Petco - Pasadena

Shop Address: 845 South Arroyo Parkway
Shop Website: http://www.petco.com
Reviewed By: Akira Kun
Date Of Review: May/2006
Overall: Good
Times Visited: Five to Ten Times
Freshwater Selection: Very Good
Saltwater Selection: Good
Stock Selection: Very Good
Staff: Good
Prices: Good
 
Comments: I know Petco has a notorious reputation as a bad place to buy your aquatic pets but this Petco seems to get their aquatics section right. I usually don't see dead or dying fish in their big, freshwater section and all their fish seem to be reasonably well kept in clean tanks. They also have what seems to be knowledgeable employees working in their aquatics section along with reasonable prices. They even have a salt water section with similar results.
 
What I like here is that they have a surprisingly good section for live aquatic plants. These aren't the types you see growing in those little tubes with the gel (which they also carry), but stuff in their tanks: Java Moss, Java Fern (Lace on driftwood), Sword Plants, Bacopa, and Wisteria to name a few. Usually at good prices, they normally get new plant shipments in on Thursdays.
 
There is the usual bad stuff though: miserable feeder fish, cramped Betta death cups (granted they seem bigger than the usual death cups and the water wasn't brown), and a few crowded tanks.