# Does Petco or Petsmart have any policy of buying unwanted fish( Pictus catfish)?



## PrimeObsession

I asked the local Petsmart about taking some unwanted fish and they said it was against their policy. I would try calling your local store to know for sure.

I ended up giving theM away on craigslist.


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## gotfish

I don't think they will buy it. My local Petco will not buy them, but will accept it as a donation. Also not all will take them as donations either. I think it depends on the manager. I've read your other post about the catfish. I would also suggest craigslist or other LFS. I just traded most of my fish to a LFS and got store credit.


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## redranger

gotfish said:


> I don't think they will buy it. My local petco will not buy them, but will accept it as a donation. Also not all will take them as donations either. I think it depends on the manager. I've read your other post about the catfish. I would also suggest craigslist or other LFS. I just traded most of my fish to a LFS and got store credit.


I have the felling that trying to sell unwanted fish to Petsmart or Petco will go about as well as when the Mafia tries to shake down a starbucks. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Gsz7Gu6agA

I have the felling the conversation will go very much the way way except I will be talking about how I was told on the fish forum about how it might hurt the ecosystem and they will be talking about how every last fish must be accounted for by corporate and no discretionary funds.


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## roadmaster

Won't buy em here or anywhere else I bet ,but Petco here will take it off your hand's.
I often see orphan's in the planted tank's(holding tank's for plant's) at Petco when I stop by to buy food's.
Usually the orphan's are cichlid's that just would not conform to the owner's desire.
Other's I have seen are beat up fish missing fin's,eye's,tail's.


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## redranger

roadmaster said:


> Won't buy em here or anywhere else I bet ,but Petco here will take it off your hand's.
> I often see orphan's in the planted tank's(holding tank's for plant's) at Petco when I stop by to buy food's.
> Usually the orphan's are cichlid's that just would not conform to the owner's desire.
> Other's I have seen are beat up fish missing fin's,eye's,tail's.


I have seen some Oscars in the Plant holding tank. You mean those are ones that someone donated to them? 

Do they resell them or just keep them in the plant tank? 

I saw a tank with B.E. Tetras like that but I think it was because they are just mean aggressive fish even to each other. 

I should probably just call and confirm what their policy is on donations. It kind of sucks they won't even give you a store credit for a fish that sells for $10 at petsmart unless they don't plan on reselling them. 

Thanks.


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## roadmaster

Yes,
The fish here in holding tank's for plant's are those unwanted, or sick.
If the fish are healthy and just unwanted, Petco here will give em away with assurance of proper care.
$10.00 fish might give one pause to resist impulse purchases in future no ?


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## Doogy262

Also a good reason to always research before buying anything..


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## Kubla

redranger said:


> It kind of sucks they won't even give you a store credit for a fish that sells for $10 at petsmart unless they don't plan on reselling them.
> 
> Thanks.



Looking at it from their viewpoint, I don't even know if I would take it for free if I was them. They have no idea what conditions the fish was raised in or exposed to. You wouldn't try to sell your unwanted food to a restaurant or grocery store.


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## cjp999

PetCo adopted a couple of damsels and a hermit crab I gave them when I tore down my salt water tank a month ago. I didn't even bother asking for anything in return. Damsels are probably the cheapest salt water fish. Probably worth a total of $12 retail to them.


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## nealhg

Petco will take unwanted fish off your hands and adopt them out...I've done it a couple times.


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## Naiad

Both of the stores by me will take in unwanted fish but will not pay or give store credit. 90% of what people have brought in were large common plecos that outgrew the tank.


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## Gavin Citrus

To be fair, Petco has no business selling Common Plecos.


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## blueMegaman

roadmaster said:


> Yes,
> The fish here in holding tank's for plant's are those unwanted, or sick.
> If the fish are healthy and just unwanted,Petco here will give em away with assurance of proper care.
> $10.00 fish might give one pause to resist impulse purchases in future no ?


Ugh, they have sick fish in that tank? 

I have purchased many plants from that tank. 

Does this mean I might have transmitted a disease from bringing the plant home?

I don't like the sound of that.


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## roadmaster

blueMegaman said:


> Ugh, they have sick fish in that tank?
> 
> I have purchased many plants from that tank.
> 
> Does this mean I might have transmitted a disease from bringing the plant home?
> 
> I don't like the sound of that.


 
Yes, those fish I have seen that were beat up and or missing fin's, eye's, tail's, sometimes also suffered from bacterial infection's, and or parasites unknown.

Pay's to observe what fish may be in these tank's and also to rinse plant's well under cold tap water or other dip measures.

There ain't always sick fishes in these tank's ,but more often than I would like to see .Some of the fishes are in very bad shape, other's are healthy looking just maybe got too large or aggressive for the hobbyist.

Once saw a couple carrying a very large cooler into the store while I was there, and inside the cooler were two of the biggest Oscar's I have seen.

They just got too big for the couple. Easily fourteen inches long.

Too large for the holding tank with plant's for sale, so the young store clerk plopped em in the big Turtle display tank.

Even that tank looked kinda small.


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## Blackheart

The Petco by my house won't even take fish as a donation. I've tried a couple different times. Not really sure why as they would be making 100% profit on them if they lived.


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## blueMegaman

roadmaster said:


> Yes,those fish I have seen that were beat up and or missing fin's,eye's,tail's,sometimes also suffered from bacterial infection's,and or parasites unknown.
> Pay's to observe what fish may be in these tank's and also to rinse plant's well under cold tap water or other dip measures.
> There ain't always sick fishes in these tank's ,but more often than I would like to see .Some of the fishes are in very bad shape, other's are healthy looking just maybe got too large or aggressive for the hobbyist.
> Once saw a couple carrying a very large cooler into the store while I was there,and inside the cooler were two of the biggest Oscar's I have seen.
> They just got too big for the couple.Easily fourteen inches long.
> Too large for the holding tank with plant's for sale,so the young store clerk plopped em in the big Turtle display tank .
> Even that tank looked kinda small.


Would it kill them to have a small dedicated plant tank? 

I do rinse my plants under tap water, perhaps this is what saved me. Also, there were oscars in the tank so maybe it was just a case that they got too big vs having a disease. Still that is not cool that people who buy planted from the tanks are being exposed to possible diseases.


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## jrill

No pet store wants your discarded fish. Some take em just to keep the customer happy so you come back and spend. It's your job to research before you buy. No excuses for not doing that. Especially with smart phones. Google it before you buy.

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk


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## roadmaster

jrill said:


> No pet store wants your discarded fish. Some take em just to keep the customer happy so you come back and spend. It's your job to research before you buy. No excuses for not doing that. Especially with smart phones. Google it before you buy.
> 
> Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk


 Yes,this is exactly why I think they do it .Keep the spending customer happy.
Nobody else want's to take your fish for they have no interest in quarantining the fish, and they have no idea what disease the fish might have so they don't wanna risk their stock by placing them in their tank's.
I do not buy many fish from this store just cause they do accept return's.
I do on occasion order fish from them and then pick em up when they arrive and before they un bag em.


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