I tested the fish shops water...

[Tttay89]

My friend bought some Ruby barbs today, whilst I was there I tested the bag water for pH and hardness,.. The hardness was 19dgh.. The pH was around 7.9...

Question.. Do shops use the same water for everyone to get a happy medium? From cichlids to tetras...
Are we being sold half dead fish!?

 

[Byron]

Some stores--and these will almost always be among the individually-owned fish stores as opposed to chain pet stores--will go so far as to separate hard water and soft water fish species. Many do not. I have very soft water where I live, and the individually owned stores do maintain a bank of tanks separate from the others, and in these they use calcareous substrate to keep fish like livebearers, rift lake cichlids, etc, in better health.

There is no "happy medium" if one has fish species with widely-varying requirements for water parameters. Soft water species develop internal problems leading to death because of the minerals (calcium and magnesium are primary) in moderately hard or harder water, such as blockage of the kidneys over time. And hard water species kept in soft water develop serious internal problems due to the lack of mineral entering their bloodstream and kidneys. These minerals must come from the water which they are continually assimilating through their cells.

However, most fish stores hope to sell their fish quickly. The longer they have them the more it costs to feed them, heat/light the tanks, water changes (yes, all good fish stores do major weekly water changes), etc, so it is more profitable to sell them as soon as possible. The fish with a few exceptions are able to manage/tolerate this for a short time. But once they are home in a permanent tank, if they still do not have suitable water the weakening that may have begun (or may not, depending) in the store will worsen and this causes stress at the least but usually other internal problems for the fish and it either contracts some secondary issue it should be able to fight off, or it simply dies sooner than the normal lifespan. Surviving is not the same as thriving.

 

[Tttay89]

I have found in our chain pet store, pets at home, fish do not last very long, I also see fish that look in extremely bad condition in store, I saw a tank with 2 gouramis lieing at the bottom and a rainbow shark floating at the top, my friends rams only lasted a few months from pets at home also and his water was pretty soft considering our tap water is hard, although he uses 75 percent RO. I have also yet to see any store use any substrate for any fish (apart from marine). And I live around 5 stores.

I know it just seemed very strange to have hard water in a barb tank, I know they wouldn't do it on purpose and it's all about profits but just seemed careless, at least use RO Water. these were from maidenhead. The Ruby barbs wernt even red and black, more yellow. (although I'm unsure if this is common)? They do have a few large tanks with large loaches, cichlids, barbs etc I suppose these are the ones with strong organs.

I also have some neon tetras in my daughters tank that are double the size of the stores I bought them from now :O

 

[Byron]

Fish in stores are usually fry or very young. Again, this is less cost to the store, and the supplier if commercially-raised, and that is understandable. Many stores have no substrate in tanks as they are easier to clean even if they are biologically risky for fish, not to mention the glass reflections which do cause stress to fish and cories can even pick up microscopic glass particles. I doubt most stores would go through the expense of RO. All of this does impact fish, depending upon the species, the duration, the preferences vs the local water, etc.

 

[Fishmanic]

My large LFS had an outbreak of ich in one of its tanks. They stopped selling fish in several tanks that were on the same filter system even though those tanks had no signs of ich. They are now treating those tanks. A sign of a good Fish Store.

I had driven several miles to that store to buy a dwarf gourami which I knew they had in stock but they wouldnt sell me one due to the ich situation even thought the gouramis looked healthy. I ended up going to a local Petsmart and they had several larger sized dwarf gourmis that looked very healthy. So far he seems to be doing great...he's vary active. Petsmart has a 30 day guarantee on their fish in my area. The LFS only offers a 1 day guarantee. If you bring one back on the second day, they only will give you a 50% refund.