My local petco now sells frags!

Blmain · Jan 19, 2017

This should be a sin! Don't buy from Petco, buy from our members! Support R2R and get better quality at a great price. Somebody should make R2R business cards and have them posted around Petco ASAP!

GK3 · Jan 19, 2017

There are at least two petcos in Florida I have been to that sell frags. I agree with others here and would definitely never buy one. The selection isn't great and they do not look healthy.

tcarter1936 · Jan 19, 2017

Hey, I remember getting a bunch of love rock when I was a newbie and feeling like I got away with something cuz it had a bunch of baby nems on it. It was a tough lesson in what a majano was lol

Pongo · Jan 19, 2017

I have to go in to Petco twice a week for supplies to keep my chameleon and snakes.

I was watching a large plate (about 6" diameter) of zoas for about 3 months. They were labeled "fire and ice zoas".
Yeah, some looked like they'd been in a fire, others looked frost bitten and dying.
I felt so sorry for those zoas melting away, I finally offered them $10.00.

I put them in a frag tank and 4 months later they're thriving and spreading.

Still I get a little upset every time I see how they treat their saltwater animals.

Brad Bessett · Jan 19, 2017

Fire up an auction for the pack?

lambchops · Jan 19, 2017

My local Petco sells ORA lightning maroons for $40 and has a really good coral selection. And it is pretty involved with our local reefing forum. Definitely not the norm.

ahiggins · Jan 19, 2017

In all seriousness...I hate to bash a company but it seems warrented sometimes.
Since finding out that Dr Foster & Smith is owned by petco...I havent shopped with them once. Makes me sad that despite having everything available to them, most petcos are so bad in regards to saltwater.

Lowell Lemon · Jan 19, 2017

McDonald's does not sell live fish and neither should Petco and Petsmart. The model of drive through instant aquariums does not work. Saw some of the ugliest frags at one of the local stores yesterday. The displays do not have enough light to keep the frags going to start with and very little flow so they just waste away.

But they attract many people with that dollar a gallon sale going on now.

BJEDVM13 · Jan 19, 2017

I feel worse for the crypto ridden fish that die a slow, miserable death.

sanchezkk · Jan 20, 2017

That's a shame. I'd buy them and try to save them.

BAngieB · Jan 20, 2017

I used to work at Petco and despite trying to fight the company policies (no rodi water or filtration system, salinity kept at .017, only herbal meds for sick fish and no quarantine allowed) I could do nothing more than watch sick fish die slow painful deaths. Even after a friend did a autopsy on one of the fish that had died and found that it had velvet, brookynella and ich, I reported that to my boss and she just shrugged it off...and ordered more fish to put in a very sick system. The other employees would knowingly sell sick fish to newbies in the hobby that didn't know any better. Petco loses thousands on sick fish just in the store I worked at so I can't imagine how much it costs them across the board. You would think they would would quit selling saltwater after seeing how much money they are losing. It's sad. They have no business selling saltwater fish and corals.

BAngieB · Jan 20, 2017

sanchezkk said:
That's a shame. I'd buy them and try to save them.

I did that, I would rehab the ones I could save and give them away to local reefers.

FugeTown · Jan 20, 2017

ahiggins said:
You have to wonder though...if petco is your only source of knowledge on saltwater....

I went to petco with a frag tank and was talking to the aquatics guy and he said they they told him not to dose or test for calcium, he said he tried to convince them they need to but they have strict policies to follow, SMH which petco do they sell them glass anemones gotta get me some lol jk that's kinda messed up they sell hitchhikers

sanchezkk · Jan 20, 2017

What would I need to do if u wanted to report them? I'm interested in getting then banned from selling ANY livestock. Thier policies are going to be the death of them.

ahiggins · Jan 20, 2017

Probably complain to corporate but are their stores individually owned like franchises? Ive only ever physically been inside one like twice lol

ThunderGoose · Jan 20, 2017

My local Petco has a good fish department - clean tanks, healthy fish (even the saltwater fish look good) but their frag tank? A nightmare of algae, aptasia, and dead and dying corals.

I go there because the closest reef store is a 45 minute drive and I can't do that on the weeknight I find I'm out of salt!

BAngieB · Jan 20, 2017

ahiggins said:
Probably complain to corporate but are their stores individually owned like franchises? Ive only ever physically been inside one like twice lol

No, all stores are owned and ran by the corporate office in California. You'll find some Petco fish departments doing a little better than others and that's because the stores GM is a hobbyist and doses, tests, etc behind corporates back. They do it at the risk of getting caught and getting bad reviews when upper management comes around. Which can lead to them losing their job so not many managers are willing to take the risk. You can complain to corporate all day long and they won't care unless you 1) get a LARGE group of people filing complaints 2) make complaints to the vendors they sell them the fish and coral 3) notify PETA 4) make a big stink on social media with videos, pics and documentation of the conditions.

ahiggins · Jan 20, 2017

BAngieB said:
No, all stores are owned and ran by the corporate office in California. You'll find some Petco fish departments doing a little better than others and that's because the stores GM is a hobbyist and doses, tests, etc behind corporates back. They do it at the risk of getting caught and getting bad reviews when upper management comes around. Which can lead to them losing their job so not many managers are willing to take the risk. You can complain to corporate all day long and they won't care unless you 1) get a LARGE group of people filing complaints 2) make complaints to the vendors they sell them the fish and coral 3) notify PETA 4) make a big stink on social media with videos, pics and documentation of the conditions.

ohhhhhh social media is a powerful tool

711reefer · Jan 20, 2017

I will not buy a saltwater fish or coral from Petco ever. there tanks are disgusting. if anything looks healthy its because they just got it in. nothing survives in there tanks for long. I do buy from live aquaria because I know those facilities care for there live stock. there is a huge gaping whole between live aquaria and Petco. maybe one day corporate will figure out how to make live aquaria and Petco protocol one in the same. I don't want to save a coral or fish either from petco. I know that's how some people justify buying from them. every time a purchase is made it just becomes data for corporate. if everyone stopped buying fish and corals from petco there would be no data and they would have to stop selling.

ahiggins · Jan 20, 2017

I thought live aquaria isnt a "shop" per se.
They dont even see the fish. It ships from a breeder/livestock place to you. Thats what Ive heard anyways.