. The business model is based more on the hardware than the livestock, as everyone on this board can attest to. (i.e. +$700.00 skimmers). :) I don't know, I personally would rather see marine specific pet stores managed and operated by experiences enthusiasts. I don't have one of these stores where I currently live, but have had them in the past. When I had good shops available, I made weekly events out of going to the several shops in town and looking at the new livestock that had come in. When I saw something that I liked, I bought it with little concern for the vitality of the animal. Now that these shops are no longer available to me, I buy all of my livestock from a large vendor on-line, and I have never been disappointed with the livestock received. There are even sites where you are purchasing the animal or invertebrate in the picture. I may be fooling myself with this approach simply because I'm not looking at the sick and dying livestock in the tank next to the animal that I purchased. However, with the survival rates I've gotten from on-line purchases, I have to believe that the facilities from which I purchase these animals are managed and operated in a manner not unlike the way that we care for our livestock. For me it is all about minimizing the number of animals that die unnecessarily and minimizing the number of animals that come off of the reef. Nationwide chains like Petco do not share the same objectives, and in the end I have to believe that the distribution of marine life through chain stores leads to more mortality and reef damage than purchasing through specialist vendors. We all have seen examples of specialists stores that were not operated properly, and their livestock was no healthier than the Petco that prompted this thread. I know that I have chosen not to give my money to these stores, and inevitably they go out of business. That is why I won't purchase marine life from Petco. I'm exercising my rights as a consumer to reduce the demand for marine life from national chains. In my experience, for every good store that you see, there are a half dozen others that are less than sad. I can't support the six bad stores so that one good store profits. The result of the purchase is that it prompts corporate to order more marine life from the lowest bidder to restock all of their stores, both good and bad.

[acsamples79]

I went to our local PETCO in KY yesterday and was extremely surprised at the good health of the livestock. The store just opened a couple months ago too. The kid working there didn't have much knowledge of SW but he was trying and learning. I bought a couple clowns and would buy again.
This is the ONLY PETCO I have ever been to. My opinion is kind of narrow.

did this store happen to be the frankfort store?

[Lofty]

The store by my house is one of the worst examples, however I have been in thier stores that have an extremely well run SW dept.. That said, I have to shop there for my other pets and if I need salt or an emergency item I go there. I have ceased buying livestock there soley for the fact of the amount of animals I have rescued from this store unfortunaly meeting their maker in my tank... at least they were comfortable in the end.

[tkeracer619]

I would like to use this opportunity to plug a shirt I designed for a reef club 2 years ago. They did in fact get banned from petco. :lol:

http://img133.imageshack.us/img133/9678/shirtgotbanneddg9.jpg

[psteeleb]

I've bought a total of 3 saltwater fish at Petco, they are all still alive today (3 years later)
Not aysing they are great at saltwater, just offering another factoid to the discussion

[LouH]

There are always examples that counter the original comment. I have no doubt that there are good stores out there. I'm just saying that, from my experiences, there are significantly more poor stores than properly maintained ones. I won't buy anything related to marine feefkeeping from Petco. No salt, no supplements, nothing. I either go to Petsmart or purchase on-line.

[chinx rican]

I have been to 7 different locations, before we bring up staffing lets talk about there setup. Its all set up for fresh water. from filtration to lights. Out of all 7 i saw one that had a dedicated saltwater section. All good lfs keep wild caught and tank raised apart. they treat and medicate wild caught as a precation, and lets face it, are designed to carry saltwater life. Proper lights, filtration, ect ect ect....petco sticks them all in the same closed loop. you cant medicate cause of inverts, wild infect tank raised, corals are under standard bulbs. the list goes on. They barely even sell enough marine product to start a saltwater aquarium. Now for the staff. most dont know jack, and it dont matter because a pro reefer would struggle to have any type of stability in there. I asked 1 if they sold skimmers he said "no, we're a pet shop. I would try lowes or a local pool shop :fun2: .mention a halide youll get a halogen bulb. Its not a bad fresh water store but y o y did they go marine. No 1 is perfect but come on.

[tkeracer619]

I once had an employee ask me if one of their bulbs they had in stock would be enough for his customers anemone background...

You read that right the first time... He knew I was a reef tank person which was why he was asking. The anemone background was for the clown fish I told her not to buy because its jaw was falling off.. but.. it was "too cute" not to buy.

Pretty much irritated to the point of explosion and already trying hard enough not to hurt peoples feelings I said "sure, because that anemone isn't real and that clownfish will be dead by tomorrow" before I walked off in disgust.

[Lynnmw1208]

I used to work there and I think the biggest reason why most of them have terrible looking tanks is because they expect you to work only 2 days a week and properly take care of all those tanks! I was so disgusted that I quit. They also follow a strict protocol for what can and can't be done in the tanks... they don't ever treat with any medication other than melafix. they say the reason is because they are "green". yeah green with money. they don't want to spend the money to help their fish, yet they yell at the employees when the dead count is high.... if you want a fish from Petco I'd special order and pick up the day it's shipped. this way it never touches the tanks.

[maynardjames]

i have never worked there & don`t know how well the employes are paid. but i think they are not paid enough for someone with good knowledge about the livestock both fresh & marine, to not move to a better paying job as soon as possible. i have talked to a few at my local petco & that is what i got out of the conversations. i could be completely wrong. petco in my area completely stopped selling marine livestock 3 or 4 years ago. i was told it was a nationwide management decision. but i guess i was mis informed

[chinx rican]

I used to work there and I think the biggest reason why most of them have terrible looking tanks is because they expect you to work only 2 days a week and properly take care of all those tanks! I was so disgusted that I quit. They also follow a strict protocol for what can and can't be done in the tanks... they don't ever treat with any medication other than melafix. they say the reason is because they are "green". yeah green with money. they don't want to spend the money to help their fish, yet they yell at the employees when the dead count is high.... if you want a fish from Petco I'd special order and pick up the day it's shipped. this way it never touches the tanks.
Or order from there website and ship straight home. But at the end you still giving petco reason to sell.

[LouH]

Good enough reasons to buy Petsmart, on-line vendors and LFSs IMO.

[Lofty]

I either go to Petsmart or purchase on-line.

I am a believer in free enterprise and when I need to make a larger eqipment purchase, I do it online, but we need to keep the mom and pops in business as much as possible. Any livestock purchases that can, should be made in store (and you can pick your own) Also stuff that requires high shipping costs, ie salt, LR, ETC should be bought at an LFS. Not saying that you should shop at the big chains...check out the mom and pops... I have 3 that I frequent and sometimes just drop in to say hi when I am in the area. You build a rapport with experianced and knowledgeable reefers and make some friends too.

[kv2wr1]

I will only go to 1 particular petco and the reason is that the managers are members of the local reef club. They quarantine everything and treat their fish if they get sick. They are trying to go to corporate and get the other stores to do the same.

[tkeracer619]

They are trying to go to corporate and get the other stores to do the same.

Unfortunately they will probably loose their jobs in the process.

[longiotti]

Good enough reasons to buy Petsmart, on-line vendors and LFSs IMO.

I thought this was weird because my petsmart said that it was a nation wide decision not to carry marine aquaria. they said that they do not want to profit from the destruction of the reefs.
I gave them a weird look and walked out. have not been back sense. that was bout 6 years ago. Besides fish I don't know how these places make it. everything is so expensive.

We have a Pet country here. they are owned by grange CO-OP.
the went all out and had a walk in Marine room. Corals fish everything. I think that lasted about 6 months. now the last time I was in there I was looking at tanks. I can't remember but I don't think they even sell live FW fish anymore. weird now that I think about. I stick to the local mom and pops places. maybe someday I will order enough to make online worth it. (I am talking about fish here) I hate fish by the way. I have ordered several corals off ebay and other online places with no issues at all.

let me sum up. our nearest petco is about 20 miles away. they do not carry marine fish or corals.

[bathompson]

did this store happen to be the frankfort store?

Yes, this was the Frankfort store. The livestock was very healthy and the staff friendly. The guy there was passionate about keeping these fish healthy, not just there to do his job and go home....Check them out.

[Sk8r]

If you are in an area without a good lfs, let me state, our sponsors, up on the banner, meet certain standards and are good people to do business with.

[jeff@zina.com]

I recently walked into a Petco...

...I personally will not shop at Petco...

Why do people who hate PetCo, rant about PetCo and swear they will never buy from the evil PetCo still go to PetCo?

Jeff

[hardin4019]

Well guys. My local Petco took out all their Marine livestock and the tanks now sit empty behind bare background. The comment from the employee was that the fish were too expensive and difficult to keep, and that it was a corporate decision. This is likely to be the case for all Petco's at some point in time, unless they are run by regions and my region (NE Indiana) was the only one hit. I agree though, to few people, none of them specialized specifically in fish and marine life, and they are only expected to work a few days a week. I am glad though that at least in a few stores there are some dedicated employees who have their own systems at home and care!

[Sheol]

I have two PetCos relatively near me, here in the Greater DFW Area and its sattellite towns. One is so so on service, but still has good marine life. Zip on corals tho, which is a good thing. The other one, in Mansfield, Tx is exemplary in its stock AND service. I've bought fish from both, they are still alive today.
But the PetCo in Hot Springs, Ar. used to be a Death Camp for marine fish. That was 5 years ago, so maybe things improved.
I work for Pet Smart now, myself. No Saltwater fish. And not many supplies. My LFS closer to me, is 50/50 on Marine stuff.
I've recently seen a shipment of reptiles, that died because of cold exposure. I'd never buy online, at least in Winter and Summer. Too much risk there too, IMHO..
Spring might be OK..

Matthew

[LouH]

To jeff@zina.com,

The last time that I went into a Petco was to grab some airline tubing. The store was right next to another store which was the primary purpose for the trip with my wife and one year old daughter. It was late, and my wife wanted to get home, so I ran into Petco while my wife and daughter went into the other store. It was at that time that I saw corals for sale. It was the first time I had been in a Petco for many yearsm. I haven't been back since.

[LouH]

To jeff@zina.com,

The last time that I went into a Petco was to grab some airline tubing. The store was right next to another store which was the primary purpose for the trip with my wife and one year old daughter. It was late, and my wife wanted to get home, so I ran into Petco while my wife and daughter went into the other store. It was at that time that I saw corals for sale. It was the first time I had been in a Petco for many years. I haven't been back since.

[tkeracer619]

When I am in the area I stop by. I don't purchase anything. I just walk in and look. My hope is one day they won't have fish when I walk in.

Sometimes I snag one of those cat grass things and take it over to the cats they have locked up waiting for adoption. So far nobody has ever said anything. I don't pay for it, technically it never leaves the store so I am not shoplifting :lol:

[chilli_reef]

I must be very lucky ?
My Petco doesn't have a bad selection of coral or fish.
All of my fish came from them so far and all have been healthy.
Luck of the draw I guess ?

[dabob79]

This thread is 5 years old lol

[albano]

This thread is 5 years old lol

But nothing has changed at Petco

[tc2007]

Can we petition to get Petco banned from selling marine life?

[chilli_reef]

You know Petco and Dr fosters and smith are one in the same now right ?