Just Bought A Tiny Red Oscar, So Beat Up! :(

[Raechal]

Okay, so my 125 gallon isn't cycled yet but I went to the pet store to buy a syphon and they were way too over priced and I went to go look at the oscars and there was one baby oscar in a tank with much larger cichlids, not sure what they were exactly but they were very aggressive compared to the oscar. He has almost no fins at all. Poor thing looks more like a betta than he does an oscar.

my boyfriend has a 30 gallon that I am going to keep in and do frequent water changes and medicate him while my 125 gallon cycles.

I had to get him out of that tank. He was being attacked as I stood there, I knew if he was kept in that tank he would have been gone by tomorrow morning. And they store wasn't going to do anything about it. I've worked there before and they don't care for their fish at all.

Here are some pictures of the poor guy

I added some melafix to his tank. What other advice do you have if any?

 

[Darkerwhite2]

Keep up on the water changes, and stop buying from that lfs. But tell them why, tell them you know they are doing wrong by both the fish and by their customers. By letting fish suffer they end up selling sub-par specimens. If you used to work there then you must know who to talk to.


My lfs store was buying dyed parrot cichlids and i emailed them and approached one of their senior employees and made myself very verbal (but polite) that the dyeing of fish was not only cruel to the fish, but also wrong to be selling these fish that were so prone to sickness since the dying process.

Good for you for the rescue!! That oscar looks like he's going to have some very vibrant reds!! Very nice

 

[Raechal]

Keep up on the water changes, and stop buying from that lfs. But tell them why, tell them you know they are doing wrong by both the fish and by their customers. By letting fish suffer they end up selling sub-par specimens. If you used to work there then you must know who to talk to.


My lfs store was buying dyed parrot cichlids and i emailed them and approached one of their senior employees and made myself very verbal (but polite) that the dyeing of fish was not only cruel to the fish, but also wrong to be selling these fish that were so prone to sickness since the dying process.

Good for you for the rescue!! That oscar looks like he's going to have some very vibrant reds!! Very nice

I really hate buying from them but they are right down the road from my house so it is very convenient. Anyway, they sell lots of dyed fish. They even had a "blueberry" oscar there last week but when I went today he was gone. So he either died or someone bought him. Anyway, I would NEVER buy fish from them but this case was different. I felt like I had to rescue him. I mean I DO have an empty 125 gallon and I did plan on stocking it with an oscar.

come to think of it, I may just get two oscars. After the tank has cycled and he is recovered, I may buy an oscar his size.

Oh, and they don't care if you talk to them about it. When I worked there I politely talked to the fish section manager and asked him if we could start treating our sick fish with medicine and he said absolutely not and if the fish die, they die and they will just order in more.

I got in trouble for telling a customer to maybe look at a different fish instead of buying a goldfish for a bowl. And also telling another customer she shouldn't put an oscar in a 10 gallon tank and should think of buying something a little smaller. I got scolded for this because I was not making customers buy the fish.

 

[DiscusKeeper403]

When I worked there I politely talked to the fish section manager and asked him if we could start treating our sick fish with medicine and he said absolutely not and if the fish die, they die and they will just order in more.

Have a hard time believing this... Sorry.

 

[Raechal]

When I worked there I politely talked to the fish section manager and asked him if we could start treating our sick fish with medicine and he said absolutely not and if the fish die, they die and they will just order in more.

Have a hard time believing this... Sorry.

Why would I lie about this? I worked there for about a month. I worked in the fish department and small animals. I pointed out to the manager that some of the fish were sick with ick and fungal diseases. I asked if we could treat them and he said no because all of the tanks are connected and it would be treating every tank and not just that tank. He said if they die they are going to die anyway and they just order a new shipment the next week.

I asked him if I could buy the medicine myself and treat them and the answer was still no. The next day I wasn't scheduled to work in the fish department and I continued to work in the small animal section.

A week later I was changed to janitor work. Coming in at 6 a.m. to clean the cages and store before the store opened. I did this for about a week and then I quit after I learned they weren't switching me back to the fish section or to work around the animals at all.

You can believe whatever you'd like, but I don't get why I would have any reason to make something up over a fish forum?

It was quite awhile since I worked there, more than 2 years ago but my sister and I went in about 5 months ago and asked about this medium sized oscar they had in a tank with a large jack dempsey and a frontosa. He had HITH and his fins were almost all the way gone as well. I asked if I could purchase him for my old 125 gallon and they told me no because they were "treating" him. They said we could come back that Friday and pick him up.

He wasn't there. He died. I don't know if they were "treating" him for anything, but it didn't seem like it if they were still keeping him in a small tank with other fish they were selling and a jack dempsey who constantly picked at his remaining fins.

 

[Raechal]

Anyways, he has started to eat today. He hasn't caught on to eating floating pellets yet but he goes after sinking flakes. so cute!

 

[DiscusKeeper403]

Why would I lie about this? I worked there for about a month. I worked in the fish department and small animals. I pointed out to the manager that some of the fish were sick with ick and fungal diseases. I asked if we could treat them and he said no because all of the tanks are connected and it would be treating every tank and not just that tank.

Your manager seems like a bit of a jerk he is right though in one thing, something he should have explained to you.

Because the tanks are on a centralized systems (meaning connected by a large economy filter) all the fish and their water mixes. It can be hard to medicate, because sometimes there may be fish that are intolerant to the medication in the system. For treating ick a common method is copper which scaleless fish cannot handle in large doses.

You can always find medications that should work with all the fish but it can be a littler be tougher. They probably could have treated with a Malachite based medication or something but either they are too lazy or too inexperienced.

 

[Darkerwhite2]

Anyways, he has started to eat today. He hasn't caught on to eating floating pellets yet but he goes after sinking flakes. so cute!

Glad to hear that he's eating!

 

[Joller]

poor little guy

 

[shroob]

Thats one beat up little oscar. They're tough little things though so will probably heal up nicely.

I would advise against shopping at that LFS again though, if they do sell dyed fish then buying from them will indirectly support the process. Easier said than done I know, but in the long run it will be better.

 

[Darkerwhite2]

Thats one beat up little oscar. They're tough little things though so will probably heal up nicely.

I would advise against shopping at that LFS again though, if they do sell dyed fish then buying from them will indirectly support the process. Easier said than done I know, but in the long run it will be better.

The LFS did admit that the fish were dyed, he informed me that there were natural ways of dying the fish using types of lobster eggs as food. So not so much a dying process but a feed that brings out natural colors in the fish.

Anyway The parrots were not dyed in this manner but were injected he also admitted that he talked to his supplier about the fish and there condition and the method they were dyed in. He was under a different understanding than his supplier i guess He contacted them and threatened to stop buying from them. So although they had purchased dyed fish, the owner vowed not to again and if his supplier did it again he would change.

This is the reason i still go back, the guy actually changed!!

Never seen anymore of the dyed parrots there again, although they still stock the regular old normal healthy ones.

 

[shroob]

Ah, then thats OK then. I should have asked if they bought them knowing they were dyed and the process involved.

Applies to Raechels LFS too, if they know they are dyed and what the fish have had done to them then I would stop buying
from there. Thats if it wasn't a one off mistake on the suppliers part, then its an unfortunate mistake. Similar to when a LFS gets in a poor/ill supply of fish and has no where else to display them and people think the shop is selling ill fish.

 

[Raechal]

Why would I lie about this? I worked there for about a month. I worked in the fish department and small animals. I pointed out to the manager that some of the fish were sick with ick and fungal diseases. I asked if we could treat them and he said no because all of the tanks are connected and it would be treating every tank and not just that tank.

Your manager seems like a bit of a jerk he is right though in one thing, something he should have explained to you.

Because the tanks are on a centralized systems (meaning connected by a large economy filter) all the fish and their water mixes. It can be hard to medicate, because sometimes there may be fish that are intolerant to the medication in the system. For treating ick a common method is copper which scaleless fish cannot handle in large doses.

You can always find medications that should work with all the fish but it can be a littler be tougher. They probably could have treated with a Malachite based medication or something but either they are too lazy or too inexperienced.

but they never did. I don't think they treat any of their fish when they are sick at all. which is why I don't like buying from there but I do sometimes when I have to run out and get something in a hurry.

And I know all of the tanks would be treated if one was treated, but that still doesn't mean they could set up a small quarantine tank and treat them in there. The fish don't deserve to suffer just because all of the tanks are connected on one system.

 

[markandhisfish]

good for you for saving the little fella. would be good to see some before and after pics once you have got him all healed up .

 

[Raechal]

Thats one beat up little oscar. They're tough little things though so will probably heal up nicely.

I would advise against shopping at that LFS again though, if they do sell dyed fish then buying from them will indirectly support the process. Easier said than done I know, but in the long run it will be better.

It's the last place I want to shop, but it is so close to the house (i could walk there if i had to) so if an emergency arises that will probably be the place I run to when I really need something you know?

But I do try to avoid them as much as possible.