Dead fishies in my local store

[Kryten]

My local pet shop has a really good range of fish

The Platies however always seem to have at least three dead fish in the tank, though no signs of fungus or fin rot

What I want to know is, is this reflective of the water quality in the tank, and should I not buy from this tank

 

[LesGerber]

I dont know how they set up display tanks in the UK but here in the USA they have them all hooked to one central filtration system. So if one tank has something then they all more than likely do. Its hard telling what has caused the fish to die.....could be a number of many things.....
I always make it a point to look at every tank in my LFS and look at all the fish to make sure they dont look sick and that they all seem active and happy. If there is one fish in the whole store that looks bad I do not buy just to be safe.
As far as water quality, that may be very possible, it may also be something the fish carried in when delivered. The LFS I buy my platys from has never had a dead one in the tank that I have seen. It is possible that the store has put the platys in with more agressive fish and they have been tortured to death.
I made the mistake long ago and bought fish from a store that had a bad case of ICH in some tanks and none in others.........we to say the least the fish I bought carried it in with them and I lost close to a hundred dollars in fish before it was all said and done so I am more selective now a days

HTH


Les

 

[Pufferpack]

I have to agree with Les, I tend to shy away from buying from any fs that consistantly has dead or sick fish in their tanks. I'm sure that every store has dead fish once in a while, but if they have dead fish every time you visit I would look elsewhere.

 

[CFC]

The ammount of dead fish a store has often depends on how long they have been in for,often when new stock arrives the fish are in a poor state from having just travelled thousands of miles from exporters in south east asia,the lfs then leave them for a day or so to see which ones perk up before removing any sick or dying ones (i have seen a tank that was full of "dead" neons transform into a tank of live neons with a few dead ones overnight),however these fish should not be on sale for at least a 5 days after arriving and should have a sign saying that they are new arrivals and are not for sale.

 

[Pufferpack]

Thanks CFC, I should have mentioned that as well. My favorite lfs does exactly that, they will not sell a fish for 1 to 2 weeks after it's arrival, but they will let you "reserve" some for purchase after their quarintine period. I have yet to buy an unhealthy fish from there.