No way, a good PetsMart?

[Rocketman]

Yeah, you heard it. I've found a PetsMart that takes good care of the fish! You wouldn't believe it. THey mark all the Aggressive, Community, Special Care, Goldfish, Cichlids, Semi-Aggressive fish with a different color proce tag. Then, they have a special little tag that tells you if the fish like schooling, etc. I picked up fish for 3 tanks the other day, and they wouldn't let me leave without me first explaining that I have 3 tanks; I wasn't putting all these fish in one tank. The fish are very healthy looking, and the tanks very well aquascaped. In one tank, (I would say, maybe 20-30 gallons for each fish,) There was one Needlenose Gar with a bunch of floating hornwart, and he was happy as... well, you know.

One Red-Tailed Shark to a tank too. A whole section for cichlids. Their test kits where cheaper than Big Al's. And, as if this wasn't enough, they have wonderful live plants and mystery snails, and a great selection of feeders.

On top of all that, everything is covered with a 100% 14-Day, (2 weeks, thats right,) gaurentee.

Buitiful, huh.

This is the PetsMart:

Rochester Hills, MI
1116 S Rochester Rd
248-652-6537

Pay 'em a visit.

[ChilDawg]

Dang, that's a nice selection...other than that, there's a Wal-Mart in my town with the same properties...Bloomington, Ill's W-M is the best one I've seen...they may even listen to me and change the max. size of Pacus! I hope you enjoy shopping at your chain as much as I will at mine :)

[sillymikey]

my LFS is about 50 minutes away. when I dont have the time I visit the Petsmart thats about 15 minutes away and their stuff is pretty cheap. SOMETIMES I talk to some people and they know what Im talking about, but sometimes, I'll get an associate that'll give me the "deer in the headlights" looks whenever I ask somethin.
Their fish look pretty decent, I've yet to buy from them though

[cdawson]

our petsmart out here is good too, it sounds exactly the same as the first post.

[irishspy]

That's the same feeling I had when visiting my local Petco in west Los Angeles. The tanks were clean, the fish seemed healthy, and the staff were taking care of them. I almost fainted. :eek: :D Really, they are much better than any of my local LFSs, though I found a good one a bit farther out. If I don't feel like driving there, I'll feel comfortable with this PetCo.

(Now watch, everything there will go to heck and then one of you will go in and wonder what I was smoking! ;) )

--Anthony

[NJ Devils Fan]

I wish there was a petsmart around me that was that good.

[BluEyes]

It all depends on who's working there - chain stores can be just as good (or as bad!) as any "mom-and-pop" store...

When I lived in Va, there was one pet shop where the owners (mom and pop!) didn't know a darn thing about fishes. Yet, they had several racks of tanks and lots of fish. They just seemed to have fish there because they felt that a pet store should have fish. Well, depending on who the hired help was this week, the fish would be either good, poor, terrible, dying, or dead...

OTOH, one of the chain stores (coincidentally, I think it was a petsmart) was excellent. About half the store was fish, and the head fish lady was either the general manager, or assistant manager. There was such an incredible selection of fish - always clean and healthy. Huge selection of african cichlids, killies, asian aro's, stingrays, etc, etc. They even had a huge setup with MH lights and several 120 or 180g tanks just for FW plants.
Guess you can't judge a book by its cover...

[Tyler718]

I have been to all three of the Petsmarts in my town. They all ranged from real good to real bad. As stated earlier, it's who's working in the store. But from IMHO there is more bad stores than good stores. If you happen to be near a good chain store feel rather lucky.:)

[morleyz]

Definitely the Petsmart by me is one of the better that I've seen. They take exceptional care of everything...everything is clearly labelled, there's plenty of info about each fish, and most of the staff I've dealt with or overheard seem pretty knowledgable.

[damion]

Arowanas at a Petsmart? I was told once that Petsmart won't carry Aros because they object as how the babies are obtained. The male has to be killed to release the babies from the mouth.

[morleyz]

why would you have to kill the male to get the babies out? Sounds like they would be extinct if the male ate all the fry everytime they bred. Anyway, I did some quick searching because I had never heard that before and didn't find any support for you claim...have any resources to back that up?

[damion]

The male cares for the babies when they are born. The babies instinctively enter the mouth to escape harm. (mouthbreeder) Therefore, to extract the babies, I would think you somehow have to get the male to open it's mouth and a full grown male won't be too cooperative. No concrete evidence to back it up though. Just my 2 cents.

[blitzen25bm]

arowanas do not need to be killed to get the babies, go to www.dragonfish.com and click on any link showing harvest or breeding. basically they just catch them and force their mouths opens to get all the eggs out. i thjnk it would be a little stressful at times but they aren't hurting them. i think they dont sell arowanas because noone would buy them because of price. i saw a 4 inch one there once but it was about 80 bucks. john

[damion]

That's good to know. But $80 for 4", that's kinda steep. What kind of aro for that price? Hopefully, not a silver.

[morleyz]

And just FYI damion, there are many species besides the arowana that are mouthbrooders. Keep in mind that even if someone didn't extract the eggs/fry, eventually the fish would let them go anyway...isn't that the purpose of breeding in the first place?

[125gJoe]

The PetSmart here is above average, but Pet Supermarket has better fish tanks and water quality. They actually have better tanks than most of the LFS's here. Walmart is another matter..

[Frank_Carr]

I have 3 PetSmarts within easy driving distance. I've found a lot of variation in knowledge levels between the stores as well as the quality and quantity of their stock. The care level has almost always been very good.

Another thing I've like about PetSmarts has been their response to consumer complaints. A couple of years ago I complained about the mistreatment of a large macaw by an employee and I got calls from not only the store manager but the district manager and somebody at corporate HQ as well and they took action necessary to protect the birds from further abuse.

Speaking of other fish/pet stores...I also have a PetLand that's not too far away. They have a well run fish department with a wide selection of fresh, brackish, and marine fish as well as a lot of plants. However, I hate buying anything from them because they sell 'puppy mill' dogs and they don't take good care of their birds and small mammals.

[SBee]

yeah the Petsmart here sounds just like the one described in the opening post. Sometimes you'll run into a few people working there who don't seem to know too much, but overall, I've found their prices to be best and their fish to be healthy.

Our LFS seems to attract a lot of people though, who have, IMO, a misunderstanding that smaller stores take better care of their fish...when almost all of the fish I've purchased there died within a few days. Furthermore, while the owner insists that his prices are better than Big Al's and Petsmart, I disagree. He's like an old car salesman...there's very few price tags on merchandise, so when you ask him "how much is this?" He'll be like "hmmm well, I see you in here often, so I'll give you a deal!...." but then you KNOW he just charges you more for other things you're buying at the same time. Drives me INSANE!! Needless to say, I don't go there much anymore.

[Converseballer]

yeah My nearest Petsmart is great! Its better then most lfs. Its where i get all my fish!

[ChilDawg]

First of all, it is the female Aro which carries fry (AFM, Sept. 2002), and secondly, the babies are released by her while in the net and she is left to swim away and hopefully have another brood. Now, if you have sources that say that mouthbrooding male Aros are killed in order to bring baby Aros into the hobby, I would like to see them. Otherwise, that is just hearsay and should be stricken from the record in this thread.

[damion]

Morleyz, Since I have firemouth cichlids, I know that aros aren't the only one who gathers the fry in their mouths. You are correct that the adult "let them go anyway" but isn't that until the sacs disappears?
Childawg, according to the site Blitzen25bm gave and other info on the web sites, there seems to be some conflict as to who takes care of the babies once they are hatched. I was under the impression that the male takes that responsiblity.
I apologize for citing hearsay at this forum. I'm new here and didn't know that everything needs to corroborated before posting.

[morleyz]

It doesn't HAVE to be corroborated...it's just a good idea.

[ChilDawg]

Damion, sorry about that...I was a little rude. I sometimes do not have patience for hearsay because I have been forced to cite almost everything I write since I was born. I am glad that you have a source behind you. I think part of the problem could be the fact that, while you are referring to the Asian Arowana, I am going with the one that can legally be wild-caught, the Silver. (I am sure that other ones can be legally wild-caught, but I cannot recall from off the top of my head.) Perhaps there is a difference between the two, or perhaps captivity has done some strange things to the Asian Bonytongue. As for the killing of brooders, I hope that we can agree that it doesn't happen, except inadvertantly or illegally. If not, I really would like to see a source and some action taken against the collector who would do such a thing.