warning signs of when to avoid buying fish from a lfs

ok i though i will write a little piece here about something that always bugs or irritates me and would like to hear some input from you folks. ok here it goes; from time to time you see a lfs " pet shop" anounce something in the line of " our thailand shipment just landed or our singapore shipment has just landed. nothing wrong with that. but what is wrong is when those fish are up gor sale even as early as the same day they landed or the next day. now you think to yourself, when the singapore chinaman got his order he needs to catch the orders, pack them and that takes what 2 hours? then once boxed they sit and wait and then find their way to airport and sit there another while, then board plane amd catch a +- 14 hr flight and eventually land here and sit another while at our airport waiting for customs to check boxes etc. then take another drive from airport to lfs and gets unpacked. so lets say 24hrs of stress and handling or jetlag and whatsoever then you buy that fish and end up loosing cause 3 out of the 10 you bought wasnt strong enough to make it and lfs has your money and cant care less. suppose its the risk of fish keeping but when you see someone advertize shipment just arived, dont rush, wait at least 7 days before you purchase. and always when you go to your lfs to buy fish, check with a staff member when the fish arived that you are keen to buy. try never buy fish that hasnt settled for at least 7 days. since lfs dont have guarantee on live stock this is a important rule to follow.

 

Few years back, I have been know to buy the bag before it hits the LFS tank ... yes two more hours before I get it home, but have had much better success rates at a time when I could not keep any LFS tank purchase going.

These days ... I really prefer local fish stock, we actually have several guys supplying OK stock that is local to our pollution levels.

Later Ferdie

 

hi @f-fish yes very true, i always shop for local bred stock first too. for that reason and we rather support local guys and keep it in family.

 

I am more worried about local lfs selling worm infested low quality fish from local breeders that will infect all of our healthy fish at home

 

yes indeed. lots of that doing the rounds lately too.

 

We have reputable dealers and breeders down here. I tend to wait a while before buying and picking the healthiest looking fish

 

I don't think anyone would want to sell infected or infested fish.
Losses due to transport, differing water conditions, etc from imports is a bigger problem in my opinion.

I have bought a number of fish lately, and have never come across anything like that...

 

I think no matter what we do... risk is the name of the game and its never going to change....
No matter how careful you are the risk is always there

There are pros and cons to anyway you do it....

Infected or infested fish... I think the main thing is to be alert, familiarize yourself with symptoms and watch the fish carefully before you buy
Often people will see some fish that don't look too happy in a tank but they still take a chance and take from the ones that look ok forgetting most diseases are contagious and if some of the fish are sick the others that look fine have already been in contact with them...
Here as always... quarantine is important and often overlooked

As for the import and buying fish that have just arrived.... well... its a gamble....
Yes....You can lose a fish to the stress it underwent in transit but... that fish can also go into the LFS's tanks and survive the stress only to become contaminated with anything that is in the LFS's tanks....
So.. its a chance you take either way....
With all the fish we have had brought in, we are at the LFS as they arrive from the airport, re-bag them and supplement with new oxygen and we take them straight home
I will rather do that than take the additional risk of them going into a tank where they can be infected/infested with something or bullied and stressed out by other fish in the tank

The other chance is that if limited quantities of something unusual came in and are being advertised everywhere, if you wait 7 days you might get there and there is nothing left or nice to chose from

Bottom line.. to me the most important factor when buying.. watch.. watch.. carefully the fish's behaviour and for signs of anything that doesn't look right
Always try and shop at reputable LFS's

 

I agree with that and also they are often housed with bigger cichlids and they bullied, fins nipped etc..

 

I got 4 Kohaku Swords today from my LFS today. Luckily I got them before they went into the LFS tanks. One thing I noticed was the bad smell I got when I opened the bag that came directly from the supplier.

 

That's likely ammonia

 

The fishes bag is its toilet. That's why it stinks.it always will if traveled some time . so what I like to do if somebody buys some fish and I ship them. I pick fish out and put in tank one side and I don't feed for a day before shipping to avoid swimbladder and the fish fouling its water as its being shipped with a full stomach

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Ah ok. This was the first time I encountered fish that came directly from the fish farm.