quitting fish keeping

[xraycer]

Depend on the location, I love to buy fish from my local Petsmart. Their fish much much healthier than any Chinese, Thai or any Asian fish stores around my area, the down side of Petsmart is that they have very limited fish stock and only carry majority of community fish species. So if I want community fish, the first pet shop i will visit is my local Petsmart, I couldn't pass the 1 dollar deal for on some species. Also, dirty water. sick, dead fish happen in all LFS, you didn't know they were netted out all the dead/sick fishes and fed them to predator species before their store open everyday...That's why many of us here setup an extra tank called "Hospital or quarantine tank" for that reason...

I have a Petsmart by me that does an excellent job with their fish husbandry. Tanks are always clean and clear, even their heavily overstocked feeder tanks......which I found out runs off a separate filtration system from all the other tanks.
Early last summer, they had a 50% off sale on clown loaches, so I snatched all they had (15). I lost 3 within the first month, but the remaining 12 has more than triple in size. Also around the same period, I picked up a tiny firemouth and irr. shark for about $2. Its been well over a year, and all are doing well.
I'm also a firm believer in QTing everything for about 2 months or more, no matter the source.

 

[BrookKeeper]

All of my fish (except my wild caught natives) are from Petsmart, the one in my town has a particularly well kept fish section. A couple of my students work at Petsmart, and I have talked to them at the store enough to know that all of the fish keepers there really care. Thats all it takes... Petco here is crap, but I bet there are some good stores out there. I think a lot of it comes down to local management and staffing. I don't think that you can make any generalizations on these chain stores, except Walmart, who should not be allowed to sell aquarium gravel (since they don't even use it in their tanks) never mind fish...

 

[Allan01230]

I only buy fish from tanks with their own filter in them, The big chain stores have one huge filter in the back and all the tanks in the place run through this filter system. Then when you get a promblem in the water they run through all the tanks. Most mom and pop stores have usually and ug filter or sponge in each tank the only way to go imo

 

[xraycer]

I only buy fish from tanks with their own filter in them, The big chain stores have one huge filter in the back and all the tanks in the place run through this filter system. Then when you get a promblem in the water they run through all the tanks. Most mom and pop stores have usually and ug filter or sponge in each tank the only way to go imo

I have an lfs in town that uses either sponge filter or hob for each tank. While that does prevent cross contamination, its counterproductive, however, if they all still share the same nets, water changing hose, fish caddy........and if hands aren't washed between handling/maintenance. Although Petsmart does use a single central filtration system, I hear its fairly high tech and even utilizes industrial grade UV system.

 

[BrookKeeper]

these smaller systems also have associated water quality issues, which can lead to increased risk of outbreaks. Having loads of "isolated" tanks in a store DOES require a lot of maintenance on each tank, and I am with raycer on the lack of biosecurity between tanks negating the benefit of individual tanks. Either way, single system or split, there is no alternative to quarantine tank for new introductions. This makes me 100% hypocritical, because I have only ever QTed my natives. I go balls out on Petsmart additions, and so far I have only ever has minor ich issues as a result, all of which have been successfully treated. My problem with quarantine tanks is they would just end up tanks... with fish... permanently.

 

[Wailua Boy]

This is a common problem

 

[Warborg]

My problem with quarantine tanks is they would just end up tanks... with fish... permanently.

My last QT tank lasted over 6 months before I finally moved the fish

 

[Yuki Rihwa]

My last QT tank lasted over 6 months before I finally moved the fish

LOL I finally move my community species out of the QT tank after a year...they're out grow the quarantine tank and of course I re-stocked the QT with a batch of mickey mouse platy from Petsmart, they are on sale for 1 buck each (last weekend)

 

[xraycer]

Personally, I feel that most people don't qt long enough, averaging about 3-4wks it seems like. I feel that qt should run into the months. As long as the qt tank is of adequate size with proper filtration, duration shouldn't matter, but rather beneficial.

 

[Yuki Rihwa]

I treat my QT like a mini display tank, I got live plants and driftwood decoration and I do WC 2x times a week cause it's a small tank. That's why I don't have sick fish in my main display tank for many many years, fish died cause old age in most cases.