The Fishkeeper Friend

When we buy fish, we must first find a reliable source to buy from. Starting or updating a tank with new fish needs to be done in a careful fashion. Now, if you’re like me, you probably hate it when I say that. All you want to do is buy some finned friends! 

But seriously, choosing your fish breeder carefully is essential to making sure your fish are happy.

Over the course of owning fish, I’ve been to a couple different locations that sell fish, but not all of them impressed me. In this post, I want to compare two very similar stores: Petsmart and Petco. 

My journey as a fish keeper has mostly revolved around Petsmart. Currently, I have a pair of GloFish from Petsmart in my smaller tank, and in the past I’ve had more. Now, while this does not guarantee all their fish are reliable, their GloFish tend to be very hardy and live quite a while. (3-5 years in my case) 

I have also purchased a betta and quite a few guppies from PetSmart. They have been a trusted source and all of their aquariums so far seem very clean and safe to buy from. Another key factor in my preference can be seen in the fact that they also have more locations near me than PetCo.

Back to the review! Recently, I have been setting up a very large tank and decided to test out a PetCo near me. I do know quite a few fish keepers who have bought their fish there, which is part of the reason I wanted to test it out. 

So after considering carefully, I settled on the types of fish I wanted: mollies, neon tetras, and pearl gouramis. Before we go into my experience, I want to note that the gouramis were to be purchased at a professional store, seeing as they were to be my featured fish, and therefore are not mentioned in this article.

When I arrived at the store, I already felt unsure. It took a few minutes to figure out where the aquarium area even was! Once I did find it, though, there seemed to be quite the array of fish to choose from. 

One problem I noticed right away was an abundance of dead fish. On top of this, the other fish were showing signs of cannibalism. The corpses were spreading particles all over the aquariums. This can lead to many different problems: parasites or  fungi may feed on the body of a dead fish, and if other healthy fish eat the body, they will also consume these too.

Another warning sign then appeared; there seemed to be very heavy overstocking and very dirty water in most of the tanks. While this can be reasoned with the fact they may sell out quickly and more space would free up, overstocking fish is usually a problem no matter what. It can lead to sickness and diseases, especially ammonia poisoning. 

No one wants to start a tank off on the wrong foot! Despite all of the red flags, eager me wanted to finally get some fish in my tank. I purchased a good deal of fish: four dalmatian mollies and four neon tetras, planning to possibly come back for more. 

Before leaving the store, I did check the refund and return policy. ALWAYS make sure you have an option if the fish you bought are of low quality.  Both PetCo and PetSmart have a 30-day refund or return policy in my area. 

Anyway, after a few days of the fish getting used to the tank, I did discover some very bad news: all of the fish I had purchased had the infamous Ich! At first, I only returned one neon tetra as it had a fungal infection, but got in exchange another sick fish. The employee who was in charge of the fish did not seem to notice or care that the fish were sick. 

Now, I am hoping to return all the fish I purchased, and have experienced a frustrating setback. Hopefully a full refund will follow, but I will still have to leave my tank without fish for quite a while to starve off the parasite. After the tank is safe again, I plan to instead purchase my fish from PetSmart this time. Hopefully all goes well, and after I will update this post with the final result.

Another small note I would like to make is the price difference. In my area, the PetCo is selling their fish at a much higher price than is listed online. This is one reason you should always check in person as well as online before buying any fish.

Petsmart has been selling for a better price lately. While PetCo was selling each of the fish I purchased for around $5-6 dollars each, PetSmart has offered a bargain of only $2-4 and much better quality so far.

Overall, my personal experience with PetCo and PetSmart has been very interesting. While I will readily suggest PetSmart over PetCo, not all areas are the same. You may find yourself in the exact opposite experience, or even with only one of the stores at all. Never, ever, should you buy fish if you doubt the quality. Aquariums and fish are hard work, and you must always evaluate your options.

Happy fish-keeping!