The Puffer Forum

... if you bought a fish from the LFS that you had a feeling was sick .. so you put it in a QT tank.. with other fish that were recovering and the sickness wiped out that tank in less than 12 hours?

First, I'd probably....

Then...

And theeeennnn...


And...



Maybe. That is, if I didn't take the whole container to the LFS and just be like, "hey, this is what happened. I don't expect money - or you to 'make it right' - I just want you to know what happened, please medicate."

If this happened to you- so sorry. If not, I hope it doesn't!

ohhh no ... they are going into a baggie and the LFS owner is going to get an ear full with photos and test results

One of the 2 plecos I purchased died, and contaminated the entire QT tank. 2 angels, a neon and another pleco pretty much wiped out in 12 hours.

The fish are not dead at the moment but will be (no doubt) before morning. The Angels are blind at the moment and one is contained in a breeder net under the outflow in an empty tank. They were adoptees and just recovering at that.

It is of my opinion that the LFS is the buffer between the distributor and the consumer. They should not be selling "bad fish" knowingly. When I went to the store it was BAD... the fish girl said they got in a bad batch ... but the one I picked was in a separate tank and looked the best. Other tanks were milky white.

needless to say ... the owner and I are going to have words. This is not the first time this has happened but this has been the worst case I have seen... ever.

but to be something to wipe a tank in 12 hours? did they fish them out of the oily gulf or something?? (bad joke)

What is it that could have done so much damage to the other fish so badly, and yet the pleco traveled to the pet shop (with the problem?) I assume. That is, unless the tank they put them in infected the pleco, and thus it is the fault of the LFS???

Every Friday they get their shipment ... of the tanks they had (not many) only 2 were not contaminated. I purchased one pleco from each. The new arrival (Friday) was suspect so I separated it into the QT tank with the other QT fish (adoptees).

yes, in less than 12 hours that tank was basically wiped out. The LFS KNEW the distributor sent a bad batch .. so they should not have been selling ANY fish. I think there are about 9 tanks... 6 were infected for certain. That was plainly visible. 1 was a pond fish tank and was almost healthy .. 1 was the old pleco tank .. that was healthy .. the last that looked healthy was this little guys tank.. and obviously was not healthy.

I'm really sorry to hear that J-P. I wonder how my LFS would handle that, honestly. The one I like to visit never seems to really have sick fish - all of the puffers have nice full bellies - everyone is active and happy acting. Water is never cloudy. I should ask him if it's ok if I take a short video or some pictures - it's really quite pretty for a little shop. They have some nice reefs going as well.

I am not overly concerned, just very disappointed. At least my main tank is safe. That would have been harsh.

All the more reason to set up a QT tank.

Oh I agree - what if you didn't have a QT... that would have been terribad.

So I'm curious - since that whole tank is wiped, what would you have to do to make it a good QT again? Do you have to disenfect everything to avoid possible future contamination? How does that work?

run carbon .. keep testing.. and toss in what is called a "seeker" fish later. That is something cheap and sensitive. If it lives it is good to go. Kind of like a canary in a cole mine.

My problem is that filter is not contaminated. I don't know exactly how to proceed. Maybe add meds and kill the bio filter?? then start again, I don't know.

If you can determine what the illness was/is it would be easy to figure out how to fix the tank.

In my experience most of the good lfs that I have shopped at will give week or so guarantee on fw fish. But yes I agree they shouldn't be selling any fish that they know are sick! Sorry for your losses

Let us know how your trip to the pet store goes! Hopefully well!!!

I couldn't make it so I called in and discussed it with the owner. He told me only a shipment of breeder GF were affected because the staff didn't aclime properly. That was pure BS .. his tanks were milky white and had fish dying left right and center. Maybe the staff member lied and said everything was fine. I sent my wife in with a bag of dead fish and we got our money back from the purchase and the other at least.

I was really hoping to keep my largest angel but it went this morning. Now, I have a smaller angel that is blind. Will continue this in the Hospital forum after I get my water tests done.

Ummm... that's not really how QT works. Separate tanks for each purchase.

In an ideal situation