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Petco in Anchorage

6K views 9 replies 9 participants last post by  Icthyholiks 
#1 ·
All the fish have ick and they are still selling most fish. The ick is so bad that the fish are 90% white. The person selling fish has no clue and thinks they are ok. I would not buy fish there for a vary long time if at all!
 
#3 ·
The North petco, I assume. When they started up all their fish were sick.

Each column of tanks is on the same sump/filter, which is why they take them out of order the way they do.

The south petco isn't any better, and I think more of their tanks are connected than the north petco. I've walked in when they've had half a tank of dead guppies and noone noticed until I grabbed a manager and made him quarrantine the tank.

There is a reason I preferentially buy fish from The Reef in the Sears Mall.
 
#4 ·
Boycott Petco!

I can't stand that place. The people are so clueless and they never have anything out of the ordinary. The Reef is pretty good but I much prefer Alaska Coral Maniacs on Tudor. Good freshwater fish selection and Tim promises that he will have a better plant selection soon. He is a good guy and he really cares about his customers and his fish.
 
#5 ·
They are all mediocre.

My new favorite is the PetZoo in Wasilla. Minimal plants, but really great fish selection. It's where I found my CPDs. The Reef is alright....though I asked about ammonia to start a fishless cycle in my 29 and got told I wasn't doing things right. No one knows the names of any of the plants and they are *covered* in duckweed, lol.

There is a really, really great PetCo employee at the Dimond location, Leo or something....he's an older gentelman with glasses and a beard. Anyway, he knew a lot more about fish and plants than I would ever expect out of a PetCo employee. Other than that their employees are totally clueless.

I would love to see Tim get a better plant selection, they were in pretty bad shape when I went in there a couple weeks ago. But thanks to him we were able to complete our DIY lighting project :D
 
#6 ·
I have to put my 2 cents in here. Given our location and the current interest in the hobby it’s not surprising that most retailers have a poor selection of plants. They occasionally get something nice in, but to be able to constantly offer a good supply of plants they have to have turnover and to have turnover there has to be more customers. That said, I have noticed more and more interest in the hobby in and around Anchorage recently. There has even been talk of starting a club.
 
#8 ·
buying in Anchorage

I'm really tired of people just jumping on the "boycott" big box stores ride. In fact at a local shop here in Anchorage some customer just felt it nessisary to tell me how to spend my money..."just stay away from Petco" was the comment...sorry but that's just not wise advice.
Look people here's the deal with any kind of retail market and face it...buying fish is just that. You have to shop wisely, learn to compair prices as not too many of us are so rich money is no object. Learn your stores just like you do buying anything else...I hope.
Tim at Ak coral is awesome, small local guy with great stock...some times over priced compaired to the big guys, but you have to concider the customer service and product you get for that price and willing to special order and trade....Bret at Petzoo is also very cool and helpful...good prices on fish and often has very healthy plants...both stores local to Alaska is a huge plus to buy there, keep the money in state...but lets not rule out Petco and soon Petsmart...they have really hard to turn down supply prices and sales...the people working there do what they can with what they get in...right now petco has a horrible case of ick...they got shipping in mass amounts of fish for the grand opening...what do you want from them...feed them to the lizards? They hire like any retail does...mostly kids who need jobs. As a rule I do avoid their fish...mostly unless something really nice comes in or the price is too good to pass... Anything awesome is rare as they cater to more family fish tanks than the purist hobbist..thats a whole other rant...Usually I window shop there and then ask Tim if he can order this or that fish. Jason at South Walmart is just not worth speaking too, zero customer service abilty...and does not care a bit about the fish and other than their tetras which are in really good shape...one look at the 5 gal tank carpeted with dead feeder fish any smart shopper will... would hope...avoid their fish but you can't beat their fish complete fish tank prices...other than craigslist. Oh and Fred Myers has a great everyday price on Jungle tests strips...see you just have to know where and when to shop...so can we not do this silly boycott stuff and just spend the efforts on sharing solid advice and brag on who just got the best deal in town and spread the word.
 
#10 ·
Petco & petsmart

Both North and South Petco aquatic staff have pretty much given up on caring. Last few visits, stores that in the past were Ok by box store standards are now just cruel and uncaring at all, I've left really depressed. The fish are misserable and the staff at N are totally clueless why they have dead fish and have the wrong species mixed in the tanks. The staffs answer was that the sump killed any "bad things" fish get. Wow! S petco isnt any better no matter who many employee of the year awards the aquatic dude has. His salt tanks are horrible and very exspensive fish are floaters now. Kills me to see unhealthy unhappy fishies and seahorses.

Petco S has a girl in the aquatic dept that needs a swift kick. You can't miss her...both eyes blacked out with eye liner. Her method of netting fish is SCARY!...take the net and beat it around the tank like you are making cookies...her answer....it wakes up the hidding fish...yeah and makes them 100% more stressed out doing this several times a day.

I shop around for best prices on supplies but can't seem to help look at the fish in these stores also...most times I regret it.
 
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