Petco Aquatics Makeover

[revkkoolaid]

Bottom Line: If you can provide me a top quality fish for a better price than the next guy..I am a customer. I don't need the person selling me the fish to be a fish expert because I do all my research before I buy...I'll repeat...do your research before you buy...do your research before you buy...

X2!

For real. People hate on dealers (esp chain stores ) so much when in reality the greatest responsibility falls on the consumer. I think chain stores get the bulk of the hatred because they are typically frequented by noobs and when they buy a fish they can't house/care for they blame the person who sold it to them. Yes it sucks most people selling fish don't know what the hell they're talking about but it sucks more people don't know what they are buying.

A good fish dealer is an awesome thing but not near as awesome as a well educated consumer!

 

[revkkoolaid]

Regarding the big tanks here is an avenue you might with to follow. Just as you can have people special order in the big fish, see if you can get permission for them to special order big tanks.

All chain stores have the ability to order anything Central (AllGlass /Aqueon /Oceanic) makes. Most Petcos have that big sign up with the pics of a few large setups. Those are not all the tanks they can order. I say this because I know most employees, even manage meant

Speaking of which. . .hey airbone. . .make sure you have the actual tank catalog printed out off the portal. You can't go by looking up skus as any and every tank that's ever been in the system. Just a tip.

As for hating on stores not carrying giant tanks. . .as some have hinted at. . .it's a matter of space. League City,TX Petco is a giant stand alone store, as big as they come and the fish dept takes up the entire center of the store and I had to play some crazy tetris to bring in and nicely display 125-215gal. tanks as well as plead and whine to corp just to get them in to hang out in inventory.

At ADG we regularly sell 1000 gal. tanks but we don't have any hanging out lol. Come to think of it neither does Deep Sea Aquatics where we buy them from.

http://www.deepseaaquatics.net/ (yes that's our tanks all over their site)

Besides space one big reason the powers that be don't like monster tanks hanging out in the store is the same reason the don't like anything hanging out. Large chain stores basiclly borrow money from whoever to buy everything in the store. It's hard to explain but they make TONS more money when item is sold almost immediately. The longer it sits in the store the less profit is made until it ends up being sold for a clearance price, many times below cost, to recoup some of the loss incurred.

 

[revkkoolaid]

Pics are comming!

Yep that's the old MARS racks. Believe it or not ,those 11gal (give or take) barracks cubes work fine for the majority of fish. I'll admit the new 2 channel ones are nicer but those still get the job done.

You have to remember the vast majority of fish , even monsters, will come in small to crazy small size. It's just how the industry works. No one wants to traffic in xl-xxl freshwater fish much due to shipping cost and slow turn around. And if Segrest is your main freshwater vendor be prepared for TINY when you order "the good stuff".

Another tip I can give you is a good way to clean out a section is to turn it over (stir it up) and pop of the overflow box (pull up on it) and unscrew the current diffuser on the return. . . .and WOOSH!

Make sure mgt orders you a metric buttload of the blue floss pads. Change them like no tomorrow. If anyone tells you to rinse them and resuse them to save money tell them to suck one. They will fall apart in no time. The carbon pillows are expensive so they won't usually spring for 10 cases of those but the floss pads are cheap. Carbon, as we all know, doesn't do much anyway. I mostly relied on them for mechanical water polishing and if you stay on top of the floss pads they usually last a couple of weeks before they're funknasty.

Also use 2 floss pads in the tray. They're thin and one will compact really fast once your tanks are loaded up with livestock. Two will literally last 4x as long.

I know this is mostly crap I should post in a PM but I know their are dozens of other Petco Aq. Specs on this forum and maybe this info will help them as well.

I'm sure your salt guy already has one. . . but if he doesn't . . .make sure they get him a biga$$ trash can WITH A DOLLY for mixing WCs. And label it so the freakin small animal specialist doesn't clean out cages with it

 

[snyder810]

i'm not saying you have to carry 1000 gallon tanks but keeping a 180 on stock if your selling monster fish would be a start.. the store i work at sells monster type fish when they're small, i don't like it because the largest tank offered is a 75. just doesn't make sense. you wouldn't sell someone a great dane and only keep a 12"x12" kennel in stock

 

[swede]

can't believe how much negativity this thread has brought. kinda sad. I think it is good that efforts are being made to carry more than bettas and swordtails at petco and its pretty cool that the OP opened this up to MFK for suggestions. the key word is suggestions, not harsh criticism, wishes for failures, or bashing the OP for trying.

 

[revkkoolaid]

i'm not saying you have to carry 1000 gallon tanks but keeping a 180 on stock if your selling monster fish would be a start.. the store i work at sells monster type fish when they're small, i don't like it because the largest tank offered is a 75. just doesn't make sense. you wouldn't sell someone a great dane and only keep a 12"x12" kennel in stock

To me having it in stock collecting dust waiting to get smashed into by a pallet jack a turn into a sweet bearded dragon cage is in no way than being able to have it delivered in a usually a 1 week wait.

I will say most chain store employees act like a bunch of monkeys trying to _____ a pumpkin when someone inquired about getting a tank larger than what was in inventory. I think the biggest problem as far as setting up a REAL aquarium when it comes to chain stores is the lack of ability to order quality SERIOUS filtration equip. When I worked for Petco, I hate to admit was only a few years ago, the only wet drys available were the crappy All Glass Mega-Flows and we were incapable of even getting pumps for those. The biggest canisters we could get were dinky Fluval 405s or Ehiem Eccos.
I was forced to send people to LFSs or online to buy barely adequate filtration systems for the tank they bought.

I'm not hating on the budget hobbyist (we all were at sometime) but telling someone to put 2x405s and an AC110 on a 215 is a travesty.

Sad to say the main reason I kept 6' tanks around (and it was typically 1 at a time) was for when the loaded impulse buyer came in and when it comes to monsterfish impulse purchases are a dangerous thing. ex: That cute baby RTC isn't much better off going in a 180 than a 75. Either way the owner is screwed in a minute when their fish can't turn around anymore.

I remember some guy bought a std. 6'x18'' AGA 150 from me and then a few months later he stopped by having some tank issue, don't remember what but it was something stupid I'm sure, and he rattled off his stock list. . .an RTC, a TSN, a silver aro, a clown knife, some oscars, and others I can't remember with no plans to upgrade. I shouldn't have to point out what's wrong with this.

I guess my point is. . .having a wee 6' tank in stock doesn't help to create any more prepared and responsible MFKers than being able to order them and have them delivered free of charge in a heartbeat.

When you get down to MFK brass tax was does having grow outs like 180s and 215s around matter anyway when it comes to MONSTER fish.


BTW how big is your giraffe cat's tank?

 

[revkkoolaid]

can't believe how much negativity this thread has brought. kinda sad. I think it is good that efforts are being made to carry more than bettas and swordtails at petco and its pretty cool that the OP opened this up to MFK for suggestions. the key word is suggestions, not harsh criticism, wishes for failures, or bashing the OP for trying.

I think the negativity stems from most MFKers opinions of Petco. Nevermind that Airborne is trying to make his Petco into a decent REAL LFS. With hard work it can be done and done well is mostly why I'm all over this thread.

Sorry I know I'm kinda hogging the thread. This is just the first I've heard of a Petco trying to do what we did at League City Petco so I feel the need to bash back at everyone hating on the concept.

 

[snyder810]

I think the negativity stems from most MFKers opinions of Petco. Nevermind that Airborne is trying to make his Petco into a decent REAL LFS. With hard work it can be done and done well is mostly why I'm all over this thread.

Sorry I know I'm kinda hogging the thread. This is just the first I've heard of a Petco trying to do what we did at League City Petco so I feel the need to bash back at everyone hating on the concept.

my giraffe is in a 220, not ideal i'll agree already. it's 20-22" long i don't remember exacts from the last time i measured. and that's part my point i'm not trying to be a hypocrit here, 220 was the largest tank around when i was buying the tank (i bought it used w the giraffe in it already) my lfs told me 220 was the largest they could get in, and my store is worthless in terms of tanks. we carried 125s before and corporate ppl didn't like that. so i bought the used 220.

i'll also agree 180-220 tanks aren't ideal long term for most mfk style fish, but a 6'x2' tank is much improved over 4'x18" imo

i hope you aren't taking my opinions as bashing, i love the idea of improvement. i just don't want repeats of stores like where i work where we'll carry the fish but not a solution for housing that fish. free range of carrying what you want in terms of fish is nice, but even as you said being responsible and offering the filtration and tanks needed are another thing.

on a side note, a a beginner i loved the look of tsn's (still do) my gf bought me one as a gift neither of us having any idea of what size these things attain, the store didn't offer much help either. this is why i just don't like seeing fish that get xxl in stores. i knew fish, and thought i had an idea of this one, until i joined this site (after which a buddy of mine does have an indoor pond set-up we planned to move it into when it got large). somehow that tsn has never grown into a beast, it's still around 9-10" and lives in that 220. how/why i have no idea

 

[Great Basin Benji]

Airborne,

Not to bother, but any word yet on a list of Stores (or Cities) around the country that will be a part of this program, other than yours?

 

[MattHix63]

still concerned. chain stores always have cards up with info that isnt all that great and get many less experienced people who may buy a more rare fish and not know what they are getting into. but a good selection would be nice overall as petcos are common and can be found in most areas. i gotta drive a lil to get to the lfs.

If you're looking for a good store in San Diego, one of the original stores we did this with is the Carmel Mountain store off the 15 at Carmel Mountain Rd. Ask for Jeff.