Petco Fish???

[MikeP]

I have a place near me called PetCo. It is like a big pet place mostly sells Dog and Cat supplies, has a section of FreshFish and about 6 tanks of Saltwater tanks(mostly tank raised) they have med to large sized Yellow Tangs 7.00 a piece, has anybody bought from them?? Also I have 1 yellow in a 55 should I buy 1 or 2, I heard that with 2 in there they fight. I have a wrasse,yellow tang and a grouper(old man stays to himself)?? in a 55
Thanks

[Brooke]

If I'm understanding you right, you already have a yellow tang? If so, then don't get another one. The 55 with those 3 fish is probably maxed out.

Petco's fish are ok at best. Every now and then you might find a decent specimen, but it's not worth the $$ to pay for potentially subpar fish.

my .02-
Brooke

[MikeP]

I kinda thought that but the impulse was to get 2 when I was there. But I didn't.
You think the 55 is maxed with just those three.
Sizes grouper 7-8" long 2" fat., tang 4-5" high5-5" long, wrasse 4-5" long.
Thank You

[asmith]

I don't recommend purchasing marine fish from Petco. As Brooke said, they are not the highest quality livestock. I personally wish Petco would get out of the marine fish business. They don't take care of their fish very well, and I hate seeing the fish wasting away in their tanks.

I also agree that your aquarium is pretty much maxed out as far as fish go. You have more inches of fish in your 55 than I do in my 90 and I am not planning on adding any more.

Andrew

[MontanaRocknReefer]

Hi there!! Alot of hobbyist make the mistake of not knowing how big their fish will get for a certain size tank. Even 1 tang in a 55 is iffy at best. Another thing hobbyist overlook is the fact that tang need alot of swim space so they will not get stressed which will cause ick and even worse death.
So for the health of your fish you have maxed out and even over exceeded a bit in a 55. JMO Johnny

[FishDaddy]

MikeP,
IMHO, your tank is definitely bio-full.
For example: I have a pair of Ocellaris Clowns; a Pygmy Cherub Angel (Centropyge argi); a pair of Neon Gobies (Gobiosoma oceanops), and a Lawnmower Blenny (Salarias fasciatus) in my 55. I consider it maxed.
The Cherub and one of the Clowns are 2-1/2 and 3"; one Clown about 1-1/2"; the Lawnmower about 3"; the Gobies about 1" each.
A traditional rule of thumb is 1" of fish for every 5~ gallons of tank volume. This is very general and can be even less for larger-bodied fish.
Your Grouper will get very big! Minimum catch size in Fla. is 22", I think!!! Depending on the species, some Wrasses get quite large and most consider a 75 the minimum size for any Tang.
Please take my observations as entirely positive and a great excuse to buy a 180!!!!!!!!!
Dick

[Brooke]

Most of us here seem to agree that tangs need a minumum of a 75g tank. I think a minimum 5-6' tank is best. (yes, i've kept them in smaller, but see the benefits of a large tank) I also believe in keeping only one tang in anything less than a 180. That's JMHO.

You could probably get away with 1-2 more small fish, but the grouper would probably just eat them .

Brooke

[fgto250]

I'm trying to restain myself from petco bashing. but....


they seem to have no hesitation to sell difficult if not imposible to keep fish and inverts to unkowing people.

[julieanne399]

Hello, I dont know about your petco but the one here is really bad in my opinion. Most all their fish are sick, lots of dead fish in their tanks, they dont know how to care for them and dont really care about who they sell them to. I would not recommend them to any of my friends! I have seen other people put different kinds of tangs in the same tank with good results. Have fun, Julie

[JennM]

Petco makes my blood pressure rise.

If I had a dime for every time somebody bought a sick fish at Petco, but came to the LFS I worked for HELP when it happened....nobody goes to PETCO for help, do they??

**BREATHE**

I was so disgusted with what I saw in a NEW Petco, I wrote to their head office by email. I got a condescending reply explaining about "new tanks" and they were shocked that I wouldn't consider buying their marine livestock given that the clowns all had fungus, the tangs all had ich, and there were dead chromis stuck to the filter intakes

They get most of their tank raised stuff from ORA. I'm sure your local LFS can get livestock from ORA too. I don't know where they get their wild caught stuff, and I don't care. IMO with a very few exceptions, most of these stores are hideous to all their fish, not just marine ones.

If they let their puppies get that way, somebody'd shut them down.

BTW the store I complained about had been open less than 3 weeks, and even their RODENT displays were filthy and stunk to high heaven. I used to breed fancy mice, so I know what a rodent cage smells like.....and PEEEEEWWWW these needed a cleaning.

OK.....off the Petco slamming bandwagon.

I've got a 55 and I've never kept a tang. Why? Because my tank is too small (even though Petco will give you $5 off your Yellow Tang with the purchase of a 20 gallon tank! ) oops back on the Petco bashing wagon again for a sec...

The yellow wrasse is fine for a 55 (great fish, bTW) but the grouper will definitely get way to big, even though they are fairly sedentary, the waste factor will become an issue. The tang will eventually stress from being so cooped up.

You probably can't trade fishes in at Petco....might do well to find yourself a REAL LFS....

Jenn

[jegel]

Seems pretty redundant but I'd agree your tank is maxed out. Especially as the tang and wrasse need lots of swimming room.
BTW, what type of wrasse is it???

[JennM]

He said yellow wrasses so I'm guessing it's Yellow Coris Wrasse (Halichoeres trispilus)

I've had 2 in the last 16 years.....LOVE 'em!

Jenn

[Alice]

A couple of years a go I make a trip to my local Petco for plants for the FW tanks. I see 4 tanks crammed full of clownfish...a good half of them dead and the ones that were still lively enough to do so gasping at the surface for air. I start getting loud and making a fuss...the employee gets flustered and gets the manager. I continue to fuss at him until he takes action. And what does he do? Places a cheery sign on the tank that says "These fish are under observation" For what????????? I walked out in disgust.

MikeP, I don't want to be too harsh but as you've had such bad luck with fish over the years ($600 worth must be about 20 fish or so) I would hold the status quo in your tank and think about finding a good home for the grouper. A good book for fish choices is Scott Michael's Pocket Guide for marine fish; a little research may help the survival rate. And giving Petco a wide berth

~Alice

[eaglelox]

alright al you petco bashers, I hear ya and semi agree, let me tell you a tail. here in Reno I have three places to go. 1 LFS of which one just plain no good, poor selection, no knowledge, sick fish. 2 LFS great selection,sick fish, all employees are liars. 3 petco has the fish guru working there who has helped me alot, and everything he has told me has been true, yes the fish are sick but fish guru has always told me which fish not to get. he also told me not to buy tangs from petco if I didn't have to.im sure it varies store to store and person to person. so for right now im still a petco shopper.

[Doug1]

Steve, your Petco experience is the exception not the rule, but hey if they are taking care of you and trying to make inroads in the fish problems, Go for it
In my experience clean stores with sterile tanks and dead fish that are removed immediatly arent always the best choices, esp if stafffed by arrogent or dishonest people. I want someone that will talk to me and remember my system, and not try to sell me something they shouldn't carry in the first place