Petco Or Petsmart

[Naughtygirlrlw]

Neither! I support my LFS

 

[K.J.]

LMAO!

I support my LFS for fish (only bought bettas anywhere else) but I don't buy a lot of fish. The bettas they have suck, they're all like 2 years old. But there is no way I'm paying 24$ for a 2.5 acrylic tank without a hood that I got at Petsmart for 12$ and with a hood. So they have more expensive equipment. I really don't have any chain stores near me. Don't know about the help of either, so far the man in the tank area with Petco was far more helpful and honest but the other guy ripped me off for 15$. Honestly I like Petco better altogether, better livestock, good selection, and everything, though both sell puppies but I guess at our Petco there's like a little animal shelter in it's own that our animal shelter helps to sell off the pets.

 

[Christine1014]

I have a Petsmart, 2 Petcos and one VERY small LFS near me (I've really never been impressed with anything I've bought there). One of the Petcos has the best selection of plants around (strangely, the other Petco has almost no plants) and that same Petco also has the widest selection of fish -- though I won't buy live bearers from them as they always seem to have internal parasites. Petsmart usually has pretty healthy fish, and slightly knowledgable employees. It's a crap shoot, I guess; sometimes the stores hire a person with some knowledge and that can make all the difference. I gotta say, I'm jealous of you guys who have a decent LFS (and some people have more than one?!). I could do so much more with my tanks with a better local selection!

 

[Naughtygirlrlw]

I know it costs more for some items but they usually treat me right, I either get charged 1/2 price or else I find a couple freebies when I get home. They came over to my house when I first bought my 125g and helped me get it set up. They also let me bring in old tanks and equipment, etc. and they give me store credit for whatever I bring in. All the fish are in good shape and they will special order fish for you too, it's run by a couple of younger guys that really know their stuff so I like to pass on the karma

 

[kribensis12]

I dont like either, but i live right by a petsmart, so i go their. ANd i live by a petco too, butn to this day, i have never bought my fish from there. I buy my fish from superpets

 

[GoldfishAttentionSpan]

I have to drive an hour to the bigger city to find either. The two LFS in this town are terrible, and sell puppies, so I rarely buy anything from them. All of their fish are sick or dying.

The Petco has better staff than Petsmart, but Petsmart has a better selection and the fish seem fairly healthy at either store. I try to support Petco more because I like the staff more, but if Petco dosen't have what I want, I go to Petsmart. Petsmart also has a variety of plants, while Petco has a few at best.

 

[vic]

To me this comparison is somewhat like comparing apples and parrots. Both the cited businesses are big box stores with no ownership on site. Therefore the quality of the store comes down to the staffing in the store. A poor staff compliment will result in a poor store. The staff is absolutely the key. As an example, I have a friend that manages the Petsmart here in Red Deer. His store is pristine relative to most, if not all of the other Petsmart stores I have been in. In fact, he has just been transferred to clean up a messy store in Edmonton. As far as stock carried, the management of the individual stores have very little if any input into the stocking of livestock. The fish delivery day is somewhat like Xmas, open the box and see what you got. It is a very difficult situation for conscientious staff, to say the very least.
The bottom line, the quality of a store is directly related to the quality of the staffing in the store. And, come to think of it, the same rule applies to the L owned FS.
Vic

 

[dthoffsett]

To me this comparison is somewhat like comparing apples and parrots. Both the cited businesses are big box stores with no ownership on site. Therefore the quality of the store comes down to the staffing in the store. A poor staff compliment will result in a poor store. The staff is absolutely the key. As an example, I have a friend that manages the Petsmart here in Red Deer. His store is pristine relative to most, if not all of the other Petsmart stores I have been in. In fact, he has just been transferred to clean up a messy store in Edmonton. As far as stock carried, the management of the individual stores have very little if any input into the stocking of livestock. The fish delivery day is somewhat like Xmas, open the box and see what you got. It is a very difficult situation for conscientious staff, to say the very least.
The bottom line, the quality of a store is directly related to the quality of the staffing in the store. And, come to think of it, the same rule applies to the L owned FS.
Vic

Very well said, and I definately agree. I have only one LFS here, and unfortunately they focus on saltwater fish.
The Petland here just redid all of their tanks and have hired some very knowledgable staff, unfortunately they just don't stock what I like. And they sell puppies, which I disagree with.

 

[Viettxboii]

Agreed with Vic..
Me well i cant choose neccessarily theres only petsmarts around here, one with Vic's friends that has been transferred too, but petsmart ive found has hte lowest cost on livestock, and have a somewhat decent plants(though half of htem are non aquatic =/)
Here the 4 chain petstores are petsmart, petcetera(dead fish in almost every store D, and pj's petsmart(small stores, and the one i frequent), and Big Al's(large selection, modest healthy etc..) along with about a dozen other lfs, which ive heard pretty good quirks about(From people hat have kept fish for a long timee- my dad uncle and friends dad)
But yeah with the petsmart, on some days theres people who dont know anyhting and other days with people who know what their doing, along with most any other chain petshop.
Petsmart has low prices on tanks, and livestock, thougtheir prices for other goods seem to be more expensive.

 

[kribensis12]

What is wrong with selling pupies?

 

[rdd]

I like the Petsmart by me better. They usually have good deals and the fish look healthier.

 

[dthoffsett]

What is wrong with selling pupies?

They get a lot of their dogs from puppy mills and very rarely have a paper trail on their breeding. They also charge an outrageous amount, even more than most reputable breeders. You also don't get to see their parents and siblings for an idea on temperment. I'd never buy a purebred without being able to talk to the breeder.

 

[Danno]

I always used to go to Petsmart, but since I got more picky and my tastes...matured a bit in the fish world I have picked a privately owned fish store and stayed loyal to them. If you threat them well they will treat you well.

 

[Amunet]

What is wrong with selling pupies?

They get a lot of their dogs from puppy mills and very rarely have a paper trail on their breeding. They also charge an outrageous amount, even more than most reputable breeders. You also don't get to see their parents and siblings for an idea on temperment. I'd never buy a purebred without being able to talk to the breeder.

*points* what they said. Alot of petstores that sell puppies could care less where they came from.


Anywho! Never been to a Petco.... not even sure if there is one near us.
But I'll never get another fish from the Petsmart near us again, unless it's a betta.
Every single fish we've ever gotten from the Petsmart, minus 1 green cory and my bettas have all died from illness.
I'd rather go out of the way to our LFS and buy their fish.
Petsmart does have better deals on some of their products though and they carry the topfin dechlorinator that we use so that's why we keep going back.

 

[dthoffsett]

If you threat them well they will treat you well.

I've never tried threatening (sp) them before, I'll have to try that next time.