I swear I can't understand Petco!

[jaylach]

While I have succeeded in farming meal worms for my rope fish and cichlids I haven't had the same luck with earth worms. I was at Petco today to get some earth worms. They date the top of the container with what I would assume is the date they got. Of course I'm digging in the back for the most recent date and an employee actually told me that I could not do that and had to take from the front as they had to maintain safety Keep in mind that this is the store that sold me a plant that killed my initial setup... Of course I blew off the employee and got the most recent dated container.

 

[finfayce]

ughh petco. i know the vet for a local petco. they buy their live small pets( and probably all living creatures) from pet mills. (
not sure about worms. try UncleJims worm farm online. my meal worms arrive in perfect condition. also free shipping. not sure we can tout sellers on this forum, so just believe the first part

 

[NearMeBettas]

While I have succeeded in farming meal worms for my rope fish and cichlids I haven't had the same luck with earth worms. I was at Petco today to get some earth worms. They date the top of the container with what I would assume is the date they got. Of course I'm digging in the back for the most recent date and an employee actually told me that I could not do that and had to take from the front as they had to maintain safety Keep in mind that this is the store that sold me a plant that killed my initial setup... Of course I blew off the employee and got the most recent dated container.

Join the not understanding petco club. They are a little bit loco lol.

 

[GaryE]

Petco seems easy to understand. All these things they do add up to success as a corporation. They are doing really well, by all indicators.

Animals are just units to be moved, and they are moving them, and moving the support equipment they need (or in some cases, don't need).

Pet mills? if this is the case, they buy cheap, sell high. Guppy mills? Absolutely. Producers in Asia have to meet their price because of their buying power, or else. Corners have to be cut to do that, and we wonder why so many fish die soon after arrival. That's okay, People buy more.
Technically, if we don't live in rural areas, we should have options, even if they are a bit inconvenient. If not, we'd best support the people who try to offer them.

 

[Boundava]

It's pretty easy to set up a container for earthworms to replicate in. We just need to have enough earthworms to start off with to see any increase in numbers. Since I have the problem eels in the Borneo eel which predate on earthworms, I set up two containers. The main one is for propagation and the second one is where I harvest on a weekly basis to give out to the fish, it's like a holding container. Both have a combination of coconut coir, leaf litter, just regular soil and sand. I add things like duckweed and produce scraps to feed them, although the leaf litter and the cocoa coir can be food as well.

 

[AbbeysDad]

Redworms are easy and fun to culture... was a time I made tons of vermicompost for the garden - hands down the best fertilizer for plants. Worms process organic matter but derive their nutrition from bacteria and protozoa, some of which they actually culture in their own gullet. It has been written that the biology exiting worms is greater than what entered. A worm bin is easy to set up. For indoors, there are commercial containers or you can simply use a bin. For bedding, coir or a mix of sphagnum peat and compost or composted manure. For food, any vegetable scraps (no meat or dairy) works well...and a covering of fall leaves or damp paper towels or newspaper. Food goes on top and don't mix deeply into the bedding lest it may heat up and cause harm.
There are volumes written on culturing redworms...Here's an article on my website/blog: Redworms by Greg Sage.

 

[DoubleDutch]

If they sold you the plant that killed your initial set up, why do you return there anyway ?

 

[TwoTankAmin]

I have never bought anything living from PetCo. Just tanks, sometimes a lid and then almost only when these are on sale.

 

[emeraldking]

We don't have PetCo in our country but we do have some chains of pet stores. And in general, they're a bit like you've described PetCo.

 

[Archerfish]

That is why supporting a 'mom & pop' pet store if you can find one these days, is so important.

 

[jaylach]

ughh petco. i know the vet for a local petco. they buy their live small pets( and probably all living creatures) from pet mills. (
not sure about worms. try UncleJims worm farm online. my meal worms arrive in perfect condition. also free shipping. not sure we can tout sellers on this forum, so just believe the first part

Thanks, I bookmarked the site and will give a try.

If they sold you the plant that killed your initial set up, why do you return there anyway ?

Not much choice locally. The closest private fish store is more than 130 miles away. Never even thought about buying worms on-line.

 

[sharkweek178]

That is why supporting a 'mom & pop' pet store if you can find one these days, is so important.

I'd love to do that locally. But transportation is an issue for me. And when these stores have a contact us form on their site that they don't respond to, then I'd just as soon make my purchases online from wherever in the country. I don't want to go to the trouble of going some place to find out that they don't have what I need.

 

[sharkweek178]

Thanks, I bookmarked the site and will give a try.


Not much choice locally. The closest private fish store is more than 130 miles away. Never even thought about buying worms on-line.

I don't know anything about buying worms online. But if you're looking to buy plants again, I've had good success on Etsy. The plants are in pretty good shape. At least up until I get a hold of them.

 

[jaylach]

I don't know anything about buying worms online. But if you're looking to buy plants again, I've had good success on Etsy. The plants are in pretty good shape. At least up until I get a hold of them.

On my current setup I got all my wood and plants from:

Wetplants.com

The Finest Aquatic Plants for your Aquarium and Pond.

www.wetplants.com

All plants (a lot) have arrived totally healthy and more mature than expected. For instance my swords showed up as mature plants, not sprouts. I DID end up with some pond/bladder snails hitching a ride but my cichlids just ate them.

As to fish I now get from Dan's Fish. My Smile Dwarf Cichlids and and Panda Garras both came from them.

Dan's Fish, Quality Freshwater Aquarium Fish

Get freshwater fish guaranteed to succeed. Angelfish to rainbowfish, catfish to killifish, and many more for sale. All shipped Next Day Air.

dansfish.com

They are a mail order outfit with a great reputation and serve a good fish source as their warehouse is right next to my apartments. Sadly they only do fish, no hardware, food, plants etc..

My Rope Fish I got from

World Wide Fish & Pets!

Live fish, pets, supplies and accessories

worldwidefishandpets.com

as Dan's didn't have any in stock.

 

[Rocky998]

Dan's fish is insanely expensive I checked earlier today... Yikes