Im ok with the local petsmart. The only pain is explaining why you're buying so many fish at once and that the "one fish a week" rule doesnt apply when you're stocking aggressive cichlids. Or, when I buy a dozen neons and then ask for a couple SA or CA cichlids and get the blank stare for a few minutes. I guess probably 99% of their customers must have one tank?
Petsmart, Petco, etc
- Thread starter falcon1
- Start date
My lfs is great, fish are more healthy than the chain stores around here, the equipment and supplies I.e. water treatments and food cost a little more than the chains but still competitively priced enough to keep me going there vs.the chains.great staff as well.only downside is if you want something semi rare or rare as far as fish go it takes awhile to get them.but I will give them my business any day. Not that the big chain stores here are that bad.its just a really well done lfs.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using MonsterAquariaNetwork App
Sent from my SGH-T999 using MonsterAquariaNetwork App
Hi all, thought I'd add my 2 cents to this discussion being a current Petco employee. I am the Aquatic Specialist for a store that opened its doors in Massachusetts back in October 2013. As I'm sure it is not always the case, I am a recent college grad with a BS in Aquaculture Tech, I'm certain these are not the job expectations in most cases. Also being a brand new store we have 'state of the art' systems (by Petco standards) including skimmers and UV in most fresh and salt systems, with auto fill systems and LED lighting on every tank. In this more responsible chain store situation losses are really kept to a minimum, when receiving fish we should expect to lose more then 2-3 tropical fishes. Now I've been a member here since '08 and believe we're all entitled to our higher standards for keeping aquatic life, any negative opinion of Petco here I'm sure was in the best interest of the fish. As long as I'm associated with Petco I'll hold my aquatic department to a MFK standard level, but I cannot speak for every store... Cheers guys!!
Sent from my iPad using MonsterAquariaNetwork app
Sent from my iPad using MonsterAquariaNetwork app
I have some FISH enthusiast working at the petco in Greenville sc. They order any rare thing they can get there hands on and have done well enough that the manager allows them to get more because sales improved by like 100%. It depends on the stores and who works them. I have a great local guy but he is built for Saltwater and carries some freshwater.
Can't help but wonder what the issue is. Some of these chains are certainly bad, like one near me called PetCetera, which had dead fish in nearly every tank last time I went in. They received no business from me once I saw that. Then there is the local Petsmart. Helpful staff. Healthy fish. Never once brought home a disease from there. They won't even sell you one if they have one available. They are responsible upon who they sell to: if you intend upon housing neons with an oscar they will strongly suggest against it, and if you persist, refuse to sell. I have not had this happen to me, but a similar event happened while I was there. Usually the people working at the fish wall know their stuff, although once they had an employee that tried to tell me danios were live bearersBoy that was a good one. That was only once though. In comparison, my closest local owned pet shop has a crooked owner in my opinion. He sold me what turned out to be a dying elephant nose (the ones he got in later were more active and stockier in build) and refused to refund, replace, or at least discount my next purchase. Other places are decent, but over charge ($50 for a common pleco
) and some of their fish tanks are questionable in upkeep. Maybe I'm in an exception situation, but Petsmart looks pretty good for me.
There is another pet store near me that I just learned about. They claim good prices and great selection. I am going to check it out this weekend. What is everyone else's experience with these chain stores like?
It's not the store, it's the staff. One of the reasons Petsmart/co/supplies have a bad rep is because they are world wide. Take your favorite LFS and expand it by 200 stores, the ratings and reviews are bound to go down. My petsmart is super nice and knowledgeable, I don't go in their acting like a big shot know it all though like asking dumb questions trying to test them. Instead of everyone trying to bash them they need to realize and accept that all these stores aren't going to have fish geeks but rather kids trying to afford collage.
On him not refunding you for buying a "dying fish" why would you do that then want a refund? I don't blame him for not doing that, he has no idea's on what your tank conditions was, for all he knew you killed it. My actual LFS does not do any refunds on dead fish, it's a look with your eyes take as much time/days as you need but he stands by his fish/store. It's healthy and its your responsibility once you get it home.
I went to Petco in Providence the other day, since I was visiting the area. All the fish were well taken care of but there was only really common fish. The most exotic thing I saw was some kind of shrimp, and a few really adorable albino oscars.
I shop at a few different places here . but I do however get my plants and food from petsmart. there is a new locally owned exotic store that I see potential in a few years if they stay open. I have picked up a few different species from them that I never saw here before. Even though they were labeled wrong they are good quality. By far my favorite place to go is spencer jacks. 6 hour drive but well worth it .
