Petco should not sell coral.

Pavelka1 · Jul 2, 2020

I have never seen a piece of live healthy coral at any petco I have been to.

ChgoGoodGirl · Jul 2, 2020

I agree 100%. And let's not forget how terrible they treat their anemones. :mad::mad::mad:

WV Reefer · Jul 2, 2020

Pavelka1 said:
I have never seen a piece of live healthy coral at any petco I have been to.

I’ve had the opposite experience at a Petco...... found a few very nice cheap pieces.

Cassian · Jul 2, 2020

Petco shouldn’t be allowed to sell anything alive IMHO

Tompickles · Jul 2, 2020

Depends on the store and how experienced the person is taking care of the fish section. I’m lucky to have a petco that cares and has pretty healthy fish and coral. I’ve also seen others in surrounding towns that I wouldn’t buy a thing from

andrewey · Jul 2, 2020

Welcome to reef2reef!

Thankfully, none of the petcos in my area carry any coral, only good old fashioned Valonia and aiptasia

However, to play devil's advocate, I have visited one Petco where the saltwater section was run by a fellow hobbyist who really kept the tanks well cared for. He even set up his own QT in the back to treat some of the sick fish! While I've been pretty underwhelmed/dissapointed with >90% of the Petco saltwater sections I've visited, I do think it's important to recognize the few that do a good job or where they are the only "LFS" in town.

tehmadreefer · Jul 2, 2020

It must be profitable for them since they have always and will always sell

Cell · Jul 2, 2020

How many LFS's shouldn't be selling fish?

NashobaTek · Jul 2, 2020

I have never seen coral at any Petco near me. Nems and fish yes. Their fish and nems seem to be healthy but I have yet to buy animals from them.

Phil D. · Jul 2, 2020

There was a Petco in Tucson that sold fish and coral for a little while, I kept badgering them over the fact their lights were wrong and that's why they were losing corals. I saved my Blue Maxima from them 5 years ago, got him for $20 and he was 4" long. Now he's VERY happy and healthy.

LRT · Jul 2, 2020

I learned along time ago not to buy livestock from Petco when I was doing freshwater tanks.
I have a cpl local lfs that do $9.99 frags and up of name brand stuff you can buy from name brands here.
Local saltwater fish stores and even reefers here is where I'd start on knowledge and wisdom alone.

92Miata · Jul 2, 2020

Tompickles said:
Depends on the store and how experienced the person is taking care of the fish section. I’m lucky to have a petco that cares and has pretty healthy fish and coral. I’ve also seen others in surrounding towns that I wouldn’t buy a thing from

This, Petcos are individually managed. Some are great, some are terrible - just like fish stores.

Ashish Patel · Jul 2, 2020

Petco shouldnt sell anything that lives in Saltwater!

Cell · Jul 2, 2020

I have a good Petco near me with a clean system and an aquatics manager that loves saltwater and actually cares. It's nice to be able to special order basically anything that LA has and not have to pay shipping or worry about getting an unhealthy specimen.

monti mike · Jul 2, 2020

My lobo is from petco. I think you just have to use your best judgment. Some stores are bad but not all of them are.

Pavelka1 · Jul 2, 2020

Cell said:
I have a good Petco near me with a clean system and an aquatics manager that loves saltwater and actually cares. It's nice to be able to special order basically anything that LA has and not have to pay shipping or worry about getting an unhealthy specimen.

I agree, They have great fish but coral is another story.

Flippers4pups · Jul 3, 2020

I believe it's a over statement to say that "Petco shouldn't sell saltwater fish or coral", as many have good "Petco's" near them, but they are all managed differently across America.

I will say this, I wish that they all had more universal standards that all of them had to follow about quality and care, as a corporate company.

Pavelka1 · Jul 3, 2020

Flippers4pups said:
I believe it's a over statement to say that "Petco shouldn't sell saltwater fish or coral", as many have good "Petco's" near them, but they are all managed differently across America.

I will say this, I wish that they all had more universal standards that all of them had to follow about quality and care, as a corporate company.

The Fish are great from Petco and you can get almost anything with free shipping. that is we’re all my fish in my tank came from. But I’m talking about coral. I agree that they should have better standards thru all there stores.