Beyond upset over these Petco fish

[sghera64]

I prefer our Fishers, IN PetCo fish over other LFS specimens. The fish look healthy and I have not lost any that I've bought. I guess conditions vary by store manager.

 

[nbagnardi]

Haven't started buying fish yet but Petco is the only seller within a 40 minute drive of me. They don't look that bad but they sure don't look good. I plan on taking the drive when it is time.

there are many reputable vendors online that ship right to your door. just do your research before you buy

 

[4FordFamily]

I prefer our Fishers, IN PetCo fish over other LFS specimens. The fish look healthy and I have not lost any that I've bought. I guess conditions vary by store manager.

Where is a Petco with saltwater fish in fishers? Lol. I too live in fishers obviously

 

[sghera64]

Where is a Petco with saltwater fish in fishers? Lol. I too live in fishers obviously

Petco 8644 E 96th St, Fishers, IN 46037, United States

They have SW fish and are now stocking some select softies. I tried to warn them that they need at least some T5's above their softies. I guess they turn that stock over fast enough, however.

 

[Frop]

I am always afraid of what sicknesses my tank could get from petco. But I still buy their stuff ;p for example clown fish are on sale for $15 ($5 off). I am totally giving my QT loner a cell mate. I don't buy corals from them. I go out of town for that. Petco doesn't have the proper lighting so it's hard to see what it's going to look like in my tank. I know at our petco in town there is one fish lady, she is grumpy but she is extremely knowledgable, the rest don't hold a candle to her. What else is scary is at petsmart in town all their tanks are on two systems. For example their feeder fish system broke and they lost a bunch. So idk if petco is like that but velvet would be able to reach every tank

 

[Rutrag]

The saltwater tanks at my area PetCo's are not fully centralized. Each column of tanks (anywhere from 3 to 6 usually) is plumbed into one wet / dry filter at the bottom. I was able to convince a former employee to actually move all his inverts into one bank of tanks and treat the others with copper. He actually listened and said he had a huge decrease in mortality. I think this is the kind of commonsense measure Humblefish was talking about that they could do on the cheap. Sure, copper doesn't fix everything, but does work at least to some degree against the common parasites we encounter.

From what I hear though, the bigwigs there don't want their folks doing this. I can't for the life of me figure out why that would be, unless they are worries someone will overdose and wipe the whole bank out at once.

 

[Frop]

From what I hear though, the bigwigs there don't want their folks doing this. I can't for the life of me figure out why that would be, unless they are worries someone will overdose and wipe the whole bank out at once.

Their big wigs probably don't know much about saltwater tanks. Similar stuff happens at my work. Strange things are issued for the people under them then you find out the person who issued it doesn't know much about the subject at all. So everyone who does it for a living wonders what's up. Then the high official won't change their mind since it is a mark of pride admitting they're wrong. Also it would bring a low person to their level. Not everyone who has power wants to be associate with the lowlings.

Imagine them telling their suppierors they were doing it wrong for years wasting their money.

 

[scardall]

I agree I'm sure not all are bad.. and not all fish in my Petco are bad.. the freshwater look great! But this is and has been a problem with to many Petcos around the world for to long. It's sad.

organic cures for diseases don't work well if at all and not able to isolate a tank doesn't help.

 

[Humblefish]

I was able to convince a former employee to actually move all his inverts into one bank of tanks and treat the others with copper. He actually listened and said he had a huge decrease in mortality. I think this is the kind of commonsense measure Humblefish was talking about that they could do on the cheap. Sure, copper doesn't fix everything, but does work at least to some degree against the common parasites we encounter.

From what I hear though, the bigwigs there don't want their folks doing this. I can't for the life of me figure out why that would be, unless they are worries someone will overdose and wipe the whole bank out at once.

Back in the 1980s/early 90s many LFS ran copper 24/7 in their fish systems; inverts & corals were housed separately. It was understood never to dump any of the bag water into your DT. Back then, fish disease problems were few & far between. Of course, copper is not a 100% fix-all but going back to that simple practice would help tremendously IMHO. It's like we're living in a world that has been dumped on its head and common sense no longer applies.

But you are right that daily testing would be required to ensure the Cu level is staying within therapeutic range.

 

[Fourstars]

Back in the 1980s/early 90s many LFS ran copper 24/7 in their fish systems; inverts & corals were housed separately. It was understood never to dump any of the bag water into your DT. Back then, fish disease problems were few & far between. Of course, copper is not a 100% fix-all but going back to that simple practice would help tremendously IMHO. It's like we're living in a world that has been dumped on its head and common sense no longer applies.

But you are right that daily testing would be required to ensure the Cu level is staying within therapeutic range.

That's because we live in a world were greed and shareholder profit trump everything. I miss the 80's.

 

[cromag27 Verified Sponsor]

Common sense no longer applies in the world, not just the fish hobby. but how many people think their saltwater fish actually have ich? now that's crazy.

Back in the 1980s/early 90s many LFS ran copper 24/7 in their fish systems; inverts & corals were housed separately. It was understood never to dump any of the bag water into your DT. Back then, fish disease problems were few & far between. Of course, copper is not a 100% fix-all but going back to that simple practice would help tremendously IMHO. It's like we're living in a world that has been dumped on its head and common sense no longer applies.

But you are right that daily testing would be required to ensure the Cu level is staying within therapeutic range.

 

[FishLover01]

Is this from the bag water or did you take a separate sample?

I took the sample for the pH test from the LFS bag water. I live about 45 minutes away but came straight home with the tang. Is it possible the pH would shift quite a bit in 45 minutes time?

 

[Surfandturf]

Makes sense for the bag water to have ammonia. Pee and poo in it from the fish. If you got a fish from a fish only tank the 1.023 makes sense.

 

[Surfandturf]

I took the sample for the pH test from the LFS bag water. I live about 45 minutes away but came straight home with the tang. Is it possible the pH would shift quite a bit in 45 minutes time?

I vote yes

 

[Humblefish]

In a sealed bag, the fish respires CO2 into the water and this drops the pH. However, once you open the bag the CO2 gasses off quickly and the pH begins to rise.

Low pH in sealed bag water is actually a good thing because it keeps fish waste in the form of harmless ammonium. However, once the bag is opened & the pH rises the non-toxic ammonium becomes toxic ammonia. You've got about 30 minutes before this happens after you open the bag, but its usually more of a problem if the fish has been in the bag for several hours.

 

[Surfandturf]

In a sealed bag, the fish respires CO2 into the water and this drops the pH. However, once you open the bag the CO2 gasses off quickly and the pH begins to rise.

Low pH in sealed bag water is actually a good thing because it keeps fish waste in the form of harmless ammonium. However, once the bag is opened & the pH rises the non-toxic ammonium becomes toxic ammonia. You've got about 30 minutes before this happens after you open the bag, but its usually more of a problem if the fish has been in the bag for several hours.

Great post!

 

[Brew12]

I have to revive this thread.
I started looking at the fish in my local Petco a month or 2 ago and they looked terrible. I wouldn't have put their fish in a QT they looked so bad. I was in there again 2 weeks ago getting some testing supplies and in my rush I didn't take a close look but I thought things looked a bit better however they had a much more limited fish selection. I went there last night and a few things surprised me. They still had very limited stock but what they had looked like they were in very good condition. The corals were looking great with the polyps extended. Even the few cleaner and skunk shrimp they had looked like they were doing well.
Thinking I might consider buying fish from them in the future I asked when they typically got deliveries. The response wasn't what I expected. She said that they get marine fish delivered on Tuesdays however they were not getting many fish in this week. She explained that they hired a new aquatic manager last month who is a dedicated marine hobbyist and that he does not feel that their system is ready for bringing fish in. Even more surprising is that he has his store managers support! They are only accepting the minimum number of fish that corporate is forcing them to take until he deems them ready. The lady I was talking to was hired specifically to learn from him and help him maintain their water systems.
Gotta say, I was impressed!

 

[mrsaltwaterguy]

True, not all are bad. But I really wish they would lower their prices when they see that the fish's health is declining, so if anyone wanted to take a chance at saving it then it will not that big of a loss. I just saw a hippo tang at my local Petco that was worse than the pic above and the price was $59.

I'm lucky enough that my local petco does cut deals for sick fish. I've saved several triggers, a blue tang that is currently in QT as well as several others. Try to get to know the manager.

 

[JoDiRae146]

Not all Petco are bad just as not all LFS are good.

I do purchase fish from my local Petco, and I take the necessary precautions to ensure the fish I introduce to my tank are healthy.

jm2c

True, before I moved to Canada, my local Petco has healthy fish but my local fish store has sick fish mostly with ich.

 

[Cell]

2016 bump