My Local Fish Store

First off, I just want to start off by saying all I have around me is the big box stores, but recently around 45 miles away, a full fish shop popped up. I was very excited figuring I would have the chance to gain much knowledge and maybe some rare fish species to keep. Well, after talking with the family, and paying attention to this forum, we decided that any more fish we were getting we would go there to purchase, so a trip was planned. Well, they had many fish, some of which I had never seen, tons of plants, and tons of supplies. We purchased about $150 in filters, media, plants, and fish and got tons of advise and opinions from the family who owns it. Well, needless to say, out of the 10 or so fish we bought that day, all but 1 or 2 came down with anchor worms. I had never had to deal with that before so I had no clue what to do, and when I called him for more advise, we were told it was from their tanks, but its our fault that it spread in our tanks for not having a quarentene tank. We ended up getting Clout and killing off the anchor worms, but I have never gotten anything like that, which only comes from POND raised fish, from any of the box stores. I am just very disappointed in the situation itself, but more at him for accusing us of spreading it. Now everyone here has agreed that we will purchase online and pay shipping before going back to that shop, since we had to order the Clout online and pay shipping for that anyhow. Sorry for the rambling, but had to share. Not all LFS are good. Jon

Many many fish come from outdoor fish farms especially from the Asians. I have to believe that the fish you bought already had them. For him to accuse you of doing it was wrong on his part. I'll bet after your complaint that he treated all his fish too and if he didn't then that's a shame because he will just keep selling these infected fish. Garlic is very good for treating parasites in fish. Sorry you had this bad experience.

sorry for the bad first experience. yes many fish are raised in "grow out" vats to quickly get gain size on them for sale. fish grow much faster outdoors in vats/ponds, hence "grow out." At least they admit it came from their tanks. It's also true that every new fish purchase should be put into a quarantine in case any upcoming disease that may not appear in the store finally appear days later. We just don't have the patience for that, I'm one of them. They should have seen the anchor worm infection from the get go in their tanks and they should have done a little quarantine/no sale in the infected tanks until they cured it as well. It's very irresponsible of them not to recognize that and to sell fish(probably knowingly) that were harboring anchor worms.

while i'm all hands up for supporting LFS, you'll find that online prices are better anyways, and even with livestock you may get better quality.

Sorry to hear about the bad experience... I will say though that a quarantine tank is always a good idea! I even quarantine fish from friends that do better tank maintainence that I do! Just to be safe. You only need a 10 gallon and if you don't see any problems in a few days usually it's ok to add them to a community tank. Just to be safe I medicate the fish even if I don't see anything. I've never had a disease outbreak in my community tanks yet, but I've had a couple of incidents in my quarantine tank.....

10 gallon tank = $10-12
1 sponge filter= $6.99
24 inch of air hose= .50
fish tanks meds= $7-12
Not getting disease
in thousand dollar
community tank= PRICELESS
JB

Sorry about your luck. I just had to fight FUNGUS because I killed my bn pleco on accident when moving rocks around while vacuuming the tank. So I went out and got another one and didnt QT..... I have Many qt tanks but I put the bn in the 125 because the algae was getting out of hand. Needless to say It cost a pretty penny to treat a 125 for fungus. QT tanks save money and fish. One of the best investments I have made in the hobby.

when i chose to get back into the aquarium hobby/life, i looked around at suppliers for fish, and asked questions, well the 1st thing i found is that the petco/petsmart guy do not know diddley squat, they do not separate new fish from old fish at all, so if one is diseased, they all are, i purchase my fish from knowledgeable mom and pop places period, or i get them from people off of craigslist type of websites, i ask tons of questions, but generally ppl that have cichlids, know their shizzz, and have cared for the fish well. ............sorry to hear about your experience,,,keep up the hobby....mike

Sorry to hear about your troubles. I suppose it is always the risk of buying fish from an outside source.

I have never had trouble with it but using good quarantine system is always a plus. Many people will qt a fish for 3 weeks and then add a "sacrificial lamb" from the community tank the new fish will be added to. This is because the disease can travel both ways and a community tank that shows no signs of illness can cause new fish to become sick because unlike the established fish they have no immunities.

Sorry to hear about that bro all we can do is learn from it and move forward. Keep your head up, things will turn around sooner than later...

That's a bummer but it happens and your rite mike the people at petsmart don't know squat I enjoy studying my fish and learning about aquatics in general but when I go to petsmart and want to buy a fish or meds for an ill fish I seem to get a half-cocked lesson from a 16 year old girl that knows absolutely nothing about fish whatsoever I agree tho mom and pop stores are the way to go don't let a bad experience Make you give up the hobby support your local fish stores after all it's supporting your community

when ever and where ever i purchase fish i always stare and examine the tank im buying from. basically, you need to develop an eye for picking fish