At What Point Do You Ask For Help

[emmsy]

In the short time I have been on this forum, there is one thing that has become aparrent. People are asking for help far too late into the fish's condition. Then one of two things happen. Advice is given for a remedy, and the advice is either heeded, or ignored cos the aquarist thinks its too far gone anyway. I think there is a thing in peoples' minds that if they post the "Help my fish is in trouble" post too early, we are going to say " Oh mate, what are you talking about? that fish is fine!". So they wait until the condition looks bad enough to post on here, and then sometimes it is too late.
Then, when you mention the V word (Vet), people shudder at the cost of it, and are not willing to spend any money on the fish, because they have left the condition go too far.
As most of you will know by now, I am a practising Vet, and I will help anyone who asks for my help for sure, as will most people on here, but they are just words on a computer screen. To help your fish, you might have to go down the LFS and spend £20 on some meds, or got to the vet and spend £20 on meds, which some people are not willing to do cos they can't be bothered. When you decide to keep fish, it is the same commitment as buying a dog or a cat, and just because Fish are in plentiful supply, doesn't mean they should have less rights to treatment than a cat or dog.


Discuss and Debate......

 

[Miss Wiggle]

if i spot anything funny that i'm not sure about i ask on here straight away.

i'd rather risk ridicule than have the fish suffer unnecessarily (and also i don't think anyone on here would ridicule you for asking, even if it does turn out to be something normal i'd always rather someone asks the question than doesn't in case it is something abnormal). none of us know everything so can't be expected to neveer have to ask a question.

 

[emmsy]

well Miss Wiggle, that is the correct attitude to take, but why is it that so many people don't share your point of view. Some fish are really expensive, and are worth spending a bit of money on for healthcare

 

[bronzecat]

Hi
Before making a thread i tend to look through old ones to see if that gives me an answer

With regards to vets, from my experience there are very few that have the knowledge of tropicals to be able to help that much. I recently tried the vets about a problem with a fish, but he just gave the website name of an online fish vet.

I think its quite a specialised area?

 

[emmsy]

A VERY GOOD POINT! Bronzecat, vets do need to be trained more in fish!

 

[Miss Wiggle]

not even the expense of the fish really, it's a living creature, at what cost life ???

i guess some people are scared to ask, don't like to look a fool or admit they are wrong. more often than not i think people just don't spot problems or don't realise how serious they are until it's too late.

also we get a lot of people who dont regularly contribute to the forum but will sign up for help when they have a problem. no problem with this but i think a regular forum contributor would be more inclined to ask straight away than someone who has to go and find a forum set up an account etc before they can ask.

I'm lucky with my vet, he doesn't know much about fish but after a few chats about them he's happy that i am reasonably knowledgeable and providing i can find some proof (like a fish health book) to support what i say the problem is and what i need them to do they will go along with what i ask.

 

[Helen G]

Totally agree! A real fishkeeper observes his or her fish on a daily basis, so should be able to tell if their fish is acting weird. We are all guilty of being paranoid about our fish and think we will be ridiculed for asking for advice when probably 9 out of 10 times your initial instinct is in fact correct and something is wrong, but by the time you have figured it out it is too late.

IMHO I would seek the advice of a QUALIFIED professional as some people I have encountered on various forums that I am a member of can talk the talk or quote something off the internet, but are their sources any good??? More so when you are given conflicting advice which I have seen happen on many a thread.

To me a life is still a life....

(P.S sorry if this doesn't make sense, but the kids were pestering me!)

 

[emmsy]

Yeah, glad you mentioned that. Vets will generally prescribe meds if they think you are genuine about helping your fish, and proof of the advice on the forum or a text book, will generally get you the meds u want

Totally agree! A real fishkeeper observes his or her fish on a daily basis, so should be able to tell if their fish is acting weird. We are all guilty of being paranoid about our fish and think we will be ridiculed for asking for advice when probably 9 out of 10 times your initial instinct is in fact correct and something is wrong, but by the time you have figured it out it is too late.

IMHO I would seek the advice of a QUALIFIED professional as some people I have encountered on various forums that I am a member of can talk the talk or quote something off the internet, but are their sources any good??? More so when you are given conflicting advice which I have seen happen on many a thread.

To me a life is still a life....

(P.S sorry if this doesn't make sense, but the kids were pestering me!)

No it makes perfect sense. Alot of the mods on here know more than they let on as I recently found out too

 

[joecoral]

I have a friend in vet school (either third of fourth year, i forget) and they have had 1 single lecture over that entire time on fish. To be honest, you'd be much better off going to / calling a reputable and knowledgable LFS to ask for advice, as they deal with these problems on a daily basis, and re:qualifications, many LFS employees have OATA qualifications in fish health and husbandry. Why spend however much a consultation is at the vets to speak to someone who has not been taught nor probably doesnt even keep fish?
This is where internet forums like this one also come into their own, as you can utilize the vast, collective experience of hundreds of people with hundreds of years of experience between them

 

[emmsy]

I have a friend in vet school (either third of fourth year, i forget) and they have had 1 single lecture over that entire time on fish. To be honest, you'd be much better off going to / calling a reputable and knowledgable LFS to ask for advice, as they deal with these problems on a daily basis, so why spend however much a consultation is at the vets to speak to someone who has not been taught nor probably doesnt even keep fish?
This is where internet forums like this one also come into their own, as you can utilize the vast, collective experience of hundreds of people with hundreds of years of experience between them

6 days it should be in total, but I agree it is still too short. Okay, so you have this valuable resource on the net...this forum... so whay aren't people using it sooner?

 

[Helen G]

The fear of being ridiculed by total strangers, or their own stupid pig-headedness.

 

[PRW1988]

A VERY GOOD POINT! Bronzecat, vets do need to be trained more in fish!

Actually, it's not a vet that's to be blammed for their lack of knowledge in fish, most vet programs include small animals, cats and dogs. There are specific programs avaliable for fish, reptiles and birds as these are considered to be exotic pets.

Myself, if I have a sick animal and I am unable to identify the cause within about 4 hours I seek out help. During the 4hours however I'm franticly searching online and in my books to try to find a cause, a cure and a prevention method.

I agree with you that many people on here seem to ask for help after the disease has a full break out, I think that it's not their fault as most people, especially ones that are new to the aquarium hobby are too inexperienced to tell when a fish is becoming ill. Many people may think that just because a fish is lying on the bottom of the tank it's dead so they'll post saying things like "I think my fish is dying, what do I do?" when in actuallity the species of the fish is something like a clown loach or a larger agressive fish that just ate a very filling meal.

What I'm getting at is that generally, the people posting about their sick fish are inexperienced or lacking in the field of common or complex fish diseases. Not so much of the fear of being ridiculed, but because they don't know what to look for until it's too late.

 

[emmsy]

Once again, a true and valid point. I did an extra year to study fish/invert & exotics, but this doesn't make me an expert. I have my 2000 certificate. This means I have been trained in the treatment of 2000 species. Many vets are lucky to have their 500 certificate.
I also agree that it is a lack of experience.

Maybe we should create a checklist kind of thing where people can refer to (I think its called a pinned thingy wotsit) that lists the basic symptoms of a fish being unwell so they can notice the signs of illness quicker maybe?

 

[PRW1988]

Not a bad idea em, I'll start working on something like that tonight when I get home from work and I'll share the information with you, together we can help the inexperienced

Out of curiousity how long have you been in the aquarium hobby?

 

[emmsy]

Not a bad idea em, I'll start working on something like that tonight when I get home from work and I'll share the information with you, together we can help the inexperienced

Out of curiousity how long have you been in the aquarium hobby?

I have been keeping fish all my life and so have my parents