Just left Petco super depressed

[FishFishFish]

It would be easier (and cheaper) to just start banning things. Start with livestock that has a low survival rate in captivity and just keep going until eventually all wild caught livestock is banned from being imported. Your heart is in the right place, my friend, but trust me you don't ever want to task a govt. with solving a problem.

Amen!

 

[FishFishFish]

Two reasons. Let's look at PepsiCo

They own Taco Bell, KFC, Lays Potato chips, Gatorade, Quaker Oats and Tropicana just to name some of the 22 other top names they own. However, just because they might own them or be in a partnership, doesn't mean they take over a successful marketing campaign and product.

F&S/ Live Aquaria (same company) has proven market share and products. Petco won't jack with their process, but they will ride their coat tails. Do you know PetCo also partners with Texas A&M aquatics? But they don't run the scholastic program do they?

No. It's marketing. That's all

You are just wishful thinking... PETCO will screw up Doctors Foster just as it has screwed up its own Website... just wait and see... and why would they be selling fish lower cost online than in the stores... prices will be going up, if for no other reason than they paid a tremendous amount just to purchase Doctors and will want to recoup that investment... just wait and see...

 

[Bob Escher]

I live west of Milwaukee and my petco is just as bad. They had some great people working there for three years ( different people) and of course they moved onto to better things and then it went to crap the last time I went in there it was better and the guy told me to call corporate because they had no one dedicated to that area. The manager that ran the place had gotten fired over the condition but they had not really done anything this was about 5 months ago

 

[Enterprise]

Ditto on the employees working with what they have to work with. A few years ago some of the local stores got a frag system with T5s. The one store locally had a reefer running the marine department and they had access to ORA. He brought in a bunch nice SPS frags, clams, and other nice corals. That system was seperate from the main system. The fish system was pretty bad, but each store has the same stuff. Now years later he has moved out of state and the frag tank looks really bad, and seems like a after thought.

Most of the LFS people have moved into the system maintenaince side of the business as that is much more lucrative.

As far as corals goes, I have had the best luck getting stuff from other reefers, rather than the LFS. Fish are the main things I get from these stores.

 

[Tracy farmer]

When our store gets any Niger triggers in most die due to it coming in with Ick and all they do is freshwater dip him. They don't clean out the tanks they don't treat or qt them at all. I think when they get shipments in if they would atleast qt them in a darker room for a few days things would be atleast a little better

 

[vladandlilith]

If you're in the Gwinnett Place Mall area, Atlanta Aquarium is in the same parking lot as a Petco. Also, Nemo on Indian Trail Rd. is a decent place.

 

[ndz98]

That's a dead on description of my Petco. Always nuisance algae everywhere, they have way too many fish in one tank, fish are always floating around dead. Walked in just yesterday and saw a yellow tang upside down and dead with brown spots all over it. It was in the tank that had a sticker on it that said "under observation". Go figure. I swear those tanks are always under observation. I honestly wonder how many fish they kill a year and how much it costs them.

 

[dnyceli]

not rumors. they already own it...

This is horrible news. Is it still safe to buy life stock from them? Maybe if they kept the staff it would be ok

 

[domination2580]

I'm not liking this....I talked to the petcock in Sioux falls SD, one of the night managers, the employee that took care of the tanks left for another place. THANK GOD! He sucked, didn't listen, lost multiple fish and tried keeping corals under regular lighting....never saw any hint of blue. I told the manager my mind and that they need to get this taken care of and that he lost my business. And about how petco is coming up in forums....he agrees. (Or at least that's what he said). I told him a lot of things. But he did say they are waiting on new tanks.

 

[Dtackett]

This is horrible news. Is it still safe to buy life stock from them? Maybe if they kept the staff it would be ok

my understanding is that in the purchase agreement petco is being held to certain standards. that's why most stores are getting whole new tank setups, new lights, new filtration, and the employees are required to get more training. they are also starting to pay more for the aquatic specialist position as a way to bring in more experienced people. now, I don't know everything about the deal. I really don't know much about the deal, but petco is supposed to start getting a lot better.

 

[adestafi]

I frequent several of the petco's here and one of them knows what they are doing and the others are just pretenders. I've seen the good one receive shipments and they were acclimating the fish and atleast trying to take care of the fish but their tanks seem to consistently have ich- which is easy to deal with if you QT @ home (which most don't). the bad petco's here give out bad info and treat the experienced reefer like crap. They will match online pricing , and since there's no s/h it's hard to not buy that one fish you want. I've scored many deals from petco but feel better buying from the small business who remembers your name.

 

[Dtackett]

I frequent several of the petco's here and one of them knows what they are doing and the others are just pretenders. I've seen the good one receive shipments and they were acclimating the fish and atleast trying to take care of the fish but their tanks seem to consistently have ich- which is easy to deal with if you QT @ home (which most don't). the bad petco's here give out bad info and treat the experienced reefer like crap. They will match online pricing , and since there's no s/h it's hard to not buy that one fish you want. I've scored many deals from petco but feel better buying from the small business who remembers your name.

I like dealing with small businesses because it helps the community, but I also like to save money. small businesses aren't able to come close to the prices of many other stores and no matter how much I want to support them, I cant justify 5 dollar per polyp for common zoas...

 

[Jbryan243]

And just try writing Petco an email I've tried several times over the years and never have had one deliver.

 

[Eric G]

Their parent company (not petco itself) acquired them. But Live Aquaria is and will continue to operate separately of Petco

Live aquaria does not operate separately. It's owned by pet co. When you tour live aquaria pet co signs are everywhere.

 

[Gamma]

My son was GM for Petco at one time and his store was awesome ...he is a reefer so he made sure his aquatic staff were experienced and he kept close eye on it as well. Just depends on mgmt and most are clueless and priorities are not in finding knowledgeable staff plus no retention due to low pay!

 

[Josh King]

I don't know why Petco doesn't just set up a QT system of tanks for all stores. That way they could QT all incoming fish and save a lot of $ on dead fish. The fish would be healthier, the customer's fish healthier, customers happier, and overall appeal would be better. They should keep corals in separate systems without fish and they would be more appealing as well.

I saved my powder brown tang from Petco where he was near death. He is still battling with ich and I am trying Dr. g's med parasite x food. He is still much better off in my system and would be dead by now.

 

[Humblefish]

I don't know why Petco doesn't just set up a QT system of tanks for all stores. That way they could QT all incoming fish and save a lot of $ on dead fish. The fish would be healthier, the customer's fish healthier, customers happier, and overall appeal would be better. They should keep corals in separate systems without fish and they would be more appealing as well.

First problem is cost and space (where to put all these QTs?) QT'ing fish means you can't sell them right away and must spend $$$ on tanks, salt, equipment, medication, pay employees to maintain these tanks, etc. You would have to pass on that cost to your customers with higher prices and that's just not gonna fly.

Second problem is you'd need employees trained and knowledgeable about treating fish diseases. Copper isn't a fix all. And if you don't know what you are doing, you can actually kill fish with copper by overdosing.

Thirdly, they don't care if one dept. is losing money. It's all about the overall financial success of the store. So long as people are paying top dollar for dog food, grooming, supplies, equipment, etc. then it doesn't really matter if the SW fish dept. is losing a little money. Seeing the colorful fish brings people into the store.

 

[Josh King]

First problem is cost and space (where to put all these QTs?) QT'ing fish means you can't sell them right away and must spend $$$ on tanks, salt, equipment, medication, pay employees to maintain these tanks, etc. You would have to pass on that cost to your customers with higher prices and that's just not gonna fly.

Second problem is you'd need employees trained and knowledgeable about treating fish diseases. Copper isn't a fix all. And if you don't know what you are doing, you can actually kill fish with copper by overdosing.

Thirdly, they don't care if one dept. is losing money. It's all about the overall financial success of the store. So long as people are paying top dollar for dog food, grooming, supplies, equipment, etc. then it doesn't really matter if the SW fish dept. is losing a little money. Seeing the colorful fish brings people into the store.

Yes, I wouldn't make it as CEO. I care too much! lol

 

[TheWhiteFord]

Petco doesn't have any guarantee on their saltwater fish anymore. I have overheard some of the employees talking about a "new system" I really hope in includes a qt system + if they ran uv sterilizer that would help them a lot but not completely solve the problem

 

[frogman_reefer]

And just try writing Petco an email I've tried several times over the years and never have had one deliver.

I've had great success. It's about how you approach them.