Petco — Attraction in Honolulu

I went in looking for some companion fish for my Betta - I had done my research and was specifically looking for cardinal or neon tetras. There were no cardinals, so I was going to by about ten neons for my fifteen gallon tank. The employee working at the time actively discouraged me from getting tetras, even though I told him I had done my research and my tank was prepped for them. He pointed me to some more 'hardy' fish, specifically some white cloud minnows. (though petco apparently has some fancy name for them, 24k white gold whatever) I really did like the look of the minnows, they were a very pretty off-white gold, and I thought they would compliment my betta's coloring very well.

I confirmed with the employee that they were suitable companions for a betta, and did some quick research on my phone. Everything seemed okay, but I ran into trouble finding information on the fish because of Petco's unique name for them. Not even a day after they were introduced to the tank, they started dying. I scrambled to find more information, and it turns out that they don't tolerate temps above 72 F! Obviously I had a heater for my betta, and I was actively killing these fish. I panicked and took the heater out, because at that point I had five dead fish. SInce we live in a tropical climate and I was told the heater was more like insurance rather than necessary where we live, I hope it would be okay for the Betta. Long story short, I killed my betta fish (whom I was really attached to) trying to save the white cloud minnows. Now I have a huge tank and two (very lonely!) white cloud minnow survivors that I no longer want (but am taking care of, I'm not a monster) in a beautiful planted tank I specifically designed for a betta.

Obviously, I made some mistakes here, but I am beyond frustrated that these fish were advertised as suitable companions for a betta. I am new to the fish hobby, so I trusted that the guy who did this as a JOB would know more than me. I should have trusted my own knowledge instead.

Anyway if you decide to shop here do your own research and don't assume the employees know more than...

I HONESTLY want to give 5 stars. Especially for the employees working here. Every one of the workers that I have talked to has been super friendly. KUDOS TO THE STAFF!!! ALL OF YOU ARE AWESOME AND I THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR HELP AND ADVICE. The store is good being that it covers all the basic kine stuffs and really, really what else could you ask for, right? **with the exception of kibble. They have an Overwhelming amount of kibbles. I'm not exactly sure on this but I swear there's probably at Least 50 different brands. Then add every flavor you could possibly think of, a rainbow of colors, then there's freeze dried food, wet, dry, cold and frozen. It takes me forever to pick something cause there's THAT MUCH. I always end up just asking one of the workers what they would suggest and go with that. My only problem is that it always feels like it's the same stuffs...ie: toys, treats, clothing, leashes/collars and accessories. I know dressing pets isn't for everyone and it isn't for every pet just the same. My 5 yo male dog (Ili'ahi) loves...like LOVES ❤️ LOVES to dress up. My 4 yo female dog (Kealani) HATES it. If i grab one of her sweaters and she sees it in my hand, she darts straight to her hiding spot in the closet. She just wants to be nakkie all the time. So I'm constantly looking for something new and cute. Something different. A unique toy that they could play with...... Anything. It would be really nice if who ever does the ordering for this store takes 3 giant steps out and away from their comfort zone and just

! gO Y-eLd. GeT FuNkeE. sHaKE tHinG'z uP...

It's pretty much the only gig in town if you need pet supplies. I'm a little disappointed because my dog is a service animal and hotels, restaurants, supermarket and the general public like to see the service animal wearing some type of official-looking vest or sweater or some type of clothing that says, "hey I'm in charge around here and I'm helping this man so back off!" And they don't have any good service animal clothing. I didn't see any. But I'm legally blind so I probably didn't see much of anything that day. You know that little stick that blind people use to walk down the sidewalk with? I'm thinking of installing one on the front bumper of my car. That way when I go up the sidewalk like I often do people will be aware that this person is handicapped so we need to be extra cautious as I mow down people like corn stock at the bus stop. Or I could stop driving altogether like law enforcement keeps suggesting every time one of these incidents takes place. It doesn't seem like they're suggesting seems more like they're trying to tell me what to do and I don't like that. I'm a free thinker, I burned my bra in the 60s! Oh wait a second that wasn't my bra that was a neighborhood that I burned. I'm a guy so I certainly did not burn my bra. Not that guys can't wear bras I'm just saying that I didn't burn mine. I should have but I didn't. Anyways,...