Why oh why...did i got to Petco for fish???

[Steph72]

Hi all

The title says it all. I have a black and white clown ive had for about 5 years now. Its mate jumped 3 years ago and she has been alone ever since.

2 weeks ago I decided I wanted to pair her up again and get a new small male to make the transition easier.

Now I know...Petco...don't do it. Well I did...i was excited and made a poor decision. All fish in the tank looked nice and healthy so I felt better about my decision. I chose the one that as most active, had great color, etc.

Got it home, acclimated and put in a specimen box so he and the big female could meet for a few days without killing eachother. Left the new male in the box for 72hrs....released....and they took to eachother no issues! Everyone eating and playing well together, no aggression.

Fast forward 1.5 weeks to Saturday (few days ago). The large female had white slime covering her back half of the body...brook....caught her, did a freshwater dip. The small male appeared to be fine so I didn't dip him but probably should have.

Slime went away. Everyone still eating...great news! Next day female has missing scales where the white was, but still eating, male looks good still so slightly optimistic.

Yesterday..2 days post fresh water dip, small male was found dead on the sand in the middle if the day, covered in white slime...female, looks no worse and swimming better than before. Sucks, but atleast the female is holding on.

Wake up this morning and the female can barely swim, white slime is back and has a spot near head now. I know its only a matter if hours at this point.

So anyway, learned my lesson...im very upset both at the loss and at myself for being so foolish.

Now I've never lost a fish due to disease. At this point, is it best to leave my tank fallow for a few months, or is there no point and just get new fish, feed well, etc.

I wont be buying from Petco again and will pay more to make sure I have healthy fish, but even then I know there are no guarantees. I live in an apartment so QT isn't an option for me....thought I would put that out there.

Anyway, thanks for listening to me vent and I appreciate any and all advice.

Don’t be too hard on yourself...fish from any source can, and often do, come with illnesses.

 

[Nhjmc]

I've purchased a few nice corals from Petco but it's one of their flagship stores (not that that probably matters). Only purchased one fish from Petco a baby clown which disappeared the first week (pretty sure the nasty clarkie killed it and fed to his nem...clarkie got donated to lfs let some other sucker deal with him. I dip any coral I buy in RX coral dip blow them off with turkey baster inspect closely but never quarantine them. I did research quarantining online and without a QT a month in a bucket seems cruel.

 

[Chlorinated]

Like OPs fish he couldn’t be bothered to properly care for...

thats completely uncalled for and not needed in this thread. All it does is discourage people. Hope your comment makes you feel better. Its people like you who ruin this forum.

 

[SMSREEF]

If you have a petsmart nearby they have a 5 gallon setup on sale for $29 and 10 gallon for $49. Comes with top, light, HOB filter, heater.

I got a 10 gallon to use as quarantine

I do quarantine everything because unfortunately in the US it seems the supply chain has a lot of disease. Anytime you put a bunch of stressed fish together, diseases spread.

Yes a lot of the blame lies with suppliers and stores. Some are better than others, but if you look close, you will still see sick fish in with the live rock or the other fish.

But even the best stores, I still quarantine before putting in my tank.

 

[WVNed]

Here are some fish that weren't properly cared for.

At least by the standards many on here use.

When you keep fish some will die. They had a very long hard trip to get to you and some don't make it.
I have found that putting them in a good environment and feeding them well is the best medicine.
Yes, many of these fish came from Petco.

 

[HotRocks]

Hey guys this thread has run it’s course. It’s clear that some people just want to bash someone instead of providing a viable solution and help them be successful in their future of reefing which is not the way of R2R. There are a million ways to do this hobby I am for avid QT and it works for me there are several others who don’t QT and have success in the hobby. I hope you all have a wonderful Friday make it a great day!