Local fish stores don't quarantine fish

[carlson]

Have you ever thought about how lfs's never quarantine fish? All the ones around here usually aclimate them to tanks with other fish as soon as they get them. If a fish has already been on there system for a couple months, then what's the point of further quarantine?

 

[Dan1789]

To prevent those diseases or parasites from entering your tank.

 

[dmort]

Quarantine sounds like a pain but it isn't. I keep a 10 gallon setup in a closet and quarantine all new fish at minimum 3 weeks. I follow the routine described by advanced aquarist. Since doing this, my tank is disease free.

 

[dmort]

I had an ich outbreak wipe out my livestock. Cheaper to quarantine.

 

[Humblefish]

Have you ever thought about how lfs's never quarantine fish? All the ones around here usually aclimate them to tanks with other fish as soon as they get them. If a fish has already been on there system for a couple months, then what's the point of further quarantine?

I'm really not understanding the question here. As you pointed out, most LFS are just fish flippers. They get in a shipment from their wholesaler, the fish get acclimated into the LFS tanks and they immediately go up for sale. Any "healthy fish" that was there previously gets exposed to whatever pathogens the new arrivals may be harboring. From my way of thinking, this makes all the more reason to QT each & every fish you buy. Including one that has been at a LFS for months.

 

[redfishbluefish]

We have one LFS (actually a Vet with a fish business on the side) who QT's all his fish, which includes a battery of treatments to kill any possible bugs the fish might have. They are slightly more expensive but I feel well worth the couple bucks knowing you have a clean fish.

 

[Paul B]

Here in New York copper is kept in the stores tanks all the time. If it were not for copper, there would be no salt water fish hobby. The livestock stores get are crowded and not in good shape due to the stresses of shipping. They are also mixed with fish from all over the place in varying degrees of health and were not fed due to bacteria in the shipping water needs to be kept low. . If you are at the store when they get a shipment, you will usually see quite a lot of dead fish in the boxes. This can't be helped and is a shame, but is the nature of the business. When you take the fish home and out of the copper treated water, whatever diseases they have will become apparent in your tank