PetsMart Vs. PetCo Vs. other supplier

[IfIhadaboat85]

Hello everyone! Just wanted to open up a new thread for anyone and everyone to tell any stories (good, bad, ugly [horror]) about buying fish from the chains like PetsMart, PetCo or others. Please use this forum as an outlet to express joy, anger (even rage?) and to make any suggestions about where to go, where not to go, which types of species are great to buy at these places and which to avoid!

I'll begin by saying, thus far, the only two fish that have died on me since starting this tank have been two that I bought from a very reputable local establishment. All of the others from PetsMart and PetCo have done VERY well (although, if you read one of my other threads, a few of them have come down with decent cases of Ich (yikes! ) although I know that part of that may have been my fault for introducing too many fish, too early in the beginning phase... beginner's mistakes.

Anyhoo, even those that do have the ich really seem to be enjoying their new home, the colors have become much more vibrant than they even were when they were in the display tanks and they are very active and happy looking.

Let's see where this convo goes!

 

[Dylandrewsdad]

I used to buy fish from anywhere I liked, but have learned to only buy from my LFS or the fish club I belong too. Saying that, I have never had an issue with fish from any of the big box stores, but I prefer to support my local fish store.

 

[Fishman1995]

My local Petsmart is one of the best places to go, to far for me thou, im just fine with my LFS. Let me begin by saying Petsmart has about every type of Freshwater fish able to be sold at fairly reasonable prices. Also these arent like your LFS ppl who just sell you stuff to make a sale. Everytime i go in and ask for fish they ask what size tank i have and how long its been up. I was in there the last time looking at live plants a family came in asking for fish, the clerk guy came by me and said "These ppl are going to go home and fully stock a brand new tank when i told them to wait" I feel Petsmart is a very reputable place and id recomend ppl to go there and buy fish

 

[OrangeCones]

Let me begin by saying Petsmart has about every type of Freshwater fish able to be sold at fairly reasonable prices. Also these arent like your LFS ppl who just sell you stuff to make a sale.

I see far more 'hard sales' at a big chain pet store than I've seen at a local 'mom-pop' fish store. I know two that work at a chain and they have sales quotas to meet, and do push to sell stuff. If you bring a fish in that has died, they test the water and recommend that chemicals are needed to fix things, replace the fish you lost 'for free' but made a sale on the chemicals you likely don't really need. And, except for one of my Otocinclus species, I've never seen any of my fish in a chain pet store.

 

[fishwish34]

In general, PetSmart seems slightly better than Petco. The tanks have fewer dead fish, and just look better maintained in general. The salespeople don't necessarily know much about fish, though that is true at any fish store.

 

[paperdog9]

For me, the Petsmart has a fairly large selection of fish, but they always have the same fish, they never really get different fish in. They by far have the best prices, and the largest selection of plants around here. They also have very clean tanks and healthy fish. The petsmart has fairly clean tanks, but not as much as petsmart. My petco does get in different speicies regularly, which is one reason I look around in there, but otherwise, I always go to Petsmart. There is a Pet store thats like a half hour away that I love though, they have a HUGE selection of fish, and regularly get in new fish. The tanks are'nt quite as clean, but they are all individual with their own filters and heaters, which is good to help with disease spreaading. They are also so busy that you have to chase around an employer to get them to help you, but otherwise, the locally owned store is my favorite.

 

[aakaakaak]

From what I've seen, for the livestock at least, it has less to do with what store you go to and more to do with who's running the fish department.

For the non-live product, the prices are usually the best at Care-A-Lot, but some deals at PetSmart beat them. Usually the actual aquariums are cheaper at PetSmart.

Most of the fish stores in my area do a decent job with keeping their tanks clean and well cared for. (Note: I'm not counting Wal-Mart as a fish store.) As long as its a common fish I'm looking for I just use the one with the cheaper/better looking stock. If I'm looking for a certain hard to find fish there's a local non-chain gigantic fish store that's a little out of the way and pricey as all the dickens. However, they usually have the fish I'm looking for. (Yes OC. They probably even have a couple of yours. Both Galaxies and Chilis at a minimum if you still keep those.)

Edit: There's a local mom and pop joint just down the street that is good with their fish (sells guppies and angels for a local breeder, and will probably sell my leopard danios), but their prices and stock selection suck badly.

 

[CatKittyFish]

Right now at the Petco I work for every single fish has ick. This is not uncommon for the goldfish we get in to have it. The goldfish area is off by itself and not connected to the rest of the tanks. I was suprized by this cause normally our fish r pretty good. I'm pretty sure it the supplier, but needless to say I'm not buying any fish from my store right now. We also have one of those cascading tanks used for live plants that we do adoptions out of for people that have to get rid of their fish. I got my albino Cory from in there Right now there is a single platy, full grown, and a blood parrot cichlid they r in different compartments, but I feel so bad fOr the cichlid. I don't think he's very happy and the water is surly notthe right temp for him. But I dont have a tank for him nor am I that interested in keeping that particular cichlid. But still.... poor fishy. I also know that all the Petrie in my area just don't have the amount of fish or supplies it used to, which is to bad. As for petsmart, I like thier selection, but the employees hardly know anything about the fish lol. At least here. Well that's my 2 cents!

 

[nanu156]

YEah Im with you on depends on who works there. Some petsmarts are really nice, some are pretty junky.

ICH is in the water of every tank, (like the common cold) it just takes a stressed fish to set off an outbreak.

I generally go the fish club/fancy LFS to buy fish.

Cones you have a galaxy L029? Wow how big? I have been wrestling with buying a breeding pair of them, but they are going to need their own tank and she wants nearly a grand for the pair.... (yikes) but fry go for about 100-150ea around here so the investment will quickly pay off as long as they continue to breed.

My favorite place to find fish/fish people is always craigslist.org. Ummm sometimes you meet crazies but every once and a while you find someone spectacular, a life long fish person who is an amazing resource.

 

[bassbonediva]

Cones you have a galaxy L029?.

OC has galaxy rasbora, not a galaxy pleco.

 

[IfIhadaboat85]

This thread took a turn for the awesome immediately after my post. This is really great. Thank you so much to everyone who's participated. It's good to know that I'm not wasting ALL of my money (just some) by going to PetsMart or PetCo. The really great local fish joint here is the only one that's 'done me wrong' I'd say. Convincing me that my German Blue Rams were going to be fine in a freshwater community. Ugh. You live and you learn I guess. "Right now at the Petco I work for every single fish has ick"- CatKittyfish- nearly all of the fish I've gotten from PetsMart now have decent cases of ich as well. Really bumming me out. I'm hoping with enough time, heat, salt, water changes and vacuuming and the fortitude of my little buddies, we might be able to get rid of it. ::fingers crossed::

I'd love it if the local petsmart had acquatic plants. The only one that does around here is PetCo. They don't have as many supplies but their fish selection is really really great. I just recently purchased 4 gold barbs there that have such amazing color and are so active it's really impressive. My Buenos Aires and bleeding hearts from petsmart have turned out to be really great too.. aside from the Ich, of course.

 

[nanu156]

pet supplies plus (do you have them?) has coupons for as much as 40% off in the paper, they also give you a coupon book when you get their discount card. they have like 5-6 tanks of fish at the one by me but i have never bought any fish there because they just don't have anything interesting. I do like to buy dry goods (decor filters etc) there with the coupons when i need them.

Ich happens. Rams should be been ok in a community tank, what happened there?

 

[IfIhadaboat85]

Honestly nanu... I'll step up here, be the bigger man and admit that I probably attempted to add them (Rams) too early in the development of my tank. It's my understanding that they probably needed better water quality.. but from the moment I brought them home, I acclimated them appropriately, they didn't interact one bit with the other fish, sat on the bottom, barely swam around and didn't eat.

 

[Dylandrewsdad]

So I just read your profile...Your Bala will quicly outgrow your tank...For Ick I always crank up the heat to like 82ish. Do great gravel vacs to pick up the Ick that fell of the fish and think good thoughts!

good Luck!

 

[nanu156]

oh yeah, the bala is bad bad bad when we say outgrow we mean like 12"+ they are also schooling fish. they need bala shark friends...

If you can still return him I would do so

Heat/Salt/Dark tank/extra air stone/pray for the ich outbreak, you don't have anything that would be sensitive to meds you can try some meds if you like. (although I just do heat dark pray personally)

 

[aakaakaak]

I'm going through what looks like ich now. I've got an airstone and a foam filter running at 85F. Tomorrow is the two week mark. All the fish seem to be doing quite well, even the fingerling/juvenile danios. No more white spots except one. Really, still a spot after 2 weeks?

Note: I was in the process of using my QT tub as a baby tub when I picked up the new fish with ich, so I didn't quarantine it.

 

[nanu156]

aakaakaak..... well lesson learned.... lesson learned ;/ we all learn that lesson, then need reminded later on....

 

[IfIhadaboat85]

I didn't think about adding a foam filter insert aakaak. I'm going to try that. Yeah, I'm pretty upset about the bala thing too. I didn't know too much about him until after I got him home. Rookie mistake. very hearty, very active, great addition to the tank, just a shame he's going to get so big.

 

[Dylandrewsdad]

I made the same mistake when I first started. My kids saw the word "shark" in the name and HAD to have it! I had it in a ten for a month, then a 30 for a few years, then put him in a 37, then traded him back to my LFS. He was very active and seemed happy, but I know it was not good for him.

 

[IfIhadaboat85]

Well, I'm going to leave him be for some time until I can hopefully upgrade to a 55 gallon within the next year. He seems happy enough, although I know it's because he's basically an infant. I have been, however, very impressed with his durability during these early stages and his passiveness. He actually schools with a lot of the other tetras and doesn't seem to bother anyone. I'm still surprised by how aggressive my Buenos Aires and Bleeding hearts have been. They are the real bullies in the whole system, playful ones, but nonetheless. Maybe one day I'll be able to give him the home he really deserves. Shame on you Petsmart guy for telling me that the 30 gallons was enough...

Just an update though, Ich seems to be going the way of the buffalo in my tank(thankfully) and haven't lost anyone yet. Ordered some seemingly pretty good Ich stuff from 'thatfishplace.com' and waiting for it to arrive.

Going to PetCo tonight for some supplies and to spy their new fish collection etc. I'm somehow all of a sudden interested in guppies. They've got some insanely cool ones at PetCo that I really want to get my hands on!

Hope everyone's well!