Comments on: PETCO Aquatics is “Going Blue”

By: Alison Kennedy

Alison Kennedy — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 19:44:52 +0000

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.

By: Matt

Matt — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 20:08:04 +0000

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…

By: Nicole

Nicole — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 01:56:28 +0000

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.

By: anthony

anthony — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 17:09:02 +0000

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….

By: Steve

Steve — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 20:25:00 +0000

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.

By: Rachel P

Rachel P — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 17:56:33 +0000

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.

By: Sarah J

Sarah J — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 16:09:09 +0000

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.

By: Jaed

Jaed — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 18:37:19 +0000

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.

By: Rob

Rob — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 18:00:30 +0000

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.

By: Landscaper

Landscaper — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 14:21:33 +0000

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.