PETCO Aquatics is “Going Blue”

I think it’s a horrible idea. The idea of prevention and natural remedies assumes that we will be able to get to the customer early in the problem. Many times novice fish owners do not realize something is wrong until they are in need of antibiotics. Many times they have also purchased the fish from a pet store in poor health and were unaware. Furthermore, this also alienates experienced fish hobbiests who know how to use these products correctly and count on our store to provide them with their needs. I feel reduction of our product assortment will only lose customers. Instead we should train the employees on natural alternatives so that they can offer this to the customers but in the end it will be the customer’s decision.

I think this is great! You are removing pontentially toxic products and replacing them with easier and safer to use products.
It is great to have products that people can treat their entire tank with safely and effectively without a huge knowledge of medicine. I know first hand how great these products work and I’m excited about getting everything I need for my fish’s health at PETCO.

Just like with people, antibiotics are one of the most abused drugs around. Fish usually don’t need them, just like people don’t need them, but think they do.

While I do agree that experienced fish keepers will have to find another way to get antibiotics, the majority of novice fish owners misdiagnose a fish’s ailments. The most common “illness” that a novice knows is “Ich”, which ends up being their first choice for any sickness for a fish. Even if it’s something else like septicemia, or a different parasite like “Ich”, or even some sort of fungus, the majority of diseases/ parasites for fish are misdiagnosed. And antibiotics can cause more harm than good if used improperly.

Prevention is the best way to avoid any disease or anything else if you think about it. Sports injuries and automotive problems can be prevented (not completely avoided) through proper maintenance. Strength/ flexibility exercises and diet for sports, oil changes and tire rotation for cars, water changes and proper feeding for fish are all the basic/ bare minimum needed for prevention. So basically, people just need to learn more about fish, even if it’s just a little bit every month,day, etc.

Septicemia and Ick look nothing alike.
I, myself, like Coppersafe. It takes care of plenty of fish diseases. Just make sure there are no frogs, snails or shrimp in the tank. While educating customers is the proper thing to do, not all have the time to listen.
I understand there is an underlying issue and this is what usually causes the illnesses, but as Shelley pointed out, people do buy fish that are sometimes sick. Not from our store of course! Anyway, they wouldn’t need an antibiotic for the ick or fungus. In case someone misses it- we are still selling REMEDIES.
People do need to start taking better care of their tanks, period.

And Brandon- Antibiotics have saved me from several severe sinus infections and ear infections. And even tho I know how to swab my ears clean, that did not keep my inner ear healthy.
Sometimes, people DO NEED them. Doctors need to learn how to properly prescribe them. Sorry, but Natural Remedies don’t do a thing!

I am happy to see this and feel the same way Brandon does. Far to many diseases go misdiagnosed and then mistreated. If you read Matt’s article completely PETCO is not removing the means to treat an ill fish they are just preventing the improper use of antibioticts by the removal of them from the stores. Remedies will still be offered, many of which are more than adequate to control most of the common parisitic and fungal attacks on aquatic life.

Antibiotics are quite frequently overused in humans too! With the rise of the “Super Bugs” I think it’s critical we reserve antibiotics for when they are absolutely needed. Wiping out all bacteria lowers immunity over time and messes with the fine balance between good and bad bacteria. Great decision on Petco’s part to control this!

I think this is a great idea. I think many people rely on medication to much and ignore the simple tools of keeping a health tank. I think people need to be coached more on proper fish keeping and not coached on what medication to choose, because we all know most of it only covers up the issue for a short time.

You be surprised how many people I speak with that have no true idea how to properly maintain a tank and look to PETCO associates for help when there fish gets sick and are given a medication to fix the issue.

So let’s all coach those associate and customer on proper fish care and not always look for the quickest and at times not the best answer (medication).

Interesting debate! With the obvious facts about the misuse of antibiotics, I would agree that PETCO is doing the right thing by stepping up and “Going Blue”. Maybe there should be some licensing of technicians who are trained and certified to “prescribe” antibiotics or recommend a natural remedy for problems. In the meantime, training and informing the consumer is the best solution. The bottom line is, I am proud of PETCO for having the courage to take a stand on this issue. The PETCO leadership should be applauded for this one!

When we launched Going Blue, I knew this was going to be a controversial issue. Many people took it as PETCO getting out of fish remedies altogether, and reacted accordingly with anger, pessimism, and maybe even fear of change.

However there were also a number of people who took a few deep breaths and really thought of what this could mean for the PETCO and our customers. The changes that Going Blue is going to bring to our customers (and industry) are all positive. We’re going to make our fish healthier by not giving them unnecessary medication, people won’t be at any risk of handling antibiotics, and consumers will not be releasing toxins into the environment. Also, anything that could be treated with antibiotics can still be treated with other products from our store.

One concern I hear a lot is “our customers will just go somewhere else to get their meds”. We know this may happen. We know there are sales at risk. But this is the measured risk we have to take to do something positive for the aquatics industry. The EASIEST thing to do would be to continue selling antibiotics, but it isn’t the RIGHT thing to do. I’m proud to be part of a company that will do the right thing, even at the risk of lost sales. Seriously, how many times have you seen a large corporation do that? To me, it just solidifies PETCO’s mantra “PETCO, where animals ALWAYS come first”.

I hope for anyone who doesn’t currently believe in Going Blue, that you take some time to see what PETCO still has to offer our customers. Going Blue wasn’t just thought up on a whim and put in stores without consideration. This program took months to develop, and we consulted many of the top aquatic experts in the industry; doctors, fish vendors, expert hobbyists, veterinarians, environmentalists, and others all worked closely on this.

Going Blue is going to help change the face of the aquatics industry, and I’m personally excited to see it happen.

Well, when you cater to the ill-informed customer by ill-informed clerks that don’t want to be bothered, you end up with a mess. You are now penalizing experienced hobbyists due to your poor practices and poor information. When you take bettas and goldfish out of bowls and put them into proper tanks you are making a positive step forward. This is not positive for the experienced person nor their fish. The experienced person rarely turns to antibiotics as a first treatment and know the value of proper maintenance and care. The fact is your fish do come in sick or as a carrier of a sickness including Ich. Why sell “Ich” treatments when in reality they are NOT needed? Why do you sell a moron an Oscar AND a 10 gallon tank to put it in? You have no idea how many goldfish, Oscars, aggressive cichlids, and other large or aggressive fish I have rehomed because your clerks couldn’t be bothered or didn’t know any better and sold “a mess waiting to happen” and then you compound it by offering a fish replacement guarantee. You also have them sell snake-oils that don’t work. “Bacteria in a bottle and your all set” philosophy is pure ignorance. Make your customers cycle their tank BEFORE they can get a fish or show proof of a cycled tank by bringing in a water sample. Make sure your clerks know the proper way to test said water sample.

Do the hobby a favor and just quit selling fish altogether.

While I can understand Petco trying to keep inexperienced hobbyists from dumping unnecessary meds into their tanks, it leaves the experienced aquariast in a bind to get much needed medication in a hurry. Mail order is often cheaper anyway, it’s just not fast. And to have to go to a licensed technician or something like that to get proper antibiotics when needed will drive the cost of the meds up even more, something the hobby in this economy does not need. Sorry, but this is one of the most laughable articles I’ve ever read. Petco wants to teach people how to properly keep fish and maintain the aquarium properly when their employees in the store rarely know what they are doing. True expereince with fish and tanks comes from keeping them, not from a quick training session for a new employee in the back room. Otherwise Petco wouldn’t sell things like common plecos and clown loaches to customers, all the while telling them the fish will be fine in their 10G tanks! I’ve been in the hobby for more than 25 years and currently share my in-depth knowledge, via the worlds largest aquarium forum on line with thousands of other hobbyists around the world in an effort to educate people of all ages in the proper care and treatment of fish and tanks. Now that’s something that really correctly benefits the aquarium hobby!

You want to do the right thing? Forget this PR stunt. Try actually training your employees on the products they sell. You’d gain a lot more credibility through the aquaria hobbyist market if your store associates were able to recommend appropriate stocking levels and compatible community mixes, or even have some sort of idea on identifying disease/illness. I know there are some employees with a decent amount of knowledge, but they are certainly in the minority. You state that one of the driving forces behind this effort is increasing fish health – by properly training employees on species compatibility, care and maintenace, and enabling them to pass that information on to potential customers, you will do worlds more good than simply removing a handful of low-markup products from your shelves.

So what happens when the fish in store need antibiotics? Will Petco just sell the customer sick fish along with some melafix or pimafix, which to many people in the know are pretty much worthless? Big box stores already have a reputation amongst the elite of fishkeepers of being places to avoid and now Petco is “going blue” to try and make it sound as if they care. Here’s a tip teach your associates that a goldfish can’t live in a bowl, or anything else for that matter, and show the fishkeeping world that the company really does care.

unbelievable, simply another slap in the face for people who truly care enough to figure it all out. i have watched your employees do horrid things time and time again to fish and then put them in a bag with the all-to-common “this should so fine in your 10 gallon”. selling bettas and goldfish for bowls who are doomed is crazy… you guys still do that though. selling “aquatic plants in a tube”… come on guys get with the program, THEY’RE NOT AQUATIC AND WILL DIE AND FOUL YOUR WATER! and now you want to take EVERY USEFUL MED off your shelves. i think it’s good you guys paid a professional writer… oops… CON ARTIST to sell this idea, but it’s not flying here. and after shipping your fish from only god knows where to your stores i guess high altitudes they’re not made for and long trips in ammonia filled water is not the cause of all the ich and other sicknesses commonly found IN YOUR STORES… or at least the ones closest to me. it’s high time we get a little more educated… DON’T YOU THINK? MONEY IS NOT EVERYTHING. AND IF MONEY IS GOING TO BE EVERYTHING YOU MAY JUST WANT TO GIVE UP ON FISH BECAUSE I’VE SEEN WALMARTS WITH HEALTHIER FISH. THAT MEANS YOUR REPUTATION WITH THOSE WHO KNOW BETTER (WHICH BY THE WAY IS ALREADY SHOT) IS ONLY GOING DOWN HILL FASTER WITH EVERY DECISION.

here’s a thought… how about making EDUCATED decisions on when and how to treat fish. if your employees could do that then they could help those that can’t. or is that not profitable enough. i see how selling the same failures time and time again can make you more money, but it will not last forever. THIS IS A CRYING SHAME the same as so many other things that go on in your fish departments are.

i tell you what… from now on… IF PETCO IS THE ONLY PLACE I CAN GET WHAT I NEED I WILL BE GIVING WHATEVER ANIMAL I NEED IT FOR TO SOMEONE WHO CAN GET WHAT THEY NEED ELSWHERE. I AM DONE. THIS IS THE LAST STRAW FOR ME. ENJOY THE SHORT TIME YOU HAVE LEFT TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THOSE WHO DON’T KNOW ANY BETTER. THEY WILL EVENTUALLY FIND SOMEONE WHO DOES BE IT A FRIEND, FORUM, GROUP OR WHATEVER AND BE EDUCATED TO STAY AWAY FROM YOUR STORES AT ALL COSTS… GOOD LUCK.

” We’re going to make our fish healthier by not giving them unnecessary medication, people won’t be at any risk of handling antibiotics, and consumers will not be releasing toxins into the environment. Also, anything that could be treated with antibiotics can still be treated with other products from our store.”

I’m sorry, this is just wrong. Anitbiotics are necessary in many cases such as dropsy, columnaris, and severe bacterial infections. Futhermore, the “nautural meds” you sell are not effective and are deadly for some fish. There are already so many meds being dumped in to our water supply due to human use that you will not be making any change in that regard.
Train your employees better, pay them a livable wage, and inform the customer if you really want to make a difference.

I totally understand that antibiotics do work, and I have had to use them as needed (such as after surgery, or sinus infections, etc). But there are people that don’t understand that you can’t use anti-biotics on viruses/ forget that they have to finish the prescribed amount of antibiotics creating some sort of mutation of bacteria that is resistant to antibiotics. Not to mention the toxins that get released into our sewage. Sometimes patients just want antibiotics regardless of the diagnosis because it’s the only thing they know that makes them well.

As for aquariums and aquatic life, I completely agree that Septicemia and Ick look nothing alike, but ask your Average Joe/ beginning aquarist about the first “illness” they think of and 9 times out of 10, you get “Ick” regardless of what it looks like. Just like how many people just want to use antibiotics for any sickness, “Ick” is the only “illness” they know about.

Natural Remedies can be effective for both people and animals, but are definitely not the end all of medication. And of course, prevention isn’t guaranteed to stop all disease, but it’s definitely a key element.

This is a terrible idea. Sure, some unexperienced hobbiests will use the wrong medication due to lack of research, but what happens when you’re an experienced hobbiest and your fish come down with a bacterial infection and petco is the only fish store within 50 miles of you? Then what? This is going to cause more harm then good in my opinion. If you really want to help people why not educate your employees? I have NEVER been to a petco where I’ve gotten good advice about fish. They are one of the largest contributing factors that lead me to do EVERYTHING wrong in the beginning when I had my first fish. If the workers there actually knew the first thing about fishkeeping, then your sales just might go up instead of down because no one can buy antibiotics at your stores. It would be a win-win situation and you’d be saving the lives of fish instead of cutting them short.

This makes no sense to me at all. Fish get sick from a number of different things. Chasing a fish all over a tank to catch it, putting it in a bag, driving it all the way home, and then dumping into your aquarium causes enough stress on the fish to cause it to get sick. No matter if you are doing your water changes religously.No matter if you are keeping your tank stock levels acceptable. No matter if your stock is acceptable for your tank size. Fish get sick. It happens. It just makes no sense to me at all that Petco is pulling things from their shelves that will actually save fish lives. Ever watched a fish die from columaris or dropsy?? It isn’t a pretty sight. Now you are taking away the stuff that can save them. Supposed to be all about the animals and animals come first?? Doesn’t sound like it to me.

The last several responses have pretty much said exactly what I am thinking.

You simply cannot coach an associate payed by the hour who has no experience firsthand with fish to be able to dish out the correct information to a new customer. Sorry, it does not work that way. You cannot beat years of experience and research.

And what do you consider proper care…uncycled tanks and bowls, monthly water changes at best, overstocked tanks, and the addition of snail oil products such as aquaruim salt? Sorry, but I’ve seen nothing but misinformation spewed by your employees. If you want to take a serious step forward, work from the bottom with your associates. Actually provide accurate care info for your paying customers.

And what about emergency situations? Can you absolutely guarantee that every one of your customer’s fish are going to be 100% free of disease for their entire lifespan? No, I didn’t think so. I find it frustrating that so many people bring home infected stock purchased from YOUR OWN STORES, yet you are now refusing to sell any medications to cure said diseases.

This is by far one of the worst PR stunts and business tactic I have ever seen. How does it feel to have angered so many potential customers? Not good, I would think. Its no wonder big chain stores like yours are laughed at and avoided by serious hobbyists. Have a good day.

Education, not banning sales is the key to solving the antibiotic overuse problem. The education should start with Petco employees– then you would truly be leading your industry instead of giving a politically popular reason for your marketing decisions.

If you wish not to sell antibiotics, simply do not, and accept the commercial hit for your decision. To insult the intelligence of an entire customer base by suggesting that we are so uninformed that we cannot use a product so you won’t sell it should be wholly unacceptable to the consumer. I feel certain that this post will be edited or deleted, but it is essential that your marketing staff hear the opinions of the customer base you serve.

This is ridiculous. Your acting solely in assumption that your customer base is too stupid to keep fish. You don’t need to be a veterinarian to know when a fish has bacterial issues or other anti biotic necessary maladies. I wish Petco would take a step back and maybe re think the policies of telling people that a red belly pacu is a fish needing a 30 gallon aquarium and that they reach 12″ In reality they reach sizes of over 30 pounds in the proper aquaria. Any ways I digress. This new policy is an insult to hobbyists in need and I wish you would put more time in to training your employee’s about how to help someone determine whether antibiotics are necessary as opposed to simply removing them from your shelves.

Bad move on your part PETCO ,
Taylor Carswell from Monster Fish Keepers

I think that if you want to make a step in the right direction, keep the antibiotics, and give your employees some information on the fish they are selling. For example i had one of your employees tell me that i could keep 6 FULL GROWN OSCARS IN ONE 55 Gallon tank! A 55 is big enough for 1 oscar with constant water changes. On another occasion i had one tell me that i could keep 5 pike cichlids in a 29. If i had been an inexperianced customer, i would have ended up with fishy Armageddon. If you want to “Go Blue”, educate your staff. and ditch the one inch per gallon rule. it doesnt work.

Although I am not a big supporter of antibiotics, (I haven’t used any in over 12 years) I still feel there is a place and time that they are needed and that the consumer should have a choice. I believe that the employees should be better trained to help the customers correctly identify a problem. After that they can still carry the product but have it where you have to ask the associate for the product.

I know that most people think that Petco employees are idiots, and believe me I have seen my share, not all are. With this move by the company, I feel that they not only believe that the consumers are idiots but so are their employees because rather then to educate your employees on how to correctly use antibiotics so that they can educate the public you decide to get rid of the products.

I love the Petsmart decoration in the top photo in the cichlid tank kinda odd when this is a PETCO blog. It does not matter if its petsmart or PETCO or a local fish store. There is going to be people working there that may have no clue about fish. Its hard to hire people who have fish knowledge. I think its a stupid idea about “going blue” but everyone is afraid of change. Maybe a better flip book on what to do for which disease with color photos of the disease and chemical methods to treat and blue methods to treat, let the customer decide.

I am a Petco shopper, and I agree that many of the stores don’t have educated associates working in aquatics. However there are some really great stores and some very qualified aquatic workers. Instead of just being negative to the bad ones, I’ve actually helped coach some of these people and shared some of the knowledge I have about this hobby. I’ve found that most of the time they’re totally open to learning, so why not help them?? Think back to when you started keeping fish. How did you learn? Doing research and reading is a good start, but a lot of what you learn is by talking to other hobbyists and sharing techniques. Try doing the same to the petco workers and see what happens.

As to the Going Blue campaign…are all you people that are posting negative comments so short-sighted to see there’s something else going on here? If you took the time to do some research, you would know the antibiotics Petco discontinued are soon-to-be banned for sale. The FDA has allowed the sale of fish antibiotics until this point, but is now putting resources into enforcing the law against selling off-label antibiotics. So what if Petco creates a fancy way to promote the changes? Get a life and stop taking it so personal. If you don’t like what they’re doing, don’t shop there, they won’t miss you i promise.

They still have plenty of products to treat ich, velvet, dropsy, parasites, fin rot, ulcers, fungus, etc…Take a minute to see the products they still have, and you might calm down. I support petco doing this, and will continue to shop their stores.

I see it as a firecracker store and there’s a three fingered 1 armed man saying that M80s are safe for kids, take away the M80 and give him cherry bombs instead. He’ll most likely say that cherry bombs are safe for kids too.
If the three fingered 1 armed man wasn’t a dead give away to the actual problem, I say get rid of the man

I think some people are getting a little off track with what is and what is not an antibiotic. One of the most common and often deadly diseases to a fish tank is Ich. I am sure many of us have had our experiences with this disease and know that it can kill a lot of fish. It is treated simply with Methylene Blue which is not an antibiotic its a compound that isn’t harmful to fish.

Many of the fungal infections I have gotten in my tanks I have treated with Melafix and Primafix that are a natural remedy that use natural tree oils.

Have to agree with most of Jim Dandy’s post.

If you want to make a difference AND help eliminate your horrible rep among experienced fishkeepers, prominently display good caresheets for every single animal next to their respective animal in your store, with recommended minimum tank sizes, temperatures, information about compatibility and aggression.

Also of note is that you keep bettas in tiny little cups. While this seems to be a common practice, that doesn’t make it right. The bettas are sitting in their own ammonia, barely have room to turn around, and what’s worse is you’re encouraging customers to keep them in similar containers.

Just to make it clear, we are not getting rid of all fish remedies. We are only stopping the sale of antibiotics. There are still plenty of both CHEMICAL or natural remedies available. See the info below for suggested uses. You’ll notice a number of products treat several illnesses:

ICH ATTACK:
Ich

COPPERSAFE:
Ich, Velvet, External Parasites

QUICK AID:
Ich, Parasites

MELAFIX:
Open Wounds, Fin/Tail Rot, Eye Cloud, Mouth Fungus

PIMAFIX:
Fungal Infections, Internal/External Bacterial Infections

RID-FUNGUS:
Protozoan Parasites, Fungal Infections

MARACYN-OXY:
Fungus, Bacterial Infection, Flexibacter Infection, Dropsy, Septicemia

LIFEGUARD:
Bacterial Infection, Fungal Infection, Viral Infection, Parasites, Ich

If you use the above treatments correctly, there is no need whatsoever for an antibiotic.

Vets won’t prescribe medications without first seeing the fish, which is both costly and impractical as transporting the fish can cause enough stress to kill a fish. Besides he cost and danger, vets aren’t trained to treat fish and are usually of little help.

Instead of taking away valuable medications, how about being responsible by not selling bowls? Bowls are death traps. Bettas need heaters as they are tropical fish and goldfish get large and are way too messy. How about posting signs by the “goldfsih starter kits” that small tanks are not actually suitable for goldfish.

I’ll be impressed when a pet store teaches fishless cycling, not by taking away medications that save lives.

And by the way, many of your “remedies” have never been proven to work. However, the pimafix and melafix have shown to be FATAL to labyrinth fish like bettas.

No one said you should take your fish to the vet. He said “antibiotics should only be recommended by a veterinarian”, meaning it’s dangerous to self-diagnose illness. If you have a sick fish and you use the wrong antibiotic you will do more harm than good. Sure, there’s a number of prople who know what they’re doing and could buy the right medication, but the vast majority cannot. This is doing what’s more responsible for the majority of fish owners.

You educate people in the use of medications, you don’t punish the ones who actually need it. I will never shop at Petco ever again, if they insist on sentencing my fish to death. This isn’t the answer–the answer is to actually educate your staff, get people who know fish disease and can actually help customers do the right thing for their fish.

But there’s another snafu that angers me even more. I’ve lost so many fish already to diseases that struck and killed in the middle of the night. I had dead fish inside an hour. The only reason I was able to save the rest of my fish was because I had medications such as Furan-2, Erythomycine, praziquantel, and methylene blue to immediately treat the fish. If I run out of those and disease strikes again, out of the blue as it always has… who am I supposed to go to? I go to fish stores, because there are NO vets in my area within 6 hours of driving who can diagnose my fish and give me medication for them. There aren’t even any vets in my area who can make a recommendation because none of them specialize in fish disease and so very, very few actually do. Prevention is well and good, and I love my fish dearly and have done everything in my power to keep them healthy, but sometimes **** happens and the only way to save them is with medication. I’ve already lost so many and it has been really hard losing them–I’m not talking about guppies or goldfish, I’m talking about fish that are 6-13 years old. Fish I’ve had since grade school.

And even worse? I tried some of those “remedies” listed and ended up with more dead fish because they didn’t work and I wasted time when something else would have saved them. Some of those are bad for the scale-less fish, which I have. Antibiotics saved others, as did my knowledge and experience of fish disease. Informed hobbyists know how to handle such meds and they know fish disease as well as a hobbyist can. The ill-informed need the help.

And yes, I feel very strongly about this because I feel very strongly about my fish. They are my children, and watching them die because I couldn’t get the meds they needed before it was too late is terrible. Those of you who blast the lot of us for feeling so strongly about this issue… just don’t understand what it’s like to lose a beloved pet when there was help out there, help that no one wanted to give to you because of their belief that you’re too stupid to diagnose fish disease or dose a tank with explicit instructions. You also don’t understand that some of us ARE informed and don’t dump meds in a tank willy-nilly. And if there’s so much rage over people using these meds incorrectly because it hurts fish… why not actually attack the stores that don’t treat their fish well to begin with? The stores with tanks of dead fish?

Some stores have dog/cat vets. Why can’t the lot of you find a fish vet and put them on speed-dial? Or point your customers to a fish vet that can help them instead of pulling meds and saying oh too bad, we’d rather your fish died because you didn’t prevent the disease? I just want to know why you aren’t being any more bloody helpful than before. I find so much misinformation in your stores and most of the staff knows absolutely nothing unless they were hobbyists to begin with. Why did our own private fish store have returning customers? Because we educated and helped them. I’ve often had to do the same for Petco employees–and some of them don’t appreciate it, or care.

As a final note, I’m not talking about what is or isn’t getting banned, which also has me worried since some medications have no effective alternatives. I’m talking about what has saved my fish. These meds have done far more good than bad. They are life-savers.

There are about half a dozen PetCo stores in the area where I live.
EVERY ONE has a rotten fish department.
*Dead fish in the tanks, so rotting that I know they have been there a while
*Wrong fish combined in the tanks (Such as predators and prey in one tank)
*Fish in tanks with the wrong water chemistry (such as brackish water fish in fresh water tanks)
*Sick fish, Ich and fin rot, and the sales associate was still selling out of that tank.
*Poor or no information at the point of sale about adult size of fish, or optimum conditions such as water chemistry and temperature.
*When there were POP signs at all they were on tanks that did not hold that fish
*Painted, Dyed and Tatooed fish.
*Small aquariums and bowls advertised for goldfish.
*Bettas in tiny cups with no water circulation, dead and dying.
*Common filtration that spreads diseases (including bacterial) and parasites among all the fish.
*Sales associates that barely know how to net a fish, and know nothing about the fish they are selling.
*Used to have a nice plant selection, true aquatics in a tiered water fall series of tanks, plenty of light. Got taken down and house plants in tubes put in that place.

Correcting these items would make a MUCH bigger impact on the health of fish and the return business of customers that have other options and can and will go elsewhere.

The only thing I use my Petco card for now is as an algae scraper. I have not been in any of your stores for several years when I really need something. I have looked in there when there was a sale on, saw things had not changed, and left.

Landscaper-

In regards to your your comment about Brackish Water Fish. Although PETCO sells brackish water fish such as mollies, archers, and puffers, the vast majority of these fish are farm-raised in freshwater. At PETCO they are maintained in freshwater. After I bought my archer and mollies, I converted them to brackish water. No, I don’t know the salinity of their water. Yes, I realize that mollies and archers live in different types of brackish habitats. They seem to be just fine, happily living together. That’s what makes them great fish. They’re tough little sluggers.

The other topic I want to cover is your comment about the painted, dyed, and tattooed fish. PETCO stopped carrying those fish in June 2003. If you are referring to the fish known as Painted Platys and Painted Swordtails then let me tell you that these are just names, like Felipe or Susan are just names. They’re not artificially colored. They are just as natural as a calico cat or a black lab. They are born that way. If you are talking about the GloFish, GloFish are transgenic (genetically altered) fish, they are now born that way.

Ive been working in pet stores in the fish/reptile dept for 10 years now, and we have always sold fish meds. At first I thought this was extremely dumb idea, because it was going to drive customers away, and send them to our competitors. BUT we still have coppersafe, melafix and pimafix! Wonderful products that work very well against most fish illnesses. People don’t want to spend money on a whole seperate tank setup. Some people don’t have the room or money to do that. Half my customers don’t even want to spend money on the bacteria and aquarium salt. Then all their fish end up dying, and they blame it on our fish, because most people don’t understand where ich comes from. They think it’s in our gravel…Then when I correct them they get all defensive and P.O.’d. As far as I know, my saltwater customers are the only ones that have hospital tanks. This “going blue” idea is still borderline dumb in my opinion.
And as far as the mollies and silver tip sharks in brackish water go, I started acclimating some to the saltwater section last march, and they do great. I never find a dead one in there and moillies are good for picking algae. They’re a hit with my saltwater customers.

After reading all these comments, I took a look at MY PETCO Aquatics Department. I have worked for Petco for many happy years. I see our store as always was blue, as in we didn’t have a single associate that would have encouraged an antibiotic previous to the new program.. We have always promoted Freshwater salt, raising the temp slightly, and frequent water changes to aid in disease reduction and recovery of freshwater species, and also raising temp slightly, lowering salinity, and frequent water changes with Marine life tanks. That also goes for encouraging quality filtration, proper temps, and honest maintenance, among others.

I think our PETCO aquatics training program is a good one, and some of us are on the net and with our fish clubs learning even more. There are some newer associates that may not have all their trainings in yet, but they also can say “hey, I don’t know, lets find some one who does” or even “the aquatics specialists are not here right now, someone with better knowledge will be here at 9am tomorrow” and that builds trust. Petco gives so many opportunities for associates to learn, but not everyone starts on the same knowledge path. Not to mention, no one-person can possible know everything about anything.

I think “going blue” is a great idea. Everyone is just a little too focused on the antibiotics leaving our selection. If you look at the overall picture you can see that what Petco is going for is better informed customers and employees about fish care. All of you well informed (not just internet researchers) hobbyists make up a small percentage of our customers. Most people who keep fish tanks are new to the hobby and think that keeping fish is an easy alternative compared to other pets. Thats not true at all. The biggest thing we can do to help is to better educate the employees so that they can make better decisions in selling fish and products and making learning opportunities for customers more accurate and easier to obtain. As for the antibiotics, I have seen them sit on the shelf and dusted them off many times because they just don’t sell. Most people don’t have a clue how to use them and safely avoid them. If you do know how to use them and are an experienced aquarist, then you should order your medicine online and keep it on hand in case of an emergency.

I have enjoyed reading the various comments written by a variety of aquarists. There are some basic flaws to the “blue” approach. It’s been my experience Petco suffers from a lack of trained employees. More accurately they suffer from a lack of any type of employee. Where are the experts coming from? Most importantly the fish Petco sells have been treated with every antibiotic available before they arrive at the local stores. Often this results in weakened immune systems that make the animals far more susceptible to disease. Let’s combine this with the typical Petco fish system and it’s a recipe for disaster. I travel quite a bit and always stop in any fish store I see-chains and mom and pops alike. I never see a Petco that would be considered top notch. Some are ok at best. I like the blue concept as it will likely destroy any chance of this chain succeeding in fish sales.

i have a painted swordtail fish and he seems to be find but is starting to have some wighte stuff growing on its face and i lost one that way. any help please….

I’m surprised there has been no mention of aquarium salt as part of the “remedies” offered – since it can actually be used this way in the form of dips for freshwater fish. The reason I’m surprised is that every time I go into a Petco, there is a cup full of aquarium salt slowly dissolving in each tank with a label “Petco recommends using aquarium salt”. It couldn’t be because of the markup, taking 50 cent a pound cooking salt and repackaging it at $3 a pound. No, of course not…!

Since Petco consults with “doctors, fish vendors, expert hobbyists, and veterinarians” they should know very well that aquarium salt stresses many freshwater fish, that it is absolutely not needed. It is archaic to add aquarium salt to every aquarium – left over from the days of undergravel filters and 10% monthly water changes. Aquarium salt helps fish deal with nitrite poisoning, so you might recommend it to a person who’s cycling a tank. A person who is battling ich or fungus…

But not every customer, because it actually HARMS more than helps. Cories have very low tolerance for salt, tetras and bettas don’t like it, and there is evidence that it can lead to Malawi bloat in African cichlids.

Also, aquarium salt is inappropriate for keeping brackish fish, it doesn’t do anything except make the water salty…it doesn’t have the buffering or trace elements of marine salt mix. It is nothing but non-iodized table salt without caking agents. That’s IT.

Sorry for going on about this, but since it hadn’t been mentioned I felt it had to be said. It’s a real thorn in my side when I see a tank full of dwarf gouramis with a cup of aquarium salt in their tank and clamped fins.

Nicole- aquarium salt wasn’t mentioned in this particular article (the details of the program are too many to list), but it is a big part of the Going Blue philosophy. If you visit one of our stores and read the Going Blue flipbook, you’ll see it mentioned in several cases, and also warnings not to use it with scaleless fish, planted aquariums, etc…

I feel strongly that, like most new plans, the going blue program will need time to work out the kinks and find a balance between fish experts and novice fish owners. I also feel that the anger some of you feel should not be directed at Matt: 1, it does no good to tell him (go to your local store with an improved draft of their going blue program) 2, each store is different and at least its not Wal-mart.

While I agree that good husbandry is essential to keeping fish happy and healthy, antibiotics are needed when fish have bacterial infections. Given that most of us do not have access to an aquatic vet (there are a very few out there), it is essential that we have access to appropriate antibiotics (at minimum, kanamycin, minocycline, metronidazole, and trimethoprim sulfa). Since the advent of the internet people can find good help out there in terms of diagnosing what’s going on and appropriate treatment. I often help people in other countries via our online forum and we see pet fish die all the time because they can not get appropriate antibiotics.

By the time fish get to your stores, they have experienced prolonged stress and stress has been demonstrated in peer reviewed research to predispose fish to getting sick. So if you want to be responsible, you should quarantine new arrivals for at least two weeks and treat new fish appropriately and as needed to ensure that you are selling healthy fish to your customers.

As for quarantine, we routinely educate people about the importance of quarantine… and that includes the importance of having a cycled hospital tank, watching them closely, knowing what you are looking for (with our help) and being prepared to treat both bacterial and parasitic diseases (again, with consultations from experienced and knowledgeable people). Our forum members routinely keep extra biomedia in other tanks and use it set up cycled quarantine tanks when they bring home new fish and they do have well stocked medicine cabinets. Those meds are not just dumped into the tank, but instead the medication, route and dosage are based on observable symptomology.

When we help people we insist they fill out specifics on their water quality, setup, maintenance, stocking and feeding. The first thing we hit is water quality/tank set up as there is no way to keep fish healthy without maintaining good water quality (e.g. having the appropriate tank set up, stocking and maintenance routines). That’s where your sales people could make a huge difference if they were up to speed technically. However, my bet is they aren’t walking encyclopedias and can not reliably make good recommendations in the area of stocking, compatibility, treatment, etc for all the fish you sell. We routinely see people show up with sick goldfish who have been sold way too many goldies and too small of a tank and an inadequate filtration system and most of the time for an uncycled tank. They have no knowledge whatsoever regarding monitoring their water quality to make sure it isn’t getting toxic or on how to intervene if it starts getting toxic. One big thing you could do would be to keep biomedia that has been fishlessly cycled to sell with new aquaria. That in itself would make a HUGE difference for new fish keepers and their fish. Another thing you could do is either set up a forum staffed by knowledgeable people, or vet and recommend online forums to handle your customer support in terms of helping people to learn how to properly take care of their fish and tanks.

My bet is your stores still stock and sell bowls and tanks (in boxes that show them way overstocked, typically with goldfish). Yep. there they are:
http://www.petco.com/petco_Page_PC_productlist_Nav_1374_N_24+4294951278.aspx?CoreCat=LN_Shopping_FishSupplies_AquariumsandTanks

Lookie there. a FOUR GALLON baby BioOrb pictured with FOUR fancy goldfish in it. FOUR! A nine gallon tank with THREE fancy goldfish pictured in it. Those tanks are not suitable housing for even ONE fancy goldfish. Goldfish are not easy. They are big messy fish who require at minimum 10 gallons per fish and filtration that moves about 10 times the gallons in the tank per hour (preferably with separate mechanical and biomedia). My large oranda fancy goldfish would not even have room to turn around in 10 gallons, so even that heuristic isn’t always appropriate. Also, I see you are still selling the small betta and goldfish bowls. IF people pay close attention to water quality, they can keep a betta in a gallon of water, hut a bowl is NOT a suitable habitat for even one goldfish. I realize these small tanks and bowls are a way to get new people into the hobby cheaply, but typically that results in inappropriate overstocked setups and sick and dead fish. How many kids have had to watch their new pet goldfish die in toxic water in a bowl or with multiple fish in a 5 gallon uncycled tank? and how many fish die needlessly for that reason from ammonia or nitrite poisoning.

If you want to make a difference, refuse to stock and sell too-small tanks, especially those where the packaging misleads customers as to what can live in those small tanks. And stop selling fish like common plecos and Oscars, etc to people with too-small tanks. Oscars, common plecos, goldies, etc get at least a foot long and should not be sold routinely to people who are not prepared to provide adequate housing for those fish when they grow to be adults.

Given it’s likely not possible to get your store sales people up to speed on diagnosing and recommending appropriate treatment, another solution would be to either get your store vets up to speed on treating fish or set up an online forum staffed by experts to help your customers.

Another thing that bugs me is your website “bacteria treatments”. I don’t see any products that have studies demonstrating the efficacy of the chemical against bacteria when added to the water. I see a bunch of tea tree oil listed. I’m not finding any studies on it’s efficacy in treating bacterial infections in fish. I see tetra pond fish treatment with formaldehyde and quinine. Formalin in the correct concentration is primarily active against protozoan parasites as is quinine. Quinine may have antibacterial properties, but my bet the concentration used in that product is not adequate to kill bacteria on the fish much less inside the fish when dosed in the water. A search turned up no scientific studies demonstrating it’s efficacy in treating bacteria in fish. Also, the Ingredients info for this product does not state what concentrations result from use of the product.

Lifeguard (a N-halamine, originally developed as human drinking water disinfectants) may kill single celled organisms on the OUTSIDE of the fish and in the water IF the concentration is adequate, however I don’t see any information on the product that would allow us to determine what concentration it results in when added to the aquarium. We’re just supposed to trust them that they got it right. The cardinal rule of dosing meds is to know what you’re treating and to know what the correct dosage is and which route of administration is needed. I’m amazed that manufacturers and stores continue to sell products with unknown concentrations of active ingredients that have no research to back up that they indeed work as per their packaging claims. Selling those products as bacterial remedies is misleading customers.

In summary, I do agree that husbandry is important, but there are many other things your corporation could do to be a responsible seller of aquatic animals and to support your customers in gaining the knowledge they need to be good fish keepers. Part of being a good fish keeper entails maintaining their environment and providing healthy foods, but part is being able to recognize when your fish are sick and having accessible resources for help in diagnosing what’s going on and advice on appropriate and effective treatments, AND access to those treatments.

As far as aquarium salt goes, it was once used to kill ich and keep down aquarium disease. Thanks to the routine use of aquarium salt, Costia parasites are now developing a resistance at the standard 1% (1 tsp per gallon)to even a 3% solution. A few years ago, this was pretty much a sure fire remedy. I just went through a horrific time with salt resistant costia.
A step towards good husbandry would be to sell a “fishless cycling” kit. A dropper bottle of ammonia, a bottle of water treatment, clear instructions on how to cycle a tank, and tests to assure the cycling is completed and the ammonia and nitrite parts of the cycle are finished.
How about a looping video that talks about setting up a new tank and the biobugs that have to grow to support healthy fish?
Stocking software (that is available online)used in a kiosk in the store would also be a great tool for new fishkeepers to “try out” their tank capacity(it would also help employees sell appropriately)
Just ideas…I am sure no one wants to buy or sell a sick fish, or set up a new fishkeeper for failure.

Sad thing is, that the same meds that you now refuse to sell, could be used to treat the sick and dying saltwater fish that we all see in Petco tanks. What is your survival rate anyway? How can this make economic sense to import fish to die in saltwater systems that so clearly don’t support them? And let’s see some documentation that the snake oil remedies you do sell actually work.

Going blue, give me a break.

your employee said that betta fishes are okay in small 1/2 gallons tanks. Truth is they are miserable. Imagine yourself living in a closet everyday.

And you guys sold bettas in ultra small container with many of them having clamped fins and stuffs. Going blue?? Yea right..

To Matt who seems to be responding for Petco.

Your company has put an incredibly stupid policy in place and I hope you’re only defending it because you have to.

I’ve kept fish since I was a small child, I often use salt and other such remedys such as Melafix in my tanks for the treatment of minor issues. But when one of my bettas has fin rot that refuses to respond to salt I need an antibiotic. Period. Trying to sell me something else “because it works just as well” is only going to piss me off and result in me spending my money at another store.

I only just became aware of this particular change as I have only JUST needed an antibiotic for the first time in a couple years. To walk into my local Petco, which normally has a very well run fish department by well educated people, and find NOTHING that will do what I need it to do, and then have the fish dept head tell me she’s required to push salt and “remedies” no matter what the problem was just insulting.

Then to discover that your fish deparments are expected to keep a stock of antibiotics on hand for STORE USE ONLY, just proved the complete two-faced-ness of the idiots in charge of the company.

And then when I complained to customer service via the company website to be told “well you can get what you need from our website if its not in the stores” when your website carries no more medications than the store does, I was beyond insulted. I’m a member of a community of a large number of fish keepers, I’ve made a point of telling them about your new policy. I’ll hate to see the folks at my local Petco out of a job, but I’ll be spending my money elsewhere from now on.

Any trained monkey can keep fish, it’s not rocket science, don’t need to be a fish magician.  The problem is fish customers think their so smart, the sales rep may not know everything but they know enough and although you may see some dead fishes in their tanks, let’s see you try to maintain hundreds of tanks everyday because whinny customers want their fish.