LFS woes

corrieberry

corrieberry

AC Members
Mar 8, 2009
288
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London
I've been watching my nearest LFS closely for the last few months (there's always SOME reason to go in every few weeks...) and have noticed a cycle in the goldfish tanks. They start out as in the pics which I took today. Slowly you go in and the numbers diminish steadily, until at the end of the cycle a few sickly specimens are floating around with dropsy, dead, fin-rot and all the disease that you'd expect after extended periods in these conditions. The tropical fish NEVER die off like this. Anybody know why? They are kept in just as crowded, if not worse conditions.

IMG00015-20090623-1700.jpg IMG00016-20090623-1700.jpg
 
Maybe increased waste accumulation from the goldfish? 50 neon tetras don't poop as much as 20 goldfish. I hate seeing them crammed in there like that though.
 
I've noticed the same thing at my local Walmart (which is the closest thing to a LFS I have). They have poor luck keeping anything alive for long, but the tropicals tend to cope much better. I'd agree that waste quantities have a lot to do with it. Failure to do what is necessary for maintenance is a lot of what remains.

(This same Walmart has had no fish at all for the past 3 weeks, and nothing in the coldwater section for about 2 months. All the tanks have been drained. It doesn't look like they have anyone who knows what they're doing.)
 
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I agree with waste. Goldfish are hugely messy whereas tropicals are pretty neat and clean comparitively.
 
The wholesaler that most LFS buy from buys from overseas breeders, where they are bred like crazy. Bad genetics to begin with, plus not much concern for the health of the fish at the breeders, so they usually pick up parasites, infections, all kinds of issues. The stress of the transport can cause them to start showing signs, and if you take 50 somewhat sick fish and toss them together into a small tank, it doesn't take long for the infections to take a toll.
 
It is very common for goldfish to get stuffed in small compartments particularly common goldfish, comets and shubs. By comparison, many people interpret goldfish can tolerate very poor water conditions just fine unlike the tropical groups as they have witnessed in those fishbowl fads, etc. They are also sold as feeders which gives another false impression that these fish are bullet proof by nature meaning they can survive literally even the worst water conditions. The ones often sold like that are usually culls but it's not surprising even near show quality ones are given the same conditions if people think even the prized ones can handle poor water conditions well. You also hear some people tell you "I do not care if the fish dies after a few days. They can be replaced since they are cheap." Stuff like that are one of my pet peeves.
 
I did think it was waste related, but the tropical side of the shop has at least twice as many tanks to the filter (they use a UV one) - there are two layers of coldwater on two walls and four layers of tropical on four walls.

It's not only pet owners who say that - I got really upset when Ory got trapped in the Python and my housemates were all like 'it's just a fish - get a new one if it dies'. Grrr.
 
The old saw about Goldfish being "dirty fish" is like most old saws only half true. They're dirty fish that need clean water to live in. A bad combo for people/places who neglect maintenance.
 
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