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Unread 12/30/2011, 08:40 PM   #176
James77
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ezerasurfr View Post
My local Petco is fine. It is the Milltown NJ Petco discussed on these and other forums before. Also, making a claim for animal control does not always require a follow-up. If there is something to be had in the investigation, I trust my government will do their job (most of the time).
.
Ok, go after them. Write them a letter, avoid them.

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Originally Posted by ezerasurfr View Post
For the person making the complaint, it is a simple phone call. It really sounds like you need a cause to champion - perhaps you can fix the "broken nearly bankrupt system". Why not, you seem to think you have all the answers.
I have all the answers, huh? More like a realistic view.

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Funny thing is, I also consider fish far lower on my "give-a-crap-o-meter" than domesticated animals as well. But I also believe that ALL animals have rights - even the lowest of the low and the ones that aren't so cute...
.
As do I! I never said that it was great that they treat fish the way they do, did I? You should see me recoil in horror if someone crushes a bug, except for the handful odf pesty ones.

Im sorry, but it is just so unrealistic to expect "our government" to step in and rescue the day. In the utopian world we would not even have to. The reality is that the local govermnet agencies are desperate for money. Policing even more costs money they simply do not have. If it has to be one way or the other, fish or cats, I will take resources going to cats and stemming the stray populations and preventing their problems before some fish at Petco.

I'd rather the money that it would take to increase policing at a handful of LFS or Petcos to go to policing the reefs and arresting and imprisoning those that take illegally from it. THAT would make a real difference.

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I am done with this discussion with you. You can have your opinion and I can have mine.
Ahhhh, but of course! I gave a few short replies then for you, save both of our time.


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Unread 01/01/2012, 10:07 AM   #177
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Somethings will never change. We can always stop shopping in these stores, but the main percentage of people in this hobby are just impulsive shoppers. They would buy anything just to look at it for a while and when it dies they can just replace it. They do not acknowledge fish or corals as animals so therefor the death of them means nothing. I have worked in the past for a similar company such as Petco that sells fish. Did you know they did not even have fish under livestock in their inventory? Also that they only had to keep about 30% of the fish alive to not get a red flag from corporate. These companies get freshwater fish at such a ridiculous price of 30 cents and then sells for 5+ dollars. So massive death is still profitable as long as they sell a set percent. So its just a game of numbers and not quality of care. I know i gave an example of freshwater fish but i know buying from ORA or Sustainable Aquatics still has a decent profit even with mass death. In my opinion Petco has the capacity and the capital to have an amazing fish department. Question is would they spend so much time maintaining the standard and only sell such a limited supply? I think i am done here for now. Do not want to start an essay.



Last edited by RalphNYC; 01/01/2012 at 10:16 AM.
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Unread 01/01/2012, 12:21 PM   #178
ironman187
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Somethings will never change. We can always stop shopping in these stores, but the main percentage of people in this hobby are just impulsive shoppers. They would buy anything just to look at it for a while and when it dies they can just replace it. They do not acknowledge fish or corals as animals so therefor the death of them means nothing. I have worked in the past for a similar company such as Petco that sells fish. Did you know they did not even have fish under livestock in their inventory? Also that they only had to keep about 30% of the fish alive to not get a red flag from corporate. These companies get freshwater fish at such a ridiculous price of 30 cents and then sells for 5+ dollars. So massive death is still profitable as long as they sell a set percent. So its just a game of numbers and not quality of care. I know i gave an example of freshwater fish but i know buying from ORA or Sustainable Aquatics still has a decent profit even with mass death. In my opinion Petco has the capacity and the capital to have an amazing fish department. Question is would they spend so much time maintaining the standard and only sell such a limited supply? I think i am done here for now. Do not want to start an essay.
Funny, two out of the four I have visited do have an amazing fish department.


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Unread 01/01/2012, 12:51 PM   #179
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I wouldnt go to petco for livestock.


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Unread 01/01/2012, 02:03 PM   #180
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While some stores may have a level of quality/competence, in general I wouldn't purchase fish from Petco (or Petsmart, or any of the large-box pet stores). Then again, I wouldn't purchase a dog, cat, bird, or lizard from them either. Nothing wrong with getting dry goods, but their business model just doesn't seem to focus on the labor-intensive work (it takes a lot less cost to load dog food onto a shelf than to care for something living).


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Unread 01/06/2012, 07:28 PM   #181
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A couple more from today at my local PetCo. Clark/Halsted in Chicago. These are being kept under normal T8 daylight bulbs (2). I told the manager and she said I should fill out an application and help them out. HA.:










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Unread 01/06/2012, 07:30 PM   #182
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Double Post


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Unread 01/06/2012, 09:16 PM   #183
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Unhappy

I use to buy Blue Buffalo catfood at Petco. I winded up rescuing a Black Onyx Percula clown in October. She was ick and sap ridden. Also tried a Coral Beauty, but she didn't make it but a few hours. Most of the tanks had so much cyano slime present that you could not see through the glass.

Boycott them and maybe they will get the message and shut the department down. Employees there do not understand why they lose way over 50% of their saltwater fish!!! I tried to give the manager some advice, but she told me that they keep tank parameters according to corporate. I know for a fact that one week it was hyper and the next week hyposalinity. Also, on one of my trips, I found a large white rat stretched out in one of the aisles...still breathing...but not for long. My heart can't take those kind of places.


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Unread 01/06/2012, 11:29 PM   #184
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i myself am not a fan of petco - been there a few times and store help was clueless about there departments - rather useless to ask any questions very little help and they try and get you to buy what ever and they say this should work - research before heading there or any chain store is the best advice


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Unread 01/06/2012, 11:51 PM   #185
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I winded up rescuing a Black Onyx Percula clown in October...

Boycott them and maybe they will get the message and shut the department down.
Don't you think that's a bit hypocritical?


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Unread 01/09/2012, 01:12 PM   #186
scionreefing
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Guys if you walk into a petco that has poor care they have hotlines that you can call. If they get enough calls something will get done.

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Unread 01/09/2012, 02:06 PM   #187
Vadafallon
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We bought a fresh water fish Sunday for my kids tank. We got it home only to notice it had no fins or tail lol. Poor guy.


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Unread 01/09/2012, 02:08 PM   #188
Vadafallon
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I gotta say though, the other Petco i visit from time to time is amazing. Cleanest tanks i have seen and all the fish look great.


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Unread 01/23/2012, 02:35 PM   #189
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I have 3 stores by me. The one in Norman is great heathly fish great coral selection. The girl running it really knows her stuff. the Okc store is not very good and neither is the Edmond store


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Unread 01/25/2012, 07:24 AM   #190
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The one in my town is GREAT. They have the corals in a special tank with the correct lighting, and very knowledgeable people. Clean and super friendly. They won't stock things they can't keep alive... That is my idea of responsible.


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Unread 01/25/2012, 12:19 PM   #191
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The PetCo in my area is great as well. The aquatics manager has a lot of experience in both fw and sw. It's the local fish store that is a nightmare of uninformed employees.

But IMHO people should worry less about pet stores, pay more attention to and put more into fighting the organizations that are trying to ban the hobby all together.


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Unread 01/25/2012, 03:31 PM   #192
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When I first started with my current employer about 13 years ago, I found a Petco not far away. As this and other threads will attest, they didn't have a clue and really didn't care about fish. After a year or so I found a LFS nearby and never went back to that Petco. Well the LFS closed late last year, and I was looking for a piece of rigid plastic tubing for a new project in the fish room and thought that Petco may have some or an equivalent. Well, they didn't have any. And as I walked past all the fish tanks I remembered why it had been 12 years. Even the fancier goldfish in the displays were dead. There are surely some decent Petcos out there, but this just isn't one of them. I just walked out shaking my head. Sad. You really can't describe it any other way. An even bigger waste of my lunch hour.


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Unread 01/25/2012, 03:47 PM   #193
ReeferHead84
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My local Petco has a filthy saltwater setup. Massive amounts of GHA all over the DT just turned me off to buying from them. Some petcos in my area closed down their SW tanks due to low sales. Why? its because they don't understand the chemistry needed to have a healthy SW setup. I think the aquatics dept workers should just focus on ONLY aquatics. Its not just a hobby...its a lifestyle.


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Unread 01/25/2012, 06:51 PM   #194
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my local petco is pretty nice, they keep the bigger fish like tangs in a 72g bowfront in the front of the other tanks and they have 1-2 fish in the smaller tanks look like 5-10g, so its not to bad, never seen a dead fish in any of them, and the corals look pretty colorful


only complant i have about my petco is one time i went in there asking where there live rock was and they told me there was no such thing lol.


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Unread 01/25/2012, 07:54 PM   #195
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I agree fully, the petco near me over stocks their tanks and always has a bunch of dead fish or very aggressive fish in tanks with passive fish etc etc etc, it drives me crazy....


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Unread 01/26/2012, 02:53 AM   #196
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Those supply chains mentioned above have sweet deals on SW fish at times. Unfortunately, the water conditions in their tanks are littered with disease and algae. Use a quarantine tank if you intend to buy there. If you wish to boycott, go ahead too.


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Unread 01/27/2012, 04:52 PM   #197
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most petcos in my area don't have any saltwater. i did buy a pair of tank bred black clowns from one store though. Everything at that store was well managed though.


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Unread 01/27/2012, 10:36 PM   #198
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k, im gonna get some crap for this , but im a manager at petco now. i was brought on to be an asst. mngr to the gm and to revamp their saltwater. i will say there are some who have no idea what in the world they are doing but they do follow strict guidelines from corperate and they can not deviate from them. ive already had tons of comments from people saying how its changed and looking better. so at least one store is on the uprise. there isnt a whole lot of knowledge being spread within dealing with saltwater. i myself am teaching customers responsible reefing thru workshops. they can not treat them with any chemicals and must be done all naturally thru the guidelines that corp set. so do not blame them as this is thier structure. all we can do is constant water changes, feed, run carbon, and hope for the best. next time dont be so hard on ppl for things that are out of thier control.


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Unread 01/27/2012, 11:23 PM   #199
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I have said it before and I'll say it again.... the PETCO where I am is on point. The staff is is pretty well informed the manager is in to the hobby pretty big and they sure don't dump the fish in they drip acclimate everything. Most of the time they have better stuff than other lfs. Just sayin


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Unread 01/28/2012, 01:02 AM   #200
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I shop at the Petco on Pebble Creek/ Estrella Parkway just off the I-10 (West Valley) in the Phoenix area. This Petco is way better than any other Petco I've been to and IMHO better than a couple LFS I've visited in the area as well. They have real LR, in a separate system not treated with any medications. There are some LPS and other nice inveterates. They recently expanded with more tanks for better selection and the guy who set it up is impressive to me with his knowledge and how he educated customers before their purchases. Though I do most all my shopping at my LFS, internet, and haven't needed live stock in a year I still buy my salt, food, and sand there. if your store is poor, don't buy there. If the live stock is good I don't see a problem with giving them business.


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