Frustrating advice for newcomers to the fish world

[coriesinhawaii]

I got my first fish when I was 9 or 10 years old. It was a scraggy little goldfish that my dad won at the fair. We put it into a goldfish bowl (yes that is what the box said in the early 70's..so who were we to argue). Water straight from the tap, no substrate, no filter...just one scraggy little sausage in a bowl.

That fish lived for almost 20 years. Grew a tad quickly so dad and I got it bigger homes at a regular basis. In the end dad gave in with my pleading and dug a pond in the garden. That scraggy little thing of no more than a couple of inches lived to old age and close to 2ft long without any fancy pantsy filters or water treatments etc.

Sometimes I wish things could return to that simple way of fishkeeping....but then the multibillion fish additive industry would go bust.

I am old school. My fish have no water treatments, basic filtration, no heating in the summer months (the filter's powerhead manages to warm the water perfectly well on its own)

I think there is too much dependence on additives and medications and those who are new to the game of keeping fish thesedays are literally blinded by science and the person at the till in the shop.

There is absolutely no need to throw the entire chemist shop at your fish at the slightest sneeze.

Clean, fresh water is natures best medicine.

The most frustrating thing I have seen happen to newbies to the game are that they are recommended certain fish...like Betta...told how easy peasy they are when they are so genetically messed up they are prone to all sorts of illness and disease that the Betta I had 40+ years ago came in two colours red or blue and lived to a ripe old age without so much as a sniffle.

I understand the frustrations of newbies who feel attacked when they buy their first fish and everything goes pearshaped. We have to remember that 90% of these lovely people have only done what they were told to do at the shop. We as "experienced" fishy keepers know the differences and how to treat most ailments, much of what we know has come from trial and error and bad advice.

Fishkeeping is NOT easy. It can be hard graft, it can be expensive and when things go wrong it can be devastating. But at the same time it can also be one of the most rewarding pastimes you will ever experience.

So on the frustration side of things, I hate it when someone new to the game has done as they were told at the shop both in species type, aquarium size and care and its all gone horribly wrong, they come to forums like this and ask for help only to be shot down in flames and made to feel like they are the world's worst fishkeeper.

We were all first timers once, we have all made errors....back when I had that scraggy little goldfish, life was simple. It isn't anymore, its a minefield filled with good intentions, bad advice, inbred/overbred fish that die too soon and too easily and chemicals.

That, to me at least, is not just frustrating...its sad.

Agree

Am I correct in assuming it’s a double-edged sword? That there’s many more species available now at the LFS than there were decades ago but the fish are often more sickly due to poor breeding practices and the stress of shipping halfway across the world?

 

[Gavin MaGrath]

Actually, the opposite is true. In the eighties and nineties there were many MORE species available.
Of course where I lived there where world renound ichthyoligists such as Dr Joanna Norton, Dr James Langhamner, aquarists such as Bill Gillies and many more. If not for Dr.Langhamner several species would now be extinct in the hobby. The Cerebus Halfbeak being one of them. I was working with him at the time that he was reintroducing them into the hobby. There were so many more species of Cory's available and other catfish species. Can you purchase a Nile Perch anymore at your LFS? Im not sure that it would be easy.
I recommend that people listen to those whose preceded them. The best way is to read the books and articles from the last 7 or so decades.
I.mentioned Dr. Langhammer specifically as I personally knew him and spent a lot of time in his fish room when I was about 22 yrs old and learned so much.
You can Google him and read his papers. Hellas one on the leading experts on livebearers in the world. He even developed a species of Goodeid which appeared on the cover of Tropical Fish Hobbyist in the late 80's.
I want to add one thing that has changed and definitely needs chemicals. That is water. In most areas you could use straight tap water. Fish adapt to low chlorine water. Now, not only is it higher but Chloramines are deadly. Therefore use a dechlorinator that eliminates Chloramines is absolutely essential.
I made one mistake. I was sick and added dechlorinator to all my tanks but 1 in error. There was a Betta in there. It died within 30 min of the water change. I can't believe anyone drinks this stuff!

 

[itiwhetu]

Actually, the opposite is true. In the eighties and nineties there were many MORE species available.
Of course where I lived there where world renound ichthyoligists such as Dr Joanna Norton, Dr James Langhamner, aquarists such as Bill Gillies and many more. If not for Dr.Langhamner several species would now be extinct in the hobby. The Cerebus Halfbeak being one of them. I was working with him at the time that he was reintroducing them into the hobby. There were so many more species of Cory's available and other catfish species. Can you purchase a Nile Perch anymore at your LFS? Im not sure that it would be easy.
I recommend that people listen to those whose preceded them. The best way is to read the books and articles from the last 7 or so decades.
I.mentioned Dr. Langhammer specifically as I personally knew him and spent a lot of time in his fish room when I was about 22 yrs old and learned so much.
You can Google him and read his papers. Hellas one on the leading experts on livebearers in the world. He even developed a species of Goodeid which appeared on the cover of Tropical Fish Hobbyist in the late 80's.
I want to add one thing that has changed and definitely needs chemicals. That is water. In most areas you could use straight tap water. Fish adapt to low chlorine water. Now, not only is it higher but Chloramines are deadly. Therefore use a dechlorinator that eliminates Chloramines is absolutely essential.
I made one mistake. I was sick and added dechlorinator to all my tanks but 1 in error. There was a Betta in there. It died within 30 min of the water change. I can't believe anyone drinks this stuff!

Our water supply has Chlorine in it and I have always done 25% water changes on heavily planted, acid tanks and never used a Dechlorinator I have also done the same on my well established cichlid tanks. Because I have no experience with with Chloramines and I'm interested, do you know is there any level of water change that can be done with chloramine in the supply but not using a Dechlorinator that the fish can tolerate. My brain tells me that in an acid system there should be.

 

[coriesinhawaii]

Actually, the opposite is true. In the eighties and nineties there were many MORE species available.
Of course where I lived there where world renound ichthyoligists such as Dr Joanna Norton, Dr James Langhamner, aquarists such as Bill Gillies and many more. If not for Dr.Langhamner several species would now be extinct in the hobby. The Cerebus Halfbeak being one of them. I was working with him at the time that he was reintroducing them into the hobby. There were so many more species of Cory's available and other catfish species. Can you purchase a Nile Perch anymore at your LFS? Im not sure that it would be easy.
I recommend that people listen to those whose preceded them. The best way is to read the books and articles from the last 7 or so decades.
I.mentioned Dr. Langhammer specifically as I personally knew him and spent a lot of time in his fish room when I was about 22 yrs old and learned so much.
You can Google him and read his papers. Hellas one on the leading experts on livebearers in the world. He even developed a species of Goodeid which appeared on the cover of Tropical Fish Hobbyist in the late 80's.
I want to add one thing that has changed and definitely needs chemicals. That is water. In most areas you could use straight tap water. Fish adapt to low chlorine water. Now, not only is it higher but Chloramines are deadly. Therefore use a dechlorinator that eliminates Chloramines is absolutely essential.
I made one mistake. I was sick and added dechlorinator to all my tanks but 1 in error. There was a Betta in there. It died within 30 min of the water change. I can't believe anyone drinks this stuff!

Wow I didn’t realize that. Thought there would be more selection now.

 

[Deleted member 149562]

In the 1970's the choice of fish was pretty basic...Betta came in either red or blue and were, by today's standards, extremely hardy which reflected in their high cost. The other more exotic fish like Gourami, which back then were still very rare in fishkeeping used to cost a fortune.

The 1980's and 1990's the genepool messing went nuts. There was an explosion of fish that used to be ultra rare, only the very rich could afford in the 1970's that were now becoming more mainstream and affordable.

Imho the 1980's and 1990's were the death knell for normally bred, hardy fish. I suspect some of the misery was brought about by those who thought shellsuits were the best thing since sliced bread and wanted their fish to match.

I wish the days when fish were more basic, more hardy, less disease prone were back and that the flashy exotics could only be bought by the wealthier fishkeepers. Reason being is that so many new fishkeepers are drawn to those flashy exotics and are led to believe by pet stores that they are easy peasy fish to have...when most of them are not easy peasy.

Case in point...the humble Otto and my neighbour.

I had a neighbour who enjoyed watching my fish and decided to go get an aquarium of their own. They went to the local Maidenhead, bought their aquarium and kit, didn't realise what the cycle entailed and within days of setting up that aquarium they went back to get some fish and bought Otto's. Then within days those same Otto's start suffering and dying, and the neighbour had no idea why cos they did exactly as they were advised by the person at the till in the shop. I explained to this utterly devastated neighbour that Otto's need a fully cycled aquarium that has been running a minimum of 6-8 months with a good supply of aufwuchs....generally I have lost them in a cloud of "eh? whats that" at the cycled part. So I then spent the best part of a year teaching them how to set the aquarium up, monitoring their cycle, showing them how to maintain the aquarium and then went to the shop to choose appropriate fish for that aquarium and the water conditions. When I went to the shop and saw the conditions of the aquariums, it frankly made me angry. My neighbour was looking at all those pretty fish and pointing to the ones they liked and I had to stop them and explain that the fish was unsuitable due to size or whatever. Shop person came along, tried to sell my neighbour two...yes TWO....male Betta. My neighbour was delighted at that idea "oh aren't they gorgeous colours". I had to shoot my neighbour down in flames and educate the shop person that two males in one aquarium.....no...you really do not want to do that. This shop person was the same one who sold my neighbour Otto's and who had sold the aquarium and kit days before. Long and the short of it, my neighbour now has a beautiful aquarium, with appropriate fish, is taking great care of everything very well. The shop person, I hope learnt something useful.

This is what we as "experienced" fishkeepers are up against and what is fast becoming the normal experience of a new fishkeeper. I completely understand why so many of the big chainstores have halted the sale of livestock and I congratulate their use of common sense.

Leave fish & shrimp sales to those who actually know what they are doing and who can advise properly. I buy my livestock from an online supplier who I know is reputable and I have never had a DOA or fish death through disease or injury from that supplier. I have had a bad experience from an online supplier...they sent out fish that were undersize and far too young and they all either died in transit or shortly after arriving and I reported them to their local council animal welfare dept.

Advice I give to new potential fishkeepers....

If buying fish or shrimp from a shop or online....ALWAYS ask to see their most recent husbandry inspection report and licence that is issued by the local authority. Ask for date stamped photo's of the fish and the supplier's facility (if buying online), IGNORE online reviews since they can be done by the supplier themselves to make things look good.

When you go into a shop to buy livestock, they should by law, have their most recent husbandry inspection report AND their licence to trade in animals in plain view...usually on the wall behind the service tills. If you cannot see them displayed, ask to see them. Husbandry inspections are done every 6 months so its easy to see if they have been inspected recently or not.

Whether the supplier is a shop or online and they "can't find", do not have or refuse to show their legal paperwork....leave, do NOT buy anything and contact their local authority.

Regardless as to whether you buy online or in person make sure that whoever the supplier is has at least 10 day plus DOA policy in writing. Anything less than 10 days, walk away cos it takes at least 7 days for a new fish to acclimatise to its new home and too many suppliers blame your aquarium and your water conditions for the loss of fish and refuse to refund or replace, when in all likelihood the fault is with the way the fish were kept and shipped by the supplier.

 

[Guest14017]

I honestly see some of the longtime/respected keepers here often giving plainly BAD advice and it is often overlooked. Either they give advice on species of fish they aren't familiar enough with... or they simply offer up useless or already attempted solutions. Then when fish keep dying or things do not improve, they say... "Well you tried, next time do THIS THIS AND THIS and your outcome may be better." Had you recommended a treatment plan that WORKED, maybe their fish would not have all died. I usually keep quiet because I am not a true regular here and I have seen what happens when one challenges an "ambassador ". But sometimes I just SMH.

 

[Deleted member 149562]

I honestly see some of the longtime/respected keepers here often giving plainly BAD advice and it is often overlooked. Either they give advice on species of fish they aren't familiar enough with... or they simply offer up useless or already attempted solutions. Then when fish keep dying or things do not improve, they say... "Well you tried, next time do THIS THIS AND THIS and your outcome may be better." Had you recommended a treatment plan that WORKED, maybe their fish would not have all died. I usually keep quiet because I am not a true regular here and I have seen what happens when one challenges an "ambassador ". But sometimes I just SMH.

I agree to an extent with what you are saying...however I still believe that the use of medications as the first port of call is not always the correct route to take.

I have zero medications or additives whatsoever. The use of medications should be done under advisement of a qualified vet tech or vet only, not the person working as a salesperson in the pet store who is earning a commision on every bottle they sell.

It makes me cringe when I read how well intentioned owners bombard their fish with the medicine cabinet on the advice of the person they saw at the shop who recommended this or that.

Medications incorrectly chosen will kill a fish far faster than the illness or disease if administered by an owner given poor advice on a fish with guesswork diagnoses or a "maybe" diagnoses.

It is critical that medications and aditives are correctly administered and administered for the right reasons otherwise they do more harm than good.

To me it is simply terrifying how much horrible advice is given in the shops to a worried fishkeeper and what is more frightening is that stores that sell any livestock, not just aquatic, generally do not require their staff to be qualified. A teenager can leave school with basic academic qualifications, get a job in a pet store and start selling animals and medications and additives and advising owners on illnesses and diseases without any training or qualification to do so.

That, to me, is insanity. Is it any wonder sites like this get inundated with distressed owners who follow shop advice and still lose their fish....then get attacked and made to feel like really really bad people by seasoned/experienced fishkeepers?

Every other industry is heavily regulated....why are pet stores...especially aquatics...so slapdash?

Some might say "Well its ONLY a fish"...being a fish still makes it a living creature and we humans are still that fish's voice and guardian.

All we do is pick up the pieces and try to help salvage aquariums for ill informed, disillusioned, angry, distressed owners who followed the advice of that person in the shop who they assumed knew what they were talking about.

These awesome fish deserve better and people wishing to get into fishkeeping deserve better.

 

[VeryFatbloke]

You mean something like this, which was posted a week after I posted about my poorly betta. Sadly, despite my efforts he passed away and the message below was posted after I'd posted that he'd passed away. Yes, maybe he shouldn't have been in a community tank, but that's another argument. In an effort to save him I spent over £100 on a new tank and equipment, the tank being set up urgently was obviously uncycled although I did add some filter media from the community tank to help. When I saw this I was pretty angry and told the poster so. Unsurprisingly, there has been no response.

He cannot be well in a community tank !!
Betta is a solitary/hermit fish that has nothing to do in a huge tank like yours.
The only way to save him is to dedicate him a cycled 30 litres tank, heavily planted, dimly lit, looow current,with no mate. Or maybe some shrimps. That is all.
Parameters will be :
pH 6-7
GH-KH below 8
ammonia/nitrite/nitrate = zero
Food will be high protein (50%) pellets + live or frozen food.

Apologies for dragging this slightly off topic.

Not quite sure what happened here, I tried to edit but I seems I quoted my own earlier post, very odd.

 

[Guest14017]

@wasmewasntit I have never advocated for the use of meds as frontline defense against fish disease. Frankly - it is rare that medications help when used as frontline because those who do that do not even generally know how to administer them correctly. Without clean water and the meds dosed properly, they will not help even if they ARE the best course of action.. There are so many factors in dealing with fish. You have to analyze everything before making a choice but you still need to make choices quickly as sick fish often have a small window before they die. It can be hard to find the balance and sometimes nothing can be done regardless.

@VeryFatbloke That was a case of a user not bothering to read the thread before they replied. I see that a lot here as well. Before replying, you should at least take the time to read the thread.

 

[FF_Member146894]

In the 1970's the choice of fish was pretty basic...Betta came in either red or blue and were, by today's standards, extremely hardy which reflected in their high cost. The other more exotic fish like Gourami, which back then were still very rare in fishkeeping used to cost a fortune.

The 1980's and 1990's the genepool messing went nuts. There was an explosion of fish that used to be ultra rare, only the very rich could afford in the 1970's that were now becoming more mainstream and affordable.

Imho the 1980's and 1990's were the death knell for normally bred, hardy fish. I suspect some of the misery was brought about by those who thought shellsuits were the best thing since sliced bread and wanted their fish to match.

I wish the days when fish were more basic, more hardy, less disease prone were back and that the flashy exotics could only be bought by the wealthier fishkeepers. Reason being is that so many new fishkeepers are drawn to those flashy exotics and are led to believe by pet stores that they are easy peasy fish to have...when most of them are not easy peasy.

Case in point...the humble Otto and my neighbour.

I had a neighbour who enjoyed watching my fish and decided to go get an aquarium of their own. They went to the local Maidenhead, bought their aquarium and kit, didn't realise what the cycle entailed and within days of setting up that aquarium they went back to get some fish and bought Otto's. Then within days those same Otto's start suffering and dying, and the neighbour had no idea why cos they did exactly as they were advised by the person at the till in the shop. I explained to this utterly devastated neighbour that Otto's need a fully cycled aquarium that has been running a minimum of 6-8 months with a good supply of aufwuchs....generally I have lost them in a cloud of "eh? whats that" at the cycled part. So I then spent the best part of a year teaching them how to set the aquarium up, monitoring their cycle, showing them how to maintain the aquarium and then went to the shop to choose appropriate fish for that aquarium and the water conditions. When I went to the shop and saw the conditions of the aquariums, it frankly made me angry. My neighbour was looking at all those pretty fish and pointing to the ones they liked and I had to stop them and explain that the fish was unsuitable due to size or whatever. Shop person came along, tried to sell my neighbour two...yes TWO....male Betta. My neighbour was delighted at that idea "oh aren't they gorgeous colours". I had to shoot my neighbour down in flames and educate the shop person that two males in one aquarium.....no...you really do not want to do that. This shop person was the same one who sold my neighbour Otto's and who had sold the aquarium and kit days before. Long and the short of it, my neighbour now has a beautiful aquarium, with appropriate fish, is taking great care of everything very well. The shop person, I hope learnt something useful.

This is what we as "experienced" fishkeepers are up against and what is fast becoming the normal experience of a new fishkeeper. I completely understand why so many of the big chainstores have halted the sale of livestock and I congratulate their use of common sense.

Leave fish & shrimp sales to those who actually know what they are doing and who can advise properly. I buy my livestock from an online supplier who I know is reputable and I have never had a DOA or fish death through disease or injury from that supplier. I have had a bad experience from an online supplier...they sent out fish that were undersize and far too young and they all either died in transit or shortly after arriving and I reported them to their local council animal welfare dept.

Advice I give to new potential fishkeepers....

If buying fish or shrimp from a shop or online....ALWAYS ask to see their most recent husbandry inspection report and licence that is issued by the local authority. Ask for date stamped photo's of the fish and the supplier's facility (if buying online), IGNORE online reviews since they can be done by the supplier themselves to make things look good.

When you go into a shop to buy livestock, they should by law, have their most recent husbandry inspection report AND their licence to trade in animals in plain view...usually on the wall behind the service tills. If you cannot see them displayed, ask to see them. Husbandry inspections are done every 6 months so its easy to see if they have been inspected recently or not.

Whether the supplier is a shop or online and they "can't find", do not have or refuse to show their legal paperwork....leave, do NOT buy anything and contact their local authority.

Regardless as to whether you buy online or in person make sure that whoever the supplier is has at least 10 day plus DOA policy in writing. Anything less than 10 days, walk away cos it takes at least 7 days for a new fish to acclimatise to its new home and too many suppliers blame your aquarium and your water conditions for the loss of fish and refuse to refund or replace, when in all likelihood the fault is with the way the fish were kept and shipped by the supplier.

my LFS is always talking about cycling and compatibility every time i go in there
i guess i'm lucky
other than the fact that it's a literal after-school free zoo for children (which makes it impossible to see their stock unless you look online)

 

[Back in the fold]

In New Zealand we are blessed with very clean rivers and lakes, BUT due to an increase in Dairy farming all that is changing, the high levels of run off from fertilizers are destroying our water ways. Which is the question I ask to those who use fertilizers in their tanks, be careful you may be causing some of your fish problems through your use of them.

@itiwhetu You bring up a topic that concerns me too. All of my tanks are small and I am not at all comfortable adding aquarium fertilizers, medications or other chemicals to my tanks. I think that the concentrations are too hard to get right in a small volume of water. I figure the fish themselves fertilize the plants, I use dechlorinator at half the dosage recommended and age my water under aeration for several days and I take precautions to avoid disease. I have a bottle of methylene blue that I used to use in my egg hatching water but after reading about that stuff I've decided it's too dangerous for me to be playing with. I raise killifish fry in a natural set up now and don't pick eggs. A plus there is that I have no more belly sliders.

 

[noobfish]

In the 1970's the choice of fish was pretty basic...Betta came in either red or blue and were, by today's standards, extremely hardy which reflected in their high cost. The other more exotic fish like Gourami, which back then were still very rare in fishkeeping used to cost a fortune.

The 1980's and 1990's the genepool messing went nuts. There was an explosion of fish that used to be ultra rare, only the very rich could afford in the 1970's that were now becoming more mainstream and affordable.

Imho the 1980's and 1990's were the death knell for normally bred, hardy fish. I suspect some of the misery was brought about by those who thought shellsuits were the best thing since sliced bread and wanted their fish to match.

I wish the days when fish were more basic, more hardy, less disease prone were back and that the flashy exotics could only be bought by the wealthier fishkeepers. Reason being is that so many new fishkeepers are drawn to those flashy exotics and are led to believe by pet stores that they are easy peasy fish to have...when most of them are not easy peasy.

Case in point...the humble Otto and my neighbour.

I had a neighbour who enjoyed watching my fish and decided to go get an aquarium of their own. They went to the local Maidenhead, bought their aquarium and kit, didn't realise what the cycle entailed and within days of setting up that aquarium they went back to get some fish and bought Otto's. Then within days those same Otto's start suffering and dying, and the neighbour had no idea why cos they did exactly as they were advised by the person at the till in the shop. I explained to this utterly devastated neighbour that Otto's need a fully cycled aquarium that has been running a minimum of 6-8 months with a good supply of aufwuchs....generally I have lost them in a cloud of "eh? whats that" at the cycled part. So I then spent the best part of a year teaching them how to set the aquarium up, monitoring their cycle, showing them how to maintain the aquarium and then went to the shop to choose appropriate fish for that aquarium and the water conditions. When I went to the shop and saw the conditions of the aquariums, it frankly made me angry. My neighbour was looking at all those pretty fish and pointing to the ones they liked and I had to stop them and explain that the fish was unsuitable due to size or whatever. Shop person came along, tried to sell my neighbour two...yes TWO....male Betta. My neighbour was delighted at that idea "oh aren't they gorgeous colours". I had to shoot my neighbour down in flames and educate the shop person that two males in one aquarium.....no...you really do not want to do that. This shop person was the same one who sold my neighbour Otto's and who had sold the aquarium and kit days before. Long and the short of it, my neighbour now has a beautiful aquarium, with appropriate fish, is taking great care of everything very well. The shop person, I hope learnt something useful.

This is what we as "experienced" fishkeepers are up against and what is fast becoming the normal experience of a new fishkeeper. I completely understand why so many of the big chainstores have halted the sale of livestock and I congratulate their use of common sense.

Leave fish & shrimp sales to those who actually know what they are doing and who can advise properly. I buy my livestock from an online supplier who I know is reputable and I have never had a DOA or fish death through disease or injury from that supplier. I have had a bad experience from an online supplier...they sent out fish that were undersize and far too young and they all either died in transit or shortly after arriving and I reported them to their local council animal welfare dept.

Advice I give to new potential fishkeepers....

If buying fish or shrimp from a shop or online....ALWAYS ask to see their most recent husbandry inspection report and licence that is issued by the local authority. Ask for date stamped photo's of the fish and the supplier's facility (if buying online), IGNORE online reviews since they can be done by the supplier themselves to make things look good.

When you go into a shop to buy livestock, they should by law, have their most recent husbandry inspection report AND their licence to trade in animals in plain view...usually on the wall behind the service tills. If you cannot see them displayed, ask to see them. Husbandry inspections are done every 6 months so its easy to see if they have been inspected recently or not.

Whether the supplier is a shop or online and they "can't find", do not have or refuse to show their legal paperwork....leave, do NOT buy anything and contact their local authority.

Regardless as to whether you buy online or in person make sure that whoever the supplier is has at least 10 day plus DOA policy in writing. Anything less than 10 days, walk away cos it takes at least 7 days for a new fish to acclimatise to its new home and too many suppliers blame your aquarium and your water conditions for the loss of fish and refuse to refund or replace, when in all likelihood the fault is with the way the fish were kept and shipped by the supplier.

I agree to an extent with what you are saying...however I still believe that the use of medications as the first port of call is not always the correct route to take.

I have zero medications or additives whatsoever. The use of medications should be done under advisement of a qualified vet tech or vet only, not the person working as a salesperson in the pet store who is earning a commision on every bottle they sell.

It makes me cringe when I read how well intentioned owners bombard their fish with the medicine cabinet on the advice of the person they saw at the shop who recommended this or that.

Medications incorrectly chosen will kill a fish far faster than the illness or disease if administered by an owner given poor advice on a fish with guesswork diagnoses or a "maybe" diagnoses.

It is critical that medications and aditives are correctly administered and administered for the right reasons otherwise they do more harm than good.

To me it is simply terrifying how much horrible advice is given in the shops to a worried fishkeeper and what is more frightening is that stores that sell any livestock, not just aquatic, generally do not require their staff to be qualified. A teenager can leave school with basic academic qualifications, get a job in a pet store and start selling animals and medications and additives and advising owners on illnesses and diseases without any training or qualification to do so.

That, to me, is insanity. Is it any wonder sites like this get inundated with distressed owners who follow shop advice and still lose their fish....then get attacked and made to feel like really really bad people by seasoned/experienced fishkeepers?

Every other industry is heavily regulated....why are pet stores...especially aquatics...so slapdash?

Some might say "Well its ONLY a fish"...being a fish still makes it a living creature and we humans are still that fish's voice and guardian.

All we do is pick up the pieces and try to help salvage aquariums for ill informed, disillusioned, angry, distressed owners who followed the advice of that person in the shop who they assumed knew what they were talking about.

These awesome fish deserve better and people wishing to get into fishkeeping deserve better.

Totally agree on the fish shop employees not being educated and in turn giving sometimes horrible advise. Something to keep in mind with shops (especially the chains) is that they are a business first.
"Well its only a fish"? No, to them its dollars.
"Can you keep this with that? Sure, you can, but buy at least 3!"
Your fish died, what's your next move? Back to the shop to get another.

Cold way to make a profit

 

[Colin_T]

@itiwhetu You bring up a topic that concerns me too. All of my tanks are small and I am not at all comfortable adding aquarium fertilizers, medications or other chemicals to my tanks. I think that the concentrations are too hard to get right in a small volume of water. I figure the fish themselves fertilize the plants, I use dechlorinator at half the dosage recommended and age my water under aeration for several days and I take precautions to avoid disease. I have a bottle of methylene blue that I used to use in my egg hatching water but after reading about that stuff I've decided it's too dangerous for me to be playing with. I raise killifish fry in a natural set up now and don't pick eggs. A plus there is that I have no more belly sliders.

If you have chloramine in your water supply, you need to do the full recommended dose for chloramine. Chlorine will come out of water aeration but chloramine doesn't.

Methylene Blue is actually one of the safer medications used in fish tanks. People even get it in hospital when being treated for certain health issues.

Malachite Green (aka Victoria Green) is carcinogenic and should be avoided where possible.

 

[Guest14017]

I live in Atlanta Georgia. Breathing the air is carcinogenic since the city often has such BAD air quality. Half the stuff in the food is carcinogenic. What we clean with is carcinogenic... Everything is carcinogenic! I definitely don't press about potential carcinogens in fish medication. Malachite green is not that effective against most issues, which is why I avoid it... but I mean if I thought it would help... by all means.

 

[Colin_T]

Malachite green is great for external protozoan infections but so is salt and heat.