Help out the petco aquatic specialist

so I'm the the aquatic specialist at my local Petco and I was given very little training and guidance for the position, Our store is one of the worst in the region shrink-wise and I am look for some tips from some fishkeeping veterans. Any tips or advice from former aquatic specialists would be greatly appreciated. our mortality rate hovers around 40% (I am told that 20 is the goal) but noone in my store knows anything about fish. For the record I do consider myself to be fairly knowledgeable, I have kept freshwater for a couple years, but obviously I wasn't prepared for this kind of responsibility

it would be great to hear from someone who has held the position in the past. Most of all I am looking for help reducing the shrink, but I would also like some feedback on other topics including quarantine tanks, refusing sales, stocking tanks, dealing with management, etc. Any feedback is much appreciated!

 

First of all if you are just starting the job I would only order freshwater fish as they are easier to keep alive. ALWAYS kepp the tanks clean, and don't sell people fish that will get too big for their aquarium. after you have mastered freshwater fish you can start saltwater. OH, and make sure those bettas are healthy and their cups are clean.

 

Test your water parameters OFTEN! Ammonia should always be at 0, even with a highly stocked system. If it's consistently skyrocketing you need to up your filtration or lower your stocking levels (I've no clue how much control you have over any of that considering petco is a major chain). If you're able, my other recommendation is to set up a "hospital tank" in the back room somewhere (it needn't be fancy, just a bare 10 gallon with a cycled sponge filter or something) where you can remove all sick fish to ASAP so they're not infecting the rest of the system. Watch for things like clamped fins, fin rot, a "shimmying" swimming motion, white spots on the fish, etc and remove sickly fish asap to be treated. Obviously you're not going to be able to ensure disease-free fish since fish stores usually don't quarantine, but removing obviously ill specimens should help lower your mortality rates.

Good luck!

 

I actually made friends with the old aquatics specialist at my local Petco. He was great, had the mortality rate down to 23%. Unfortunately for the fish, he was promoted, and they put a kid in charge who clearly knows nothing about fish.

The most important thing would be to help your customers learn the nitrogen cycle. There's a great article if you click the words that might help you explain things to them. If you can carry Tetra Safestart, it'll help you out a lot.

The second thing is to find out how big of a tank the customer has and recommend appropriate stock. I've actually found the care cards at my local petco to be fairly accurate. For instance, if someone is looking for a tank cleaner for their ten gallon, do not suggest they buy any species of catfish, especially plecos. Perhaps recommend a snail or two. See if your store is able to order mystery snails, nerites, or MTS (if you don't already have them).

It also wouldn't hurt to read up on lighting a little, so you can help those customers interested in keeping live plants. You might also look into carrying a plant substrate. I know Petco sells EcoComplete online, so possibly you could have a few bags in the store if management will allow it.

My mom bought me a really nice Fluval light for one of my tanks as a christmas present... the expensive one I didn't dare ask for But, when she went into the store, she happened to stop in the one I rarely visit, but there's a young man there, maybe 18, who happens to keep a lot of aquariums, mostly planted Walstad method aquariums. Because of that one good fish department employee, the store made a pretty sizable sale that they wouldn't have otherwise made.

I would suggest looking at your sump options. Every store I've been in has run two sumps, sometimes more depending on department size. You will need to have a few tanks designated as "hospital" or "observation tanks". When you find a sick fish in one of the other tanks, remove it immediately and put it on a separate system to the other fish, in these other tanks. You're going to see a lot of ICH, especially in your freshwater fish. They come from the breeder with it and it's impossible to eradicate in a store tank. You can help by keeping the fish healthy, running UV Sterilizers on your sumps, and dipping affected fish in your saltwater tanks (vice versa for saltwater fish, dip them in your freshwater tanks)

And lastly, let's talk about your betta bar(s). Betta's cup water should be changed daily. Feeding on bettas in cups should be absolutely minimal, no more than once a day, preferably less. If you can keep a few bettas in the store tanks as opposed to cups, I'd do it. Don't put them in with nippy fish though, and no bettas in guppy tanks. If there is a problem, the betta should be removed immediately.

If you find a dead fish, remove it. Immediately. There's no reason to leave a dead fish in a display tank, and one of the things I appreciated most about the old department manager at my store is that he removed any dead fish the moment he saw them.

You should also look into drip acclimation methods, especially for the saltwater fish, as they are much more sensitive than freshies.

Personally, I don't buy fish from stores that don't at least attempt to do all of these things. Animal care in the store is very important

Good luck in your new endeavor!

 

so I'm the the aquatic specialist at my local Petco and I was given very little training and guidance for the position, Our store is one of the worst in the region shrink-wise and I am look for some tips from some fishkeeping veterans. Any tips or advice from former aquatic specialists would be greatly appreciated. our mortality rate hovers around 40% (I am told that 20 is the goal) but noone in my store knows anything about fish. For the record I do consider myself to be fairly knowledgeable, I have kept freshwater for a couple years, but obviously I wasn't prepared for this kind of responsibility

Refer ALL YOUR NEWBIES to FIshlore!

You have a team of mentors here to help!

 

The aquatics guy in my petco managed to kill ICH in most of his tanks, so I wouldn't say it's impossible. He just super lightly put medicine in and raised the temps some and the was gone in about 2-4 days. He managed to keep it gone for about 3 weeks until the manager found out he had bought the medicine and was using it on the tanks (Because healthy fish are bad for business, apparently)

 

Test your water parameters OFTEN! Ammonia should always be at 0, even with a highly stocked system. If it's consistently skyrocketing you need to up your filtration or lower your stocking levels (I've no clue how much control you have over any of that considering petco is a major chain). If you're able, my other recommendation is to set up a "hospital tank" in the back room somewhere (it needn't be fancy, just a bare 10 gallon with a cycled sponge filter or something) where you can remove all sick fish to ASAP so they're not infecting the rest of the system. Watch for things like clamped fins, fin rot, a "shimmying" swimming motion, white spots on the fish, etc and remove sickly fish asap to be treated. Obviously you're not going to be able to ensure disease-free fish since fish stores usually don't quarantine, but removing obviously ill specimens should help lower your mortality rates.

Good luck!

I am working on getting my manager to let me set one up in the back. What they've been doing is waiting until ich breaks out in one of the tanks, and then putting a heater in to raise the temp, plugging off the pump and adding salt. The problem is that there are anywhere from 6-12 tanks on any given sump, so just plugging off the one tank isn't doing any good because its already in the system. As far as how much control I have, I've had the aquatic specialist title for a couple months now but my managers were handling the fish orders. I think that reducing some of the overstocking would help, so I'm also working on taking over on that front. And luckily for me, our store doesn't have saltwater. I always give good advice on things like tank stocking and cycling, but I am the only one in the store who knows anything about fish, and that's not even an exaggeration. My co-workers don't have a clue about fishkeeping, they will sell someone 3 Gouramis for their 10 gallon tank and I look like the bad guy when I tell the customer they can't do that. My biggest problem is getting the rest of the staff up to par

 

Give them little stocking pamphlets and a brief explanation of the nitrogen cycle

Is there a way to use one of the smaller, 6 tank systems as a quarantine section? That might be best if your tanks are frequently full or overfull, for store stocking.

You won't get rid of ICH completely :/ It will return with every new fish order.

 

Give them little stocking pamphlets and a brief explanation of the nitrogen cycle

Is there a way to use one of the smaller, 6 tank systems as a quarantine section? That might be best if your tanks are frequently full or overfull, for store stocking.

You won't get rid of ICH completely :/ It will return with every new fish order.

That would be nice, but realistically it'll never happen. We have 5 sumps, one each for the feeders, goldfish, and glofish and each with 6 tanks. The other 2 sumps are tropical, and have 12 tanks on each. They would never allow a whole section for quarantine. The two options I have on the table right now, are to keep pushing for the hospital tank in the back, which I think is a possibility, or to plug off one of the tanks in each of the sumps to use as a quarantine. The problem with that tho is that would mean no filtration for the hospital tanks.

Another huge battle I'm fighting right now is to clear up our feeder tanks. They used to be nasty when I started, I cleaned them up a little bit but one day they were a tad cloudy when the district manager was in for a visit. and in a knee-jerk reaction said that we should remove all of the gravel to clear up the water. And I haven't been able to re-establish the cycle since. My manager still won't let me put rocks back in without a thumbs up from corporate, and we are suffering for it. Every couple days the cloudiness will get so think that you can't even see through to the other side of the tank, (these tanks are maybe 25 gallons). Ill do a water change which helps for a couple days, and then it returns

 

Yeah, feeder tanks at all of my local stores are always nasty Too bad they had you take out the gravel. With how many goldfish are in those tanks, they need every bit of BB space they can get.

Go for the hospital tank then if you can get it It's your best bet to keep the display tanks looking good

 

I was able to get the green light on the hospital tank so hopefully I can get that going soon. I could use some work on identifying the sick fish tho. I can usually tell when its ich but that's about it. Any other common illnesses I should worry about?

 

I'd put a picture or something explaining the nitrogen cycle in a very simple manner. I know when I was learning, I didn't understand until I saw the picture of it going from fish to amm, nitrite, nitrate, water change etc.. I would also always ask what is in their tank, what size, how long it's been set up, water changes, etc. My petco also used to have a knowledgeable fish person working in their aquatics. He helped me cycle my 15gal, testing water with a master kit, helping me figure out stock and wc levels etc. He didn't tell me I couldn't buy any fish, but simply that I shouldn't since they'll die until the tanks cycled. Encourage research(or have care sheets etc out/improve the fish info on the tanks.. those things are hardly ever fully correct..)

If you can't get the QT, raise the tank temps a degree or two(although its probably just almost room temp), up the wc, keep the tanks clean. People hate having to see dead or decomposing fish in tanks, or fish eating dead fish. If possible, add live plants (to sell) to each tank, allowing them to be displayed and help the tanks.(labeling plants properly is something i'd try and do too)

For bettas, if it's possible(though I doubt it), get a long tank and divide it, filter it as you would the other tanks. explain that this will decrease betta morality, help reduce time spent cleaning their cups etc. Recommend tanks for bettas, never bowls.

Wish you the best! I'm glad you're here to get as much help as you can! Of course, these things aren't all a must, but what I think would help

 

Read upon specific fish size/quality/requirements and behaviors. these are the main things that you would want to know. most people come into the store and ask "I want something in a ___ size tank, I have ___, what can I keep with them, and how many can I get?"

 

A lot of people are suggesting very drastic changes. Those will not be able to happen. At stores like PetCo and PetSmart we have policies and procedures that prevent us from making any changes bigger than deciding when to scrub tanks, really. The Betta's will pretty much always be in cups.. aside from those that can chill in a community tank. Also as for medicines and buying things for tanks.. you CAN NOT buy anything unless the higher ups are okay with it.. not even a decoration. They don't want you spending any of your money on the store. You can plop a Betta in the plant tank if you have one. Or maybe a few females. The plant tanks tend to be super heavily planted do a couple females should do very well. Keep an eye on the goldfish and feeder tanks. Comment tanks are notorious for getting disgusting. It's pretty much impossible to hold a cycle on them if you guys are changing filter pads daily like we do. Just do your best and really.. don't try to change everything to the way WE here at FL like it. You HAVE to follow procedure and if you decide to be a superhero and fix everything to be the way we would all have it if it were in our homes.. you will no longer have a job. No matter what you do.. be sure it it within policy and procedure to do it. NEVER just ask a manager. Always look it up yourself in writing. You can tell the district manager "well.. the store manager said it was okay" but if its not procedure.. god help your soul. Chain stores are huge on policies. So long as you are within their rules.. you can't get in trouble for anything.

 

Good luck! It would be hard to be put in a position of choosing store policy vs. what I knew to be best practices for health of fish. So I hope that never comes up. If you can get approval for a quarantine that would be great. It's nice to know that they have someone who cares doing this job.
I went in a chain LPS the other day and saw a sign saying that the fish in that tank where being monitored and where not for sale that day. Not sure what other shoppers thought but it made me happy knowing the store was monitoring the fish for signs of illness.

 

so I'm the the aquatic specialist at my local Petco and I was given very little training and guidance for the position, I am look for some tips from some fishkeeping veterans.

Kudos to you for stepping up to the plate.

My biggest piece of advice would be to admit you don't know an answer.

I don't know if your store has a computer available near your department so that you can look something up, if need be.

Always ask what size tank the person has and if it's completed the nitrogen cycle. If they don't know what that is, offer them a handout that explains it. Ask what their existing stock is. Do your best to make them a repeat customer, not because their fish keep dying, but because your excellent advice has them upgrading.

 

thanks for all the advice. I actually got our shrink down to 21.3 this past month so I must be doing something right. Although the top 6 fish in mortality were all glofish, and it's been this way for a few months. Can anyone tell me why that might be?

 

Glofish die at my store too. The smaller fish tend to be more fragile.. Especially with the shipping. Sometimes its just a matter of bad stock. For a few weeks our Common Plecos kept coming in sick. Now its the Neon Tetras that are bad.

 

I agree with the neon tetras.. bought 10 Saturday and have already lost 5! Luckily they were on sale $1 each but still. Hopefully I don't lose any more. I knew they were having issues with them dying off etc but I didn't think they died that easy..

 

Glofish tend to be sensitive since they've been genetically altered. If your store stocks them, those, neon tetras, and bettas will probably be your biggest DOA fish, or they'll be the ones that most often get sick and die immediately after arrival.

Next will probably be livebearers who come in with columnaris or another livebearer-common disease. That's why the QT tank is so important

 

I have a friend who keeps wonderful personal aquariums, yet is frustrated by the loss he has to endure as the livestock manager at a big box store semi-near where I live.
His major problem is that his store tends to import from Asia, and despite modern travel, the stock often arrives in extremely low pH conditions, and the mechanics of a big box store simply do not allow him to do anything but alter the pH radically----not his choice.
Sometimes the worker at the store knows what should be done, but is simply not allowed to do it, if a 40% mortality rate is more profitable than a 15% rate, properly done (= extra time) rate.----rick

 

That's actually the source water from asia, Rick. I've heard from a few folks who import bettas that this is one of the main reasons their imports die within weeks after arrival. Acclimation for this type of thing takes weeks, not hours, in order for the fish not to die of shock.

Although I find it odd that your buddy's store doesn't use RO water. I find many fish stores have their own large RO system.

 

Corporate kind of had a knee jerk reaction to all of the glofish loss, they said that since the glofish have a higher metabolism (not sure if that's true) they need to be fed 3 times daily. Well, needless to say that has backfired. My co-workers already wayyy overfeed the fish, and now they're throwing handfuls in the glofish tanks 3 times a day. Now I can't seem to keep them clean

 

Glofish tend to be sensitive since they've been genetically altered. If your store stocks them, those, neon tetras, and bettas will probably be your biggest DOA fish, or they'll be the ones that most often get sick and die immediately after arrival.

Next will probably be livebearers who come in with columnaris or another livebearer-common disease. That's why the QT tank is so important

I'm starting to wonder in the QT tank is a lost cause, seeing how all of our tanks are run off of central sumps. When there is an outbreak in one of the tanks, we are supposed to plug the tank off from the sump (which will only happen if I am working at the time) but by then it is already in all of the tanks. I feel like I'm fighting an impossible battle. Not to mention that I only work 30 hours a week, so I am not always there to diagnose illness

 

Glofish die at my store too. The smaller fish tend to be more fragile.. Especially with the shipping. Sometimes its just a matter of bad stock. For a few weeks our Common Plecos kept coming in sick. Now its the Neon Tetras that are bad.

Yeah I think I'm starting to realize that a lot of the mortality is simply out of my control. We have the same problem in my store where we will consistently get bad stock for weeks at a time. For instance, I counted 25 dead gold barbs the day after our shipment arrived. We've also had problems with the clown loaches and plecos as of late. Its awfully frustrating to have bad stock screw up our mortality

 

Hey guys, I work at my local petco and lately we've been having trouble keeping our koi alive. The alkalinity in our tanks has dropped pretty low and its causing our ph to fluctuate. I tried my best to read up on the subject but its all a little bit confusing to me. Is there a way to increase the buffering capacity without directly changing the ph? Our ph tests out neutral most of the time but its the random drastic swings that are the problem I imagine. I thought about maybe adding some crushed coral but I don't want the ph to skyrocket, I just want to increase the alkalinity. If it makes a difference, the tank is currently empty and I would probably have at least a week to fiddle with the water chemistry before we're looking at reintroducing fish. The tank looks like a 75 gallon to me, with a sump underneath that automatically refills. I'll have to record the exact parameters tomorrow when I get in but I remember the alkalinity of our tap water matching the alkalinity of the tank water, so I have to assume that's where the problem is. Can anybody help me out?

 

What is your pH out of the tap? You need to let it sit 24 hours before testing it, btw.
Are you using liquid tests or test strips?

 

What is your pH out of the tap? You need to let it sit 24 hours before testing it, btw.
Are you using liquid tests or test strips?

The ph out of the tap is 7.0 last I checked, and I didnt know you had to let it sit. We use the tetra test strips

 

The ph out of the tap is 7.0 last I checked, and I didnt know you had to let it sit. We use the tetra test strips

Test strips are inaccurate. Liquid tests will give you an accurate reading.

 

Hey guys, I work at my local petco and lately we've been having trouble keeping our koi alive. The alkalinity in our tanks has dropped pretty low and its causing our ph to fluctuate. I tried my best to read up on the subject but its all a little bit confusing to me. Is there a way to increase the buffering capacity without directly changing the ph? Our ph tests out neutral most of the time but its the random drastic swings that are the problem I imagine. I thought about maybe adding some crushed coral but I don't want the ph to skyrocket, I just want to increase the alkalinity. If it makes a difference, the tank is currently empty and I would probably have at least a week to fiddle with the water chemistry before we're looking at reintroducing fish. The tank looks like a 75 gallon to me, with a sump underneath that automatically refills. I'll have to record the exact parameters tomorrow when I get in but I remember the alkalinity of our tap water matching the alkalinity of the tank water, so I have to assume that's where the problem is. Can anybody help me out?

Hello, are you able to test your water sources GH and KH and report your readings? This would be most helpful.

 

The API Freshwater Master Kit can very accurately test all of these.
Petco may carry a different brand test kit, I believe its NutraFin Master AquaruI'm Test kit. I haven't used this one but I believe they are basically the same, just different brands.

 

Strips are only useful for knowing if something exists in the water. Nearly always not a single value matches any liquid kit. It used to not be suggested to take your water to a store for testing rather than buying your own kit because everyone just used strips. More and more places use liquid tests and nearly all the private aquarium stores these days.

If you are right about your problem what I would do for a personal tank is use some seachem neutral regulator and a liquid ph test. Preferably a liquid kh test too but that's not always possible. Then apply it to all water change water. I'm not sure the logistics on your end though.

 

The API Freshwater Master Kit can very accurately test all of these.
Petco may carry a different brand test kit, I believe its NutraFin Master AquaruI'm Test kit. I haven't used this one but I believe they are basically the same, just different brands.

My Petco only carries the API kits.

 

I found this, I hope it helps !

 

FYI the stock of koi petco has been receiving (at least in my area) has been infected with anchor worm. Like for the last few months. So if you guys have the same supplier then they might just have anchor worm.

 

I would think the ph fluctuations are due to old tank syndrome. How high are the nitrates and how often is the water changed and what percent?