You Wont Believe What Petco Did!! This is Outrageous! They Sold Me Fish!! Total Click Bait Title!
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 13 ส.ค. 2019
- 👨👨👧👦 Get all the extra benefits by becoming a channel member. / @kgtropicals
Check out our brand new website and shop for all of your aquarium supplies and fun merch!
keepfishkeeping.com
Wanna send us something?
PO BOX 742
Edenton NC, 27932
🛒 Links to popular products we use:
Seachem Tidal Filters: bit.ly/3fjkjXF
Sicce Shark ADV Internal Filter: bit.ly/390JuKn
Fritz Guard: bit.ly/3csfNUR
Fritz Complete: bit.ly/3spgtQi
Fritz Dark Water: bit.ly/3sx49gQ
Fritz Betta Guard: bit.ly/3svhExw
Aquarium Salt: bit.ly/3svcIsz
Algae Remover: bit.ly/3sx8nVR
Plant Fertilizer: bit.ly/31lwGKy
General Cure: bit.ly/2PcjXr1
Paracleanse: bit.ly/2NXlqkm
Maracyn: bit.ly/31n8dVh
Ick Medication: bit.ly/3fkZZoS 👨👨👧👦 Get all the extra benefits by becoming a channel member. / @kgtropicals
Check out our brand new website and shop for all of your aquarium supplies and fun merch!
keepfishkeeping.com
🛒 Links to popular products we use:
Seachem Tidal Filters: bit.ly/3fjkjXF
Sicce Shark ADV Internal Filter: bit.ly/390JuKn
Fritz Guard: bit.ly/3csfNUR
Fritz Complete: bit.ly/3spgtQi
Fritz Dark Water: bit.ly/3sx49gQ
Fritz Betta Guard: bit.ly/3svhExw
Aquarium Salt: bit.ly/3svcIsz
Algae Remover: bit.ly/3sx8nVR
Plant Fertilizer: bit.ly/31lwGKy
General Cure: bit.ly/2PcjXr1
Paracleanse: bit.ly/2NXlqkm
Maracyn: bit.ly/31n8dVh
Ick Medication: bit.ly/3fkZZoS
I hope that Petco staffer is given a hefty raise. That’s professionalism on display.
No she needs own it
Lord knows Petco needs some professionals
She warms my heart. I'm glad she spared those guppies.
LOL for dripping water all over on floor? Nah
@pyip why are you hating?
Thank you for sharing about your visit John! We appreciate your support, your tanks are amazing. We hope your neon tetras are doing well, keep your eye on the mail! 🐟❤️
We got it today, that’s very kind of you! It will be put to good you I can assure you!!
Not getting paid eh, seems fishy to me 🐟
B Animations lol why would they be sending him a gift in the mail if he was paid?
B Animations not sure how sponsorships work but I would assume that the sponsor pays the guy before he promotes their business
Petco your fish are doing better but you still need to fix some of your reptile sections. I saw an adult male vailed chameleon house with a adult female chameleon, told the manager and came back a week later still nothing as change.
I've witnessed an employee at my local Petco discussing fish and her compassion shows. Every time I go in there she has a crowd around her listening to her every word. I've heard her deny parents wanting to buy their kids fish then she looks at the tank they have and she says not with that size tank you're not. I guess her managers respect her knowledge because she's been there for years now.
Lol exactly be nice least get a 10 gallon for the kids first betta fish. Now those 30-60 cent gold fish.
Workers usually have the right to deny service to potential bad pet owners. At least I know I do
Yeah, I was instructed to do that when I had that job
The only time this becomes a problem is that I am a younger hobbyist who had multiple fish tanks and I have quite a few 55 gallon tank and a 125 and a couple other smaller tanks that I’ve worked my you know what off to get and I tried to buy some parrot chiclids for my new 75 that I had just set up and she wouldn’t sell them to me because she thought I was lying even though she checked out the tank just 3 weeks earlier
thats awesome but im not so lucky
one time i was at a different fish store and we got some endlers and when the guy was trying to scoop up some endlers he hit one and it died. he was like oOpS and i was so mad
Honestly, that ought' to be the most friendliest employee I've ever seen! This employee *actually* cares about fish and isn't one of those careless people. :-)
I was at PetSmart and these crack heads came in wanting to buy a bichir for a 5 gallon tank and the worker refused service. They went to the manager freaking out, but instead of getting mad at the employee, they called a bunch of Petco and PetSmarts in the area to warn them.
Freaky Star271 when I was like 12 and didn’t know anything a tried to buy a flower horn (it was like an inch) from a pet store near me and they turned me down when I said I have a good 10 gal tank
Dont get it? Care to elaborate? I'm totally new to fish
...nvm I got it...ummm although the cashier did sold a small .8 to like almost 1 gallon for my baby betta tho...he said at that age it's ok to...but idk. A lot of vids are like they need a lot of space than that. The lady who was helping him was giving more infos tho so that's how I gotta know wat and why I need to buy for bettas
solitary.witch 007 talk about poor info. Bettas need a minimum of 2.5 gallons. Though mine are spoiled and have 10 gallons to themselves
Autumn leaf nice!
I'm not allowed to go to Petsmart without my wife because I always come home with fish lol
once I was supposed to go to petco to get bird food. I came back with a betta.
Even when my wife goes with me I still somehow convince her I need another fish lol
Thank you for this. As a PetSmart petcare specialist it's very disheartening to see so many on TH-cam bashing me and my team. Most of us at my store spend our own time researching husbandry and researching the quality of products. I wish people would understand that it's unreasonable to walk into a petstore having done no research and expect an associate to tell you everything you need to know about fishkeeping or any other pet in five minutes or less.
Amber Hopp, I agree! But I am also at a cross roads. I know people who have went to petco or Petsmart, asking about what a hamster needs, and leaving with a hamster and a cage that takes up ruffly 60 by 40 cm2. Or says that goldfish only need 1 gallon per. You should not have to say everything, and to be fair, the people should resurch beforehand, but you should at least say some important facts, and not just say what is easy for you to say.
I’m sure your store is not like that, and it’s so great that your resurching about the products you sell! But some stores are not great. Thus going to show that it’s not Petco as a whole, it’s the workers, and managers of the particular problematic stores that are the problem, and we should target fixing the problems of each individual store, and educating workers, instead of trashing the whole company!
Also, the problem of the workers selling fish to people with bad setups is a problem. I definitely think it’s an easy fix, and I can already tell people at Petco are improving, and that is super exiting!
"And guess what happened to every single one of them...."
"No no no no no no! "
"They're all perfectly fine "
😏🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
That was pretty slick lol
Also, I just read the full title, "Total Click Bait Title!" LEGIT killed me, I died laughing!!! XD
Ikr
Pretty much why I clicked😂
How awesome was she? Please go back and film with her again.
agree, that lady was awesome. Hey, 'lady' if you happen to read this comment, you have a lovely personality and literally put a smile on my face (and yups, even giggled lol). Can I be your official first aussie fan girl lol
Maybe she can become a regular guest on the channel?
Why she's not special there are more employees that are a lot more knowledgeable.
@@ask-mw5hk youre fun
She was great!! I loved her too
Yes!!! I love her so much! The world needs more people like her
It really depends on the people work on each stores tho. It can be the same brand shop but different way of service. Nice vid!
well then it sounds like we as consumers should be showing videos like this to management in stores that dont meet our standards...
*EXACTLY* what I said about the stores in my area on their last video. Not naming towns, but the difference between the east side & north side (for one company) then the west side & north side (the other company) are night & day. We got the best & the worst in the Baltimore area. Further proof that these issues are a store by store issue, not a company wide one....
kevin banal So true! 🙌🏾
TheKiwiSage You do realize we don’t control what we sell or where we have to put them...
Definitely depends on the employees! I may not know too much about aquatics, but I am my store’s specialist with reptiles + exotics and I am constantly learning about the animals we have. I may not know everything about them, which I always disclose to my guests and always encourage them to do their own research.
As someone who worked at PetSmart, I greatly appreciate you saying these things! We had a lot of customers who get upset at us for telling them they would need a bigger tank or a different kind of fish for the size tank they have and it usually ended with them saying something along the lines of "Well you don't know what you're talking about!" and walking out. I must say that is one kind of customer I was never upset to lose. If they didn't care about the animals I was caring for at work all week or sometimes all month long, I didn't want my little friends going home with them. Employees at these places are not supposed to turn down a customer unless they are not old enough to buy the animal, but I did several times as I could not justify any reason to ever send an animal where I knew it will be going into a neglectful/abusive home with too small of an enclosure, tank, or cage. Taking care of the animals was always a priority.
I blame the stores and the manufacturers of fish tank kits. If really nothing should live in a fish bowl or a tank under 5 gallons, why are they selling them? Why do they put a picture on the box of a 3g tank of a goldfish? It makes the employees look like a$$h@les for denying the sale.
It's awesome when you're happily vibing with an aquatically-inclined new friend, as the fish person at Petco talks to their fish while netting them, much like you yourself would. Love the "goofball" fish and kitten!
It really depends on the store. There is a petco by me with the BEST fish and a petsmart that seems like it's trying to be the worst in the world
That is how it is where I live to
Same for me. It really depends on the workers, at my petco there is someone who is very knowledgeable but our petsmart is a bunch of kids who don't really know anything about the aquarium hobby.
Totally, I actually went out of the way to thank my local Petco fish department manager and asked him if he had a background in fish keeping because his tanks always looked so much better than I usually see....
Turns out he is a retired zoo keeper from the St. Louis Zoo!
My PetSmart is great
Same here. We have a Pet Supplies Plus that's great, and a PetSmart that's pretty bad.
We all know Petco is not the enemy *glares at Walmart"
I wish my Walmart had a fish section I would have more variety of fish and plants
Your Walmart still sells fish
My Walmart don’t sell em anymore which I’m glad because the fish they sell are just ded
I don’t have walmart
@@sokritlun1624 I hope ur joking lol
This lady is absolutely amazing! It's good to see someone who's there because she wants to be instead of just for money. Well she did say she wasn't a pet person but she still took her job seriously and learned about the pets she was handling.
This lady is awesome! Unfortunately a lot of the time in retail, you feel unable to decline service either for fear of getting abused by the customer or being reported to head office who won't be understanding and will probably force you to call the customer and apologise... Good on this lady for standing up for her ethics and the fishes' welfare.
PS. Your cat near the end of the video is adorable 😍
Ya I refused service once in retail, got a call from management within like 30 minutes because the person complained to the cashier
PetSmart and Petco is fine. Walmart was a different story though. Lol
I've actually had good luck with my closest wallyworld. The Tiger Barbs I got from them are awesome. That said, I have been inside walmarts that looked like little jonestowns.
Didnt Walmart stop selling fish? All the ones around me did.
I think walmart stopped due to the cruelty and the awareness against them, they were bound to get sued so they just got rid of them.
The last aquarium setup I had was back when Walmart still sold fish... the fish that lived the longest for me and never got sick were the ones from Walmart. It depended on the store and the employees, just like petco and petsmart....
Back when they still sold fish, I went into a Walmart that had a tank with almost every fish in it dead. The fish I got was a fancy goldfish that lasted about 5 months. She died due to my own stupidity and over stocking the tank. Maybe I'll find one like her, and give them their own 10 gallon with a school on neon tetra to keep her company
I love that lady! I’m so glad to see someone who cares about fish. Bless her 😊 it’s also nice to see people in the hobby like yourself that take really good care of them and give them a good life.
This woman is fantastic! Bless her love for the animals and watching out for them!
That woman was great! She seemed like she was lots of fun and actually cared. Pet stores need more employees like her. 👍🍄😎
She’s awesome ! What a star that petco lady was,
I want to meet that Petco employee, she seems absolutely wonderful
I am really happy to see that PETCO still has employees that are professional and compassionate about fish... May god bless them and make their kind prosper.
It really just depends on the employees and the specific store
Whether your particular Petco, Petsmart, Pet Supplies Plus, or any other large chain store is good or not depends on who is managing the store and who they have running that department.
@Le Baguette My sister works at a pet supplies plus, a kid and his mum came in and tried to get 10 beautiful guppies for a 2.5 gallon bowl. My sister instead recommended for them to get a 4 gallon and a betta if their price range was low. They did just that! My sister told me that they also got the supplies needed.
i work at a petsmart and we only have 1 employee that really doesnt care about the animals out of the like 10 people in the pet care department. we refuse to sell animals especially fish all the time because they were going to the wrong size enclosure/tank or they just didnt know enough for us to be comfy selling them. we've had corporate called by some pet parents and we dont even care because our store leaders and all of our managers are like animals and their well being are above customers wants
Agree 100%. THANK YOU for making this video. I’m so tired of people BUYING fish from big box stores and saying they were “rescued”.
Today I went to several "pet" stores looking at the aquarium supplies, including 'mom & pop' stores. They were all poorly stocked, over priced, not very friendly and most were smelly. I went by a Petco and WOW what a delightful difference! Super clean , great selection on everything, fair prices, even lots of plants and a great Betta selection! The employee that helped me was super smart!
I will return to Petco!
Glad you made this video. They are not the enemy to fish or consumers.
Yay thank you for this video! After getting into fish keeping I felt shamed watching videos of the pros talking about where they get their equipment and fish and I couldn’t afford to spend the money on some of those things. But PetSmart allowed me to pursue this hobby without going into debt over it. And bar one questionable PetSmart, I’ve had great experiences with the fish & employees :)
Thank you for this. As an aquatic specialist at Petco I put my heart and soul into my tanks and I keep up on the latest care, tips, tricks, and knowledge of fish keeping. It isn't an easy job and every time I'm forced to sell a fish to a mean customer who doesn't care if kills a piece of my soul. Even if they are 36 cents, they don't deserve life in a bowl or tiny tank. Some pet stores are horrendous, but it's not all. Some us put everything into the job and love every single animal in our care.
Same I do as well at my store
Brittany Pearce I love that. I wish you would represent a store with the same standards
As do I in my store. I'm full time aquatic specialist and part time school for marine biology. I may have rough days, but I never care less about the lives or well-being of the animals
I was at an exotic veternarian to have my umbrella cockatoo checked out,mind you this vet was exspensive,and there was a petco employee there with a bearded dragon to be seen by the vet.I was impressed i don't remember what the lizards problem was but it probably wasn't a cheap fix.Iv'e been spending money with them ever since.
Next time you're in the store can you please thank that lovely lady for me.
my local petco is a GREAT store, clean and well cared for and when I first started out They helped me test my water and explain what the results mean and how to fix it, Petsmart is a lot worse with routinely dirty tanks and dead fish. When I asked why the tanks looked so terrible a store worker said its because corporate office doesn't see the value of hiring fish experts and hiring dedicated experienced employees to work in that dept. An employee tried to sell me an Oscar for my 45 gallon tank so of course I schooled her a bit on how wrong and abusive to the Oscar that would be...I did however buy a 125 gallon tank, fully assembled stand with 3 glass lids and led lights for $700 which for my area in Oregon are hard to find! My 4.5 yr old Red Oscar was in a 90 gal prior so he's much happier now. His roomies are 4 blue dot gouramies I threw in from another tank because they were bullys, its been about 9 months and they all get along amazingly well. The Oscar was a Walmart rescue and nearly died several times. I knew nothing about how to care for him so I'm so happy Petco was there as a resource
I'm glad that you have good experiences with the big box stores. When I go in (different chain) there's at least one dead fish in each tank, a bunch of zombie bettas in jars, and 0.1 gallon betta tanks prominently displayed. One of these stores was shut down for animal cruelty recently (not against fish, mostly small mammals and dogs, but fish weren't doing great either).
My local fish store never has dead fish in the tanks, each tank has it's own sponge filter, there's shrimp, there's plants in every tank, female bettas are in 150 gallon planted tanks, males are in divided 40 gallons, and there's a prominent sign that says 'bettas will not be sold unless your tank is heated filtered 5 gallon minimum.'
There are good people working at the big chain stores, but the stores themselves don't facilitate that. I knew a guy who worked at a chain store, who on his own initiative drew a picture to scale on the tanks of how big each fish would be full grown. He works at the local fish store now.
Thank you for posting this video. I'm the aquatic specialist at my Petco. I strive to give all fish that arrive in my store the best care possible and ensure that when they go to there homes they have the best quality life possible.
I have more fish that are still alive from petsmart than my small pet stores
I went to my local petco for fish recently, had gotten a corn snake & supplies from them in the past. Store is always clean, animals all well cared for & no dead animals. Staff is super helpful & knowledgeable, they ask me all the right questions ensuring I'm not using too small of a housing or products that can be harmful. I love that place so much, even offered to test my water since I only had tetra 5 in 1 strips. Petsmart on the other hand were obviously struggling, possibly from lack of staff of staff that care. Found several dead species of fish, & other aquatic animals as well as tanks filthy. Ran out in an upset, told my husband no we're getting fish from petco! That same petsmart years ago was nothing like that, it was so disheartening
I'm really glad you did this video because as a new aquarium owner, it's been years since I had one, we've been looking at fish all over. Good reminder to go there.
I do have to say the setting up an aquarium during covid/2020, has been interesting. I do know that the box stores now have less employees than they did before. We were in them all the time for food and supplies for our kitties, and of course we're going to look at the fish while we're there. I have noticed that the quality & care of the tanks have suffered as well as the types offered. Getting the tank I wanted was difficult, and I'm just now starting to see where supplies are coming back in. The tanks do not seem as well kept as they were before (and I think the little glow bettas are suffering the most.)
I do see however, that it seems like things are improving, and I have found a store where the employees are great and the fish look well cared for. I've also found a wonderful local fish store as well!
Thank you for all your videos! Very informative!!!
Wish you were selling bettas already, I would most definitely get one from you!!!
They petsmart in my area is trash but the petco actually has a fish hobbyist that takes care of the fish working in the fish department.
My manager (petco) once took a sick snake to the vet 4 times when it wasn't getting better, then to a different vet because whatever the first vet was doing didn't work. It recovered an was sold to a very knowledgeable person who had lots of experience with snakes. Not all managers are bad! He also is picky about his employees, he requires them to have some type of animal background and actually know what they're talking about when it comes to whatever their "expertise" is.
Thanks so much for this video! I'm a petco employee myself and everyone at my store cares so much for our animals, fish 100% included! Everyone and every store is different but most of us really care for animals. (:
Thank you so much for this. I work at PetSmart and religiously research and study every creature in my care as well as plants, it’s basically my entire life and a huge passion of mine and I always give the best advice I can give and then people on the internet talk about how if you work at PetSmart you’re a psychopath. It’s ridiculous the hatred people have for folks like me who actually care but aren’t corporate so we can’t do everything perfectly for every creature in our care.
Thank you for sharing!
I know I'm late to the game with this video, but while I would never buy a betta fish from Petco, I have bought fish from Petco that were 100% healthy!
They didn't start dieing until I introduced a fish (without quarantining it) from a LFS. I thought maybe it was Petco given their rep. So I replaced the fish that died on me at the LFS.
Same thing happened. I was pretty disappointed. When I went back to the LFS to replace the sick fish they sold me at no charge, I noticed some fish in other tanks were dead. When I brought it up to the head cashier, she just said "Oh, they're sleeping". That fish that was "sleeping" was a guppy. (Some fish do lay down on their sides to sleep such as clown loaches).
.... I walked out. Lie to me? Nope. Not happening.
Glad to see that you practice what you preach. That was a nice Olive branch offering, showing that good service can be had in a box store.
I do like my local Petco quite a bit. They have good employees that seem to care
Enjoy listening to you post just found out we are neighbors I'm from Fredericksburg .
I often visit Maryland and used to live in King George so it's cool to know you are close by! My current obsession is my crayfish tank read that I rescue from the wild while I was at work and we had to drain a pond I also brought home buckets full of what turned out to be little baby perch that I have been letting out into a creek nearby when they get too big as my crayfish do not eat them but I also have several other tank I have a shrimp community I have a very good betta tank. have non aggressive males housed together as well as females and I have lots of gouramis so I look forward to keeping up with you and maybe someday running into you in a local pet store LOL Heather Taylor Dumfries Virginia
Love your all's channel and agree 100%. My wife has worked at a few Petco stores around the area and now the assistant GM at the Hagerstown, Maryland store. It's amazing to hear about and see the amount of vet bills that Petco takes on to endure the health and wellbeing of their animals. As well as the hundreds of hours of all species animal training and knowledge courses they offer to their staff. I know not every store is run the way it should be and its hard to change a person's mind about big box pet stores, but I've seen Petco go above and beyond for the animals in their stores. It's always the small minute few that hurt the many in the wide spectrum of things. Thanks again for the great video!
You two are amazing in what you do. I could sit and pick your brains for hours!! You actually care, it's not just about TH-cam views.
Petco Lady talks to her fish, she'll do for me. 😊 That's a nice setup Lisa has, I can't wait to see the Discus in there. 😊
Just purchased my first 20 gallon tank (biggest tank I’ve ever owned). I watched a ton of your videos to prep my tank, thank you so much! I really feel like I was prepared, I had my water lookin good, added bio media and a volcanic rock, added some fish food in there. So, I went to Petco with my tank water to be tested, and was told that they could not sell me fish because my water was “too acidic”. I’m looking at this guy and I’m thinking he knows what he talking about. He tells me I have to EMPTY my tank and add PH down. Luckily, I asked another employee before I bought that $20 product. It was retested and the water was fine. I had a great experience with the 2nd guy. However, half their fish were not for sale because they weren’t healthy. I would still go back and get more fish. Petco is definitely hit or miss with how much knowledge they have in certain depts
If it hadn't been for an employee at a Petco in Glen Burnie, MD I may have not gotten into the hobby. She helped me fall in love with fish, with some help from my dad (who has been in the hobby for years)! Now I have a 36 gal & 10 gal freshwater. We even learned enough for my dad and I to start a salt tank which he had always wanted but was too scared of. For a lot of new hobbyists places like Petco are what ignite the fire for us and drive us to dig deeper and learn more. I think it's awesome that you did this video
The Petco in Farmington, Missouri has a lady who works there is the same way, about fish, as that lady. She will not sell you fish, if she knows you don't have adequate housing for them. But she does understand the cycle of life, also.
I need to go there!!
Nice video John............ Click bait titles are very annoying, you will get loads too but it's great to see this being flipped on its head, and praising these stores ,rather than dissing them. In England we have Pets at Home stores. They have been targeted the same way in their fish sales. It is nonsense as far as I'm concerned. Actually, they are the only place I've ever been to that ask you questions about your tank, before they sell them to you AND take your name,and address too. I've never had any sick fish from them either. ......Keep up your good work John and Lisa., we appreciate it !
Yes every fish I have had from there have been healthy, however the knowledge of their staff on aquariums is not exactly top notch but I know they try their best
The employees at Petco here in Casper Wyoming are wonderful. I have fish, dogs, and cats and Petco is where I get all my pet supplies.
I love my local petco! The aquatics manager is so knowledgeable and trains his staff to be knowledgeable as well!
Petco isnt bad from my experience, they cared to make sure i had enough room for my pleco in a tank. Food to feed it and cycling the tank ect.
OMG I cant believe they did that! What a horrible pet store. Selling people pets. Smh. LOL All I have left locally is a Petco and a new freshwater store so I have been going to Petco much more often since I have saltwater. I have been fairly impressed by the one in my town as well. Clean tanks, lively fish, signage on proper care of goldfish, etc.
The PetSmart here in Frederick MD is great. Ever fish I've purchased has been in great shape and all the tanks were clean.
I use a Petco in Albuquerque NM. Their aquatic department has an aquatic expert and she is awesome. She will answer any questions with sound advice. We went in to pick up a few more neon tetras. She wouldn't sell us ANY fish. WHY? One single freshwater fish had a parasite that literally looked like a hair hanging from the chin. She watches over hundres of fish yet she noticed 1 hair on 1 fish. She was genuinely worried and absolutely stressed that her fish were sick. Not gonna say her name but it starts with B.
Goldfish 🥰🤗😁 I'm so glad you got some. I enjoy my PetSmart here in town (we don't have a Petco). I feel like Norm going into Cheers....they all know me lol. I've had way more good than bad experiences but, that's to be expected with every business anyone patronizes.
I bought a tiger nerite, a zebra nerite, a yoyo loach, and a golden wonder panchax yesterday at petco.
These were the first livestock of such I ever got.
Love me some nerites! Enjoy!
I’m so glad to hear this. I do work at petco I’m the dog trainer there but I do work in the aquarium department as well. We are very particular on selling our fish. We ask lots of questions and me only sell the fish if we feel comfortable enough or unless we have no other choice. We treat all our animals as our own and we always give the right instructions on how to care properly for them. And I know we do get bashed on and that makes me upset because most of it isn’t actually true so thank you for this. You guys are great, keep doing what your doing😊
We have a Petco near us, worked with this one guy for our saltwater tank and freshwater tank. He was absolutely amazing, very knowledgable and super friendly. Always helped us out and would even give us a discount from time to time. The fish were very lively and well, that is until they were dumb enough to swim near our carpet anemone or our 4 other condylactis. The carpet he sold us was so small and he wasn't sure if it would survive. So he sold it to us discount and that baby went from about 3 or 4 inches to about a 1ft to a 1.5ft. my condys and my carpet were such babies and so sweet. Some of our longest lasting fish came from Petco and we continue to shop there.
Agreed. I am showing my son the ins and outs of fish keeping; these places can be a great resource. It all comes down to staffing. Mom and Pop or Big Box can each go bad or good.
You're on the money with that statement. I've had terrible advice given to me through the years from a certain mom n pop place that used to be around here and it was all just to get a sale. One would think that's the reason for this store to no longer be in business. Luckily my father was the person taking me around and making me a responsible and fairly resourceful and knowledgeable pet owner. Whether it was fish, reptiles and on up to dogs my dad would not let me be led astray by greedy sales clerks just trying to make a buck.
Congrats on doing the same and for keeping this hobby of ours alive and well.
My local PetSmart actually is better than my lfs in the way they treat the fish
Same here
Been in the hobby for 40 years, getting my fish from local fish stores. In the Detroit area we were lucky to have many stores that stocked a wide variety of freshwater and marine animals, many of which are no longer seen in stores. For many years I avoided buying animals from large chain stores. That being said, the fish at my local PetSmart and petco always seem healthy. PetSmart has a fairly large selection of fish. I recently got some beautiful gold red tuxedo guppies for $4 each and half a dozen African dwarf frogs from PetSmart and they are all healthy. Both are not always the most hardy until established and are doing very well. The salesperson at my local petco are very friendly, helpful, and customer service oriented. This is an experience that is becoming increasingly rare in retail environments. There I bought two 14 gallon rimless cubes for $50 each and a 6 gallon rimless cube tank for $35. Very good deal, 50% off on all Aqueon aquariums, I have never seen a sale like that at any local fish store that wasn’t going out of business. Overall as there are less local fish stores, at least it’s good to see the big box stores taking the hobby seriously.
It definitely depends on how they’re run store-to-store. Agreed. Think that even goes for other chains like fast food.
Lots of people got into the hobby going to these stores as kids.
I'm a huge fan of petsmart in southpoint. The crew there is so knowledgeable and when you have sick fish, they'll actively help you try to remedy it. I also go to Gordon's pet store in Warsaw. It's a mom and pop store, but they have a good selection, are good people, and my boys like to see Gordon the tortoise. You should check them out.
John & Lisa... Thank u, thank u, thank u!!! So grateful...Wow😊❤
NO THANK YOU!!! We'll be seeing you again soon!!!
You did so good!!! 😊 and ALL of the neons are super happy and doing great.
Girllll, your literally the best worker at a chain pet store I have ever seen! You better be the manager of that store one day, your awesome!
I live in Savannah,GA. We have a Petsmart on Abercorn Street. They have a fantastic fish department. It is obvious that they have someone or several someone's that really care for the aquariums. Everytime I have been in there, I have been impressed by the cleanliness of the tanks and the health of the animals. The staff is knowledgeable and they explain how to care for the animals that are being purchased. Not all big box stores are bad. :)
I went to my local petco today for the 4th time this month. I’ve been buying out their cherry shrimp lately. Last time there were quite a few dead fish in the tanks but I was even more disappointed to see at least 4 dead Bettas on display at close. They could be short staffed but if I worked there, no matter how busy I was I’d do water changes on the bettas and remove the dead fish. I wouldn’t want customers to get the idea that we don’t care or that the fish are in suboptimal conditions due to deaths and nitrates rising. Well maintained for the most part but he fish section could use a bit more care and attention. They do their due diligence on purchases though. “Are they going in that tank?” “Are you at least 18?” “Those can’t be housed together in a community” I do appreciate that the workers seem to know what they’re talking about. I find that to be more common at petcos than at pet smarts for some reason.
Yesterday I got another tank and a plant from Petco. Before the lady got me the plant out of the tank she recommended I wait until the tank was set up. For a plant! I was super impressed. (Have running tanks at home, so plant came home with me.)
I love this ❤
You found the right lady to film 😁
We have PetSmart here in Canada and I have been in four different shops and have not seen dirty tanks or sick fish. I spoke to one of the aquarium managers about this "Reputation," issue that is out there. She told me one of the challenges is that PetSmart at least in Canada hires the same number of people for each store. Large or small shops, it is always the same number, which could lead to not having enough hands on deck for the larger stores.
In three of the four stores I visited I talked to the aquarium folks and found them to be very proud of their aquariums and their fish. They are pretty knowledgeable as well and the tags on each aquarium has the specs on each fish plus a recommended tank size. I may not have totally agreed with their tank size recommendations but I am kind of "The bigger the better," type of person so that is on me.
All in all I like PetSmart, they are my LFS so I will continue to enjoy them!
Your right John, I feel like you were talking straight at me there at the end. Were it not for PetSmart, and Petco, I wouldn't have any Mbuna cichlids. Their is only one privately owned exotic pet store near me. They have Peacocks and lots of other really cool fish, that I've never seen before, but no Mbuna's. I would like to add, getting to see those fish you've never seen before, definitely helps to keep me interested in the hobby. I.E the Hillstream Loach, the Cuckoo Catfish, 🤯 blew my mind when I first saw them. It's the same feeling I had catching a Rainbow Darter in a creek when I was a kid. I live just south of Jackson, Ms. by the way. Fascinated that something that tinny, colorful, and just plain, beautiful could live in a little shallow, dirty water creek. A creek that very often dries up to just puddles in the deeper bends. Stuff like that is probably why I keep fish today. It just let's me be a kid again. I recently purchased 7 Rosy Red Minnows, as a direct result of watching one of your videos. Medicating in a separate tank to be safe, then they get to live with my Zebra Danios. Thanks for all of your dedication, and helpful content. I must say having lost interest for some years, and having gotten back into it, for a few years now. You have been the most helpful with info on the situations I've encountered. Much thanks, hope you keep it up, because I have no idea were this rekindled obsession may take me!
You need to work a deal with pet co to do training videos for their employees as well as their customers branded to your channel . It would be a win win
bill sandford I agree... I work at petco, I’m a fish hobbies, currently own and run saltwater but started of course with a freshwater past at a really young age, I’m happy I started my job with knowledge of aquatic life. The training videos are horrible. Lucky most of them lately will only hire for that department if you already know what your doing. I was a customer for a long time and walked in one day and was asked if I needed a job. Get to do my hobby as a job couldn’t refuse.
Love it when the kitties pop in, curious
That's what I was thinking... as soon as they panned the camera, the cat was in the bucket. LOL
This makes me feel a lot better about buying fish from petco! I can't find any local fish stores in my area, and I was worried about buying from a chain pet store due to the horror stores online.
my Petco in Hollywood, CA has THEEEEE best - absolute BEST - employee named ‘Manny.’
he LOVES the fish and has taught me so much over the last year just with his aquatic knowledge ..
Petco better hope they never lose him.
I'm so glad you and Lisa are talking about this. It needed to be said by someone that would be heard. If it was not for box stores some people wouldn't have anywhere to buy fish short of ordering online, including myself. Very nice job and very cool fish.
I love how she dripped water down the front of the tank. No really I love seeing someone else do it beside myself. lol
She was amazing.
I go to a Petco that has a fish expert. You can definitely tell when you ask another employee basic questions and then ask him any question. A lot of these people working there are just working a job. Some of them are experts in their area.
I can say the two petcos that are in my town are amazing. Had a neighbor once come to my house because went to petco to get her kids fish and was refused. She went on saying how she is in the right because that petco worker seen how she would be giving these fish a great life. She purchased a 10 gal, a filter, water conditioner, rock substrate, and wanted to get 30 male guppies. I told her I would have to side with the petco employee. I went on telling her how her tank should be cycled prior to adding fish and explained beneficial bacteria. I told her how she would be overstocking her tank with that many fish for such a small tank, I also told her that they are a tropical fish and should have a heater in the tank, I ended with how she should have more female guppies than males. I feel that petco employee really does care for the animals. This particular petco also almost fired an employee because while the employee when trying to get a crested gecko put so much unnecessary stress and stuff on the animal and didn't handle the situation properly the gecko dropped its tail.
I use Petsmart.. they have more selection than my Petco....sometimes you get knowledge people that know fishes and sometimes you don't....please can you show us how Lisa puts in her aquarium plants...I heard there is a way to put them so they get a good start for growth.
The biggest thing you can do to help get good growth from planted tanks is 3 fold. Lights, Nutrients, Co2. If you do a bit of research on the plants you want and set them up accordingly you can get some positive results. Honestly I did a 20gallon tank with an inch of soil and inch of sand on top. I put strong lights up and have trimmed my plants at least every 2 months because of growth. It's more about the planning and setup then almost anything else.
If you want a good comprehensive understanding then get the ecology of a planted aquarium by Diana Walstad or aquarium plants by Peter Hiscock.
I love the Petco that is by me, they have helped me so much with my fish hobby! I have purchased fish from them and they are all doing very well and have been for many years!
Love Petco! Went to buy a 40 gallon tank for a sump to go with my 120 saltwater. The young guy that helped us was very willing to answer all our newbie questions! You could tell he loved his job, and loved working with all thing aquatic!
I was at a pet smart getting more live plants and I overheard the employee stocking the fish deny a lady who wanted to get glowfish while buying the tank, the supplies, and the fish *AT THE SAME TIME* She told the lady she wouldn’t sell the fish until the tank was properly cycled, and that she would have to bring in a water sample to test it before she was allowed to purchase the fish. Honestly was super surprised but was really happy the person in charge of the fish knew what she was talking about
We have a similar store, Pets At Home, here in UK and it can be hit or miss too. Have found out though, that it can be the line managers atrocious treatment of staff that can make them give up and not care. Old adage, look after your staff and they'll look after your business.
Jennifer A Shepherd Yeah our p@h has phases and it all depends on whose running the departments...unfortunately the guy who ran the fish section moved to another store and now it’s gone...really bad!
Thanks for promoting positivity. I buy all my cat food at Petco Express. They don't sell fish. Always treat me like I'm a millionaire. Nothing but love.
I used to work for Petco as the animal specialist. The attitude of the employee lady is great to see. Her attitude was the same as mine. What people say bad about Petsmart, Petco, and even Walmart, is as you found out not true. I have seen videos of these places that people have taken trying to prove they are bad for a whole bunch of reasons, but the videos mostly prove nothing. The truth is Petsmart, Petco, Walmart, or any pet store, the staff arrives before opening to spot clean all animal cages, give fresh food and water, pull all dead fish, stir gravel, and scrub the front glass. As the animal specialist I checked the overall health of the animals and pulled all the unhealthy animals into our "sick room" if there were any. This all happens before any customers are in the store to witness anything bad. Sadly but not very often a customer may see something and bring it to our attention, such as a dead fish. Incidents like that are delt with immediately. Several times a day I or a Manager would "walk" the store and address any issues as well as check on the animals. I had a couple employees work under me, cleaning cages twice per week. As an animal specialist I was certified in all of the animal departments. This ment I knew about all the small animals, reptiles, and fish. I was the one that knew how and treated the sick or injured animals. If I could not treat an animal well enough at the store level I brought it to the vet. I also was the stores main aquatics specialist and maintained the fresh, and saltwater fish. All the tanks got water changes twice a week. I was so good at what I did other stores would call and ask me animal advice. Sadly after working for Petco fo nearly 10 years, they eliminated the store animal specialist position and the anima knowledge certification program as well as restructuring corporate...I was nade a cashier. I watched the quality of pet care slip. No not so bad you shouldn't shop there but the knowledge was gone. I knew how to care for the animals not just blindly do the Petco animal care standards way. I also saw that the ones helping customers get pets do not know more than what the generic care sheets say. Unfortunately the care sheets are vague and most say the same thing even when the care has some differences. If customers asked any technical animal question they were sent to my register. Soon after the corporate restructuring we got a new manager. Then a new hired assistant manager. The assistant manager came from a GNC and new nothing about pets or pet stores. I ended up training her how to do her job and about pet care. Sadly after she felt trained(and she needed more) she thought she was better than anyone and could do the job better. As a result I would argue with her on how she handled the animal departments. She would for instance bag up goldfish, tetras, and cichlids together in the same bag for the customers kids 5-10 gallon tank. I would have to explain to the customer she really doesn't know fish care and why these fish can not live together and why they should not get them for a small tank that they are just purchasing. As a result of incidents as these she got tired of looking bad so she found a way to get me fired. It is ok I made a stink and with the help of other store managers I have worked for she was fired. Most of that is beside the point. My point is that Perco and Petsmart are no different than any other pet store and do a decent job of pet care and even I shop both places. Petsmart in my opinion these days is I bit better than Petco, since Petco sold most of there stores to and partnered with "Pet Coach". In Pet Coach stores they don't even sell pets, but specialize in dog and cat grooming and vet care as a money saving club you have to sign up for and join to use and pay a monthly fee.
That's the marine portion of the store, but as a previous hamster owner, I still appreciate the foods and toys they offer to every pet, same goes for treats and necessities.
I'm so glad you made this video. I go to my local Petco way too often and I've always had great service and the people that work there are always amazing.
You know the reality is, each Petsmart and Petco is different. In my case, my Petsmart is terrible. So many dead Goldfish... However, Petco takes good care of them.
That was nice! I recently had a bad petsmart experience where the employee was telling a mother and daughter that they don’t need to buy water conditioner for their goldfish bowl because the live plant they bought would do all the work 😢
I work at a petco and one time this guy was buying a new mini bow (I think it was a 2.5 but def was not the 5 gallon) came up to me and said ‘my sons fish died can I get (now this number might be a bit off from what he actually asked me) 10 GOLDFISH’. I explained to him how he needed a much bigger tank and how it’s dangerous to put so many in a small tank. The guy fought because in his eyes ‘we don’t know anything’ after I repeatedly explained to him all the reasons it’s a bad idea and then said ‘well I’ve done it before’. Guy left aquatics section angry. Not sure if he was the ‘let me speak to your manager’ person or not but there was no way I’m sending an animal off to their demise all because a customer has done it before so that means it’s okay.
In California petco has a sale going on 5 for $5.
Yaaa here too!
Same! A dollar for gallon right?
Wish mine would but then I have a feeling we have no fish left 😂
Your right john, i missed tank talk live, but i know understand you point. Big box petstore arent the bad guys. I still think some petstores may not have the best quality fish. Also tell the manager of that petstore to give the employey in the video at the petco a RAISE! Im really glad she knows fish are living things!!! We need more of here in the fishkeeping hobby and in the pet industry in general! You should ask her to be a guest on tank talk live.
The petco I work at is the only freshwater fish store within like 50 miles and the amount of work we put into the care of those fish is insane and the amount of customers we get just for aquatics is ridiculous. I love it
I work at Petsmart, the best way to get fish is to go slowly, get them used to the bet by introducing it slowing and you can get a nice amount. Also, like he mentioned, the bigger nets are better to grab smaller fish. Tetras a bit of a pain in our tanks because 4 tanks are hooked up with small holes in the middle so they’ll got to a different tank to get away lol
My Petco is great as well! I live in south Florida. Especially with there fish department. Very knowledgeable. Great video..love you guys! And the tank and neons look amazing!
What a lovely employee😍😁😁
I have to say, my local petco (Clinton, CT @Petco if you're reading) has been phenomenal since I took over care and maintenance of my stepson's 10 gallon tank. So informative and compassionate about their stock, that I actually set up a 36 gallon bowfront and bought fish from them. 6 emerald green corys, 8 black neon tetras, and a Black Veil Angelfish. I can't stand seeing people bash them, they are awesome!
I spent 7 years in southern MD and had no idea y'all were down the street. I lived in Waldorf. Wow! Great Content keep it up!