Who's to blame? LFS or YOU!!

Who is to blame for a disease tank wipeout?

  • It is the LFS to blame for a disease tank wipeout.

    Votes: 10 17.2%

  • It is the Aquarist to blame for a disease tank wipeout.

    Votes: 48 82.8%
  • Total voters
    58
  • Poll closed .
At my workplace we receive animals from the wild and they are sent to quarantine, I am establishing coral quarantine still.

But fish are given a 30 day quarantine with a bit of copper solution, upon re-evaluation, they're clear

but there are some ailments no quarantine or magic medication can prevent/cure/treat
 
There are more diseases than whitespot to worry about, each fish must be evaluated individually , and species as well. Most gobies and blennies can carry intestinal parasites which in the wild are ok as food is enough to sustain both but in the aquarium the parasite can easily starve a rating fish, so I treat all my fish with a dewormer as I get them.

Also one of the best forms of disease management is good husbandry and pristine water parameters.

As for who is to blame, it's always the reefer. I have had a fish die in the bag and got it credited. As mentioned before we choose what we add to our tanks so we should know what they need etc
 
It's the Fishes Fault

So what in my mind makes a good LFS? one that give proper honest advice not worried about the sale.

how many LFS have info on the Corals or Fish they sell? and if those fish are reef safe and size tank needed? what about quarantine have you ever heard them discuss it?

not everyone has access to the internet and not all info on the internet is right as we well know look at the debates on here
 
If you don't know then ask the LFS, if they still take advantage of you then you have learnt a valuable lesson, don't go back. If you know, shame on you for not following quarantine practices. If you see a sick fish at the LFS and you know it's sick, report the fish and don't buy it. These are the rules I follow.
 
Live animals, difficult, but ultimately YOU have to take responsibility. Imagine the checks in place when Anton Rupert shells out ZAR 40 million for a Buffalo bull.
 
At the end of the day the reefer is responsible for his purchase. Research and patients pay off.
 
Nemos Janitor said:
aquarist blames tank crashes or fish deaths on a LFS.
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jono said:
sometimes its the aquarist fault and sometimes its the lfs??
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Its easy to blame the LFS for you not doing a proper QT.

-The bottom line is Always QT.
-Ask the LFS to hold the fish for you for a few days if you not sure about the fishes health, befor you purchase it.
-Ultimatly you as the Aquarists you have the final say about what goes into your tank. Claiming ignorance is no excuse.
 
A seasoned reefer is at fault for livestock losses.

What gets me though is when a new reefer (usually a mother or father wanting to get a "Nemo" and "Dorry" for their kids and who are not internet savvy) come in to a LFS and get told all sorts of nonsense. I know that when is was new to the hobby I went to one ex-sponser store to get water and some advice for my new tank. When I was told that I can add "some fish" after adding water, rock and gravel I got ticked off and walked off because thankfully I had read enough to know about cycling etc. I can only imagine how many mums and dads got conned with this.
 
Quarantine means diddly squat if you just put a fish in to see if any disease manifests for a period of time. If you want to quarantine then have a treatment regimen to deworm, get rid of parasites, viruses and bacteria and condition fish. If you are not prepared to do that then rather treat each incoming fish with methylene blue for half an hour while acclimatising to ensure cyanide is removed from fish if any is present and any cuts etc are clean and all bacteria on fish are killed off and then introduce it to your tank. Ps there is only one mac approved pet shop in sa so what you get from lfs is what you get.
 
imo @ the LFS should quieten the fish before the customer even sees the fish in the display, to run and extra tank with heaters and pumps and skimmers and buying copper meds ect, the LFS should have that responsibility as we are pay so much fro fish already PLEASE NOTE IS THIS JUST MY OPTION
 
shaunn said:
imo @ the LFS should quieten the fish before the customer even sees the fish in the display, to run and extra tank with heaters and pumps and skimmers and buying copper meds ect, the LFS should have that responsibility as we are pay so much fro fish already PLEASE NOTE IS THIS JUST MY OPTION
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Each fish should be quarantined separately and that would be impossible in a lfs setup
 
the issue is how we work here in SA, each shop orders from an agent and they collect...
where as in Euro or USA they have wholesalers who keep mass amounts of stock which they keep for X time then sell. all to do with economics etc. just look and dejongs, liveaquaria and Sea Dwelling Creatures... i did have the pleasure of visiting a few of these wholesalers in LA
 
There's no two ways about it: Quarantining new fish is not optional.

Simply put, serious aquarist quarantine their new fish. When you bring home fish, you also bring home the responsibility of giving them the best possible care.

Fish dying of infectious diseases is unnecessary ... and preventable.

Fish are exposed to a wide range of diseases along their entire chain of custody (collector, wholesale, retail): marine ich, marine velvet, flukes, intestinal worms, Brooklynella, bacteria, et al.

No matter how diligent the best wholesalers and retailers are about quarantining and treating their livestock (and this is the exception rather than the rule), chances are their fish will still carry disease.

It is extremely difficult for large, rapid-turnover operations to rid all diseases from their fish due to the sheer number of fish that pass through their systems.
 
If Fish can travel a good couple hours on a plane to the LFS
and they look healthy when you purchased them from the store.

Then it's definitely something you did while transportation or introducing the fish to your system.
 
mandarinman said:
Quarantine means diddly squat if you just put a fish in to see if any disease manifests for a period of time. If you want to quarantine then have a treatment regimen to deworm, get rid of parasites, viruses and bacteria and condition fish. If you are not prepared to do that then rather treat each incoming fish with methylene blue for half an hour while acclimatising to ensure cyanide is removed from fish if any is present and any cuts etc are clean and all bacteria on fish are killed off and then introduce it to your tank. Ps there is only one mac approved pet shop in sa so what you get from lfs is what you get.
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Appologies i dont want to derail but please explain to me the "methylene blue for half an hour while acclimatising to ensure cyanide is removed from fish if any is present and any cuts etc are clean and all bacteria on fish are killed off and then introduce it to your tank". This sounds interesting. Where would one find the methylene and what would the dosage directions be? Could you treat fish outside in a bucket as a prevention from time to time ? Also @dallasg what do you use to deworm your fish? Again same question, how would one get them to digest the medicine ?? Sorry for all the questions, just wish to understand and perhaps learn more !:thumbup:
 
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i think there two sides to this story... if the client goes to the LFS and chooses the fish he likes after he has inspected the holding tanks, has found out if the fish have been quarantined, if they are eating etc. and is satisfied with what he/she has seen then its up to the client to continue with the good care the fish has been given so far by the LFS
... but there is the other side. if the client orders something online or through the phone he becomes reliant on the trustworthiness of the seller and the conditions in which the seller operates his business. and logically if someone buys livestock and a day after arrival all the livestock is dead i don't blame the buyer for looking at the LFS and saying ''you-sold-me-f***ed-up-fish.. and obviously there are instances where the fish were not acclimatised on arrival etc. where the buyer is to blame
 
I think that the repsonsiblity lies on both parties.
It is the shop's responsiblity to ensure that stock is healthy and to also advise the buyer if they suspect a fish is not healthy and to rather wait for a couple of days to see if it is okay (Idol Marine has done this to me on numerous occasions)
Once the fish leaves the shop then it becomes the buyers responsiblity.
If you are in doubt then ask the shop to hold the fish for you for a week (Pay a deposit to show that you are serious)
I presently have a fish at Pet Stop going through QT. It has been there for 2 weeks already. I wanted to fetch it on Friday and was advised by Moolis that it was not ready to go. I am waiting another week to see if it is okay. This kind of service is what makes me happy and makes me go back and buy more fish. I will inspect the fish when I collect and if I am not happy with it's health then I will let them know and not take it. (I am paying a little extra for the QT service but it is well worth it)
 
Zandy said:
Appologies i dont want to derail but please explain to me the "methylene blue for half an hour while acclimatising to ensure cyanide is removed from fish if any is present and any cuts etc are clean and all bacteria on fish are killed off and then introduce it to your tank". This sounds interesting. Where would one find the methylene and what would the dosage directions be? Could you treat fish outside in a bucket as a prevention from time to time ? Also @dallasg what do you use to deworm your fish? Again same question, how would one get them to digest the medicine ?? Sorry for all the questions, just wish to understand and perhaps learn more !:thumbup:
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i treat all fish with tremazol, paragaurd and safe from blue harbour
corals get a dip in CoralRx

my QT process is not so much to cure, but rather to get the fish acclimated from travel, used to my feeding and getting them healthy. prevention is better that bombarding the fish with copper etc.

i place the meds in the food
 
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