More than likely, they already know and are working on it. But if you want to, you can mention it casually. Maybe even say that one of your fish looks like it has the same thing their fish have, and ask how to treat it. You'll be able to tell from their response if they know what they're doing or not.
confront LFS?
- Thread starter spadoc79
- Start date
LOL.
bbortko;4592981; said:
I agree.
The loudest message consumers can give is to stop buying from them.
if they are any good, they already know ... if they aren't, then they probably should not be in business
if you want a non-confrontational approach, just pick out one of the fish that has ich, and ask the employee "is that ich?" ... and see what they say ...
at my LFS, I always let them know if I see something awry ...
if you want a non-confrontational approach, just pick out one of the fish that has ich, and ask the employee "is that ich?" ... and see what they say ...
at my LFS, I always let them know if I see something awry ...
Sick fish in a pet store...
I've said that a million times over - it's not that the pet store owners want to have sick fish. But if you know just a little bit of how this trade is run you will understand why YOU are quarantining the fish and not the fish store.
For smaller fish, that are in the range of $1.50 - $10 quarantining just doesn't make sense. It is the norm to have at least 30% of the fish imported from Asia DOA. They usually die in within 24 hours of arrival. The importers can request better packaging, less crowding etc. But I personally don't think anyone cares about the small fish.
I've received 200 Kuhli loaches in (I kid you not!) one quart of water! It was a stew, not fish swimming in water. After that we started to ask the exporters to bag certain number of fish in a bag and not more. Surprisingly no exporter resisted - they would do things exactly as you want them, no problem. The importer just needs to ask.
Back to the LFS. A LFS gets fish from an importer. The importer may care, but over time he will clearly see that quarantining fish puts him in a terrible disadvantage. Sooner or later one starts to think that it's all about moving fish. Import them, rebag them, send them out the next day if possible. Often the fish is pre-ordered - meaning as soon as they arrive in the US they are already bound to a store tank. They arrive on Monday and on Tuesday you walk in the store and see the fish. You never know that they just got in the US and are still stressed beyond belief.
What is important in all of this is to be aware of what I described before. The price of small fish is not big enough to justify quarantine. And keep in mind that a quarantine should be at least 2 weeks, and even better - a month. Many fish look fine the first week after arrival and develop issues only after that. That is the time when they are often in a hobbyist's tank already...
I'm posting this not to blame anyone. But to shed light on the logic and logistics of the small pet fish trade. The best practice is to buy fish from a store you trust. Know the owner. Know their practices.
--Nikolay
I've said that a million times over - it's not that the pet store owners want to have sick fish. But if you know just a little bit of how this trade is run you will understand why YOU are quarantining the fish and not the fish store.
For smaller fish, that are in the range of $1.50 - $10 quarantining just doesn't make sense. It is the norm to have at least 30% of the fish imported from Asia DOA. They usually die in within 24 hours of arrival. The importers can request better packaging, less crowding etc. But I personally don't think anyone cares about the small fish.
I've received 200 Kuhli loaches in (I kid you not!) one quart of water! It was a stew, not fish swimming in water. After that we started to ask the exporters to bag certain number of fish in a bag and not more. Surprisingly no exporter resisted - they would do things exactly as you want them, no problem. The importer just needs to ask.
Back to the LFS. A LFS gets fish from an importer. The importer may care, but over time he will clearly see that quarantining fish puts him in a terrible disadvantage. Sooner or later one starts to think that it's all about moving fish. Import them, rebag them, send them out the next day if possible. Often the fish is pre-ordered - meaning as soon as they arrive in the US they are already bound to a store tank. They arrive on Monday and on Tuesday you walk in the store and see the fish. You never know that they just got in the US and are still stressed beyond belief.
What is important in all of this is to be aware of what I described before. The price of small fish is not big enough to justify quarantine. And keep in mind that a quarantine should be at least 2 weeks, and even better - a month. Many fish look fine the first week after arrival and develop issues only after that. That is the time when they are often in a hobbyist's tank already...
I'm posting this not to blame anyone. But to shed light on the logic and logistics of the small pet fish trade. The best practice is to buy fish from a store you trust. Know the owner. Know their practices.
--Nikolay
Forgot to mention - some of the Ich that comes from Asia is very different from the 3 day Ich we may be familiar with.
I do not know if there are different diseases that look like Ich but the sympthoms (white dots all over the fish) are similar. Some of these diseases that look like Ich last for much longer than 3 days. AND nothing cures them. You basically watch the fish die and hope for improvement.
The first week after the fish are imported is usually the most critical. Fish develop issues within that week and if they live they are usually fine. The first few days they may look totally fine and even eat normally. But they still need to be quarantined. Unfortunatelly often that's the time customers buy them - just a few days after arrival.
--Nikolay
I do not know if there are different diseases that look like Ich but the sympthoms (white dots all over the fish) are similar. Some of these diseases that look like Ich last for much longer than 3 days. AND nothing cures them. You basically watch the fish die and hope for improvement.
The first week after the fish are imported is usually the most critical. Fish develop issues within that week and if they live they are usually fine. The first few days they may look totally fine and even eat normally. But they still need to be quarantined. Unfortunatelly often that's the time customers buy them - just a few days after arrival.
--Nikolay
Ohne of my stores always had ick that I went to. I told him and stopped going. They HAVE to know they have ick in their tanks. It's just obvious.
RarePetFish;4593971; said:
Ick is a constant battle. I generally have at least 1 tank in the system NFS because of it. 90% sounds like a case thats been left untreated. Some LFS treat their tanks.. others do not. when i go to other places I expect to see healthy tanks overall.. but the more stock they have the more likely something is sick..
imo the best thing hobbyists can do is encourage their LFS to treat, and refuse to sell sick fish. Completely boycotting a LFS because of a few cases of illness here and there, is asinine.. Every LFS would go out of business in short order.
Usually at pet stores the fish are a sign of general health care of all the animals they have in my experiance.
