5 community fish for $5 at Petco, thoughts?

[trashion]

I work in the PetCo aquatics department in Hartsdale, NY. If any of you guys live around here, come visit! Our tanks always look really nice [except for the day after deliveries, I hate hate hate our vendor!! Sending us sick and stressed fish...]

Anyway, we recently were given stickers to put up offering a "5 for $5" community fish sale, it ends on 11/21/07. Included in the sale are red-eye tetras, serpae tetras, neon tetras, male and female guppies, and small tiger barbs. there are more included in the sale, we just don't carry them at the moment.

I have mixed thoughts on this. I am glad that now people are going to buy proper schools of tetras, rather than the old "this one, this one, and that one," but god forbid if it's one of my days off and people buy 5 serpaes to pack in their 5 gallon tank.

Just thought I'd give the heads up to anyone looking to build tetra schools or start a new community tank

[Dr_House]

Thank you for the heads-up, trashion. It is good that the sale encourages the proper number of schooling fish. Are the customers limited to 5 of a single type of fish for $5, or are they free to get a guppy, a barb, a cardinal tetra, etc. for $5?

[Scuba Kid]

Originally Posted by Dr_House

or are they free to get a guppy, a barb, a cardinal tetra, etc. for $5?

If so, thats what I think most people unfamiliar with the hobby will be inclined to do. Most people are thinking of the variety of fish they can pack in a tiny tank...not the ideal number for schooling fish.
If you are working during this sale, be sure to push people toward getting 5 of a single type, if they choose schooling species!

[trashion]

Originally Posted by Dr_House

Thank you for the heads-up, trashion. It is good that the sale encourages the proper number of schooling fish. Are the customers limited to 5 of a single type of fish for $5, or are they free to get a guppy, a barb, a cardinal tetra, etc. for $5?

nope, it's only the specific SKUs of the fish that count for the 5. so they may only buy 5 of one kind to get the $5 price.

[Dr_House]

That's good to know. It sounds like you steer people in the right direction, which is always of benefit, even if the customers don't always realize it.

Originally Posted by Scuba Kid

Most people are thinking of the variety of fish they can pack in a tiny tank...not the ideal number for schooling fish.

Well said, sir.

[Buggy]

I got in on the 5 for $5 sale at my local petco not too long ago. I was able to "mix and match" them. I got gold barbs, cherry barbs, serpae tetras, black neons, tiger barbs and blood fin tetras. They were all very small and some didn't make it. The blood fins lost most of their nose and jaw within the first two days! I also lost a gold barb. The black neons, 2 gold barbs and 2 cherry barbs are doing great so far. The tigers and serpaes I lost due to a heater malfunction.
It's a good deal as far as the price but as I said, they are really tiny and some just don't survive the stress from shipping to the store then the transfer to the home.
Please be sure to remind the customer that the size they see is NOT the size they WILL be. My gold's have already tripled in size.

[trashion]

wow, i was under the impression that you couldn't mix and match. well, either way i've been telling everyone they CAN'T mix and match, because not providing proper schools is unfair.

[redpaulhus]

When I worked for P*co, it was called "5 for $5" but it was really $1 each - if they bought 2 neons it was $2.
Not sure if that's still the case.
(this was for about 5 years, up until about one year ago when I finally burned out)

The problem(s) we always had with this promotion were that :

a) "they" (corporate or regional inventory folks I guess) would way over-order and overload the system(s) for this sale

b) NONE of our systems had working UV sterilizers (all the bulbs were old and useless, and no store mgr could afford the hit to their supplies budget to replace them)

c) many of the "sale" fish were ones that didn't do well in our water (hard, high pH) - especially black neon tetras (we'd get a few hundred delivered on Tues, on Wed they'd ALL be dead or dying).

d) we didn't have an effective cross-contamination protocol - it was pretty common to use the same net to catch fish from 3 or 4 different tanks, or use the same specimen container all day without soaking it in anything between tanks. There was "sometimes" a bucket with netsoak or ridich in it, but it was just for the nets, not the specimen containers, and people didn't actually make sure they swapped nets between every tank...

e) customers would do silly things like buy 3 tiger barbs and two male guppies ("They're only $1, so I don't care if they kill each other" - huh ? )

Fishy Algebra :
A + B + C + D = ich

Our systems would get loaded with ich (actually, I don't remember many weekends when I DIDN'T see ich) -- we were treating with ich meds pretty much year round (Rid Ich mostly, until corp stopped offering gallon jugs for store use, followed by Clout, followed by the Jungle anti-parasite fizzy tabs when we ran out of Clout).

[oliesminis]

my lfs does something similar for 5 for £5 it is good you have to buy all the same for some fish to be included in the offer

shoaling fishh you must buy in 5s for the offerr where as things like guppies and mollys will be able to mix for the deel, sounds good if they cant get one of each

[trashion]

Originally Posted by redpaulhus

When I worked for P*co, it was called "5 for $5" but it was really $1 each - if they bought 2 neons it was $2.
Not sure if that's still the case.
(this was for about 5 years, up until about one year ago when I finally burned out)

The problem(s) we always had with this promotion were that :

a) "they" (corporate or regional inventory folks I guess) would way over-order and overload the system(s) for this sale

b) NONE of our systems had working UV sterilizers (all the bulbs were old and useless, and no store mgr could afford the hit to their supplies budget to replace them)

c) many of the "sale" fish were ones that didn't do well in our water (hard, high pH) - especially black neon tetras (we'd get a few hundred delivered on Tues, on Wed they'd ALL be dead or dying).

d) we didn't have an effective cross-contamination protocol - it was pretty common to use the same net to catch fish from 3 or 4 different tanks, or use the same specimen container all day without soaking it in anything between tanks. There was "sometimes" a bucket with netsoak or ridich in it, but it was just for the nets, not the specimen containers, and people didn't actually make sure they swapped nets between every tank...

e) customers would do silly things like buy 3 tiger barbs and two male guppies ("They're only $1, so I don't care if they kill each other" - huh ? )

Fishy Algebra :
A + B + C + D = ich

Our systems would get loaded with ich (actually, I don't remember many weekends when I DIDN'T see ich) -- we were treating with ich meds pretty much year round (Rid Ich mostly, until corp stopped offering gallon jugs for store use, followed by Clout, followed by the Jungle anti-parasite fizzy tabs when we ran out of Clout).

this is a special promotion, though, it ends on 11/21. also, our resident specialists get to do the ordering. our reptile specialist, who also knows a whole lot about fish, does our ordering, and she manages to get a good mix that generally does well in our water [very hard and high pH as well] with the exception of feeders, who always come in sick...

[redpaulhus]

Like I said, I was there over 5 years - this promotion runs about every 4-6 months at P*co, its not new or unusual.

In most P*co stores, there is store-level-ordering, and then there are "pushes". Pushes are fish that the corporate office in San Diego orders in bulk from a wholesaler for the whole country, and forces on the stores.

For instance, they will order like 100,000 neon tetras (125 per store for 900+ stores) for a single week - and ship them to every store, regardless of what else the store has ordered (and sometimes without telling the store). This bulk ordering is how they get a better price on those fish than what they normally pay, and how they can afford to sell them at $1 each (at local mom-and-pop stores these are usually ~$2.99 fish) even after heavy fish losses.
They also do this with marine fishes - we used to get "pushes" of wrasses and tangs for the holidays, from a wholesaler we always tried to avoid.

Right now you may be ordering what you want - down the road, you may get stuff you don't want and don't have space for. Like 20 yellow tangs + 10 purple tangs, or 25 $20 blood parrots.

(I was a store mgr for over 3 years, as well as the regional aquatics care trainer. I burned out, then came back about 10yrs later as part-time fish guy (for fun) and was doing most of the aquatics ordering for my store, until I burned out yet again after 5 years. I'm very familiar with the ordering practices, the MARS systems most stores are using, etc. Before my time in Petco, I was the fish dept mgr for the guy who last I heard is running the East Coast for Petco (Regional VP or something like that now). Oh, and I'm still friends with a few Petco mgrs and staff - so I hear all the good juicy stories )

[Fishfirst]

Originally Posted by trashion

nope, it's only the specific SKUs of the fish that count for the 5. so they may only buy 5 of one kind to get the $5 price.

actually this is false at least at my petco... one can buy 1 guppy, 1 black neon, 1 neon, 1 red eye, 1 serpae tetra. Which I find particularly annoying. Also the 5 for $5 is a gimmick and you can actually buy only 1 fish and get it for a dollar. Frankly... petco is a joke when it comes to actually caring about the animals... our dm and our rcac has made that perfectly clear.

"For instance, they will order like 100,000 neon tetras (125 per store for 900+ stores) for a single week - and ship them to every store, regardless of what else the store has ordered (and sometimes without telling the store). This bulk ordering is how they get a better price on those fish than what they normally pay, and how they can afford to sell them at $1 each (at local mom-and-pop stores these are usually ~$2.99 fish) even after heavy fish losses.
They also do this with marine fishes - we used to get "pushes" of wrasses and tangs for the holidays, from a wholesaler we always tried to avoid."

Pushes are also a HUGE problem. As well as ordering (I don't have any control over it even though I know what dies and what lives in our tanks) They'll send us stuff that would NEVER sell in my tanks such as triggers that get 2' in length like the blue lined trigger. That becomes a death sentence to them and they end up dying because eventually something such as velvet or ich comes through and wipes 90% of the stock out. I'm no longer able to medicate as this is against policy and I've been written up for it several times. I have to individually freshwater dip each fish, or do a CLOUT or Maracyn + dip, which both of these meds aren't intended to be used as dips.

Speaking of burning out... I'm about to... I feel so overwelmed every day I go to work... I try so hard to keep these fish healthy yet we have an average fish loss for the region which is over 30%...

[Fishfirst]

Chainstores suck... but so do so many lfs's... Regulation is indeed in order for this industry.

[trashion]

idk, our specialist placing the orders has made sure that we only get them from one wholesaler now. i don't know what the deal is with that, but we used to get them from multiple wholesalers, but now it's just segrest farms. she says she won't accept any other fish, and the rest of the store management is on her side. our regional managers don't like us...

[mousey]

Is this pets----t or petc----a in Canada or something completely different?
Our pets---t has these sales too. Also they carry pink and black banded sharks that are real cute when babies but apparently grow to 3 feet long and turn into a very ugly flat fish. I emailed the head office as i read they are an endangered fish and was told that these are all captive bred.
I don't believe them!
Anyone who can enlighten me?

[Dr_House]

I can't really help you there, since I'm not sure what fish you're talking about. However, captive bred or not, 3 feet is way more than most are able to accommodate and would be a poor choice to be sold, in my opinion. Unfortunately, pet stores are out to make a buck, just like everyone else, so if it sells, they aren't likely to stop carrying it.

[Buggy]

You are correct about the black banded shark. I have done some extensive research (in as far as I can find on the WWW) about them as I have one myself. Sadly, there is not much information out there on them that I have found.
They are indeed endangered in their native homeland. They are found in only one river in China and due to over fishing (this fish is a carp and used as a food fish in China) and pollution of it natural water ways, it's numbers are declining.
IMO this fish should never have found it's way into the aquarium trade. It does get to 36" + and loses it's juvenile "cuteness" quickly. I bought mine when I first started in the hobby without knowing anything about it and I've regretted it since. I've had him about a year and he has grown about 3" in that time. Fortunatly my lfs owner has a friend with a 250 gal tank that he says will take him but that was just a streak of good luck. Finding a proper home for one of these "gentle giants" is not easy.
I'm not sure about being captive breed. From what I've read so far, captive breeding hasn't been very successful for these fish and most are imported from China.

[GoodMike]

Here is the sad part... corporate policy would change, the fish would be better cared for, employees would be allowed to treat, managers would beable to order the fish, and employees would be allowed to turn down sales, if.....and only if....PEOPLE WOULD STOP BUYING THE FISH FROM THEM WHEN THINGS ARE LIKE THEY ARE NOW. we sit here and complain about the chainstores... but tell me, how many of you have been to one in the last 6 months and bought fish, or fish supplies? last month? week? few days? seriously the only reason this continues is because people support it. To be honest, you sould be ashamed for supporting such a horrible practice. 30% loss is not acceptable, ever. Having corporate tell the employees they cant treat sick fish, is not acceptable.
I really feel bad for people like you FishFirst, because i know you are trying to do your best to improve the hobby, and the chainstore, but you are being screwed by corporate. It sucks. But...even with so many problems, how many customers come in a day to look at, and buy those fish? you know exactly what im talking about, people support this really screwed up system.
I have not even stepped foot into a chainstore in over a year, havent purchased somthing from one in over 2 years. I will not support this aspect of the hobby, its wrong. The sad thing is, these stores are still forcing the good LFSs out of business, because people flock to the best prices, even if the quality sucks.
And the people who use the arguement "well i dont support their fish, i wont buy them, but i buy their other product"... you arent helping the situation any more than the person buying the fish. you are only proving that there is money to be made in the fish hobby . only way to change corporate, is to show them that there is NO money to be made in the fish hobby when the fish are treated like crap, and to send in your complaints. I have done this, and will continue. I had a corporate manager ask to meet up with me in the problem store, so we could discuss the issue, unfortunately i was leaving that area. Send in your feedback, it may actually do somthing, with out customers, there is no money.

[Fishfirst]

"I have not even stepped foot into a chainstore in over a year,"

I have, but thats just because I work there... otherwise I have not baught anything from a petco or petsmart for over 3 years.

[GoodMike]

i understand that FF, and i think the chains NEED employees like yourself who give a damn about the fish! i didnt mean that as an attack on you or anything. YOU are what the chainstores NEED