Buying fish from Petco

mickeysreef <*))))< · Mar 31, 2021

we dont buy fish from petco, we save them from petco. of course you have to buy them first. lol
it would help if they're eating. but more importantly i think you should have all the medications you could possibly need on hand and thats really a pretty long list lol.

mickeysreef <*))))< · Mar 31, 2021

the other things is that you can also order fish from petco and get them in the bag before they go into the local system.

olonmv · Mar 31, 2021

One of the guys in the fish department at my local petco worked at my favorite LFS. I’ve made a few trips to the 2 petcos by my house. Both upkeep well, one better than the other. I’ve started to do the whole QT thing so, to me, if it looks healthy enough to go through qt, it’s goin with me......I’m done being an LFS snob.

Saltyanimals · Mar 31, 2021

Saltyanimals said:
I guess the real question is higher up the supply chain. When someone orders from petco.com. Where does this ship from? This answer makes a huge difference if you take the local petco store handing out of the equation. If this order ships from a physical store then it has been potentially handled improperly. i.e. acclimation of a starfish. However if it comes directly from wholesalers, you might have a winner here taking out at least one unnecessary stop and handling.

Anyone on the above question?

laverda · Mar 31, 2021

Saltyanimals said:
I guess the real question is higher up the supply chain. When someone orders from petco.com. Where does this ship from? This answer makes a huge difference if you take the local petco store handing out of the equation. If this order ships from a physical store then it has been potentially handled improperly. i.e. acclimation of a starfish. However if it comes directly from wholesalers, you might have a winner here taking out at least one unnecessary stop and handling.

I don't specifically know the answer. But logically it makes no sense for them to come from a store. Wholesalers drop ship fish for all sorts of online stores. It's the only way they can keep prices competitive.

FishyFishFish · Mar 31, 2021

A quick internet search comes up with various answers. Tropical Fish International was mentioned on one post from 2016 which, incidentally, owns the holding group that bought Live Aquaria from Petco. Another more recent post from 2020 mentions Quality Marine, although both of these might be incorrect as it is just what I have found online with no actual knowledge of their supply chain.

I can't find anything that indicates that Petco ship their own fish.

One other interesting thing is that the Petco T+Cs seem to suggest that they offer a 30-day 'stay alive' guarantee. With that type of refund policy, and the fact that Petco doesn't appear to actually be involved in the supply/shipping process, I might have been tempted to give them a try but for the fact that they don't have the fish I want, available to purchase on their website.

ReeferLou · Apr 6, 2021

Maybe we need a "show us your petco fish" thread?

Saltyanimals · Apr 9, 2021

I talked to a local Petco and saw their "Quality Marine" order sheet which is the wholesaler. Same one that supplies to LA I believe.

laverda · Apr 9, 2021

Yes it is.

FishyFishFish · Apr 16, 2021

I’m going to do it

Wish me luck.

My local store has just had a delivery including a few Sharknose Gobies so I’m going to try one. It will be going through QT so the only ‘risk’ is to my wallet (they aren’t very expensive) and the fish.

tricky_tran · Apr 16, 2021

i so far have had zero problems buying fish from my local Petco. Bought a pair of Maroon Clowns, 2 engineer gobies, Fiji Devil Damsel, Neon Dotty, Orchid Dotty, Filefish, Melanurus Wrasse, Dragon Wrasse, Leopard Wrasse, Twin Spot Wrasse, red coris wrasse, orange spotted goby, BTA and some others from there. They were all healthy and happy.

laverda · Apr 17, 2021

tricky_tran said:
i so far have had zero problems buying fish from my local Petco. Bought a pair of Maroon Clowns, 2 engineer gobies, Fiji Devil Damsel, Neon Dotty, Orchid Dotty, Filefish, Melanurus Wrasse, Dragon Wrasse, Leopard Wrasse, Twin Spot Wrasse, red coris wrasse, orange spotted goby, BTA and some others from there. They were all healthy and happy.

Sounds like your petco gets in a nice variety of fish. Which one do you go to?

minus9 · Apr 17, 2021

ReeferLou said:
Maybe we need a "show us your petco fish" thread?

Nice! I bought my CB striped blenny from petco too and he's a super healthy awesome fish. I bought him the same day it arrived at the store and couldn't pass up paying $15 for such a cool fish. I've seen stores that have nice and healthy fish, but others that are just pitiful. Just depends on the staff, as mentioned earlier. Having someone who cares sand knows what they're doing, really makes a difference.

monkeyCmonkeyDo · Apr 17, 2021

Petco still get carpet nems every now and again?
D

tricky_tran · Apr 17, 2021

laverda said:
Sounds like your petco gets in a nice variety of fish. Which one do you go to?

Pasadena

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yelp.to

99problemsandatankisone · Apr 17, 2021

As some others have said Petco gets their fish from live aquaria and often the same wholesalers that a lfs does. I’m a fan of shopping small whenever feasible but in your situation I would be at Petco to get the fish.

just don’t rely on a minimum wage un-screened employee for your advise.

jdiefenbaugh · Apr 17, 2021

LA and PetCo both get their fish from Quality Marine and ORA, as do a lot of LFS. LA does not supply anybody with marine livestock outside of diver den retail.

FishyFishFish · Apr 17, 2021

99problemsandatankisone said:
As some others have said Petco gets their fish from live aquaria and often the same wholesalers that a lfs does. I’m a fan of shopping small whenever feasible but in your situation I would be at Petco to get the fish.

just don’t rely on a minimum wage un-screened employee for your advise.

Well I was certainly at the mercy of the individual employee today.

I told her that I was interested in one of the Sharknose Gobies and she pointed at fish in 2 different tanks and asked ‘that one?’ I then had to point out what a Sharknose Goby was (they had less than 10 different marine fish in stock so I was a bit surprised at this).

Then she set about trying to net one with a fury I’ve never seen at a pet store before. Rather than try to coax a fish into a corner she just chased it down, knocking all the rock over in the process. She put 2 in a small breeder box for me to choose from and was going for a third, but I had to stop her as I genuinely thought she was going to crush all the fish in the tank! This was pretty stressful for me so I feel for the poor fish. I now have one in my QT and I am hoping it will do ok, but this can’t have been easy on him/her.

There was also one of the display tanks where the return pump wasn’t working (still full of fish), which wasn’t ideal. I didn’t see anything dead today though, in fact, there was a clown snuggled up in an anemone that looked quite happy.

I also asked if they could order fish in and was told no, which is at odds from other people’s experiences at other stores.

I might not have much option other than to go back in the future but, fortunately, my Nano tank can only hold 2 or 3 fish max so hopefully it won’t be a regular occurrence.

This isn’t entirely a reflection of Petco, but just one individual in one store.