Should I be ticked at my LFS about Ich?

Lowell Lemon · May 2, 2016

You may have had the same result from a shipment from an internet source. I recommend a U.V. sterilizer in most applications just to reduce a know protozoa that lives on the fish and is known to mimic ich in appearance. It will manifest due to stress.

A quarantine tank need not be fancy but even a plastic bin with filtration will do the trick...it does make it hard to observe the fish though.

Live Water · May 2, 2016

Icky icky common problem for new to salt water people, qt is the way to go! Get some selcom to boost immune systems before they stop eating, you can build a qt for 50 bucks or less if you craigslist it, good luck

TheRealDmorty217 · May 2, 2016

You need to get a QT and read up on all diseases, including ich. The ich is in the DT and if you don't get it out of there the fish you take out and cure will always be reinfected upon reintroduction to the DT. Fish coming in with ich is normal. They are all held in giant systems with lowered immune systems due to stress and disease flourishes. You have to have sound QT protocols to prevent this in the future. I use a 75g to QT and 20g longs for TTM

aereaus · May 2, 2016

Dont be mad at the LFS, if you have as much invested in your aquarium as you say and dont have a quarantine I would say you executed poor planning. I was always told prior planning prevents p!$$ poor performance lol

harley3 · May 2, 2016

I have only been doing this about 15 months and I was in your same spot not too long ago. I went full bore with the DT and never even thought about QT. I saw it mentioned a bunch bug pretty much ignored it. Well after two different bouts with ich, I have learned and bought a Marineland 40 gallon breeder when my LFS had them for $39, a power filter and a heater. Have not had a problem since . Petco is having the $1 pre gallon sale for a few more days. It will be worth it.

acidtablockshifty · May 2, 2016

I was in the same boat. I haven't finished my qt setup yet but after a tank breakdown just to get fish out losing like 13 to velvet (which may or may not have come from an online fish store) you realize nowhere is safe. It is also good to have, if something does happen with your display to have somewhere to house the fish while going fallow or starting over. I have more thought into my quarantine tanks then I could have ever imagined. For now as long as nothing new goes in my tank i'm all set, but what fun is that.

Chris kindley · May 2, 2016

Well. Imo. The lfs should quaratine just as much as I should. Everyone else rotates stock to keep things fresh. They should have a quarantine area and the show area. The lfs aren't out diddly squat. They just got you for a hundred sum odd dollars and your left with a fish that's gonna die. People need to hold these lfs more accountable for the disease ridden fish they are selling. Everyone I know has completely black balled petco for this very reason but stay true to the lfs guy cause the know him by name and don't want to hurt his feelings. Mullarky.. He needs give you a full refund or a healthy fish. End of story.

03864reefer · May 2, 2016

Chris kindley said:
Well. Imo. The lfs should quaratine just as much as I should. Everyone else rotates stock to keep things fresh. They should have a quarantine area and the show area. The lfs aren't out diddly squat. They just got you for a hundred sum odd dollars and your left with a fish that's gonna die. People need to hold these lfs more accountable for the disease ridden fish they are selling. Everyone I know has completely black balled petco for this very reason but stay true to the lfs guy cause the know him by name and don't want to hurt his feelings. Mullarky.. He needs give you a full refund or a healthy fish. End of story.

First off.. Fish MOVING stresses the heck pout of them.. And MULTIPLE moves majorly stresses them.. If YOU the PURCHASER is not prepared to address this than.. YOU are at fault. Blame everyone else,, FAULT lies with END purchaser.. because,, as you said, it dies,, you lose.. We all EXPECT this... We prepare for it! Pull up your reefer panties and get on the stick..
And PETCO.. In past 2 years over 1700 dollars in PETCO FISH (marine only) AND not a single complaint.. .. So again,, you need to accept responsibility for your purchase..

scardall · May 2, 2016

It's not your fault,powder brown and Blue Tangs are susceptible to getting Ich . There are People here that can help. You can beat this just Don't Hesitate, or Panic You can succeed. Wishing you and the Fish the Best

Live Water · May 2, 2016

Well I don't like petco and some lfs are better than others but no matter what you should always qt. Knowing what wholesaler the fish came from helps as well as the method they used to catch, hold and transport the livestock can have a huge impact on short and long term health of the animals.

klp · May 2, 2016

Lowell Lemon said:
You may have had the same result from a shipment from an internet source. I recommend a U.V. sterilizer in most applications just to reduce a know protozoa that lives on the fish and is known to mimic ich in appearance. It will manifest due to stress.

A quarantine tank need not be fancy but even a plastic bin with filtration will do the trick...it does make it hard to observe the fish though.

With reference to the UV and Protoss are you saying only the UV will do the job or icy treatment would not be effective?

Acrononomus · May 2, 2016

It's always up to the purchaser to quarantine his or her fish, saying that, I have never run a qt tank, I just don't have the room for it, and it is a bit irresponsible on my part but that's just a risk I take and a foolish one at that.... A perfectly good looking fish at the store can come up with ick weeks later when u get him home... It's a bummer... But it's always up to u....

Mark Lawson · May 3, 2016

Chris kindley said:
Well. Imo. The lfs should quaratine just as much as I should. Everyone else rotates stock to keep things fresh. They should have a quarantine area and the show area. The lfs aren't out diddly squat. They just got you for a hundred sum odd dollars and your left with a fish that's gonna die. People need to hold these lfs more accountable for the disease ridden fish they are selling. Everyone I know has completely black balled petco for this very reason but stay true to the lfs guy cause the know him by name and don't want to hurt his feelings. Mullarky.. He needs give you a full refund or a healthy fish. End of story.

I have to agree with with this comment Chris............For the last 27 yrs I have had a Koi retail and service. One of the biggest things that we have to do BEFORE we sell Koi is QT them when they arrive from overseas. An average of 3-6 weeks BEFORE WE sell to public. Yes it is tight on profits BUT better then sending home a 3000.00 Koi with Ick or parasites or even worse KHV. It is also the responsibility of the customer to QT after we have just to ensure a hot potato didn't get through. Now when a retailer does what you described as to bring in one day even sell that day or next is just wrong. Its the old pass the Potato onto the next person, make ours before it cost us money. Once off our lot like a car its on you..........Sorry but I wouldn't deal with them. Most I have dealt with in SD will hold a fish for 1-2 weeks and if all is well then home to another period of QT. I think LFS should take some responsibility as its there reputation on the line. I have seen many Koi dealers lose it over on case of KHV and when I say lose it were talking 100's of thousands $$$ and one dealer over a million dollars. I am strong believer in WOM -word of mouth...it can make you or break you.

Bdog4u2 · May 3, 2016

You can buy a complete 10 gallon led light set up at Wal-Mart for 30 bucks comes with filter and heater.
After i quarantine i put them in a acclimation box in the dt for a day or 2 so they can get their bearings and the other fish sometimes lose interest and dont pick on new arrival after its initial hazing

Shep · May 3, 2016

Maritimer said:
More often than not, there isn't much they can do about it.

They're getting new fish in at least once a week. Even if they drop those fish straight in to a copper bath, ich isn't killed by medicine while it's on the fish - and a great many of those fish will be purchased within a day or three, often on the first day, by folks who come in on "fish day" to see what's new. It would take at least a couple of weeks to eliminate ich by any method - and your LFS can't afford to hold them, heat them, clean them, and medicate them for that long - and still put them on sale at a competitive price.

I consider it part of our role as aquarists to 1) purchase responsibly, and 2) quarantine our new arrivals to protect both them and our existing charges.

~Bruce

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Shep · May 3, 2016

Mark Lawson said:
I have to agree with with this comment Chris............For the last 27 yrs I have had a Koi retail and service. One of the biggest things that we have to do BEFORE we sell Koi is QT them when they arrive from overseas. An average of 3-6 weeks BEFORE WE sell to public. Yes it is tight on profits BUT better then sending home a 3000.00 Koi with Ick or parasites or even worse KHV. It is also the responsibility of the customer to QT after we have just to ensure a hot potato didn't get through. Now when a retailer does what you described as to bring in one day even sell that day or next is just wrong. Its the old pass the Potato onto the next person, make ours before it cost us money. Once off our lot like a car its on you..........Sorry but I wouldn't deal with them. Most I have dealt with in SD will hold a fish for 1-2 weeks and if all is well then home to another period of QT. I think LFS should take some responsibility as its there reputation on the line. I have seen many Koi dealers lose it over on case of KHV and when I say lose it were talking 100's of thousands $$$ and one dealer over a million dollars. I am strong believer in WOM -word of mouth...it can make you or break you.

I understand your point but it would just not really be feasible to do that, obviously there are cheap steps that can be taken to mitigate some of the danger and they should use these. With that being said, these shops already don't make a lot of money from fish and if they did a whole QT cycle on the fish, they would either have to charge 2-3x for each fish or take losses (there is only so much you can make form a $20 clown or an $8 damsel). Now if a shop constantly has ich or something and they do nothing about it or try to hide that fact, yea never shop there.

Cameron Martinez · May 3, 2016

I try to make sure the LFS has had the fish for at least a couple weeks before I will purchase. If they just got fish in see if they will hold it for a bit for you if needed. But still use a QT just to make sure. By making them hold the fish hopefully you will be able to tell if it will not have any health issues plus know if he will take prepared foods and what the guy likes before you get him home. Make sure he is eating and staying healthy to prevent any health issues.

Naiad · May 3, 2016

roger saltwaters said:
So basically you guys are saying, only an idiot buys just one tank. You have to buy two from the get go? I'm not sure what to say about that.

No only someone new to the hobby. Not everyone uses the qt method. PaulB has a very successful tank and he doesn't qt. His method is to feed his fish fresh foods and let their immune systems do the work. Of course he lives on the coast making it a bit easier to collect fresh food ect. You choose the method that works for you.

roger saltwaters · May 3, 2016

aereaus said:
Dont be mad at the LFS, if you have as much invested in your aquarium as you say and dont have a quarantine I would say you executed poor planning. I was always told prior planning prevents p!$$ poor performance lol

Poor planning? That's what I went to these guys for. They didn't tell me I need a QT tank. Should they have?

roger saltwaters · May 3, 2016

Chris kindley said:
Well. Imo. The lfs should quaratine just as much as I should. Everyone else rotates stock to keep things fresh. They should have a quarantine area and the show area. The lfs aren't out diddly squat. They just got you for a hundred sum odd dollars and your left with a fish that's gonna die. People need to hold these lfs more accountable for the disease ridden fish they are selling. Everyone I know has completely black balled petco for this very reason but stay true to the lfs guy cause the know him by name and don't want to hurt his feelings. Mullarky.. He needs give you a full refund or a healthy fish. End of story.

Makes sense to me.