Petco selling fish online now and many kinds of Bettas.

Those are just the freshwater fish, they now have saltwater fish and all too. They have all kinds of classifications of Bettas. The only thing is you have no choice of the color or particular fish the way you would on eBay or Aquabid.

Rose

 

Is that a good thing or a bad thing?

 

I was wondering the same thing. Then I went and looked and I was fine until I clicked on the package deals, then I cringed. One of the freshwater packages has like 3 plecos, common I am assuming, that come with it in addition to about 24 other fish. But the one that got me was the goldfish packages. The package for the 30 gallon had something like 8-10 fish with it. I couldn't fathom that even in my 55g. I have to do some serious maintenance on my 10 gallon just to keep the water somewhat livable since I have emergency fish that have to wait about 3 more weeks before they can go into their pond. Goldfish are wonderful fish but it seems goldfish and bettas get no respect from most "big box" stores.

 

Yeah, I noticed that a couple weeks ago when I was on their site looking for something. I thought oh great they sell them online now. The Petco right down the street from me takes horrible care of their bettas. I wouldn't buy from them if it was the only place` that had them. Everytime I go I see atleast 1 or 2 that are dead. It's terrible. > I definitely wouldn't recommend buying one online from them because you just never know what could be wrong with it and unless you are prepared to take on a sick betta, it just wouldn't be a good idea. Natalie

 

Well they charge ridiculously high prices for their deltas, especially if they look anything like the ones at their store do... (as in dead or nearly so)

 

The bettas at our local petco are actually relatively well cared for. The water is always fairly clean (daily water changes at least, which is more than I can say for Wal Mart of Petsmart), even if they are kept in small cups. On the other hand, I don't think I'd order fish online from them.

 

It was really a notice to get a discussion going and I don't have a right or wrong to it. I think I would prefer to choose the particular fish I am buying rather than a generic "betta" or "halfmoon betta". Since you can do the same thing direct from the breeder or someone who will be more responsible for your pet and still have some choices, I think it may not be too good a thing.

Rose

 

Yeah I wouldn't want to just blindly order a "male Betta"...who knows what state the fish would be in when they sent him/her...

 

I don't like the petco that is close to me. I think the PetSmart by me is better. I would guess that it is the owner, manager, and employees that make the difference. I personally prefer to pick out my fish in person so I can see what I am getting. Although, sometimes I think that they are the ones who pick out me. ;D

CherryRose

 

Oh yes I have never in my life picked a Betta. It's all THEIR fault I am broke cause they MAKE me buy them. ;D hehehehehehehe But yes I totally agree about wanting to "pick out" your fish in person (or else have them pick you in person, lol) Oh and also ditto about Petco vs Petsmart, my Petsmart is generally better about keeping their cups clean.

 

I whole heartedly agree about that. My Petsmart down the road from me is so much better about keeping the tanks and the betta containers clean. They take much better care of them. I don't think the Petco near me even put any kind of dechlorinator in their Betta container's. Petsmart does though. I watched them recently do it. Made up a big thing of water with dechlorinator in it. The water is warm too when they first fill them up, but obviously it eventually get's cold. The employees there do care a lot more then the employees at Petco do. Natalie

 

I disagree, I buy all of my supplies and fishes from Petco. The guys at WalMart don't know a single thing about aquariums and can't even bag the fishes properly. Also the bettas are kept in plastic conainers that are twice as big as the ones in WalMart or PetsMart. The last time I went to Petco was 2 years ago. It was ok except the tanks weren't exactly the cleanest tanks you ever saw. As for buying fish online, I don't think it's a smart choice. I'd rather choose my own fish.

 

Yup yup yup. It definitely depends on the personell at the store as well as the store manager. I'm afraid to go into any fish store right now though, as I just know there is another lonely little betta ready to grab my attention. (sigh) I wish I had the room and the money to save them all.

CherryRose

 

We have two PetCos and one PetSmart within 10 miles of the house.  The PetSmart seems to have a more-knowledgeable staff, but neither appears to go to great strides wrt the Betta's care.  I've seen no Bettas in the Wal-Mart nearby.

As for PetCo's on-line purchases, I wonder if the fish are shipped from the local stores (where I wouldn't want to make such a purchase) or from a more centralized location, which could be okay if staffed with the right people.  Either way, it seems this is new for PetCo and I'd like to see them work the bugs out and show success with such a program before investing time and money in it.

Mike