I work at Petco, which roughly translates to Petsmart, and I'm pretty disappointed in our selection. Up here in Minnesota, there's a bunch of Petcos and a few Petsmarts, and we all pretty much have the same thing. A few African, S.A.s, tetras and million varieties of livebearers. Occasionaly we get something interesting, like Protomelas spilonatus and a few kinds of Meytinnis, but mostly the "rarest" thing we carry are black ghost knifes and gold nugget pl*cos.
petsmart v/s jeff rapps
- Thread starter palehorse78
- Start date
The quality varies greatly from Petco/Petsmart to another one in the same area.
I have walked in to a nearby Petsmart and seen them fish out a 2.5gal bucket of small fish. "The power went out last night" I was told.
Next time I was there it was the same thing! - I think they need a generator.
Other things observed: JDs , GTs and jewels all in the same tank are sold as JDs. There is a large amount of fish mislabeled. The employees will tell you they are NOT.
A large amount of dead fish in the tanks(over half the tanks contain dead fish).
A petco in a nearby town always has ick in all their SW tanks .
Another Petco has all their SW tanks covered with algae and half have no fish(looks the same for over a year).
There are a couple of petcos I go to that have clean tanks and pretty wellinformed employees. One actiually has different/interesting species.
The problem is that there are so many Petcos/Pesmarts around and if you go into one that has poor employees and filthy tanks full of dead fish, it gives the whole chain and name a bad reputation.
I have walked in to a nearby Petsmart and seen them fish out a 2.5gal bucket of small fish. "The power went out last night" I was told.
Next time I was there it was the same thing! - I think they need a generator.
Other things observed: JDs , GTs and jewels all in the same tank are sold as JDs. There is a large amount of fish mislabeled. The employees will tell you they are NOT.
A large amount of dead fish in the tanks(over half the tanks contain dead fish).
A petco in a nearby town always has ick in all their SW tanks .
Another Petco has all their SW tanks covered with algae and half have no fish(looks the same for over a year).
There are a couple of petcos I go to that have clean tanks and pretty wellinformed employees. One actiually has different/interesting species.
The problem is that there are so many Petcos/Pesmarts around and if you go into one that has poor employees and filthy tanks full of dead fish, it gives the whole chain and name a bad reputation.
one of my main pet peeves "pardon the pun" is that those petsamrt guy wil tell you your wrong when you are a hundred percent right.one guy was telling me the ronly way possable top get a flowerhorn is to mix a tirmac and midas that is the one and only secret to getting a flower horn .i aid its alot more fish than that that makes them.he told me i was wrong and he have did alot of reserch.
I'll admit that UPS NDA is expensive, but Jeff has always treated me right. I have 2- 90's and a 75 grow out and the only thing in them that didn't come from Jeff is the plecos and the upside down cats. WHENEVER I've had a problem, he has worked with me and I am very satisfied. I trust him and know I'm getting the real deal. THis is not to say I wouldn't get the real deal somewhere else!!! With Jeff, though, it ain't a "hit and miss" kind of thing.
When you ask about a Midas or a Dovii or a Crench, Jeff knows. My last order from Jeff, yesterday, I even told him to pick out the best pike and add it to the rest of my order. I am pleased. THat's trust when you tell the "salesman" to sell you what he thinks is the best!!
When you ask about a Midas or a Dovii or a Crench, Jeff knows. My last order from Jeff, yesterday, I even told him to pick out the best pike and add it to the rest of my order. I am pleased. THat's trust when you tell the "salesman" to sell you what he thinks is the best!!
I have bought some African cichlids from Petsmart and at first I was worried about the purity of the species. To my surprise, the fish grew up to be of good quality and authentic to the labeled names, so I went back I bought more. Petsmart sell mostly common species and so don't expect to find too many rare species. I have bought very few fish from Petsmart but so far I haven't lost a single one to desease which is indicative they do know how to take care of their fish or because they sell only common hardy species.
As for Midas, there is no pure breed Midas in the trade unless you buy wide caught fish. The Midas in the trade has been domesticated for decades and are genetically very different from the wild type due to selective breeding of the red color, and unintentional hybridization with a closely related species, labiatus. Today, with Blood Parrot in the trade, there is more genetic impurity as I start to see Midas with intense red and shorter body that resemble BP with a normal mouth.
As for Midas, there is no pure breed Midas in the trade unless you buy wide caught fish. The Midas in the trade has been domesticated for decades and are genetically very different from the wild type due to selective breeding of the red color, and unintentional hybridization with a closely related species, labiatus. Today, with Blood Parrot in the trade, there is more genetic impurity as I start to see Midas with intense red and shorter body that resemble BP with a normal mouth.
The PetSmart quality will change based upon who is in charge of the tanks and ordering for that store. They are - as in all cichlid-keeping - as good as the person in charge. So if you find a good PetSmart then the people there will likely know what they are doing. Walk around the corner to the other PetSmart and it could be a nightmare with dead fish all over. You only hope that they'll replace the incompetent.
Therefore you can't really label the institution - right?
Therefore you can't really label the institution - right?
I am working at a petco right now and the service you get completely depends on what employee is working on that day. Also half the mislabeling is from people putting fish in the wrong tanks when they come in, but the other half is from the wrong fish coming in. We got red terrors in as green terrors, and then due to inventory and who knows what else we have to sell them as what they came in as. Which sometimes sucks because the fish may be much different then what the customer expects, or it costs more then it should. But sometimes its nice if you know what you are looking at, because you can get a $10 fish for $4 because of these errors(I'm talking about when the wrong fish are delivered, not about suckering employees to give you fish for the wrong price). You really can't blame the employees for not knowing about everything in the store, because someone who is being payed $7 an hour(NJ) is not going to be an expert on everything. Some know alot about fish, some know about birds, some hamsters, gerbils, ect., some reptiles, and some know alot about several or all animals in the store. You probably get the worst service in fish when the store is short handed and someone who knows about birds gets stuck working in the fish department. I don't know what the other employees say, but if a customer asks me about reptiles I just tell them I really don't know much...some people appreciate heaaring the truth, some get very annoyed. Anyhow thats the situation where I work.
I have three LFS in my area. One I just found has and AWSOME selection of fish I have never heard of, and they have only freshwater fish, so I think they have a specialty thing going. I got my kribs there. nad I sold my 15" oscar to them cuz I thought they had great tanks. I do have to say though, hte petco that I have to go to for emergency filters etc. just got remodeled and they have new management. They got brand ney tanks and much better selection,prices, quatily, and they will special order fish.
I think I might go back to petco. My question is.. Who is "Jeff"?
P.S I though Petsmaert owned Petco... They have the same website. I think
I think I might go back to petco. My question is.. Who is "Jeff"?
P.S I though Petsmaert owned Petco... They have the same website. I think
I agree with CyberDrgn. My local Petsmart has some very good people in the Aquarium Dept. Most are not particularly knowledgable about any given species of fish, but they generally give good information like warning people about mixing aggressive fish with community fish and so forth. They are also very willing to learn from people with more experience. I've definitely shared some things with them. As far as the fish go, I definitely buy fish from them. I cannot complain one bit about the health or quality of their fish. Once I got a rogue Melanochromis parallelus in with a few M. auratus that I bought but it's pretty hard to tell the difference between those two fish when they are 1.5" long, so I can't blame them for that one. It's also pretty hard to beat their prices.
I have to say that the Petsmart here in Middletown/Hazlet turned itself around 100%. They went from ugly, crud infested tank glass and dead fish in every tank, to beautiful, clean tanks and clear water. Of all thew fish I buy, the ones at this Petsmart seem to last the longest. The staff still needs a little education on fish keeping though. I enjoy browsing the tanks to see what they have. They need to update their stock with some new species every now and then to make it exciting.
Fins and Feathers in Rumson has some nice fish ever so often, but they seem to die pretty fast. They need to spend some time cleaning their tanks. Small staff that look rather confused. They could have a nice selection of fish if only they became more knowledgable.
Pets Plus at Airport Plaza have a decent selection, but I usually have an Ich epidemic right after I introduce one of their fish to my tank. At times their staff get annoyed when you want a specific fish in the tank and try to get you to settle on whatever they pull from the tank.
Tropiquarium in Ocean, Rte.35 has the best selection with great specials. Their staff is top notch. Ralph is the best. Tells it like it is. They all know what they are talking about.
Stores need people who know what they are doing to educate the public when they buy their wares.
Billy77
Fins and Feathers in Rumson has some nice fish ever so often, but they seem to die pretty fast. They need to spend some time cleaning their tanks. Small staff that look rather confused. They could have a nice selection of fish if only they became more knowledgable.
Pets Plus at Airport Plaza have a decent selection, but I usually have an Ich epidemic right after I introduce one of their fish to my tank. At times their staff get annoyed when you want a specific fish in the tank and try to get you to settle on whatever they pull from the tank.
Tropiquarium in Ocean, Rte.35 has the best selection with great specials. Their staff is top notch. Ralph is the best. Tells it like it is. They all know what they are talking about.
Stores need people who know what they are doing to educate the public when they buy their wares.
Billy77
