PetCo is terrible - Photos

[dustinkimpel]

The new PetCo in Lawton Oklahoma is absolutly terrible. The so called "Aquatic Expert" knows absolutly nothing about saltwater fish. All of their "corals" are all dead just sitting in a tank. Many of the fish are dead just rotting in the tanks, not to mention every single one of them has ich! That's right every saltwater fish in the store is coverd and has a very bad case of it. I managed to get some pictures of some of the fish without being too obvious since they were standing there watching me:






This is a dead trigger btw:

[Greendarwin19]

So true...

[CODE3EMT]

Yep! That's typical with Petco "where the pets croak" I find that the stores that use a linked system tends to have many issues. Once a disease manifest itself it soon spreads like a wild fire though out the entire livestock system. I go there to buy my dog food and that's about it. I learned a hard lesson buying saltwater fish from them. The staff is nothing more than kids working a summer job who could give a hoot about animal husbandry.

[m0nkie]

terrible... I've been buying feeder fish at petco for the last 8 years. talked to just about every employee working in the fish section. They love animals! specially dogs and cats.. but they don't know anything about fish. Most of them anyways...

[Mark9]

I have defended my Petco in the past, but recently saw a new employee pour salt from a bag right into the sump, not even measuring, just eyeballing it and then reach into a tank to move a rock because she didn't like the tang hiding under it.

[thenewguy997]

Poor fish, taken from the ocean forced to live in cubes

[Wonton Soup]

It's Petco. I don't even maintain mediocre expectations when I go in there. Nevertheless, I've found they are not all like the conditions pictured above and I have some very healthy fish I purchased from Petco years ago.

In addition, I could take pictures similar to the ones posted in the scores of local fish stores I've visited that should be expected to have advanced knowledge and care protocols.

Fish get sick. Entire systems can become inundated with parasites and sometimes employees don't notice dead fish. Or they do notice and are busy at the moment, used to pulling dead fish on a regular basis, etc.

Unfortunately, it's just what happens when people turn animals into an industry for profit. Whatd'ya gonna do?

[thenewguy997]

That is a very good point ^

My lfs has sick and dead fish as well, they get the dead fish out quock but theyre small family owned not a big busy store where they may be busy as said above

I think its up to us to bring that stuff to the caregivers attention and to educate them. It might not be our job but if we know better than hey. Im sure petco doesnt want sick fosh either, its bad for business

[reepher315]

Originally Posted by Wonton Soup

Unfortunately, it's just what happens when people turn animals into an industry for profit. Whatd'ya gonna do?

For sure.

Petco in my area is also no good... Little to no knowledge of salt water. I watched a mother and kid leave petco with a 20g tank salt and a tang... I could only imagine what happened...

[swhobbie1]

I love to be able to buy supplies for my reef tank at a store I am already going to to buy dog food. I cannot resist checking out the marine tanks - which usually look like the pics which started this thread. Occasionally I have run into an employee who does have knowledge but limited by equipment and affected by others also caring for the same tanks. Where I am... even the LFS can improve - red slime in tanks, aipstasia going wild, corals for sale at top dollar with tissue loss or dying, corals with pests. And sometimes I see fish with ICK but significantly less than I see in petco. Recently I lost a male clownfish of a pair I owned for 6 years ... due to a fish I bought from petco and didn't QT. It looked ok ;-) It was a hard lesson for me - I will never put a fish in my tank again with out QT it regardless from where I buy it - even if it looks ok it may be sick without symptoms yet. Defintely petco (and some LFS) should improve their practices to reduce the number of sick, dying marine fish/inverts/corals or stop selling them.

[RobH]

I like to browse Petco, and typically have a good experience, aside from the occasional dead fish. However, I was very disappointed the other day when I saw a carpet anemone completely flipped upside down in the sand and none of the employees seemed to care. Even after I pointed it out.

[Greendarwin19]

I used to work there, but not for long. I soon quit because of how they cared (or lack there of) for their animals. I was a supervisor w/ my store manager backing me and I tried to do things the right way with all the animals including the fish, but soon was reprimanded by upper management and corporate for not doing things the Petco way.

[Greendarwin19]

I even tried to approach it from a business aspect, I totaled the cost of the dead animals for a month over $1,000.00 and compared it to the next to $0 it would take to care for them properly and they refused. Instead they pulled me from animal care and replaced me with a Honduran who didn't speak English and made matters even worse.

[kevinrf]

petco all around is a joke & expensive.

[dustinkimpel]

Originally Posted by kevinrf

petco all around is a joke & expensive.

Completely agree, I don't understand how they are making money with all their livestock dying off. Pretty sure the saltwater department is in the red. Unless they trick enough people into buying a nice pretty tang covered with rare white dots for their brand new 10 gallon tank and some reef crystals.

[Reef Frog]

It's incomprehensible to me why a presumably profitable nationwide company would allow this state of affairs. Basic SW isn't rocket science - especially fish, common inverts & basic corals.

Those often young employees could certainly be trained on proper procedures. Many Fortune 1000 companies are quite good at large scale training programs and maintaining decent standards throughout their national and worldwide retail locations. Like food service for example.

From the business perspective, they have a PR black eye, are losing inventory and missing sales opportunities. If they can't improve for some reason or it's just not a profitable department that makes it be worth the effort & they see no blue sky, I wonder why they just don't get out of SW (live goods) altogether? Big companies exit business segments all the time when they realize they aren't any good at them or the return on investment is not attractive.

My local Petco is pretty bad too at SW fish (no corals & few inverts there) but the FW fish & plants look decent although it's the common bullet proof stuff. The occasional lizard cage looks clean, has food, lighting & heat. The parakeets look happy too but am no expert there for sure. Over all it's a well run store for a chain. Just can't figure out why they've dropped the ball with SW in most (but not all) locations.

[Dmorty217]

Local petcos are a disgrace, much like your typical LFS. Petco.com on the other hand offers a 14 day guarantee, their fish come from tropical fish international, and priced lower than most anywhere

[Greendarwin19]

On the Petco website the fish are referred to as "Product" ...enough said

[OrQidz]

The pics are upsetting and it makes me very sad to see the fish in that condition. I'm not defending Petco - but if you had a snapshot of every step of the capture and shipping of these fish, how many sick, stressed and dead fish would you see? I'm not saying it's ok for any LFS or petco to have sick and dead fish in a tank, but just that this is kind of the reality of catching sensitive creatures in a tropical ocean and sending them all over the world (as cheaply as possible). Of course it could and should be done better, but how many gorgeous tangs swimming around a nice LFS came from shipping containers that didn't look that different from a petco tank? I think it's easy to forget the fish that didn't make it along the way.

Unfortunately, the various chain stores must be ok with the level of lifestock loss. My petco, which is pretty good as they go, has a whole tank of dying coral frags in various states of decay. Their corals just don't seem to sell, even when they are newly arrived and still look good. I think the $50 or so a frag puts off casual buyers, and if you know anything, you head to excellent LFS 30 min away and get a gorgeous healthy frag for that same $50.

[OpenRoad]

We have a local PetSmart, same deal as PetCo, they use a networked series of tanks that are all on the same filtration system, so if something goes bad, it spreads to all tanks of similar water type. And true the employees no nothing about fish. The only thing I buy there are juvenile Koi for my outdoor pond.

[xtlosx]

Originally Posted by Wonton Soup

It's Petco. I don't even maintain mediocre expectations when I go in there. Nevertheless, I've found they are not all like the conditions pictured above and I have some very healthy fish I purchased from Petco years ago.

In addition, I could take pictures similar to the ones posted in the scores of local fish stores I've visited that should be expected to have advanced knowledge and care protocols.

Fish get sick. Entire systems can become inundated with parasites and sometimes employees don't notice dead fish. Or they do notice and are busy at the moment, used to pulling dead fish on a regular basis, etc.

Unfortunately, it's just what happens when people turn animals into an industry for profit. Whatd'ya gonna do?

++1 on this above. Our local petco isn't that bad, but there is a LFS semi-close by that has the worst looking fish with popeye, high prices, and they don't do a thing about it. Just because they are Petco doesn't inherently make them bad. They get a bad rap because they are a chain store, there are a lot of them and they are more visible than the small stores out there that many never venture into. Instead of slamming Petco constantly on hundreds of threads, just highlight general store practices. Ich is everywhere and if you really expect your LFS to solve all your ich and parasite problems, you have your bar set too high.

[Fishfirst]

Originally Posted by xtlosx

++1 on this above. Our local petco isn't that bad, but there is a LFS semi-close by that has the worst looking fish with popeye, high prices, and they don't do a thing about it. Just because they are Petco doesn't inherently make them bad. They get a bad rap because they are a chain store, there are a lot of them and they are more visible than the small stores out there that many never venture into. Instead of slamming Petco constantly on hundreds of threads, just highlight general store practices. Ich is everywhere and if you really expect your LFS to solve all your ich and parasite problems, you have your bar set too high.

That's the thing... they are a chain store. They do FAR more damage than your one LFS that is bad. Corporate is clueless about fish care in general, and do not give the tools for an experienced aquarist to make things better and even punish them if they try. Another issue is the way they devalue their fish. Devaluing the fish that they bring in by "working deals" with the wholesaler (they can do this because of their buying power) this encourages the wholesaler to "work deals" with the collector. The collector then "works deals" with the methods by which they collect with. Cyanide and other drugs make collecting fish much easier and more productive than using a hand net.
THAT is another problem with petco.

[claireputput]

Hi, it is heart breaking to see the lack of care that these fish seem to be getting. I would like to say that the Norman Oklahoma Petco has a wonderful saltwater department.

[Shawn O]

I visited a petco in Hanover, Ma that had a pretty good SW section and the guy working in it seemed pretty knowledgeable about the animals. The Petco in Quincy, Ma isn't too bad either, though some of the fish clearly had ich.

[mcfa2403]

Petco.com SW fish typically drop ship from quality marine, so to those frustrated by their website I am confused. As for the stores themselves I agree that the condition of many of the stores and the direction from their corporate office is deplorable.

However, I strongly suggest that people be careful about getting too high and mighty when it comes to this industry until talking to a few wholesalers. Three separate wholesalers that I have been able to talk to in an informal setting point to the fact that most saltwater death happens in transit and before they ever hit the LFS. The estimated rate of fish death to survival from capture to being released at the LFS for the average fish is 3:1 and realistically much higher.

In one instance customs destroyed a shipment of over 1000 specimens due to the possibility that one specimen was an illegal collection. The bags were simply cut open and thrown away.

Furthermore each wholesaler said that their business was driven by Walmart and Petco sales and that without them they could not afford to be in business (Petsmart runs their own center). This isn't to say I am happy with the situation or that what the do is responsible but rather that rendering judgement in this hobby is not practical and for the most part non productive.

I try not to kid myself into believing what I do is environmentally ethical but I do my best to help others be responsible with the specimens that do make it. I wish that this hobby didn't harm the environment but at the same time I understand that every time I drive my car, buy property, flip a light switch, take a shower and so on I damage the environment and yet that doesn't seem to keep me from living my life.

Basically my point is that I find no reason to target one specific bad thing about a hobby that is not entirely moral and focus on it. As for responsible reefing I prefer to focus on captive breeding programs, aquaculturing, and creating reefs/fish tanks that thrive rather than just survive.