If you purchased fish from a lfs' wouldn't they also get slammed with the parasites?

[hdsoftail1065]

I know it's a dumb question but if you only purchase fish and livestock from 2 or 3 local lfs's and your tank got hit with ich or velvet wouldn't the fish in their store show signs as well? Especially velvet, it seems like it would wipe them out as well. Or would it be hidden due to a larger filtration system? It doesn't make sense how someone can buy a fish at one, introduce it to their tanks and wham! But the lfs's fish look fine.

 

[Jake270]

High levels of copper in the fish systems, fish getting turned over rapidly, and dead and dying fish moved out of retail tanks quickly. And while most are run on one system some stores have several systems. Plus some fish take much longer to display symptoms than other fish. Just because you don’t see it doesn’t mean it’s not there. It’s unfortunate, I’ve tried to stick to a single source for all fish since using two stores in the past I wasn’t able to know where it came from. Not that it truly matters but I figure if I get healthy stock from one store and it remains consistent that so will my business with them.

 

[hdsoftail1065]

Makes perfect sense. I just had a mental picture of how fast some people loose all their fish in hours or days due to velvet, and figured you would easily be able to tell where it came from because of the stores empty tanks. Your right, you very seldom see a dead fish in the store and when you do they quicky get rid of it. Thanks for the response.

 

[HotRocks]

I know it's a dumb question but if you only purchase fish and livestock from 2 or 3 local lfs's and your tank got hit with ich or velvet wouldn't the fish in their store show signs as well? Especially velvet, it seems like it would wipe them out as well. Or would it be hidden due to a larger filtration system? It doesn't make sense how someone can buy a fish at one, introduce it to their tanks and wham! But the lfs's fish look fine.

It is most likely the LFS or online retailers are keeping the fish in sub-therapeutic low levels of copper (not all do).

Copper tends to make fish look not as vibrant (bad for sales). So it is possible they are keeping enough copper in tanks to keep the parasites supressed. More or less the fish seem fine, and eat well. Then when you put them into a non medicated environment, the parasites thrive again... You know the rest of the story.

This is why I am a major proponent of prophylactically treating my fish.
I like to treat for ich/velvet/flukes/internal parasites no matter what.

This can be done by 2 rounds of prazi, 30 days in CP or copper, and feeding metro/focus for 10-14 days.

I should also add, that I observe for at least 14 days after all treatments are finished to be sure nothing else is needed before transfering to DT

 

[melypr1985]

It is most likely the LFS or online retailers are keeping the fish in sub-therapeutic low levels of copper (not all do).

This is exactly why right here. Ask the employees if they are running copper, what kind and at what level. Ask them if they maintain that level consistently and which test kit they use to measure with. Reading through the copper sticky here (or just about any thread) will net you what you need to know to tell if the LFS employee is knowledgeable or just yanking your chain.

 

[Humblefish]

^^ Just to add, there are two ways of looking at a LFS that runs subtherapeutic copper in their system:

1. They started the QT process for you. Find out the brand/level of copper they are using, set your QT to match, raise it to full therapeutic, treat for 30 days, and finish the job they started.
2. If you think the fish looks good just because it is in subtherapeutic copper, understand this technique is designed to mask symptoms of parasites. If you decide to roll the dice & forgo QT, your LFS is doing you and you are doing yourself a great disservice!