Dead fish -handling the supplier?

[Jodie]

Hi All,

We lost another rainbow fish this morning to parasites. The parasites we have discovered were bought in by a bristle nosed catfish we purchased. He died within 24 hours and all the other fish are on their way. All their gills are bright red and inflamed

I am going down to the local Aquatics centre today to speak with them - what is your advice on how I handle this. I am furiuos really that they sold me a sick catfish which has started the whole problem and now consequently I am loosing my fish one by one.

I was planning to ask for replacement fish and ask them to quarantine them for me for a week, they are generally a very reputable dealer in our area. I do not have a quarantine tank so cannot do this unfortunately.

What treatment should I buy? I don't want to go in there and just ask for something I don't really know anything about

Please help!!!

 

[Dawney G]

I am just a newbie so i dont really know about the treatment. i would normally ask at the shops if i needed any advice. so sorry cant help you there, but if you are sure it was there problem i would do what you said you would do. Get them to quarantine one for you for a couple of weeks. I think its the lease they can do. Afterall they dont just owe you now for the one fish!!

 

[The-Wolf]

at the lfs I work in we offer a 48hr gaurentee on livestock.
to facilitate a replacement fish we ask for a sample of the water, so we can test it. if the water is ok we will replace the fish purchased, however we (and I doubt any lfs) do not replace fish lost as a cause of the "infected" fish.

my advise is stay calm at the shop and speak in a respectfull manner, you will more likely get somewhere than an angry/irate customer "spouting off"

 

[Snailguy101]

Id go to your lfs and get a refund and tell them what heppened

 

[pica_nuttalli]

i'm afraid that its mostly up to you to quarantine your fish. parasitic introductions is one of the reasons i try to never purchase fish that haven't been in the store for a minimum of two weeks (although even that isn't insurance.)

i've mentioned in a previous thread how i set up a quarantine tank with a bucket sometimes. let me go find that for you...

--EDIT--

a quarantine tank alternative:

• get an extra 5g bucket. you can store most 5 gallons in a stack; adding one only raises the height about 3"
  
• get an extra air pump and airstone
  
• get a refill filter insert for the smallest Whisper internal filter.
  
• put the Whisper filter media in with your other filter so it can already be colonized w/ bacteria
  
• the next time you need a hospital/quarantine, lug out the extra bucket and put in 3~4 gallons clean water
  
• take out the Whisper filter media and rinse it w/ tank water to get the gunk off
  
• open up the floss pouch and put the airstone inside it, all the way at the bottom.
  
• hook it up to the airpump and voila! you've got beneficial bacteria!
  
• when you don't need the airpump and airstone, just store it with your other fish stuff
  
• the filter media you can either rinse well w/ tap water then dry thoroughly, or you can just toss it
  

5g buckets are (i think) about 4 bucks in the home improvement section, airpumps are about 7 bucks, airline & an airstone will run you another 2~3 and the filter media are about $2.50 each, but can be bought in self-assemble packages of 4 for about 6 bucks. Per use: less than $20. and it looks very utiliatarian, "serious business" as opposed to "watery fun" (a plus in that you won't be tempted to turn it into a long-term arrangement )

 

[Karah's_Mommy]

Unfortunately, I think the most you can expect is replacement of the original catfish you purchased. It's our responsibility as fishkeepers to quarantine new fish, and when we don't, the resulting problems become our own.