Petco fish?

[Trever]

I love my LFS and she's well known to do QT right, etc.

It's a haul to go there though (way across town), where a few blocks away, we have a Petco.

The local Petco just started carrying salt water fish this month. I noticed their prices are better and the fish "looked" decent. For my smallish tank, they carry what I can stock.

What caught my attention though was the manager said something about "the trucks" that come in with Petco's fish.

I can ask them (but didn't). I wonder if their volumes means they are getting some sort of "direct" supply in a way that my LFS is not (it seems clear that my LFS gets her supply via couriers)?

I know zero about the supply chain (well... almost zero) and industry.

Is it possible Petco's supply is better than my LFS?

I hate chains, etc. Want to support my independent. But I'm wondering. If there's a better supply a few blocks away, I can't ignore that. Searching that I've done hasn't really answered...

 

[Mr. Crabs]

Petco fish carry disease

 

[BlennyTime]

I wouldn’t support them, they don’t take care of their fish. If you do buy from them, I would make sure you have a quarantine tank.

Most fish sold in the trade ultimately come from the same wholesalers, there are just differences in supply chain between them and you.

 

[MugenReef95]

I was bored and went in to a petco near me here in michigan and just saw a huge maroon clown almost 4 inches!
couldnt pass him up for 15 bucks lol now he chills in a tank and is very healthy!

 

[Dakippy]

Matters what Petco to be honest. I got 2 clowns from my local Petco and they have been living in my tank ever since I started it so almost 2 years. However, many of the fish from Petco carry disease... you just have to be careful. But I got 2 clowns for $25 so I'm not complaining.

 

[xxkenny90xx]

Your gonna get alot of petco hate on here, and rightfully so. Most stores are full of pests and diseases. That being said since yours has a new saltwater section im sure it is just fine. The petco fish are the same fish your lfs is getting.
Sorry I can't really answer your question (but I imagine the supply chain is identical), I just wanted to put the petco hate into perspective.
Personally I am in a similar boat, I live to support my lfs and usually do but petco is closer and cheaper so I'll check them out occasionally (10yr old tank here and no qt ever!)

 

[Dustinc1983]

When I first started years ago my first 2 fish were petco clowns . I was so naive an uneducated then I didn’t even know a LFS was a thing! . . I did zero QT, I literally floated them for 20 mins and dumped in my DT with the petco water lol ... they have been my longest lasting fishes to date.

But.... I’ve not been back to purchase livestock there. I love the LFS experience.

I do think some petcos are better, found one once that had a decent amount of corals and wildly different attention towards saltwater hobby.

 

[Dakippy]

When I first started years ago my first 2 fish were petco clowns . I was so naive and uneducated then I didn’t even know a LFS was a thing! . . I did zero QT, I literally floated them for 20 mins and dumped in my DT with the petco water lol ... they have been my longest lasting fishes to date.

But.... I’ve not been back to purchase livestock there. I love the LFS experience.

I do think some petcos are better, found one once that had a decent amount of corals and wildly different attention towards saltwater hobby.

I basically got into the hobby through the LFS experience haha!

 

[Dustinc1983]

Yeah it’s great ! The LFS is what kept me in it! Higher prices but it’s a small business (worth it for me) with actual reefers that love to talk and share experiences. Kinda like this forum !

 

[Campfiregirl]

We have two Petco's near us and both are infested with hair algae and aiptasia. Big turn off in my opinion.

 

[92Miata]

Petco fish carry disease

Petco gets its fish from exactly the same suppliers/wholesalers as everyone else.


Petco store/regional managers have wide latitude. Some are fantastic, some are terrible.

 

[Halal Hotdog]

There is nothing wrong with buying fish from Petco, as long as you QT with medication. IMO most fish in stores have something.

 

[PatW]

In my experience, getting fish from the best source possible pays off. That being said, sometimes choices are limited.

It is best to quarantine any fish and the longer the better. Fish are going to get stressed in the supply chain. Stressed fish are vulnerable to disease. And I don’t see how one can be confident that a fish has not seen any disease sometime in their long trip to your tank.

An exception might be if you bought aqua cultured fish directly from the supplier.

But I would assume that any fish I get is very possibly diseased and certainly stressed. I put mine in a quarantine tank. I treat them prophylactically. I also keep them in quarantine long enough to fatten them up some. I also want them eating the food I offer greedily so they can cope in the display tank where there is competition.

 

[Tamberav]

It depends on the Petco. If their salt side is new, then it is probably better off (assuming it is cycled). You can pick Petco fish up in the bag when they arrive if you know when their deliveries are and you can special order fish too. I have gotten some Petco fish before and it was fine but I buy from Petco's that look good/decent. Some are much better than others.

 

[un5tab1e]

Petco is my only LFS. Hit or miss with them here. I bought 3 clowns 2 weeks ago because they came in as assorted and had the lower assorted price. But, none of them where reg orange clowns. 2 in the 60 gallon were happy from day one and have stayed that way. The one that went into to 10g aio had something wrong with it and died in QT.

 

[AC1211]

Some petco managers respect the quality of their livestock that is how 1/10 has decent quality.

 

[jeffchapok]

I have three Petcos nearby that I drop into from time to time. Two of them I'll purchase fish from and one I won't get anything but inverts.

It all just depends on who's over that department. If you get lucky and it's someone that keeps saltwater fish themselves, usually they keep it in pretty good shape. That's the case with the two that I will buy fish from.

I've never lost a fish from any of them due to disease that they came in with. I can't say that about the two higher-end lfs that I deal with. But then, to be fair, I have purchased many more fish from the lfs.

 

[reef_ninja]

Here's the thing about Petco vs LFS. For your LFS, for the most part, those are staffed or owned by people who have legitimate experience in the hobby, they want to be in the business of reefing (or FOWLR, etc), and have the specific knowledge base to support it. Petco is a grab bag, they're staffed by whomever passes the application and interview process, whether or not that be someone with zero saltwater (freshwater, reef, etc) experience. There used to be a Petco somewhat near me where I had no problem whatsoever buying coral from them, they took care of their tanks pretty well and the ORA pieces were really nice. Unfortunately...... that is not the norm. My advice would be to make your assessment based on what you see in the store, and not by labels. Some LFS can be downright trash too.

 

[Squeaky McMurdo]

Petco is the only fish store within 2 hours of me. The three Petcos I have gone to have been really good. I run all fish through a medicated quarantine tank: a 20 gallon long that I also got at Petco. I haven’t got anything that lived ordered in for me by a LFS, so I much prefer to choose fish myself.

I’ve never had an issue being picky about which specific fish I want them to catch for me either. My big banggai cardinal Brutus really made them work for it trying to fish him out of probably 20 others. Lol

Chose fish that seem active and healthy, quarantine with medication prophylactically, and you should be fine. They get their fish from Quality Marine by the way. As does LiveAquaria *mic drop*

 

[OrionN]

My Petco fish and invert:
These animal I got from the local Petco in Corpus Christi. Some of the pictures were picture of the fish when I first got them, and then later in my tank. I find that my Petco have fish just as good as the several LFS here in Corpus.