I went to the LFS and heres what happened....

S

sillyputty

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Dec 10, 2004
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I was so excited to see some Bolivian rams in my LFS today! I couldn't get them right then but was able to go back an hour later.

Thanks to you guys I think I am learning something, I have had so many problems with getting and keeping healthy fish. I now actually have a 5 gallon qt tank set up and waiting.

This is what I did. They were swimming when I first saw them but I didn't observe them for long. When I went back I was studying them and noticed they were all on the bottom, breathing a bit hard. None of their fins were clamped. I asked the owner if I could feed them a bit and he said fine. None of them budged. I decided to wait to purchase them.

That was hard, I have really been wanting a pair and due to some reduction through illness in my tank, I now have space.

The LFS owner said he was going to add a deionizer to the tank and maybe an extra sponge.

He just got the fish in yesterday. If I go back tomorrow and they are swimming happily and eat would it be ok to by a pair and put them in my qt tank for a couple weeks?

Thanks!
 
They are probably stressed from shipping - let the LFS take the hit if they don't make it - be patient and wait a few weeks. Better to risk missing this round of fish that you want than to get stuck with fish that might be (or get)sick.
 
My understanding is that a LFS shouldn't be selling fish within a day of receiving them. My local LFS will not sell any fish until a number of days after arrival. It takes time to acclimate them and to observe for health issues.
 
Mishi.. I think you just have access to a really good LFS. Yes, a 'moral' buisness practice might be to wait and observe for disease, but precious few lfs's do this.

I'm curious what a deionizer is going to do for that tank.. maybe he meant a UV?

I think if they look good tomorrow, and especially if they eat for you, consider buying a pair. I usually wait a week to purchase anything but if its rare for your area, just give them a good once over and go for it. ;) Oh - were you ever able to figure out if the sick fish were dying from Mycobacteria? I was wondering if you were able to amend that situation or not.

>Sarah
 
I don't think that mishi's experience is EXTREMELY rare. I know that my lfs won't sell any fish until they have been in the store for at least 5 days or so. Being a begginer myself, I have become quite familiar with my lfs employees because I go in there so often and have so many questions. Since they are also familiar with me, they often will flat out tell me that they won't sell me fish because I don't have enough experience (i.e. blue rams).

I know everything is relative and subjective, but in my opinion, it's just really good business tactics and makes me feel like I am in good hands.

Well, I guess I just thought I'd chime in on that note, sorry this post was a little :OT:
 
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Sarah, I am actually thinking if was more probably an internal parasite although I can't discount Mycobacteria. I believe and internal parasite can cause similiar symptoms. It was weird that it only affected the swordfishes and not any of the other tank full of fish. I am going to cautiously add some more fish and see what happens. I did add and lose some tetras but they went really fast to a bacterial fungus probably brought in on the new fish. I didn't qt the new fish so should have known better. I plan to qt new fish from now on. I am being careful with our equipment, not to cross contaminate.
 
If you afraid of the fish selling, ask if they can hold some, they will probably hold a pair for you until you are sure you want them. It's good to wait.
 
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