LFS Possibly selling Unhealthy Fish

[prettypearl08]

My experience with one our LFS has been terrible. All the fish I have ever purchased from the have died within a day or so never actually making it out of the quarantine take and into to one of our display tank. Could this mean that the fish were sick to begin with and what could kill a fish in a day like this? All of my other fish and coral the were ordered from other places have been doing great. I decided to try this LFS again after not buying from them sincemy last tragedy in April. I decided to purchase a Bi-Color Angel on Monday acclimated him and into the quarantine tank. And when I turned the lights on Tuesday morning it was struggling to swim and this not the first fish purchased from this particular LFS that has done this. I had a Scopas Tang, Blue Tang and few more that had done this as well and all were purchased from this particular LFS.

What could it be? :confused:

[Allmost]

are you sure there is absolutely nothing on your side ?

Not saying this is the case here, But, back in the days, when I was much younger, and just started reef keeping, I used to get SPS frags, and they died in my tank, and I used to blame the frags being bad ! later on found out there were other reasons :)

again not saying that is your case :) just sharing my mistakes.

with that being said, if you are sure there is nothing on your part, it possible that the LFS has poor water quality, doesnt feed its fish nor QT it and ... so by the time you pick it up its already really stressed and ....

I always watch the fish in store for a while, and if I am not sure of the retailer, I ask them to keep it for me for 3 days, not much of assuring anything, but still, I get to be sure the fish at least made it oast day 3 :D

[prettypearl08]

Yea, I have thought of everything that could have possibly gone wrong on my part. I have had my tanks for 2 years and the only tragedies I have encountered besides two jumpers were the livestock purchased from this particular LFS. I did notice some dead and dying corals in couple of their tanks that had not been removed I guess that probably should have been an indicator right there.

[Allmost]

wow that's not good !

We had a LFS here in Toronto which was the same way, it was just sad walking into the store ! unhealthy fish, dead corals, half dead fish ...
later on, supposedly, all their tanks got "poisoned" and they went out of business, .... , store was equipted with cameras, no footage released.
who said insurance money ???!!! lol

they should have named it "what our oceans would look like if we dont stop global warming" LOL

[dzfish17]

There is a LFS that Ive been going into for a few yrs. now that I would not buy a fish from even if they had good prices. There are always dead fish and everything just looks unhealthy. The owner is a long time friend but I dont feel like its my business to tell him how to run his place. The funny part is I see people buying fish there. I usually drive up north a few hours to a great store with a large and healthy selection.

Dave

[TheH]

Are you drip acclimating? It could be that the LFS water is at near hypo (some of them do that) and you are putting them in full-strength saltwater.

[vwtanker]

I would hope they would tell you if they kept their salinity that low! :)

If they don't have quarantine systems then don't by from them. That is key for me. Good stores should always have a place to acclimate and medicate fish before they put them out for sale. Just my opinion.

[iamwhatiam52]

I felt the same way at first, with over 50% mortality of new fish.
As my skills and knowledge improved, so did survival.

The most important thing I have learned is to pick your fish carefully. No matter how badly you want a fish, watch it carefully before buying. Lots of fish in stores are doomed before you even take them home, but after a while we get better at spotting them. I lost two Singapore Angels in QT, then spent 3 or 4 months till I found one that did not have a pinched belly, was not breathing heavily, was eating, and just looked right. A month later I found another. Now nearly a year later both are fat and sassy.

I still make mistakes, but blame myself when I bring home a poor specimen.

[Jeremy Blaze]

What kind of fish were they?

[jeff@zina.com]

All of my other fish and coral the were ordered from other places have been doing great. I decided to try this LFS again...

Just won't learn, will ya? :)

I have one LFS where three purchases in a row died within days. I no longer buy livestock there. Whatever it is, different parameters, stressed fish (all looked good), hidden disease or whatever, I haven't lost a single piece of livestock from them since I stopped buying from them. They've been in business for years, other reefers swear by them, but I'm sticking with my experience. Livestock from their competitor down the street survives fine for me.

Jeff