Just a general warning, one that has probably been posted ad nauseam on these forums, but I just want to reiterate I guess. Buying “QT’d” fish at your LFS is probably as risky as buying a healthy looking fish or any fish for that matter at a LFS. I guess it’s necessary to QT or at least have an observation tank with the option to treat as necessary because you just can’t trust someone else’s practices nowadays.
I have a LFS near me that was referred to me by local hobbyists as a place with excellent husbandry practices and they QT. It’s owned by someone that is well known in the reefing community and has earned a good reputation. They have a separate QT room where they treat their fish with copper and other necessary treatment and from what I was told by the manager there, it is a thorough process.
Well, based on this I ordered a powder blue disease magnet, flame angel and royal gramma. The manager told me that the powder blue and flame angel went through their QT process and showed no signs of disease. He told me they would be ready in a couple days as soon as he starts bringing the salinity up for them. Lucky for me, my daughter and I came down with a nasty virus or something and I was out of commission and didn’t take the hour trip to the store.
So some days pass by and today comes along, I give them a call to let them know i’m coming over. For some odd reason the owner couldn’t find the fish I had ordered and had their manager call me back. The manager just from an initial impression seems a bit odd and perhaps disingenuous but that’s neither here nor there. Anyway, he calls me and tells me unfortunately all the fish I had ordered have come down with what he suspects as brook and they will scrape them and diagnose and treat, which of course means they will be back in QT for weeks.
Now if they survive and are ready, what am I to think? Their first attempt to treat obviously failed and if it weren’t for a lucky cold, I would have taken home fish that might have infected my harmonious community of fish that have been with me for awhile which would have been devastating. I had a 30g long QT tank setup for a bit when I got a nasty bug from an online dealer which cost the lives of half my fish livestock. Unfortunately my wife doesn’t want our home with so many tanks for various reasons and I respect her wishes. So even if your LFS has a sterling reputation and runs a QT protocol that comes recommended by fellow enthusiasts, buyer beware. There are a lot of nasty bugs out there that can devastate your fish and all the blood sweat and tears you spend on your beloved pets.
I guess this just reinforces the fact that if u want something done right, you have to do it yourself. That and finding the perfect LFS that QT’s with commitment and quality might be like searching for the fountain of youth.
I have a LFS near me that was referred to me by local hobbyists as a place with excellent husbandry practices and they QT. It’s owned by someone that is well known in the reefing community and has earned a good reputation. They have a separate QT room where they treat their fish with copper and other necessary treatment and from what I was told by the manager there, it is a thorough process.
Well, based on this I ordered a powder blue disease magnet, flame angel and royal gramma. The manager told me that the powder blue and flame angel went through their QT process and showed no signs of disease. He told me they would be ready in a couple days as soon as he starts bringing the salinity up for them. Lucky for me, my daughter and I came down with a nasty virus or something and I was out of commission and didn’t take the hour trip to the store.
So some days pass by and today comes along, I give them a call to let them know i’m coming over. For some odd reason the owner couldn’t find the fish I had ordered and had their manager call me back. The manager just from an initial impression seems a bit odd and perhaps disingenuous but that’s neither here nor there. Anyway, he calls me and tells me unfortunately all the fish I had ordered have come down with what he suspects as brook and they will scrape them and diagnose and treat, which of course means they will be back in QT for weeks.
Now if they survive and are ready, what am I to think? Their first attempt to treat obviously failed and if it weren’t for a lucky cold, I would have taken home fish that might have infected my harmonious community of fish that have been with me for awhile which would have been devastating. I had a 30g long QT tank setup for a bit when I got a nasty bug from an online dealer which cost the lives of half my fish livestock. Unfortunately my wife doesn’t want our home with so many tanks for various reasons and I respect her wishes. So even if your LFS has a sterling reputation and runs a QT protocol that comes recommended by fellow enthusiasts, buyer beware. There are a lot of nasty bugs out there that can devastate your fish and all the blood sweat and tears you spend on your beloved pets.
I guess this just reinforces the fact that if u want something done right, you have to do it yourself. That and finding the perfect LFS that QT’s with commitment and quality might be like searching for the fountain of youth.
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