went to pet connection for first time yesturday (review)....

[snowroach]

I was bored so I went down there to check it out since it is the only fish store in the area I haven't been yet.

The saltwater selection was pretty good, but nothing that great. Saw a couple good deals like the rose bubble tips for $30. Tanks seems pretty well kept, but not perfect.

I will not shop there though for another reason. I was very surprised to see how the other animals were kept in the store. They had about 8 or 9 kittens in one little cage and several dogs in small windowed enclosers. Personaly I've always thought it was wrong to hold and sell cats and dogs like this. They need more room.

I don't know, it just bugged me when I saw this. Anyone else have any thoughts on it?

[thedude]

Yeah, my wife and I had the same thoughts. She can't stand to see that. Especially because we saw some lab puppies (3-4) in that same glass box.

I've also never been thrilled about the water conditions, and prices in there, so we stopped going.

[brettzki]

Actually I know Rob and the gang at Pet Connection, and actually they move those animals you're speaking of pretty rapidly. So they're not in those areas for very long, also they're all taken out and played with at various times through the day including the birds. So don't let it go to your head and assume the worst, it's really a great store with a good crew working for him.

[snowroach]

ok, well thats good to heare, it's just it scares me when i see things like that.

[brettzki]

Believe me, I'm a lover of pets of all types, even the pets that i probably won't ever have like reptiles and things like that. I wouldn't keep going there if there was some type of abuse going on. I go there often enough that I know those animals aren't there for a lonf time and even if some are like they're 1500.00 african grey parrot ... I know it's well cared for ... ask Heather about that parrot ... she's the only person it likes! But anyway, another bonus to shopping there on a consistant basis is that i tend to get a price break on moost everything in the store ... considering over the span of my 'career' of shopping there i'm sure I've spent over 6 or 7 grand without having to think twice but i love the people there and they won't sell you a morish idol without telling you that they're probably going to die. Heather also does the fish orders and they come in every Tuesday so if there's something that you're looking for ask for her and she'll help you out in any way she can ... I think she does the coral orders too but i'm not sure. Take care and be safe.

[abatefish]

Hey guys It's joe and I live in the surrounding area near pet connection. I own a lfs in the bay area and I always go check out other Lfs. I sometimes even buy stuff at full retail value if it is something I have never seen before. I really like O street in Sac. and Aqua World in Carmichel. I have gotten a really nice pair of true black occellaris clowns and some red and green rodactis mushrooms. But back to pet connection I went their because I heard their sw was good from one of my wholesalers and they told me if I was ever in the area to check it out. So me and my girlfriend did. Boy was I dissapointed lots of dead fish, fuzzy rusty angels, cyanide clown triggers that looked like they had not eaten in a week. I asked a gentelman for help (who I later found out was the owner) if they carried any other tanks other than Jebo and catalina, I asked if they had acrylic, boy did I not expect what happened next he went off on tru vu tanks and all other brands of acrylic. Down talking companies and their products, he tried to show me some corner tank that he claimed to be a tru vu and it had leaked 8 times and they had to fix it. Boy that tank looked like it was 25 years old and did not look like tru vu quality. If you don't carry something thats fine but do not down talk others because you want to sell what you have in house. The other thing that I could not believe was that he was down talking quality products and trying to sell us on Knock off jebo tanks and low quality catalina brand knock offs of US products such as tetra and marinland. I have delt with both Jebo and Jim at Catalina and the quality is far less than average. The other thing we noticed was their prices were outragous, filters that were marked up 4-5 hundred % heaters, lights etc. I know we all got to survive but this was straight up ripoff! I would never go back nor would I tell anybody to support them. We send people to good quality LFS all the time if we don't have something, and other stores do the same for us. As for the dogs I don't agree on overpriced pet store dogs. I have 5 and most of them were rescued or bought from the breeder direct.Most pet stores unfortunatly buy from puppy mills, I have been in the pet industry my whole life and trust me I know. Support your local shelter too many dogs and cats need homes!

[brettzki]

Talk about a hipocrit, aren't you down talking Pet Connection? Anyway, the dogs are brought in by local breeders that sell through Pet Connection and Rob gets a portion of the profits. And as for them being overpriced they're far from it, my show quality Irish Setter was 1,000.00 and though it wasn't a show quality setter that he sold about 6 months ago, 450.00 was still a bargain. Plus you got to figure in all that you get with a puppy, all shots current, that radio transmitter thingy (it's slipped my mind what it's called), a crate for crate training, food and some misc. toys that's included in the cost of a puppy ... the breeders being local is a bonus because you don't have to deal with a long distance relationship as far as the parents of the pups are concerned. There's nothing wrong with buying a registered animal, even though I've had two rescued greyhounds and still have one of them. As far as the truvu comments, Rob tells it how it is ... if you can get a quality product that performs in the same manner and can save money at the same time why wouldn't you refer that to someone? I'm not sure how many thousands of dollars you make every month or what financial responsibilities you have, but there's a lot of us here that simply can't afford the high dollar equipment and are willing to try other products and I must say that I'm happy with everything that I've purchased from all the local pet stores. Take this for instance, O Street sells a 1/4 HP JBJ chiller for 749.00, soon I'll get one from Rob for areound $400.00 same chiller, same JBJ name same HP WAY different cost. As for the deads, I guess you haven't been to Exotic or Capital lately. I don't know, I know everyone's entitled to their own opinion and I must say that I live about 20 miles 'er so from Pet Connection, but am willing to make the trip for anything I need. As for overpriced visit AquaLife if you want over priced ... I got a twin 250watt MH / quad PC hood, with fans and ballast for 600.00 from PC, at AquaLife same setup was 1150.00. But ya know every store has something overpriced that the other store has at an unusually low price. So, to each their own. But before I end this with a period, what's so great about a Jebo tank? It's the same crapy filtration and light setup that Rob's got on the "knockoff" tanks? Maybe eBay would be the best choice for someone looking for the cheapest price on every product? Last question, what might I find in your store that I wouldn't like or better yet what have you got that you're selling so cheap that nobody else can beat the price, because if you're selling something that's so much cheaper maybe I'll stop for a shopping trip, and save some tax dollars ...

[thereefgeek]

Hmmmm...I thought I'd been to all the "Bay Area Stores". Never heard of U.W. & E. :hmm2:

[user48953]

Originally posted by brettzki
As far as the truvu comments, Rob tells it how it is ...

I have a TruVu tank/stand/hood.. and i've talked to Rob plenty of times to know he tells you what he thinks, even if you don't want to hear it.. he's got a lot of knowledge behind him.. i can pick Rob's brain pretty much any time i'm there, can a web site do that?

and yes i have bought several aquatic animals and goods there knowing i could have gotten it cheaper either online or at another LFS.. the reason i do that is basically because of their friendliness and customer service.. like the saying goes, "you scratch my back, i'll scratch yours"..

i can't comment about the other animals, except that i don't usually see the puppies in there long.

[abatefish]

I am entitled to my opinon just as you are to yours. I just seemed to get him on a bad day. I have gone to hundreds of LFS and If I treated someone the way he treated me I know they would never be back. I did not post this to slander PC just to tell my expierence with them. As for products just thought they were overpriced! Rule #1 in retail ,which I have been in for 15years, and do very well for my self. Never slander the competition because before the customer buys something 9out of10 times they will check out the product you have down talked and if it looks like better quality they will buy it from someone else!I hope that PC has continued success with all their existing customers and applogize to anyone I insulted. P.S. UNDERWATER WORLD has been in buissness since 1984 in SAN BRUNO and is now located in SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO. good luck JOE

[duec22]

I've been going to Rob's (that's what it's know as amongs my friends) for a few years now and I've been pretty pleased with it for the most part...Rob is very knowlegable, and has his own opinions on things...but just like anyone else I've talked to in a LFS, I take what their saying kind of half hartedly and research it later if I want to know for sure....For the past year or so there has been kind of a down turn in his coral selection and I haven't found anything worth spending money on....but If i'm looking for inverts, Rob's is the place to go, great prices and he keeps a ton of them in stock, try and find a sexy shrimp at any other local store...it wont happen..I agree most of his dry good are pretty steep in price, but you have to look for his sales.. I picked up some 55W PC the other week at $20 a piece...rest of the stores around here are almost twice as much...

BTW..anyone know if any LFS will be carrying cyclopeze any time soon? I really dont want to drive all the way out to the bay to get it...although I do want to look at TP.

[brettzki]

O Street has some cyclopeze.

[thereefgeek]

Frozen or Freeze Dried?

[sagitariuscbc]

i have seen frozen cyclop-eeze at o st.

[beerguy]

I was picking up some frozen food at Rob's on Saturday and got to see him chase down a shoplifter, wrestle her to the ground and then bring her back into the store to wait for the police to arrive. It was great!

I buy a lot of dry-goods there because it's close to my house. I also bought the 60gallon tank that I just moved from there. He's a good guy, and well intentioned whether you agree with him or not.

[sagitariuscbc]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by beerguy
[B]I was picking up some frozen food at Rob's on Saturday and got to see him chase down a shoplifter, wrestle her to the ground and then bring her back into the store to wait for the police to arrive. It was great!

:lol: :lol: :lol:

i have seen rob do this before as well!

[brettzki]

AWESOME!!! GET 'EM ROB!!