How to Pick Out New Fish

[Jay Hemdal]

In the fish disease forum, we get a lot of "customers" that picked up a new fish that arrived with problems - sometimes disease, other times poor handling, not eating, etc. There are some steps you can take to reduce these sorts of issues:

One of the best methods to determine whether fish are healthy enough to acquire is to inspect them yourself. Obviously, this precludes buying fish online, where you must solely rely on the shipper to select good quality fish for you.

For home aquarists, the first step is to visit your favorite local pet store and see what species they have in stock. Write down the names of any likely animals, and then leave without buying anything! Public aquarists rely on their Institutional Collection Plan (ICP) as a roadmap outlining what species are desirable for display at their facility.

The second step is vital; you need to research the species you are interested in buying, both for compatibility with the rest of your animals and to determine whether you will be able to meet their husbandry needs (see below).

Once you have developed a “short list” of species you are looking for, return to the store and inspect the available animals for any of the following points that should disqualify them as a potential acquisition:

● Signs of protozoan diseases such as Cryptocaryon (marine ich) on ANY fish in the same water system as the one you wish to acquire a fish from.
● Cloudy appearance to the fish’s skin or eyes.
● Major fin damage or missing scales.
● Rapid gill respiration rate (greater than 80 to 100 beats per minute)
● Abnormal thinness in the fish’s abdomen, or behind the eyes (the fish’s back).
● Lethargy, hanging near the surface, or excessive shyness.
● Anything that just doesn’t look right to you could be an issue. There are many more fish in the sea. Wait for a better-quality animal to come along!

If the fish passes muster to this point, ask the dealer to feed the fish a bit of food while you watch. Quality pet stores will accommodate your request. Those that won’t either know the fish won’t feed or simply don’t want to take the time for this simple request. The fish should actively feed on food items of the type you will be able to supply. Beware of a fish that seems to be feeding but spits most of the food back out; this can be a symptom of serious internal issues.

After that, a good quarantine process is important:

Current Quarantine Protocol

2024 Quarantine Procedures Jay Hemdal David Scarborough Protozoans (Cryptocaryon/ich, Amyloodinium/velvet) and Metazoan trematodes/flukes are by far the most common parasites found on newly acquired fish. A carefully managed, proactive quarantine process can effectively eliminate these...

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[mpatterson42]

Very useful! I'm curious if you have any opinions on buying fish from a LFS based on apparent age? I usually look for small/juvenile fish and will pass up fish that look larger than what I usually see in pet stores. I guess in my mind, the older they are the older they probably were when they were caught and the more likely they are to have some kind of disease/parasite but I don't have any real basis for this opinion.

Any idea how often fish death happens at LFS? I have several in my area, and two of them I have found dead fish in a tank and let the staff know, who will quickly remove the fish and take it to the back.

 

[Doctorgori]

Thank you for that, very complete and timely/needed

● Abnormal thinness in the fish’s abdomen, or behind the eyes (the fish’s back).

But if I might add I also look for signs of feeding behavior and if thats not possible I look for signs of recent nutrition especially around the belly and forehead (or same as abdomen & back?)
Edited

 

[KrisReef]

Very good list. Was going to suggest the same thing as @mpatterson42, looking for things that were previously alive and are now laying motionless on the bottom or stuck to an intake happens at all fish places, but if you see a lot of neglect that serves to make me want to pass on buying today and I try to come back in a little while and see if it is their norm or just an off day.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Very useful! I'm curious if you have any opinions on buying fish from a LFS based on apparent age? I usually look for small/juvenile fish and will pass up fish that look larger than what I usually see in pet stores. I guess in my mind, the older they are the older they probably were when they were caught and the more likely they are to have some kind of disease/parasite but I don't have any real basis for this opinion.

Any idea how often fish death happens at LFS? I have several in my area, and two of them I have found dead fish in a tank and let the staff know, who will quickly remove the fish and take it to the back.

I don't think that it is age that is the problem, but rather, the size of the fish. Larger fish ship REALLY poorly, because the shippers do not really understand that as the length of a fish increase linearly, their mass goes up exponentially. That means that they try to ship larger fish in too small of a bag, and that causes undue stress, which in turn causes higher mortality rates for them.

Fish losses at a LFS are expected. Better on them than on you! Dead or sick fish left in a LFS tanks is more a sign that they are not caring for their fish, and then, don't take the time to pull the dead ones. When I worked in retail stores, the big issue was pulling dead fish before any people saw them (grin)

 

[GARRIGA]

If it doesn't look healthy enough that I'd want to eat it then I leave it...

 

[LiquidSpace]

Would you ever buy a fish in a tank full of Chromis? I almost made this mistake yesterday, then a very obvious lightbulb went off.

 

[Tamberav]

My closest LFS is 2 hours

Oof..

I have resorted to buying captive bred direct from the facilities, diver direct fish, and pre quarantined fish.

It was definitely exciting and nice to go to a LFS and pick out a fish and pick through them to find the healthy ones. I do miss being able to do that and see what they got in.