Is Anyone Having Long Term Success With Petsmart Fish. Question

[SarahBear1009]

I have only gotten my fish from the Petco near me, or a local fish store I go to. If one store doesn't have what I'm looking for, the other usually does.
The only fish I ever had an issue with were my Rummynose Tetra. I kept having them die off all of a sudden, one by one. No injuries, was fine the night before, water parameters were good, and woke up to one dead for several days in a row. Still not sure what happened. I have 3 left now.. I'd love to up their numbers but I'm nervous to get more to just have them die off.

 

[Señor Pescado]

In the town I live in, my only local fish suppliers are Petsmart and Petco. I initially stocked my 20 gallon tank back in November with neon tetras from PetSmart. In March, I added a Dwarf Gourami from PetSmart as well. While both of these species have been known to have their own problems, I haven't had a single issue. They're all happy and healthy.

 

[nikm128]

I have had little success with fish from there, less than 10 of 50+ fish that I own are from there, it used to be the only place I got fish but then everything started dying for no apparent reason with good water quality, so I think I have 7 fish that have lived about a year from there. Everything else is from Petco or a local place called seascape aquatics.
So the short answer is no, or very little

 

[Demeter]

Right now I've got a grandma female betta and a 4+ year old male albino BN. All my other fish are either raised by me or bought from a couple other petstores. I don't fancy petsmart too much, their fish aren't the greatest and I've had some problems with female bettas from there.

 

[AquaticJ]

I don’t buy from big box stores anymore because they’re hurting private owned fish stores, and it’s supporting mass breeding from asia. The latter is ruining our fish.

 

[CanadianFishFan]

Last year I bought 8 guppies and got a 9th for free. ("It may die on the 15 min drive home so I have you an extra")
Skip to 5 days later I had only 3 left. Now skip to today I own 1 of those original guppies. Ive had petsmart bettas last a year and a half thats about it.

 

[ssbon18]

I lost my 4 year bn pleco I got from Petco this year. The day I went to get a new one they didn't have any in. I went to PetSmart (15 minutes further from my house). They had more selection and the tanks were very clean. Ended up getting a rubberlip pleco this time. I’ve had him for about 3 months now and he's doing really good so far.

 

[SFGiantsGuy]

It truly is hit or miss; ehhh for me, it's been about 5 out of 20 let's say for fish stock...plants, never have purchased 'em from any bog box store other than some Anacharis a very long time ago... (almost 25 years ago! lol)

 

[Victoria99]

Bought 1 fish from them. A betta. She got dropsy and died within days

 

[SuzanaBanana]

Most of my fish have been from petsmart, some have died but most of them are fine, and are now 4+ yrs old

 

[AvalancheDave]

Most of my clown loaches are from Pet Smart and are 16+ years old.

 

[Deku-Cory]

I don’t feel comfortable supporting any of the big box stores. In my personal experience Petco and Petsmart have always been bad. Pet Supplies Plus used to be good because they had a true fish nerd employee who took amazing care of the fish, but once he left it went downhill.

But even if you do have a big box store that has healthy looking fish, there are still reasons not to support it. The big box stores buy from low quality breeders because they can afford to take losses on sick fish. Smaller stores can’t afford that, so they buy from higher quality breeders. This does mean their prices are higher, but you truly get what you pay for. I know my next fish will be bought from a small store, specifically ordered online because there are no local freshwater fish stores in my area.

 

[AJ34]

I have only ever purchased one fish from Petsmart, a male Betta and I have had him about a year so far so good luck there. I have had some unexplained deaths with some fish from Petco mostly Bettas and Gourami. It is frustrating but I think it can happen anywhere. At the time of purchase these fish seemed seemingly healthy. I'm not really sure if there was a genetic component or just some underlying disease not visible to my eye... If a store is keeping fish in deplorable conditions, I would not buy from them but sometimes I think unfortunately unexpected disease, defects, death is just something you will encounter in the hobby even when you try your best to avoid it.

 

[Crispii]

I don’t feel comfortable supporting any of the big box stores. In my personal experience Petco and Petsmart have always been bad. Pet Supplies Plus used to be good because they had a true fish nerd employee who took amazing care of the fish, but once he left it went downhill.

But even if you do have a big box store that has healthy looking fish, there are still reasons not to support it. The big box stores buy from low quality breeders because they can afford to take losses on sick fish. Smaller stores can’t afford that, so they buy from higher quality breeders. This does mean their prices are higher, but you truly get what you pay for. I know my next fish will be bought from a small store, specifically ordered online because there are no local freshwater fish stores in my area.

Would you support a German chain pet store?

 

[Holeinthehead]

I have never had a problem with PetsMart fish.

 

[aquanerd13]

i've had a petsmart guppy die on me 2 months after purchase, and there were no signs of sickness. the water parameters were perfect, there weren't any bullies, and i saw nothing concerning on his body. i still don't know why he died.

Guppies have shot life spans, and by the time they are very beautiful like you see them at petsmart, they don't have a long time left to live

 

[yinoma2001]

I don't think all box stores are created equally.

I have a really good PetSmart near me, and we've bought plenty of fish there (and they've over reproduced and thrived). One time I had a dead fish, I returned it within 14 days and they asked no questions and actually apologized!

There's also a Petco that I will visit, but recently have seen 50+ dead fish in their tanks with brown algae, so I know they're doing a **** poor job. Went to another Petco and their tanks were much better managed and bought two honey gourami there and they are doing well.

Underrated thing is PetSmart's 14 day return policy (no questions asked at my really good local one) and Petco's 30 day return policy (haven't used it yet).

 

[Erupto35]

*disclaimer- no real useful info, read at your own risk of boredom*

I have a Petsmart right across the street from a Pet Supplies Plus a mile away, then a LFS in the next town. I don't get critters from the LFS very often because I was concerned about the 20 minutes in a bag in the car vs 3 minutes. The people in the PSP are friendlier and more helpful and the equipment tends to be better priced, but the actual fish I have that have thrived best have come from the Petsmart, even though those employees (my location anyway) seem detached and disinterested. Personally I didn't credit the store so much... I got mostly goldies from petsmart and neons/gouramis from psp, so that's clearly not giving them equal chances! But over the course of a year, lets see... 83% survival from Petsmart, 26% survival from PSP, 86% from the LFS.

Well. I was all fixed to get a new fancy goldfish at Petsmart this week, but now that I've bothered to determine those survival rates, I think I will risk the trip to the LFS! Thanks guys!

I had never thought of checking for the supplier either! So silly, that's my first step when eating at restaurants. So pleased y'all mentioned that, I love you guys !

 

[Dennis57]

I went to petco once (while waiting for my wife when she went shopping) bought 4 fish, after 2 days my Nitrates went through the roof and the 4 new fish and 5 others had died. That was the 1st and last time I will ever go there

 

[nikm128]

They have at least an hour worth of oxygen in the bags, no need to worry about a little extra time