Very Angry At "award Winning" Lfs

[maximinimus]

When I bought my new heater yesterday I saw that my LFS also had some panda corys in (they are the first ones I've seen round here for nearly 3 months). They weren't cheap, but I just had to have some for my 40l nano.

Fast forward 24 hours, the lights come on in my betta tank, my betta has around 12 little white spots on him. As soon as I saw it I rushed out to get some WS3, the nearest shop that stocks it is over 10 miles away and closes at 5:30pm, so I'm glad I'm off work for the next few days.

Now I've never had a case of whitespot in my tanks as all the decent LFS round here quarantine their fish before placing them on sale, but I have seen enough pictures of it to know what whitespot looks like.

The shop closes on a wednesday, but first thing tomorrow I'll be phoning them to ask if they have quarantined their panda corys and if not to inform them they have whitespot (if they aren't already dead).

I'm speculating, but I would say they didn't quarantine the panda corys because they are the only shop in the area with them.

I've now got full strength WS3 in the tank, increased the temperature to 30*C and increased surface agitation.

I just feel sorry for the betta, not only is he ill but I had to destroy a beautiful bubble nest to reposition the filter.

 

[minxfishy]

Hope you get it sorted mate

 

[maximinimus]

Thanks, I just needed to vent some steam. Normally they are excellent at that shop, make sure all their fish are quarantined before they are put on sale etc. If there is the slightest hint of trouble they take a whole tank off sale.

I just hope that WS3 is as good as everyone says it is

 

[Mikaila31]

As long as you act fast white spot should not be a big problem. Every fish keeper has to deal with it at some point.

 

[black angel]

in a word, quarantine..

some do, some dont.

those that do usually catch any problems before it gets to the main tank. those that dont...well...you run the risk, no matter how good the shop is.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

it's worth noting that panda's are pretty delicate as cories go, it wouldn't be all that surprising for them to develop white spot just from the stress of moving regardless of weather the shop quarantined them or not. a lot of people have acclimitisation probs with panda's

 

[tyyrlym]

Yeah. I bought four pandas over the weekend, I lost two. Water parameters are spot on, pH identical to the shop's, the first three pandas in the tank are doing great but two of the new guys just up and died and I have no idea why.

 

[OohFeeshy]

It's not their fault, what's stopping you putting new fish in quarentine? Even if they had been at the shop there's no guarentee that the fish would be ich-free- although the 'ich is present in every tank' myth isn't true, it can be applied to a degree, and stressful situations (e.g, moving) can give the parasite a chance to multiply.

 

[shelaghfishface]

ouch!! i have learned my lesson the hard way im afraid, i got flukes and it almost wiped out my tank, so if i buy anything from my lfs,( which i dont anymore but for other reasons) i have always Qt`d, and i would also rec that people do it with plants too

shelagh xxx

 

[aaronnorth]

did you check if the fish had ich in the first place? If not it is not entirely the fish shops fault.

and i would also rec that people do it with plants too

i just give mine a rinse, they are usually dipped in a copper solution before they reach the fish shop.

 

[shelaghfishface]

i just give mine a rinse, they are usually dipped in a copper solution before they reach the fish shop.

sorry aaron ,i was more referring to plants from other people/internet etc, but thanx for that info

 

[aaronnorth]

oh right then yes it is a good idea

 

[OldMan47]

Must disagree with you MW. White spot, ich, is a parasite. It is not caused by stress nor by having weak fish. It is caused by having the parasite present when there are fish present who can contract it. Most of my tanks are free of it. One I am not certain about because the fish have been in there less than a week and I haven't given it time to be noticed yet, that's quarantine time. A properly quarantined fish put into a disease free tank will never develop ich no matter how much stress it sees. I know you are quite a knowledgeable hobbyist but this myth of ich existing everywhere just waiting on a weak fish is pure unadulterated bunk.

Edit: Fixed spelling

 

[Miss Wiggle]

Must disagree with you MW. White spot, ich, is a parasite. It is not caused by stress nor by having weak fish. It is caused by having the parasite present when there are fish present who can contract it. Most of my tanks are free of it. One I am not ceratin about because the fish have been in there less than a week and I haven't given it time to be noticed yet, that's quarantine time. A properly quarantined fish put into a disease free tank will never develop ich no matter how much stress it sees. I know you are quite a knowledgeable hobbyist but this myth of ich existing everywhere just waiting on a weak fish is pure unadulterated bunk.

i wouldn't call myself knowledgeable, but i'm always willing to learn more.

disease's isn't my forte (perhaps i've been lucky, i've not actually had to contend with many incidences) but it is pretty well known that panda's are quite tricky to acclimitise so I would believe that the stress would be enough to bring on some illness, things like fin rot often crop up when fish are stressed out and i've heard of a lot of things like this in panda's just after a move or some other similar stress.

i've seen a lot of people say they've had fish which have previously been healthy and gone through some sot of stress/trauma and then pick up ich when there's been no new additions to the tank or anything like that which could bring it in.

just anecdotal but it's lead me to believe fish are either more susceptible to contracting it when stressed or that it can develop under stressful conditions.

if you've some evidence to say otherwise i'd be happy to see it.

 

[shibby]

i was always lead to believe that the whitespot parasite is always around, and if the fish is happy and healthy it wont do much, but when in poor conditions or under stress the parasite will take over and weaken the immune system usually leading to the fishes death.

though if mw isnt good with diseases then im even worse especially with freshwater diseases!