Not cool

S.O.MLemos · Feb 6, 2018

Swung in my local petco because I was in the parking lot and quickly remembered why I don’t go there....

Not one left alive

ChadLo · Feb 6, 2018

S.O.MLemos said:
Swung in my local petco because I was in the parking lot and quickly remembered why I don’t go there....

Not one left alive

Their practices are ridiculous. I don't think there is a single fish at a petco near us that doesn't have ich... They keep their salinity at .017 and don't acclimate their fish (except to temperature) to their suppliers salinity of .013. Might as well just add some bettas at that salinity... So sad!

SaltLifer · Feb 6, 2018

Wow. That's terrible. I feel bad for people that don't have a reliable LFS. I go to Petco for dog food. I usually stroll past the aquarium section and everything is always covered in ich.

Jesterrace · Feb 6, 2018

It's universal. I'll buy very basic fish supplies from there (ie drain hose, filter replacements, fish nets), but nothing else. They want more than my LFS for disgusting rock and fish that are near death.

reef lover · Feb 7, 2018

Jason mack · Feb 7, 2018

Surely there are standards th de shops need too follow , or if not there certainly should be !
Here in Holland we have a program where a chef would go round restaurants and snackbars and check their kitchens out for hygiene... we need something like this .. where these shops should be shamed and named in public or on tv ..
if these were dogs , or cats or horses , that were treated this way .. th re would be outrage and the authorities would be involved...so why should keeping fish and corals be treated any different.!!
If I was in the USA and had the resources I would do it myself ....
luckily here in Holland we don’t have pectos ,or anything similar ..
Just my 2 cents worth !!

Waters · Feb 7, 2018

Wow, were there any fish that were alive in those tanks??

don_chuwish · Feb 7, 2018

My local Petco has never been THAT bad but not great either. Anyone know who their wholesaler is? Yellow Tangs always look skinny. Almost all tangs I see have ich. I doubt they have a place to treat before putting new arrivals on display. Seems to be a supply problem as much as anything. One or two of the employees that run aquatics make a good effort but I think they are given a bad situation.

ChiCity · Feb 7, 2018

That’s just awful!
My Petco is limited on selection, but they at least care about the wellbeing of their critters...

I guess I feel fortunate now to have a local Petco that’s actually professional, after seeing this bs I might run in today to thank them

rockstarta78 · Feb 7, 2018

This is horrible. I haven't gone to a petco in a long time. Last time I went the guy in charge of the saltwater section had his hands full. He had full intention of making things better. But I got the impression he wasn't getting the support from the management that he needed. Pretty disappointing.

HexaReef · Feb 7, 2018

The petco in Olympia, Wa do a pretty good job. Always well stocked and everything looks healthy. Even have a nice frag tank in the front. But can imagine they are only one in a million that care for their fish

Greybeard · Feb 7, 2018

There's a new petco about an hour from me. They hired a local hobbiest to take care of their marine section. So far, so good. A friend bought a purple tang from them a while back... relatively inexpensive. Healthy, happy, and rapidly growing. I've not seen death on display there, not yet, anyway. Tanks look pretty good. I buy frozen foods there... they carry a brand of mysis I like, and they've got formula 1 and 2 frozen cubes. I wish they'd get some spirulina enhanced brine... I have to go elsewhere for that one.

You do have to watch their prices. I found myself out of salt a few months back, picked up a single 50g bag of RC... for $29. Stupid expensive. Hey, they had it, in stock... I needed it, nobody else was open... Sometimes, you pay what you have to. I _won't_ be buying salt there again. I've switched to Fritz RPM since then, anyway.

S.O.MLemos · Feb 7, 2018

Yeah not only was every single fish dead(20+) but they looked like they’ve been there at least a day. That’s the Medford Oregon location and it’s always been that way-straight animal cruelty and should be shut down. I do get stuff from the petco 30 miles north and the one 60miles north if I’m in that area because they upkeep their tanks pretty well.

Capitol Reef Corals · Feb 7, 2018

Definitely depends on the PetCo. My local PetCo actually does a really good job on all of their aquarium systems and is very spotless. None of the fish and tangs have noticeable ich at least in the display section. I only spotted a dead fish once. However, I still will never buy from there unless I absolutely have to because I know some of their stores completely neglect their animals like you have shown.

blueface · Feb 7, 2018

I call them Deathco

n21benson · Feb 7, 2018

S.O.MLemos said:
Swung in my local petco because I was in the parking lot and quickly remembered why I don’t go there....

Not one left alive

Wow! That is so sad.

Jerry Ebner · Feb 7, 2018

I wouldn't buy fish from them even if it we're free. But I got plenty of choices for LFS or online.

Orbela · Feb 7, 2018

That’s sucks
All the petco in my area are run pretty good. They have a good selection.

Vaughn17 · Feb 7, 2018

HexaReef said:
The petco in Olympia, Wa do a pretty good job. Always well stocked and everything looks healthy. Even have a nice frag tank in the front. But can imagine they are only one in a million that care for their fish

Agreed. They have some very good employees who work in the fish department!

MUSBFRANK · Feb 8, 2018

Some Petco's are lucky enough to get some knowledgeable employees that will make the best of the companies policy situation, but relatively speaking, there's way too many lfs's that run neck and neck with Petco when it comes to fish care.