Regal

I love my bio-wheels and my marineland c-series canister filters. I don't know if Petsmart is responsible or Marineland but this is a ridiculous price hike.

I dug out my reciepts, here's what I found:

December 27 2007 I paid $47.99 for the HOT Magnum at petsmart, today on the petsmart website the same filter is $99.99!

December 26 2007 I paid $26.99 for the Penguin 350 at petsmart, today the same filter on the petsmart web site is $47.99!

Petsmart has always had waaaay lower prices on the website than in the stores and then they would match the lower price if you print out the page and purchase it at the store. If they still do that then I'd hate to see what they are charging in the store.

capekate

It seems that everything is going up in price. I really do price shop around for the best prices. At one point a month ago, the Whisper 100 air pump at Petsmart was 46.00 and online at Big Als, it was 18.99! Of course, I returned the air pump to the store and bought from Big Als.Big difference. It also pays to shop during the sales at online stores for sure. Thats how I also got my coralife T-5 double fixtures for 44.00 a piece, compared to 89.00 when not on sale.

Lucy

I noticed the visi-therm stealth heaters have gone up on the website also. It used to be worth printing the page and have them match the price....not any more.
Pet Mountain has them a lot cheaper.

capekate

Big Als, 250w visi-therm stealth heater= 22.09, thats what I paid for mine! wow..... much cheaper than what I was looking at yesterday at petsmart! Of course, again they may have been on sale not sure...

Lucy

PetMountain has the 250w for 19.04. To give Petsmart credit, they matched petmountain's price.

capekate

THAT is a great price Lucy... pretty cool that PS matched the price...

Regal

Wow! $46 is a lot more than $18.99 lol. Even with shipping costs it would still be worth the trouble of returning it and ordering it online!


I shop around too. I guess that's how I ended up printing the page out and taking it to the store. I checked Petco's site and they have the Magnum for 69.99.

So does anybody know who is responsible? Petsmart or Marineland? I know prices go up, that's just the way it is, but doubling the price is just unscrupulous!

CWO4GUNNER

I notice Pet Smart while having reasonable prices on most quality items will have high prices on some accessories, something I think that is well planned. They got me first time around in January when I spent only $226 for a 60 gallon tank, light hood, stand combo, but got taken on their 350 magnum price of $169 when they have them on Pet Solutions for only $88 plus $8 shipping. But now that the cat is out of the bag you can bet it wont happen again and it hasn't as I now shop and compare and of course improvise where ever I can. I was in a mom and pop LFS and a customer was asking how much aquarium they could get for $500 which was their budget and the answer was maybe a 20 gallon setup .

I don't think prices are going up just the old sales tactics used in the mid century are being dusted off with the motto "there's a sucker born every minute". So learn to be socially independent by LEARNING to do your own repairs where you can, improvising against conventional wisdom (outside the box) and shopping for the best prices on the best value products. Most importantly be a good steward of your money and you will land on your feet in hard times.

mr. Clown Loach

lol i spent 500$ total at petsmart on aquarium and i got a 63g because thay thought the tank was 50 lol. then i bought the penguin 350 and it was only like 30$. but then the stealth heater was $40!!!!! but the gravel was quite cheap at only like $13 for a 25lb. bag

prairielilly

I live in Calgary which is a pretty big city, it can take an hour to get from one side to the other, so bc I hate wasting time travelling I tend to try to stay close to home if I can. When I needed a new heater for my 10g I went to the nearest lfs (Petland) and got a Rena Smart heater 50W - awesome heater - but cost me $42 CDN and was one of the cheapest ones there. About a month later I decided to check out an lfs I'd never been to on the other side of the city (Pisces - it's local) and found the EXACT same heater for $28.99!! Well recently the top came off my 100W in the 20g (it still works, but would you use a heater for your precious fishies where the top came off?) and guess where I'm going?

I had noticed recently that the Canadian site for Big Al's is now offering cat and dog products and seems to have scaled back their fish-stuff inventory...and Petcetera is possibly going out of business...and Petsmart's shelves are bare every time I go there...

Tough times!

agabr123

that's ridiculous, thank goodness for petmountain!

mr. Clown Loach

petsmart shelves are always full of filters and aquariums and well you name it its there lol but i did see i think it was a rena there for like $80 and i was surprised

Regal

prairielilly:
Well recently the top came off my 100W in the 20g (it still works, but would you use a heater for your precious fishies where the top came off?) and guess where I'm going?

I wouldn't want to my hand in an aquarium with a heater like that.

prairielilly

Buying a new one tomorrow (stores closed today). I'm keeping it in there - and my hands out, agreed - to preserve the cycle, that tank's thankfully currently empty.

CWO4GUNNER

I believe Pet Mountain is having a 45% off sale now through the 12th. I have a few plants Im ordering.

ccb04

I like Marineland HOB filters ... their Aqua-Tech's that is. I picked up the Aqua-Tech 5-15 (100 GPH) for my 10 gal. Q-Tank for $11 at Wal Mart. The Aqua-Tech's pretty much seem to be like the older style Penguin's minus the Biowheel. Being without the Bio wheel doesn't bother me at all ... as I've never been a big fan. In the Aqua-Tech, I simply use the blue bonded filter pad and cut an AquaClear sponge to perfectly fit the bio cartridge slot. I actually like this media set up quite a bit.

The newer Penguin's seem rather larger for their given GPH ... and the Penguin 150 I tried was loud (mechanical noise) compared to my AquaClear's and Aqua-Tech's.

The C-Series canister's have well designed media compartments and sleek looks. I would consider one of them if in the market.

Despite not being a big fan of the Penguin Bio Wheel's ... I am a fan of Marineland overall. Love their Stealth heaters ... and of course like the products I've previously mentioned (Blue Bonded filter pads, Aqua-Tech HOB's, C-Series canisters).

hssea

I live in Michigan my closet LFS is in Canada. Their prices are soooo high...I do buy my fish there. For supplies I order online through Foster and Smiths . If anyone else knows any other sites to check out. I really don't order online from PetsMart cause when I went there in person the prices were higher than Fosters....didnt realize that their online prices are cheaper

prairielilly

Not all lfs's in Canada are expensive, which one are you going to?