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Petco, Baton Rouge

7K views 20 replies 10 participants last post by  Dr Fishbait 
#1 ·
Petco
6857 Siegen Lane, Baton Rouge, LA 70809
(225) 297-5997

Yep, it's a chain store. Still worth checking out if you're in the area.

This store had some truly nasty tanks when it first opened, but quality has been improving steadily since, and when I visited yesterday the tanks looked great.

There's a few things that make this store stand out:

1) They always seem to have a few fish species that are not commonly found in chain stores. For example, I've seen rasbora axelrodi, glofish, cardinal tetra, and Endler's. The uncommon species seem to rotate, so I tend to drop by periodically to see what they have even if I'm not looking for anything in particular.

2) Most employees have been there a long time, and are friendly and helpful. The people in the fish section actually know fish. I asked one yesterday about their water parameters and he actually knew the exact concentration of the salt in the freshwater tanks!

3) They're able to special-order fish and plants from their vendor and have them delivered in-store for you. Some other chain stores will do this, but not all. I've never done this, but I assume if they can bundle your request with their regular restock order, it would save you a lot on shipping.
 
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#2 ·
Yeah they used to have big problems with ich and their poor cichlids of course would be hit the hardest, but I have not seen anything like that in a while. They sell those plants in a bottle as well as bulbs, neither of which I have bought honestly but still available. Nice selection of herps, good fish and herp freezer foods and one of the best chain stores for hard products (chemicals/lights/filters/pumps) and a must if you do marine tanks as they have the widest selection of the chain stores.

I actually got a rather impressive kohaku koi from there once. Very little bleeding between the orange and white and developed color well as it grew. Have not seen anything with good breeding since honestly.

Have never had to return fish as of yet, even the condi anemone I got there is doing well.
 
#4 ·
I was in there as recent as two weeks ago on a Sunday to look for a stand for the 40 breeder I bought several weeks prior. I took a few minutes to have a look at the aquatic livestock, and it was gross. Both SW and FW tanks looked as thought they hadn't been cleaned in quite awhile, there was a stench coming from the racks, and the employees seemed to not know anything about the livestock and were completely dumbfounded when I asked a few basic questions about their aquarium stands. The cashier (older lady) was argumentative with me when the aquarium stand I had brought to the counter didn't ring up correctly. I work in customer service, and I would and have never treated a customer like that.

When I was there a few months ago, the betta cups were actually pristine. During the same visit when I was there to look for an aquarium stand, the betta cups were looking funky, and a few bettas looked emaciated and were swimming in their filth.

I had received a gift card for PetCo for Christmas and will not be returning once I have exhausted the balance.
 
#5 ·
I can kind of echo Hippocampus' remarks. The people in the fish department are not interested in customer service, so I have no idea whether they know fish or not. You have to seek them out and they're rather quick to get away, but are polite enough.

The only thing I have to say is that I'll still go back because the prices are good and they do have marine products which Petsmart doesn't carry. And honestly this place is still better than "The Aquarium Store". Their awful customer service makes Petco (which, as I mentioned, has pretty weak service) look like the shining beacon of service to which all fish stores should strive.

Right now, Petco is really the only good option in Baton Rouge. I guess since we have three Petsmart locations and a Petco, most of the LFS have died out. There were some good ones for freshwater even in just the last couple of years, but we may as well have none now (The Aquarium Store is pathetic).
 
#6 ·
Yup, a lot has changed since my original post seven years ago, none for the good. A few years back, someone emptied a bottle of insecticidal dog shampoo into the freshwater tanks. Killed everything and took weeks to clear it out of the system. Since then, it seems like they stopped trying to keep things nice.

They no longer do special orders. They also still don't distinguish between true aquatic and semi aquatic plants in tubes, so don't buy those unless you're already familiar with the species.

They do at least still get in interesting fauna which rotate out, last time I was in the newest arrival was tiger nerites. So I visit them every few weeks. Beggars can't be choosers in BR.
 
#8 ·
That was what they concluded from the smell and suds. They don't know who did it, exactly what was put in the tanks, or why. A kid who didn't know better or was trying to be "helpful"? A bad joke? Disgruntled customer or employee? Sabotage from one of the other two chain LFS that were within a mile at the time? Nobody knows. Nasty thing to do at any rate.

I recently also visited The Reef Store for the first time. Largest stock of equipment, chemicals, and medications I've seen in BR. Not much freshwater fish, as expected, but they did have some nice bettas from Sunpet. They also had a plant tank. Half was occupied with a ginormous mass of clado, the other half with hair algae. They really ought to fix that since one of their advertised services is on-site planted tank setup and maintenance, LOL! I bought some Flourite Dark, my new favorite substrate, no one else in BR had it in stock. And also braved a purchase of Parrot's Feather from the hair algae side of their plant tank. Still working on getting it algae-free and converted to submersed growth.
 
#11 ·
Oh okay cool! I'll go check it out maybe Saturday.

Went by Petsmart on Siegen today and I gotta say, despite some of the dirty tanks, they had A MASSIVE CRAWFISH WHICH WAS SO COOL!!!!!! I'm not sure on the species, but the thing was a beast. His claws alone were about 4 inches each.

I asked the worker lady "How much you want for him?" and she said he wasn't for sale. I asked her about 3 more times throughout the course of the conversation and she was adamant about keeping him there. She said the manager really likes him, it's like their store mascot or something. I'm kind of considering going back when there is some younger looking kid working there, who may not know that the big guy is not for sale, on a really busy day and getting him to sell it to me. I know that would be kind of mean, but I WANT THAT CRAWFISH SO BAD!!!!!!!!!!



My finger for scale:

 
#20 ·
I used to live in NOLA. If you ask around for places that sell them(when in season of course) and ask to see if they sell "Belle River" crawfish.
Go to one you find does and ask people who get sacks to see them.
Telll them your looking for an extra large one for your tank and at least a couple of them wiil help you to find one just because they are amused that you want it for a tank.
I suggest the Belle River type because I've gotten sacks of those before and in them there is always a couple that are way out of proportion larger than the rest.
Or if they open the spillway in the spring, the people crawfishing in there will be helpful to you for that extra large one.
I love it where I moved to in order to reestablish after Katrina...
But just talking about the Spillway...you know what I mean...
 
#12 ·
Nice crawfish! Didn't see it last time I went, will have to keep an eye out for it.

Last time there was this scaleless goldfish that seemed like the store mascot. The employees had named it. Looked more like a catfish than a goldfish. Wish I'd gotten a picture.
 
#13 ·
Seems like a trend with PETCO. When I ordered my SeaClear 50 acrylic from them, I did my best to coordinate the purchase and deliveries of plants, substrates, accessories etc. They failed miserably on delivery time and I lost more plants than I care to discuss. I complained and wrote them. They pulled up some ridiculous fine print about delivery times being up to two weeks, despite paying extra for expedited freight. I called "shenanigans" and they were awesome... Sent me a $5 gift card. All things considered, they suck... You're in BR, Cobra. Want me to send it to you?
 
#14 ·
Sadly, seems like a trend all over.

Thirty years ago, as a young computer geek, I looked forward to a time when computers would help make everything run more like clockwork. Now I just wonder, how the heck did it all go so horribly wrong...

And $5 for all that, sheesh.

If you're determined never to set foot in Petco again, I'll gladly buy that gift card from you. Otherwise, it seems wrong to profit off your misfortune.
 
#15 ·
Might just put it up for the SELA social auction, for the be benefit of the group. Not much, but every little bit helps, I'd guess... ;-)

I'd consider using it. But I'm 45 mins from BR and for five bucks its a stretch. I knew you were in BR. That's why I offered it. No biggie. They're up there on the suck scale, but sometimes ya just gotta "suck it up!" Lol!
 
#16 ·
I pass by Reef Coral twice a day on my way to and from work. Anyone have any info about the big "FOR LEASE" sign outside? Hopefully they are just moving to a different location.

There is a SW LFS off Airline in Prairieville. I've only stopped in there a few times about a year ago. I've forgotten the name though. :(

I've also come across a few LPSs in the Galvez area, but holy hell...I would NEVER purchase anything from any of them. If a store reeks of animal filth, there is a problem. Animals of any species do have a certain smell, but when it smells like things are dead and rotting or it stinks like nothing has been cleaned in a long time, somebody needs to get up and clean or reduce how many animals they cram into the store.
 
#19 ·
The Aquarium Store was bought by one of the former employees and they now have a whole wall of awesome nano-fish! They also carry interesting inverts like CPOs and will special order anything you want that their supplier has. Pretty good selection of plants, too, though I haven't bought any yet. I've had decent service there, but it can get pretty busy on the weekends.
 
#21 ·
Went to the Aquarium Store about 3 weeks ago and was surprised to see the transformation from my past visit last year. They had at least 20 different species of healthy plants available. Hopefully they are going to get enough support from planted tank enthusiasts to keep this variety of plants available.
BTW. We Cajuns see plenty of LARGE crawfish every year! But the medium size taste the best!!
 
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