Do pet stores carry such bad stock that you should quarantine?

[Rocky998]

You doubt they would be cared for properly? The whole point of rescue is to rehome with better owners with adoption requirements. Those fish would go home to better owners than stores that allow impulsive buying. With the rarer fish thing, that's like saying we should keep puppy mills around because purebred dogs are harder to find at shelters.

Well tbh I didn't come into the hobby to own a few guppies people didn't have time to look at their requirements.
Dogs are different and a bit more intelligent than fish. You can actually connect with them.

 

[SomethingsFishy24]

No matter the source or the species, all new inhabitants should go through a quarantine. The plus side to mammals is that many already have been through extensive health screening and vet care before you even own them. This doesn't mean you add them to a population all willy nilly. Fish, birds and reptiles as well as some large animal livestock, quarantine is the best medicine. Far easier to deal with a single Ill animal than a number of them, plus, far cheaper.

I have purchased fish from high end retailers as well as your pet big box stores, everyone gets quarantined. Have taken on some sickly fish when I was getting into tropicals (partly because at the time and where I lived stock choice was very limited). Sometimes the "new" fish species were the sickly ones. So I did it to be able to keep other species beyond the norm. To see them pull through was great and be able to enjoy them even better but I would not have been able to do it without first putting them in quarantine.

Getting different species from far better sources is much easier now, so I don't do pet box store rescues anymore. However, the fish I purchase still get quarantine time.

 

[Back in the fold]

Aloe vera is bad for fish? Guess I need to throw away my water conditioner then, it has that as an ingredient.

The thing about aloe vera as an additive in dechlorinator being bad was something new to me not that long ago. Supposedly it clogs up fishes gills but I used it for years with no bad effects. It is a natural additive and not chemical and the idea behind it makes sense to me and I doubt the manufacturer had ill intent. Don't throw away your water conditioner. Use it up and decide to either stick with it or buy something else when the time comes. One thing I do with dechlorinator is to use a bit less than what the directions say to. That stuff is expensive and I try to make it last. Guess how many of my fish died from aloe vera .
None.

 

[Rocky998]

The thing about aloe vera as an additive in dechlorinator being bad was something new to me not that long ago. Supposedly it clogs up fishes gills but I used it for years with no bad effects. It is a natural additive and not chemical and the idea behind it makes sense to me and I doubt the manufacturer had ill intent. Don't throw away your water conditioner. Use it up and decide to either stick with it or buy something else when the time comes. One thing I do with dechlorinator is to use a bit less than what the directions say to. That stuff is expensive and I try to make it last. Guess how many of my fish died from aloe vera .
None.

I've heard good things and bad things but I'd rather be safe than sorry...

 

[VioletThePurple]

Well, tbh I didn't come into the hobby to own a few guppies people didn't have time to look at their requirements.
Dogs are different and a bit more intelligent than fish. You can actually connect with them.

Now you're just undermining fish. Fish can be smart and do smart things. Like follow your finger, go through hoops, and jump for food. You connect with fish differently than dogs, but that doesn't mean there's nothing there.

 

[Rocky998]

Now you're just undermining fish. Fish can be smart and do smart things. Like follow your finger, go through hoops, and jump for food. You connect with fish differently than dogs, but that doesn't mean there's nothing there.

There is always something there. A connection. But to me I've never been as attached to a fish as I have a dog... I REALLY love my fish don't get me wrong but I love my dog 100000000000× more than any fish in the world

 

[VioletThePurple]

The thing about aloe vera as an additive in dechlorinator being bad was something new to me not that long ago. Supposedly it clogs up fishes' gills, but I used it for years with no bad effects. It is a natural additive and not chemical and the idea behind it makes sense to me and I doubt the manufacturer had ill intent. Don't throw away your water conditioner. Use it up and decide to either stick with it or buy something else when the time comes. One thing I do with dechlorinator is to use a bit less than what the directions say to. That stuff is expensive, and I try to make it last. Guess how many of my fish died from aloe vera.
None.

I do have another bottle that doesn't have aloe vera, I thought I would use up my current one first. Good for you that you've seen no effects, but don't doubt the manufacture's intents. There're bad fish products on the market for sure.

 

[VioletThePurple]

No matter the source or the species, all new inhabitants should go through a quarantine. The plus side to mammals is that many already have been through extensive health screening and vet care before you even own them. This doesn't mean you add them to a population all willy nilly. Fish, birds and reptiles as well as some large animal livestock, quarantine is the best medicine. Far easier to deal with a single Ill animal than a number of them, plus, far cheaper.

I have purchased fish from high end retailers as well as your pet big box stores, everyone gets quarantined. Have taken on some sickly fish when I was getting into tropicals (partly because at the time and where I lived stock choice was very limited). Sometimes the "new" fish species were the sickly ones. So, I did it to be able to keep other species beyond the norm. To see them pull through was great and be able to enjoy them even better but I would not have been able to do it without first putting them in quarantine.

Getting different species from far better sources is much easier now, so I don't do pet box store rescues anymore. However, the fish I purchase still get quarantine time.

What I mean is that quarantine shouldn't be a necessary precaution. The fact that it is means that something is wrong down the line. You mentioned they've probably already seen a vet, meaning they shouldn't be sick, and they shouldn't sell sick fish.

 

[itiwhetu]

I never quarantine fish. I never buy sick fish. You need to be very particular about how and which fish you purchase.

 

[Byron]

What I mean is that quarantine shouldn't be a necessary precaution. The fact that it is means that something is wrong down the line. You mentioned they've probably already seen a vet, meaning they shouldn't be sick, and they shouldn't sell sick fish.

Given the nature of fish this is an impossibility. In order for a biologist to determine what diseases may be present in fish showing no external symptoms, the fish needs to be euthanized. You can't take blood samples, skin tissue, etc from live fish for analysis. Buy wild caught fish and QT them. I acquired fish for 20 years with no QT and never to my knowledge encountered any disease. Ich appeared a couple times, but that was due to the severe stress and easily cured. I began to QT after my experiences from pet chain stores. Buy healthy fish.

 

[SomethingsFishy24]

What I mean is that quarantine shouldn't be a necessary precaution. The fact that it is means that something is wrong down the line. You mentioned they've probably already seen a vet, meaning they shouldn't be sick, and they shouldn't sell sick fish.

Mammals usually are vetted, not fish. Even well vetted animals should be under quarantine conditions, length of time depends on species and the varied pathogens each can carry. Nothing in this world is 100% and I stand by my statement that no matter the species, or where it is gotten from, if it is being added to a preexisting population, Quarantine it.

 

[JuiceBox52]

Mammals usually are vetted, not fish. Even well vetted animals should be under quarantine conditions, length of time depends on species and the varied pathogens each can carry. Nothing in this world is 100% and I stand by my statement that no matter the species, or where it is gotten from, if it is being added to a preexisting population, Quarantine it.

Zoos quarantine and so do aquariums and large cattle ranches. Some horse barns even quarantine new horses they are boarding. Just common practice

 

[Alice B]

Then they need to stop supporting bad breeding practices.

The trouble is everyone has to make a living. Fish don't sell for what they should sell for if properly quarantined. Then again I've bought overpriced fish that were DEFINITELY neither quarantined or treated from a pet store with separate tanks that make that possible. Smartest thing to do - is what I do - set up a quarantine tank and buy from the best fish store even if twice as expensive as the big box stores. It's worth it, you spend more in meds and fail half the time trying to treat others failures.

 

[Alice B]

I use Fritz Professional Chlorine/Chloramine remover. It doesn't make any heavy metal claims but I can overdose it and I have yet to harm a fish doing so, in about 30 years.

 

[itiwhetu]

Mammals usually are vetted, not fish. Even well vetted animals should be under quarantine conditions, length of time depends on species and the varied pathogens each can carry. Nothing in this world is 100% and I stand by my statement that no matter the species, or where it is gotten from, if it is being added to a preexisting population, Quarantine it.

So you would quarantine a cat being brought in from another state? Where would you do that? You suggest you would quarantine a cow or sheep as well, where would you do that?