breezer40
Fish Addict
Ok here's the story...
I trusted a lfs (I'm not getting into name calling) and was talked into buying some rather stunning wild caught Malawi Cichlids..29 in total. They looked great and for two weeks we would get up every morning exited to see our stunning fish and all the little things they got up to. Fairly soon..much too soon..the females were chewing eggs and everything was just dandy then it started to fall apart. The first problem was one female we had put in a tank on her own so the male would leave her alone to brood her eggs. After a few days we noticed velvet and dispite meds and acting immediatly she was dead within hours.
A few days later the rest of the fish developed whitespot which we treated and calm was restored (for a few days). On the 3rd week of having these fish we started to notice one of them sitting at the bottom and breathing heavily and by next day ...dead
This continued ..one by one they were just dropping. I decided to contact the LFS that had sold me these and was told the likely cause was stress and that I needed to buy some more fish to overcrowd the tank, turn the temp down to low 70's and take out any rocks so as agression was at a minimum. The LFS owner even took in half of the stock we purchased (him being the expert) to ensure his theory was right. For a whole week everything seemed to be going well and then a phone call revealed one of the fish he had taken care of was dead..he was actually quite proud that he had only one death in this period due to his experience..umm alarm bells ringing. This death cycle as now gone on for a few weeks and then the final straw happened.
I have or rather had a very large collection of Wild Zebra plecs L046 and last week was a very proud moment when for the first time my adult zebras spawned. Everyday I had been looking to see how things were going until Wed this week when I noticed something wrong. The velvet from the newly introduced malawis had been passed (and I hold my hands up here..I am responsible) to the Zebs. Within 12 hours all my Zebra plecs were gone
This strain of velvet is the most vicious I have ever come across.
Out of the 29 fish there are 11 alive as of today but they are all sick and have various infections and parasites that even if I did treat them it would be difficult to decide what to treat them for first. I have told the LFS manager I want to bring them back and to be honest I don't even care if he gives me any refund..just so long as they are out of my tanks!
Now here are the lessions I have learned:
1. Don't buy any Wild caught fish without finding out about how they have been imported and how long they have been quaranteened. Ask to see their Q'teen facilities and If they really have nothing to hide then this should not be a problem. We found out (after the event) that these fish had been caught from the lake, shipped that same day to the retailer who let us walk out of the store with them the very next day. I know for a fact that I would be fairly stressed myself at that!
2. Question everything...Don't assume that just because someone is running a store they know it all. There are lots of very good and knowlegable fish stores so don't get me wrong but there are also many that are not.
3. Try and find out information about the store..have they been trading long, how long have they been importing Wild stock, have they got a good reputation?
4. Don't rush into buying no matter how adorable the fish looks. Visit the shop several times and take a good look at all the fish for any signs of illness.
Most of these lessons are common sence but too often we let our hearts rule our head untill the day when its you telling this story
I trusted a lfs (I'm not getting into name calling) and was talked into buying some rather stunning wild caught Malawi Cichlids..29 in total. They looked great and for two weeks we would get up every morning exited to see our stunning fish and all the little things they got up to. Fairly soon..much too soon..the females were chewing eggs and everything was just dandy then it started to fall apart. The first problem was one female we had put in a tank on her own so the male would leave her alone to brood her eggs. After a few days we noticed velvet and dispite meds and acting immediatly she was dead within hours.
A few days later the rest of the fish developed whitespot which we treated and calm was restored (for a few days). On the 3rd week of having these fish we started to notice one of them sitting at the bottom and breathing heavily and by next day ...dead
This continued ..one by one they were just dropping. I decided to contact the LFS that had sold me these and was told the likely cause was stress and that I needed to buy some more fish to overcrowd the tank, turn the temp down to low 70's and take out any rocks so as agression was at a minimum. The LFS owner even took in half of the stock we purchased (him being the expert) to ensure his theory was right. For a whole week everything seemed to be going well and then a phone call revealed one of the fish he had taken care of was dead..he was actually quite proud that he had only one death in this period due to his experience..umm alarm bells ringing. This death cycle as now gone on for a few weeks and then the final straw happened.I have or rather had a very large collection of Wild Zebra plecs L046 and last week was a very proud moment when for the first time my adult zebras spawned. Everyday I had been looking to see how things were going until Wed this week when I noticed something wrong. The velvet from the newly introduced malawis had been passed (and I hold my hands up here..I am responsible) to the Zebs. Within 12 hours all my Zebra plecs were gone
This strain of velvet is the most vicious I have ever come across.Out of the 29 fish there are 11 alive as of today but they are all sick and have various infections and parasites that even if I did treat them it would be difficult to decide what to treat them for first. I have told the LFS manager I want to bring them back and to be honest I don't even care if he gives me any refund..just so long as they are out of my tanks!
Now here are the lessions I have learned:
1. Don't buy any Wild caught fish without finding out about how they have been imported and how long they have been quaranteened. Ask to see their Q'teen facilities and If they really have nothing to hide then this should not be a problem. We found out (after the event) that these fish had been caught from the lake, shipped that same day to the retailer who let us walk out of the store with them the very next day. I know for a fact that I would be fairly stressed myself at that!
2. Question everything...Don't assume that just because someone is running a store they know it all. There are lots of very good and knowlegable fish stores so don't get me wrong but there are also many that are not.
3. Try and find out information about the store..have they been trading long, how long have they been importing Wild stock, have they got a good reputation?
4. Don't rush into buying no matter how adorable the fish looks. Visit the shop several times and take a good look at all the fish for any signs of illness.
Most of these lessons are common sence but too often we let our hearts rule our head untill the day when its you telling this story
