be picky when buying from LFS
- Thread starter midasman714
- Start date
scalesandfins;4413748; said:
and meanwhile that's fish they can't sell and tanks that are tied up for treatment . . .
and it's hardly "every fish they get in", I'm talking specifically about trade-ins, which are not typically high-volume
if it makes sense to QT a fish from the LFS - - and it does - - then how does it make any less sense for a store to QT when they receive a fish from one of us? they have a lot more to risk than we do . . .
I definitely wouldn't say lfs's in general. you just have to find the right one and maybe become dedicated to it. I had one near my old house and i got most of my equipment and fish in there. they took amazing care of their fish and the owner gave me a LOT of free stuff because i was loyal to them. plus i never had to pay for feeder mice for my ball python because they gave them to me for free
In my experience, unless it is truly a local FISH store and not just a pet store with fish, the LFS employees often know little or nothing about fish and many don't know what qaurantining IS. The last 3 times I've bought or considered buying fish at the only local store I'll shop at I was told that all their fish are healthy and not to bother keeping them QTd at all, just throw them in with one of my prized fish. Yeah, 3 days later major major ich on all of them.
When they get shipments or trades they go right into the system and everything is exposed.
Point is, you can never tell by looking at a fish what it COULD have, only what it isn't showing signs of yet.
I feel if you don't quarantine new arrivals it's your own fault if they catch something. Learned that the hard way on my own despite knowing better.
Plus, they can hide/carry many diseases until the right stress or trigger comes along to ignite it.
99% of the time customers in some LFS don't care even if you warn them they should qaurantine and hey, maybe quit buying fish every other week from walmart since they all croak, but they are going to be back it a week whining that all their fish died mysterious again and buy a bunch more.
It's tiresome and even a pretty good LFS isn't perfect.
When they get shipments or trades they go right into the system and everything is exposed.
Point is, you can never tell by looking at a fish what it COULD have, only what it isn't showing signs of yet.
I feel if you don't quarantine new arrivals it's your own fault if they catch something. Learned that the hard way on my own despite knowing better.
Plus, they can hide/carry many diseases until the right stress or trigger comes along to ignite it.
99% of the time customers in some LFS don't care even if you warn them they should qaurantine and hey, maybe quit buying fish every other week from walmart since they all croak, but they are going to be back it a week whining that all their fish died mysterious again and buy a bunch more.
It's tiresome and even a pretty good LFS isn't perfect.
Completely agree! It's your tank that's gonna be infected with ich or god knows what. I'm extremely picky at LFS's. I've only encountered a few workers that get rude but all in all they completely understand if I am being super picky.
Oh and on the subject of quarantine. I had a 75 gallon reef tank crash because of a shady LFS and the so called "knowledgeable" staff. Haven't been back since and learned my lesson the heart breaking way on quarantine.
I work at a LFS, so I pick and catch all of my own fish lol. When getting fish that shipped poorly from other stores (they look all beat up) I quarentine.
I love my LFS the guy in charge of the fish department loves me. I order a dozen of feeder platies and I get like 40. :] I hate it when there is a bum teen in the fish area... Always acting like your a fly that they can't get to go away. But Lee (LFS "fish guy") takes great care of the fish department. They always QT all their fish. I've never had an ich out break since I started buying from them. Not even a little bit.
