# Age of Petco fish?



## pepperr (Apr 18, 2011)

On Petco's Betta fish containers there is a date on the price sticker. Does anyone know what the date is for? I assumed that it was the date that the fish arrived, however one very small fish had a date on its container from July of 2010?
And does anyone know approximately how old Petco's fish usually are?


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## PewPewPew (Nov 26, 2010)

They can range from very young (sadly, sometimes just as fry, which usually die..) at about 2-4months to up to a year/year and a half, depending on who theyre getting them from.

It might just be the date from a container, probably not its actual age.


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## dew (Apr 9, 2008)

I heard that all petcos bettas are the ones the breeders don't want. But thats just what I heard. All my fish from peto died within a week, thats why I get my bettas from a local pet store. Sorry for getting of topic. lol


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## SilverMagic (May 10, 2011)

I'm so sorry to hear that. I've been thinking I shouldn't buy bettas from Petco in the future because they're probably cruel to bettas. Their care regimen, feed 3 times a week and change the water 3 times a week. They're in a tiny cup for Christ's sake, the water should be changed daily. However I just got my new betta from Petco. He is the feistiest of them all so I figured feisty equals healthy. He's still doing well. Just got him last Sunday.


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

I got my betta from Petco and he's very social and curious and, except for some fin rot developed after I got him, quite healthy. I think you can easily get bettas from big-box pet stores like Petco if you do a few things like

A) Observe them carefully. Pick up the betta you want and if it's a male, move him next to a new male he hasn't seen before. See if he flares up. If he stays listless, he's probably too sick. If it's a female, see if she starts to move around a lot when moved to a new location.
B) Find out when they get their shipments in and pick your betta from the new shipment. 
C) Avoid bettas that are pale in color and look like they might be missing scales, have ragged fins, or a lot of junk on the bottom of their containers like food residue etc.

I read in David Boruchowitz's book _Aquarium Care of Bettas_ that many male bettas available may be a year or older because breeders hold them back for breeding and to let the finnage develop, since it's the fins that usually draw a customer in.

Hope these tips help.


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## Johnificent (Feb 21, 2010)

all my bettas are from petco, and they are all doing all right  Buying fish there, is like "rescuing" and petco has a really huge variety of bettas  So, imo, i think petco should still sell bettas.  really? bettas breeders dont want? i feel so sad for them  at least we all give them homes X)


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

Exactly, Johnificent! The bettas at a breeder's home will get great care no matter how long they are there, but a pet store . . . enh. Just like adopting a dog who's living in a cage at a shelter. 

Also, love the Greek myth names of your bettas.


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## Littlebittyfish (Jan 5, 2011)

All of the bettas I have got from petco have been so tiny....So tiny they can't eat pellets...I am not sure how young though..


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## PewPewPew (Nov 26, 2010)

^ probably still fry/very very young...they sell em like that, boo :c


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## scootshoot (Oct 11, 2010)

Johnificent said:


> all my bettas are from petco, and they are all doing all right  Buying fish there, is like "rescuing" and petco has a really huge variety of bettas  So, imo, i think petco should still sell bettas.  really? bettas breeders dont want? i feel so sad for them  at least we all give them homes X)


Indeed. All my bettas are from Petco as well. 6 females and 1 male. All are thriving. Around where I live there is a local private owned petshop that specializes in Fish (tropical and marine) only alongside a Petco and a Petsmart.

Out of the 3, Petco is by far the best place to find a good variety of heathy bettas


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## luluo (Apr 6, 2011)

I got D'Argo from Petco. He was very small and has increased by at least 1/3 both in body and fins. I am guessing that he was about 6 months old. ETA: He was the smallest of almost all the bettas.

One of our Petco stores takes great care of the fish, all of them. The other one is bad and continues to go down hill. I think it totally depends on the store/employees.


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## LeroyTheBetta (Dec 18, 2010)

luluo said:


> One of our Petco stores takes great care of the fish, all of them. The other one is bad and continues to go down hill. I think it totally depends on the store/employees.


I agree with you, luluo. And hopefully for the fish, they get the employees that actually know what needs to be done to take care of them, and it gets done! Although it really is a team effort, the managers need to know what's up with fish care so they can direct their employees who may not know, and also the reverse... employees doing what needs to be done without direction from management. Sad, though, that some fish have such bad luck as to end up at a store that has poor management and poor staff.


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## OwnerofSaix (May 9, 2011)

I got Saix from Petco. I'm not sure how old he was when I got him, but he hasn't really changed in size noticeably. I've had him for 5 months, and he only started getting sick at 3-4 months because I didn't understand that I needed to clean out my tank so often. He's doing a lot better now, and recovering quite fast.  He's my little survivor. He definitely wasn't a bad fish that someone wouldn't want.


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

luluo said:


> I got D'Argo from Petco. He was very small and has increased by at least 1/3 both in body and fins. I am guessing that he was about 6 months old. ETA: He was the smallest of almost all the bettas.
> 
> One of our Petco stores takes great care of the fish, all of them. The other one is bad and continues to go down hill. I think it totally depends on the store/employees.


Yup, I think it depends on the employees. Our Petsmart puts their bettas in weird blue water. They say it's a dyed water conditioner but why would you want dyes if you don't need them? I think they do it so you can't see how bad their bettas really look.

Love the name of your betta. Can I take a wild guess and say he's named after a television character from a certain prematurely cancelled show, or am I totally wrong and making a fool of myself? (Don't worry if I'm wrong, I'm used to making a fool of myself ^_~)


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## luluo (Apr 6, 2011)

LeroyTheBetta: I totally agree with you that it is terrible that standards can't be high (and maintained) for all of the chain stores. It is so sad that it is the luck of the draw for them. Next time I'm going to check out a LFS. It's just that the closest LFS is not really local to me, it's a bit of a drive. But I guess it is worth it to throw my support their way if they are consistent with the good care of their fish.




Sakura8 said:


> Yup, I think it depends on the employees. Our Petsmart puts their bettas in weird blue water. They say it's a dyed water conditioner but why would you want dyes if you don't need them? I think they do it so you can't see how bad their bettas really look.
> 
> *Love the name of your betta. Can I take a wild guess and say he's named after a television character from a certain prematurely cancelled show*, or am I totally wrong and making a fool of myself? (Don't worry if I'm wrong, I'm used to making a fool of myself ^_~)


You are right! I still watch Farscape and think "Damn that was a great show." Prematurely cancelled, but at least we got the _PK Wars_. I actually have a _PK Wars_ poster haging in my basement. Got it for working for the group at Dragon*Con. Yes, I'm a dork but proud of it. :-D

Sorry to take this thread OT.


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

Long live Farscape! And may your D'Argo live longer than the show did.


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## luluo (Apr 6, 2011)

Sakura8 said:


> Long live Farscape! And may your D'Argo live longer than the show did.


:lol: I hear that!


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## pepperr (Apr 18, 2011)

The reason I asked about the age of the Petco bettas was bc I decided to "rescue" one at my local Petco a few days ago and he is very lovely! He is in my avi...
However I went to my LFS yesterday and the conditions the Bettas were in was absolutely horrible! Way worse than the Petco & Petsmart near me. They were in those tiny glass bowls with brown cloudy water... so cloudy that I could not even tell what color the fish was nor see its whole body... and on the floor next to the register was a box full of baggies that had even *more* bettas that were not on display! Ughh I wanted to just take them all home with me :blueworry: So sad that they are kept like this and in a LFS no less! The last Lfs that I got my first betta in, had all their bettas in tanks that were divided... thats how they should all be kept :sob:


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

That's absolutely horrible! Seriously, that LFS has no right selling live animals. One LFS near me has them in containers like at Petco and Petsmart. Another had them in divided tanks. Honestly, it would actually be less work if they kept them in divided tanks . . . but wait, obviously they aren't doing any work at all if the water was that bad in those glass bowls. It's too bad betta males can't be kept together because it'd be so much easier to "rescue" them from these places!


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## smellsfishie (Apr 14, 2011)

I have 2 male bettas from Petco, and they also are doing very well. My one guy (oscar) has nubby pelvic fins though.. lol... but it's kinda cute. And I agree with other posters who said it is difficult to gauge the age... the females I see are typically fry, and the males I would hope would be no older than 6-7 months but, who knows.


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## luluo (Apr 6, 2011)

pepperr said:


> The reason I asked about the age of the Petco bettas was bc I decided to "rescue" one at my local Petco a few days ago and he is very lovely! He is in my avi...
> However I went to my LFS yesterday and the conditions the Bettas were in was absolutely horrible! Way worse than the Petco & Petsmart near me. They were in those tiny glass bowls with brown cloudy water... so cloudy that I could not even tell what color the fish was nor see its whole body... and on the floor next to the register was a box full of baggies that had even *more* bettas that were not on display! Ughh I wanted to just take them all home with me :blueworry: So sad that they are kept like this and in a LFS no less! The last Lfs that I got my first betta in, had all their bettas in tanks that were divided... thats how they should all be kept :sob:


Terrible! Poor fishies.


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## Arashi Takamine (Mar 3, 2011)

That is awful...To be honest when I went to buy Kai's tank I actually found those little glass bowls you see in those fancy shops with betta's in them. They were the same size as the cup Kai was in just wider. My local Petsmart doesn't take great care of their betta's but it's better then most.

My Petco betta's both died within a day of each other at that....


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## falconboy99 (May 14, 2011)

Eh. I've gotten all my fish from either Petco or Petsmart and they're just fine.


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## copperarabian (Apr 27, 2011)

My two Bettas I bought from Petco are really healthy, I'm also very picky when I pick my fish though.

Don't be afraid to ask when they get their bettas, I go in when I know they just restocked so I can see the new fish.


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## trono (Mar 30, 2011)

I like Petsmart but they stock their bettas approximately 6 x 6 on the shelves. I feel so bad for the ones in the back.


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