Fish are some of the easiest pets to pick up, and how long you can stay with one is influenced a lot by how it was handled before you got it.
If you’re thinking of getting a fish from Petco, and you need to know more about the company’s suppliers before making the decision, we’ve looked into the subject for this article, so keep reading!
Where Does Petco Get Its Fish In 2024?
Petco gets fish from a variety of wholesale suppliers that either breeds them or get them from local breeders in 2024. One of Petco’s sources for fish is Segrest Farms, the biggest supplier of freshwater fish currently. Segrest also provides some of the reptiles sold at Petco. Petco also gets its fish from Fish Mart, which also supplies PetSmart.
Keep reading to learn all you need to know about where Petco gets its fish, including bettas, fresh and saltwater fish, specific breeds, and more!
Which Companies Provide Petco with Fish?
1. Fish Mart
Petco gets a lot of its fish from Fish Mart, a wholesale pet supplier that has been in business for more than 45 years.
Fish Mart is based in West Haven, Connecticut, and supplies a large variety of pet stores with fish, including PetSmart.
Fish Mart is the largest supplier in the Northeast for salt and freshwater fish, as well as the following:
- Invertebrates
- Aquatic plants
- Reptiles
- Small animals
- Birds
- Frozen and live food
Going through the company’s inventory, we found it sells the following freshwater fish to Petco:
- Guppies
- Variatus
- Mollies
- Platies
- Swordtails
- Cichlids
- Discus
- Angels
- Catfish
- Anabantoids, including bettas
- Barbs
- Danios
- Killfish
- Tetras
- Rainbow fish
- Sharks
- Eels
- Loaches
- Knifefish
We also found the following saltwater fish that Petco gets from Fish Mart:
- Squareback anthias
- Butterfly fish
- Clownfish
- Chromis
- Damsels
- Mandarinfish
- Sweetlips
- Jawfish
- Angelfish
- Moray eels
- Parrotfish
- Goldfish
- Koi fish
Fish Mart also sells the following invertebrates:
- Anemones
- Scallops
- Feather dusters
- Horseshoe crabs
- Hermit crabs
- Shrimp
- Snails
- Starfish
- Sea urchins
Aside from the above animals, Fish Mart also sells lobsters, frogs, ferrets, gerbils, guinea pigs, hamsters, mice, rats, pythons, geckos, and more.
2. Segrest Farms
Segrest Farms is one of the places where Petco gets its fish and is the biggest supplier of retail tropical fish.
The company is based in Gibsonton, Florida, and has been in business since 1961. It ships out more than 1 million fish every week, making it one of the largest players in the industry.
Segrest Farms was bought out by Central Garden and Pet for $60 million in 2016.
Central Garden and Pet is publicly traded and is the parent company of brands such as Oceanic, Coralife, Kent Marine, and Aqueon.
Despite the acquisition, Segrest Farms still continues its operations as usual. Segrest Farm customers include more than 1,000 large retail pet stores, public aquariums, and research facilities.
Like most of Petco’s suppliers, Segrest Farms doesn’t sell to individuals, meaning that hobbyists cannot buy fish directly from the company.
Segrest Farms sells the following freshwater fish to Petco:
- Cichlids
- Bettas
- Gourami
- Arowana
- Barbs
- Polypterus
- Loach
- Brackish
- Catfish
- Brackish
- Eels
- Sharks
- Goldfish
- Killifish
- Knifefish
- Koi fish
- Mollies
- Guppies
Petco also gets the following saltwater fish from Segrest:
- Anemone
- Batfish
- Boxfish
- Cowfish
- Clownfish
- Corals
- Damselfish
- Dragonets
- Wrasse
- Feather dusters
- Filefish
- Frogfish
- Goatfish
- Grouper
- Hamlet fish
- Hawkfish
- Hogfish
- Jawfish
- Jellyfish
- Lionfish
- Cardinals
Segrest Farms also sells reptiles, plants, and various dry goods.
The available plants include lilies and mosses, and the dry goods include bird toys, aquarium tools, magazines, and packaged foods that suppliers can get to feed their fish.
3. Apet
Apet is one of the places where Petco gets its fish. Apet has been in business for more than 40 years and is based in Illinois.
Apet sells the following freshwater fish to Petco:
- Diamond tetras
- Telescope oranda goldfish
- Glass catfish
- Balloon belly mollies
- Denison barbs
Petco gets the following saltwater fish from Apet:
- Achilles tangs
- Rhinopias scorpionfish
- Angelfish
- Yellow prawn gobies
- Golden semilarvatus butterflyfish
- Powder blue tangs
Apet also sells reptiles, small animals, aquatic plants, and frozen foods. The aquatic plants are used in fish tanks. Additionally, Apet is a wholesaler, meaning it does not sell to individuals.
Apet has a warehouse that’s more than 50,000 square feet large and holds more than 500,000 saltwater and freshwater fish.
Where Does Petco Get Its Saltwater Fish?
Petco gets its saltwater fish from wholesale suppliers like Fish Mart and Segrest Farms. These saltwater fish include goldfish and koi fish.
Where Does Petco Get Freshwater Fish?
Petco gets freshwater fish from wholesale suppliers, like Segrest Farms and Fish Mart. These companies sell some of the same freshwater fish to Petco, such as catfish.
Where Does Petco Get Betta Fish?
Petco gets its betta fish from wholesale suppliers, such as Fish Mart and Segrest Farms.
Both of these companies stock bettas under anabantoids, and that’s where you should start your search if you’re a retailer, because the company doesn’t sell to individuals.
Fish Mart sells the following types of bettas to Petco:
- Regular
- Large
- Crowntail
- Black orchid crowntail
- Crowntail dragonscale
- Dragonscale
- Koi plakat
- Mustard gas halfmoon
- Platinum white crowntail
- Super delta
- Halfmoon
- Dumbo halfmoon
- Halfmoon rosetail
- Twintail halfmoon
Petco gets the following species of bettas from Segrest:
- Splendens
- Smaragdina
- Patoti
- Rubra
- Prima
- Albimarginata
- Pallifina
- Hendra
- Foerschi
- Ferox
- Channoides
- Siamorientalis
- Unimaculata
- Macrostoma
- Picta
- Coccina
- Rutilans
- Dimidiata
- Enisae
- Imbellis
- Gladiator
Does Petco Buy Fish From Local Breeders?
Petco buys its fish from large wholesale suppliers such as Apet, Segrest Farms, and Fish Mart, all of whom don’t sell to the general public.
Petco has more than 1,500 stores, and we can’t rule out the possibility that at least one of them buys from local breeders but, company wide, they don’t.
To know more, you can also read our posts on whether or not Petco sells ducks, if Petco sells monkeys, and if Petco sells axolotls.
Conclusion
Petco gets its fish from large wholesale distributors that include Fish Mart, Segrest Farms, and Apet. All of these companies only deal with retailers, meaning it doesn’t sell to hobbyists and the general public.
These stores also stock both freshwater and saltwater fish. Petco gets its bettas from Segrest Farms and Fish Mart, both of which stock several different breeds of the fish.
