I bought a fish at Petco!

[Finn1018]

A petco orchid dottyback is what made me get into saltwater, both species are stunning! He wasn't too mean, but he would torpedo the unsuspecting hermit that would make the mistake of walking by his den. I had him a couple of years. Since both the neon and orchid dottyback are ORA captive bred, I'm assuming that is where they are getting them from.

You sir, have great taste. Really hoping my dotty will continue to have this cute and friendly demeanor and not terrorize the CUC. He’s going to be the last addition to my biocube 32… but then again I said I wouldn’t buy from Petco, but here we are lol

 

[Tumey]

I normally take my senior dog to petco just to hang out, get some free back scratches and some butt sniffs in. It’s been about a month, but we’d been seeing this one neon dottyback who was super cute and would always come to the glass to say hi. We slowly fell for it, named it, but ultimately convinced ourselves it was a bad idea and no amount of cuteness could convince me to get it. So I went around my lfs to see if anyone had one, and of course all the ones I end up looking at are super shy or aggressively chasing others throughout the tank. It wasn’t the same. So I ended up going back to Petco with my dog, and we picked up the neon dottyback. Lol.
I have since finished doing safety stop dip on him and placed him in quarantine… Fish just have a way of tantalizing you don’t they? I really looked for any excuse to back out, but the staff told me he’d been there for a few weeks, he was eating well. He looks clean. Fins all in tact, no obvious white specs or parasites on him. Can’t say it was the same for the tangs in the neighboring tank. But I did also ask the staff to feed him in front of me, and the guy was eating well, so I bit the bullet. I hope I don’t later regret my decision.
Any other happy ending Petco stories out there?

How dare you entice us with this feel good Petco story and not even post a pic of the little guy! Only kidding but we do all love pics! Lol

 

[Finn1018]

Oh btw, I happened to water test the Petco water in my bag. It’s from an API test kit, I know those are inaccurate but it’s all I have, if anyone is interested. Their salinity was 1.30. I’m not surprised, but now I know my dotty going to be a trooper too.

 

[old salt reefer]

My LFS is way worse than my local Petco. My local Petco doesn't have a huge turn over in fish so after seeing the same fish there sometimes for months it's pretty safe to buy. i sure buy ALL my snails from my local Petco, they seem to always have many different ones(turbo, astraea, etc.)
I bought my Orchid Dottyback from my Petco.(She's doing great had been there for over a month when I bought her)

 

[Finn1018]

How dare you entice us with this feel good Petco story and not even post a pic of the little guy! Only kidding but we do all love pics! Lol

Haha, I can’t get a good pic right now cause he’s hiding but here is our “first meet” pic at Petco

 

[Finn1018]

My LFS is way worse than my local Petco. My local Petco doesn't have a huge turn over in fish so after see the same fish there sometimes for months it's pretty safe to buy. i sure buy ALL my snails from my local Petco.

Yeah it definitely made me feel better when the staff was like he’s been here for weeks lol

 

[Scott Ulrich]

Oh btw, I happened to water test the Petco water in my bag. It’s from an API test kit, I know those are inaccurate but it’s all I have, if anyone is interested. Their salinity was 1.30. I’m not surprised, but now I know my dotty going to be a trooper too.

Those nitrate readings though I tested my non-petco LFS salinity last time and it was running like 1.015... made me nervous about acclimating to my tank at 1.025

Also, the colors for API saltwater tests are a little different, although I believe the chemicals are the same. The ammonia 0.0 level, for instance, is a little greenish like that and not pale yellow.

 

[Finn1018]

Those nitrate readings though I tested my non-petco LFS salinity last time and it was running like 1.015... made me nervous about acclimating to my tank at 1.025

Wow, yeah that’s quite a salinity jump. I like wasn’t even sure if I was acclimating salinity properly, I did a slow drip but I’d probably have to of added a full 5 gallon bucket of just RO water to get the 1.030 down to my 1.025

 

[ying yang]

Yeah on colour chart the colours on all are slightly different,i watched several you tube videos years ago of people testing ro,and tank saltwater using both kits and generally got same results from freshwater tests and saltwater tests and if just wanting bad/needs attention/ and ok results then seems to do the job.

 

[stewie]

I have gotten many of fish from Petco but it is a Petco that I trust, because at a different Petco down the street their fish are often sick and covered in diseases.

 

[ireefnaked]

Normally people don’t have luck buying from Petco. Glad your fish is healthy.

 

[TuxUrchin07]

Be careful tho because those guys will eat your inverts if u have any that is

 

[Peter Houde]

I normally take my senior dog to petco just to hang out, get some free back scratches and some butt sniffs in. It’s been about a month, but we’d been seeing this one neon dottyback who was super cute and would always come to the glass to say hi. We slowly fell for it, named it, but ultimately convinced ourselves it was a bad idea and no amount of cuteness could convince me to get it. So I went around my lfs to see if anyone had one, and of course all the ones I end up looking at are super shy or aggressively chasing others throughout the tank. It wasn’t the same. So I ended up going back to Petco with my dog, and we picked up the neon dottyback. Lol.
I have since finished doing safety stop dip on him and placed him in quarantine… Fish just have a way of tantalizing you don’t they? I really looked for any excuse to back out, but the staff told me he’d been there for a few weeks, he was eating well. He looks clean. Fins all in tact, no obvious white specs or parasites on him. Can’t say it was the same for the tangs in the neighboring tank. But I did also ask the staff to feed him in front of me, and the guy was eating well, so I bit the bullet. I hope I don’t later regret my decision.
Any other happy ending Petco stories out there?

Over the years I've gotten some great fish from Petco and also some disasters. I think there are two issues, at least locally. First, their employees come and go. Their knowledge and care of fish vary to the extreme. I recently saw an all-but-dead floater in one of their tanks - cohabited with other fish. I pointed it out and they didn't even care. Which brings me to the second issue: their tanks are all connected to the same system. If you see a sicky in one tank, then every tank has been exposed. It's important to keep an eye on all tanks for several weeks before taking the plunge. That being said, in my experience dottybacks are indestructible.

 

[Finn1018]

Normally people don’t have luck buying from Petco. Glad your fish is healthy.

Thanks, I hope he stays healthy and makes it out of quarantine.

 

[Finn1018]

Be careful tho because those guys will eat your inverts if u have any that is

No shrimps cause I have a hawkfish that took them out but still have the basic CUC. As long as he doesn’t mess with my hermits, we’ll be gucci

 

[Scott Ulrich]

No shrimps cause I have a hawkfish that took them out but still have the basic CUC. As long as he doesn’t mess with my hermits, we’ll be gucci

My orchid db wouldn't kill then he'd just knock then over.... Kind of funny

 

[Finn1018]

all connected to the same system. If you see a sicky in one tank, then every tank has been exposed. It's important to keep an eye on all tanks for several weeks before taking the plunge. That being said,

I definitely looked at all their tanks for a few weeks, and without fail their tangs and coral beauties always seemed to have ick which is why I was super hesitant. But those cute little beady eyes on this dottyback and the way he’d make eye contact and say hi every time, got me. It got me bad. lol. I cannot believe I am talking about a fish like this! My dog gets totally jealous if he sees me staring at my tank for too long, he will just sit on me and demand pets. And he’s a big guy, 100 lbs. lol

 

[albano]

Petco no longer owns Live Aquaria

Which brings me to the second issue: their tanks are all connected to the same system. If you see a sicky in one tank, then every tank has been exposed.

Could be different in your area, but all the Petcos I’ve been to, have modular tank systems which is usually 3 rows of 3 tanks. Multiple modules are not connected to each other… that being said, it’s still possible for cross contamination

 

[Finn1018]

My orchid db wouldn't kill then he'd just knock then over.... Kind of funny

I know what you mean. Every once in a while, my hawkfish will just grab somebody by the tip of the shell and thrash them around for a second. I always think he’s about to eat somebody, but nope he just does it to move those neck muscles around I guess lol

 

[Finn1018]

Petco no longer owns Live Aquaria

Could be different in your area, but all the Petcos I’ve been to, have modular tank systems which is usually 3 rows of 3 tanks. Multiple modules are not connected to each other… that being said, it’s still possible for cross contamination

I think it’s the same for my Petcos around me. Apparently though, the only fish they quarantine is fish that get left behind by their owners for adoption. The rest, once it comes from the supplier, they get dumped into the displays