ohhhh Petco

[musky48in]

Here is yet another petco horror story.

Went into Petco today to get some food for my cichlids and, as always, I looked through all of the tanks just to see what they had. Not that I would ever buy fish there; just had to make that clear. I see the usual assortment and then I come across something that I have never seen there before. Arwonias. I know I spelled that wrong, so don't go correcting me. They had them in a tank with gars. My town is pretty small and there may be one tank that I know of that will hold one of these things. I just had inquire. I asked the lady if she had any customers buy these fish. She told me they have probably had 25-30 get them lately. Ummm... What? I asked her what size tank they needed knowing all along what they really needed. She told me that I would need a tank 30-50 gallons to hold it if I kept it through adulthood. That is what I thought. Really nicely I told her that the gar would need at least a 175-200g and probably bigger and the "arwonias" (sp.) would probably need a 400g tank. You think that if they actually eduacated the customer a bit, that the fish that they sell would actuall live to adulthood and in return you would have a stronger customer base for the returning customer.

 

[windeindoiel]

I know. I see it all the time here too. Soooo many pet stores are selling gars and arawanas and all sorts of HUGE fish. And I just know that some will be bought by people who can't meet their adult (or not even that) requirements. I wish that pet stores would be more educated about the fish they sell, and it would make sense to me too, but unfortunately no such luck.



Ok I edited this to share a story. I went to a lfs and they had freshwater flounders there. I had never seen them before but I was like WOW. So I asked about them. The lady working (who is the most fish knowledgable there) told me that they would be fine in a 20 gal community tank. She really stressed the community part. When I asked what she ate she said she didn't know. So when I got home I did some research and discovered that they're brackish, they get to be 6", and they're aggressive fish. I also learned they ate bloodworms and that sort of thing so I called the pet store and told them what they eat and that they're brackish not freshwater. *sigh* It all makes me sad.

 

[nursie]

My favorite is that at the local Petsmart there is a sticker on the Pacu tank that says "Suitable for desktop aquariums"....duh.

 

[Ashes]

Wow - the Petsmart that I worked at doesn't have that sticker.

 

[musky48in]

I learned my lesson when I first started out. I told the lady at Petco that I had a 46g tank and she suggested that I get 8 bala sharks. Cool I thought, sharks. This was a long time ago before the internet was popular and I knew anything. Those suckers grew fast and then I stumbled on a pet store out of town where they had them in a 200g tank and I found out that they get huge. As soon as I could I found another pet store that took them off of my hands.

8 Bala sharks in a 46g tank.....ha I say....

Oh, I was way off with the spelling. Guess I never paid much attention since I knew I could never get one for my size tanks. "arawanas"

 

[Riso-chan]

I really dislike these pet store chains because of these scams. I also wish they wouldn't sell birds, reptiles, or rodents, they never care for them correctly. Idiots. The only thing I really value them for is there equipment and supplies. Eventhough, some places have better deals. I have two privately owned pet stores near me, and frankly they're the only ones I buy fish from. They're more knowledgeable about about the animals they sell then any others around, and usually these stores have a longer running history, one of mine is 25 yrs.

 

[Must4ng s4lly]

Yeah,
I agree it seems the bigger the chain the bigger the fish they sell! I did tell one guy at Petsmart about the needs for Pacus and he said that he always asks aquarium size and will not sell to anyone with a tank under 200. At least that is something. Still a bit too small, but maybe these stores are getting the message?/ They always have at least 6 in a tiny tank though, along with all the other fish that get absolutely huge...

 

[slipknottin]

I really dislike these pet store chains because of these scams.

It sure isnt a chain store only thing... Ive got quite a few mom n pop fish stores around here, and they jam fish into display tanks, and suggest you do the same. 15-20 frontosa in a 72 bow? Oh they fit perfectly. :huh:


I dont see many of the 'huge' fish in chain stores around here, the biggest fish are 'larger' cichlids, oscars, texas, etc.

But the private stores sell some massive fish. One sells nurse sharks quite often...

 

[Emg]

I saw a tiny baby red tail cat at a LFS in my area recently...it was only about 3 inches long and the most beautiful little fish I had ever layed my eyes on. But knowing that cats generally get rather large I left it right where it was....good thing too... I looked it up and found out those things get over a hundred pounds !!

I wonder how big the aquarium was that he ended up going to...and, if they knew just how big that guy would get and that he would eat EVERYTHING that would fit into his mouth !!

I do give credit to the girl I had asked about it. She did tell me he would need a large tank and that they are very aggressive and should be by themselves....but I don't recall her telling me they would actually need a couple 'THOUSAND' gallons to swim around in.....lol....

They have another one at the store which is in a small tank and is about at least 10 inches at present. I wonder what the store is going to do with him if they don't sell it soon.... :huh:

 

[Ramirezi]

I saw a tiny baby red tail cat at a LFS in my area recently...it was only about 3 inches long and the most beautiful little fish I had ever layed my eyes on. But knowing that cats generally get rather large I left it right where it was....good thing too... I looked it up and found out those things get over a hundred pounds !!

I wonder how big the aquarium was that he ended up going to...and, if they knew just how big that guy would get and that he would eat EVERYTHING that would fit into his mouth !!

I do give credit to the girl I had asked about it. She did tell me he would need a large tank and that they are very aggressive and should be by themselves....but I don't recall her telling me they would actually need a couple 'THOUSAND' gallons to swim around in.....lol....

They have another one at the store which is in a small tank and is about at least 10 inches at present. I wonder what the store is going to do with him if they don't sell it soon.... :huh:

i went to the central park zoo in NYC for memorial day weekend and they had a tank with i guess an adult red tail catfish, a common pleco, and some other fish, i think a pacu. the tank was HUGE! and the fish were very large. they were donated to the zoo. i guess thats where some of these tankbusters end up, at the zoo. these fish outgrew their apartment sized aquariums and if anyone has ever seen a NYC apt they'll know what i'm talking about, most NYC apts cant even hold one person much less an aquarium over 10 gals...