The Perfect Big Box Petstore?!?!?!?!?

[FrozenFins]

Yesterday I went into Petland (canadian version of petco pretty much) and the fish isle was PERFECT. They kept bettas in the same racking system that the co-op uses, they quarintine their fish. They had very healthy fish, they had high quality foods.

I was very impressed. Every time I am near a petstore, I make sure to visit (just for fun). But this petstore was PERFECT. I dont even think I saw a fish bowl or anything like that for sale. 

They also had a huge selection of tanks. Lots of nano tanks, which really got my mind thinking of setting up another nano tank. 

 

[CorydorasEthan]

14 minutes ago, JamesB said:

Yesterday I went into Petland (canadian version of petco pretty much) and the fish isle was PERFECT. They kept bettas in the same racking system that the co-op uses, they quarintine their fish. They had very healthy fish, they had high quality foods.

I was very impressed. Every time I am near a petstore, I make sure to visit (just for fun). But this petstore was PERFECT. I dont even think I saw a fish bowl or anything like that for sale. 

They also had a huge selection of tanks. Lots of nano tanks, which really got my mind thinking of setting up another nano tank. 

 

Wow we have a Petland here too, but it's not quite the same (it might not be the same chain store though). Their fish selection is not the best, but it at least has some things that normal chain stores don't carry, like rainbowfish and endlers. It doesn't even have bristlenose plecos though, and they keep their bettas in cups. The one Cory shared during his trip to Germany looked like a really good chain store:

 

[Patrick_G]

That store in Germany looks amazing! I love that they sell pre seeded filter media. 

[Ryan F]

The Petland that moved in by me I would compare to a small petsmart from 15years ago. Down to the selection and quality. Their focus is not fish or aquatics. They did have some different stuff but mostly plastic plants and decorations. No live plants and a pretty small selection of fish. Maybe the Canadian branch has higher standards. 

Their focus was on puppy sales. 

Thankfully the petco and petsmart are better with the former being pretty nice and the latter being okay and both partnering with the local shelter for cat and dog adoption. The LFS finally locked up their pet dinosaur (aggressive macaw) and remodeled substantially. I'll be going back more often.

[gardenman]

If I was building the "Perfect fish store" and money and space was no issue, I'd have aqua-scaped 55 or 75 gallon tanks in the middle of three tiers of tanks with adults of the fish that were available in the twenty high tanks that were directly above and below them that were for sale. Many people have no idea how big a fish can get, so the display tanks would have the adults in them, fully colored up and showing what the smaller fish for sale would eventually turn into. You wouldn't have to tell a customer how big an adult Oscar could get as one would be right there in front of them. You wouldn't have to tell them how much more colorful a Cherry Barb would be as an adult, fully colored up as one's right there in front of them. They could see the behavior of a school or shoal of fish. They could see what mature plants looked like in an aquarium. How certain rocks or driftwood looked in an aquarium. They could see what fish got along in an aquarium as they were right there before them in a display tank. It would be a pain from a maintenance standpoint, but could show people what the fish will ultimately look like. The fish for sale in the twenty gallon tanks could be in fairly bare tanks to make catching them easier. If you were selling "monster fish" you'd need bigger display tanks for them than even a 75, but it could be doable.

A 55 or 75 gallon tank is four feet long. Two twenty highs are four feet long.  So, two twenty highs above and two below the 55 or 75 would give you one display tank showing adults and four sale tanks for the younger versions. People could see various aquascapes in real life scenarios and the fish in them. I think that would work from a display and sales standpoint. The cost to set it all up would be scary, but once you've absorbed that cost, and people could see how the fish would eventually look as adults, the extra sales might help offset those setup and maintenance costs. Fish like rainbowfish don't really look all that impressive as young fish. As adults they're often breathtaking. Letting buyers see what a relatively drab young fish will grow into being could really spur sales of those seemingly drab young fish.