Sad and Angry

[Sharlene1385]

Ok, I really don't like my LFS now. They are selling PAINTED Glass fish, that btw have lost their "paint" for the most part. And They sell sick fish and leave Tons of dead fish in tanks. I mean... the goldfish tank... the filter was Cover in Dead fish. We know the owners, small town. So mom wanted to get fish there because they are "so good to us". Can't argue, she was buying the fish. ANyway, So we get the 2 platties and 2 tetras, That night, Red platy starts acting funny, has bite mark on back and fungus on that due to the Bad water at LFS. Micky Mouse Platty appears to have really red gills, and is very light in color, not good looking at all. Tetras start swimming on side and Upside down in BAG! Tetras straighened out, but none have acted right since I got them. Well, so I treat for fungus, clears up spot on platty, this fungus cure clears up Swim bladder too, and says that swimming upside down is swimbladder disease. I know some disease but not that one. So fish seem to be ok... Though I knew that the orange/red platty was pregnant. Not planning on keeping babies because I don't have room, both platties are female. So, platty has 4 babies tonight that I could see, 1 got eaten by other platy, So I watch to see how fish are and I notice white spots on micky platy tail, then spots on tetras and finally on red platy. Yep... Ick. Never had Ick before. All fish scratching and red platty seems very ill. I'ts midnight here when this happens. Can't do anything, am out of money, and am angry about the whole thing. Store can and will replace fish, and I am hoping to talk to them tomorrow. I wish we had gotten fish from Petco. They all looked so healthy and clean there.
Almost enough to make one give up on fish. I have no choice but to get replacment fish at lfs because they won't refund. Yes, I'm letting them know about the dying of fish. I doubt they even know. They mean well, but know much. They sold me a hatchling Red Eared Slider! Illegal size. Maybe next time mom will listen to me. Hate to tell her, but the Petco fish were also cheaper.

Any suggestions on what I should do? I know its not my water, everything there is fine. I'm not certain that the red platy will live through the night. She weak from giving birth and now has Ick... at least I think its Ick. I'll have to see what I can do tomorrow. ... later today, its 1:47 am. here.

If I lose the fish, what should I do before adding new ones? I mean, wouldn't the bacteria or whatever effect all the water? I have a heater and carbon filter going. Not sure how to get rid of bad stuff. Also... wouldn't treating a bacterial disease kill good bacteria too?? Does this mean more cycling? Does this mean I should scream?.... don't answer that one.

 

[schzaam]

im sorry but this is your own fault becasue 1 u let your mum buy tyhem you should always buy fish yourselve you should always check if therer a dead fish in the tank then look at the health off the fish if that ok buy the fish it obvious you never look at these things and if you LFS is like that you shouldnt be goin to there in future try somewere else

 

[Cheese Specialist]

im sorry but this is your own fault becasue 1 u let your mum buy tyhem you should always buy fish yourselve you should always check if therer a dead fish in the tank then look at the health off the fish if that ok buy the fish it obvious you never look at these things and if you LFS is like that you shouldnt be goin to there in future try somewere else

I don't know if saying that is the best thing. I do agree with yo but there are better ways to approach it.

I think that your Mum will be more able to understand that you don't want to go to that shop because of what happened to these fish and the state their fish are in. I personally wouldn't buy anything from a shop that knowingly sells painted fish. Have you asked them about that or the state fo their tanks? They may understand.

If not, then you have learned a lesson for next time I suppose. IMO it's better to get no fish at all rather than unhealthy ones that are likely to make the ones you have sick too.

 

[Angry_Platy]

Sorry to hear this happen to you....you want a fix....for now...turn your heater temperature up....I am not sure where you live but you want to turn it up to about 30degC (86F)...the ich parasite doesn't like higher temperatures...

You say your water is fine....do you know about cycling? Was the tank cycled before you put the fish in? If you don't....feel free to send me a PM...otherwise we could be here all day explaining things!!!

We have all made mistakes when it comes to fish...me....I overfed my fish causing many of them to die of dropsy (bye bye all affected fishies)....I thought as long as they were fed often and lots they were happy....and they were.....but happy doesn't always = live fish!! I learnt my lesson very quick after that!! No dead fish since solving that simple mistake!!

If it were me, I would keep the fish....go to your LFS tomorrow and get some ich medications...just don't buy fish from them again....if they come through this OK then they will probably end up being healthy fish...after all...its not like they have anything better to offer you!!

Good luck...keep us updated

 

[Nina7777]

I'm sure everyone here has been in this predictament at one time or another.....

If they aren't old enough to drive then you must go where your parents will take you. and since they are probably buying the fish as well, then you really don't have much say.

IMO i don't think it is your fault. Noone wants to be outwardly rude to their parents.....especially when they are trying to be nice and do something for you.

Maybe you could just tell her how upset you are that your fish are dying and that you really would like to try a different place, so you don't have to go through all the emotional trauma and drama of dying or ill sick.I'm sure she'll understand. You could even make a deal with her. Tell her that if she takes you somewhere else and those fish die as well then you will go back to her store. (chances are by the sounds of it.......fish from a different store won't have nearly as many problems.)

In the meantime.....I hope all your fish pull through. Try some quick cure for the ick. Or if you don't have that much money....try some aquarium salt and raising the temp. This seems to help a bit.

Also inthe future if you keep your tank at a bit warmer temp chances are you won't have ick again.

Hope this helps and good luck!

 

[Sharlene1385]

I know more about fish then given credit for in this house. I am the one the told her her fish was sick and that it was fin rot years ago. I'm the one that knew soap would kill fish. I'm 19, can drive but have no car since we sold it. We are moving soon. See, its her money, I don't have a choice.Plus we share the fish. She loves platties and I ... really don't. But I figured she lets me keep fish and buys the food, I should let her have a fish or 2. And I bought the tank and filer that came with it, I also bought the terrace platform that she hates, but lets me have it in tank. I tell her when fish are sick and what they need, and she says we can't do anything since there is no money. I'm glad that prices are getting cheaper now, like a gravel cleaner for $4 that I can afford. Unfortunantly I quite my job last year to prepare to move then, but things got tight. Right now we are trying to take care of fish, and pay bills. I hate it when people think that when you have little money that you shouldn't own pets.
Anyway, I did cycle. The water is all fine. I've had fish before I knew about cycling and never had this problem. Mom got us stuck with going there too. As I said, we already spent money to get fungus cure for them, and took last dime of play money.
See, mom says "We've had other fish from them that lived a long time." forgetting how we had fish that all died in 2 weeks, from no fault of ours, and no noticble diesese. I've had fish from Walmart last longer then that. Then they replaced those that died and they did live. I've always checked tanks, and know which stores look the best. Petco is the only one here that even seems to clean out tanks and not leave dead fish. And are cheaper. But mom decided to drop in the store to get something cheap for the fish, and cheak their prices. So we talk to the lady there and she offers us Goldfish to help cycle. I said I didn't need them since we wear fishless cycling. Mom turns on me and just says why not. No matter how much I argued, and if I had really pushed, she would have said no fish at all. I'm trying to teach her about fish, and cycling and so on so she can have her own 55+ tank some day, but the student is failing big time. So we take 3 home (to bring back when we buy others) free. They where feeders, 1 dies cause the filter caught it. So we where obligated to buy from their store because we took the goldfish., and lost one, and these people have given us free turtle food when I had turtle, and let us charge a dog harness to account till the 1st when we had a dog. (Turtle got new home and dog couldn't handle the cats, and was taken back to foster mom to find a non cat owner.Trust me, I love animals and want to best for them) Mom said "If they die, they'll replace, and its closer then Boise". So, this time I shut my mouth, tired of arguing with her. So if anyone learns a lesson it should be her. I just fish I hadn't been right about the fish. And the platties and tetras seemed to be ok. The other tank of platties looked awful. I believe they have bad water or something, since they have too many dieing or sick. Still these didn't look sick, but where not as vibrant as some. I'm hoping that maybe when they find out the fish are sick that they will either replace the fish if and when they die, or give of free medicine. I almost feel that they owe the fish that much since they are the ones that kept them in such conditions. If they would give the money back, I'd go to Petco. But they only replace them with more sick fish. And as said before, no money to replace ourselves.
I can raise the temp and see if that helps, but wouldn't that high of a temp kill the fish? It is at 76 F at night and raises to 79-80 with light on in day. I was told that drop in temp is ok at night, but I don't see how. Ready to kill that heater, but most of it is the blue light bulbs. I had to buy blue since they where all I could find that fit that watt. grr. I don't have any salt for them right now, a bit too expensive to buy.
I have not talked to the people about the conditions, but plan on explaining about dying fish to make them pretty.
I must say we've come a long way. From just getting fish and declorinating water and tossing them in, with some plants and a light, but no heater and most of the time no filter, just airstone, over crowding accidently in 5 gal, to actually finding this forum, cycling, heated, lighted, filtered tank with air stone and some nice hiding spots for fish. Oh, and working themometer. Do I get a pat on the back for that much? I hope this doesn't come out wrong, I don't want the fish to die, but I also don't have the money to by more medicine, when with my luck, since they have already been sick, will probably need another medicine for something else. I mean, I've alread treated for fungus and now have Ick, what else? I really think though that my being quiet and letting mom choose, will help her learn a lesson without us fighting about it. I just wish it was not at the expense of the poor fish. Mom's too stubbern though, and maybe now she'll listen.

 

[njnauticalnut]

Sharlene,

Sorry to hear about all of the problems you are having with your mom re your fish. I hope raising the temp helps get rid of the ich.

Chooklet,

I never knew that overfeeding could cause Dropsy. My very first fish was a betta that I overfed (read the directions on the fish food--what was I thinking!! He got swim bladder. I fasted him and in a few days he was better.

I love this forum, learn new things every day.

M.E

 

[Sharlene1385]

Well it figures. The store is blaming me. Says must be the water, bring it in to test. HA! I brought some water to them 2 times before I bought these fish.... to let them know my water was fine. GRRRRR. And they say to call back and ask about what we can do. I'll call back.... oh yeah I'll call.
I guess they don't care unless the fish dies, and then its my fault, and they can just hand me some new fish and not worry about it. Well I talked to friend while watching his sister at the park, and we both talked against the conditions of the fish, reptiles, and how we hate it. Lots of people where there, bad news travels in this town faster then a disease through a tank! lol.
Anyway, I'm going there today to talk to them. I think they should do something, since they want to blame me. I want to see that tank and see if I can spot Ick on any fish they have in there. I'm hoping to find some sick fish there and PROVE that it is their water. Note that when she said my Ph was good that they did not tell me what the ph level was. I'm thinking of asking what their levels are just to see if they even know. The lady I talked to though did understand cycling. I think, she seemed to know what I was talking about since she offered the goldfish. I'm wondering if it was the goldfish that had the ick. No, cause they would have shown earlier and then it wouldn't have taken 2 days for these to get it.... OOOH I am mad!

Friend said that I could just euthanise the fish and take them to store and say "k they died now will you replace?" lol, I couldn't do that though, besides the new ones there are probably sick too. Oh and they feed the turtles live fish too, hmm. wonder how healthy they are now.

 

[modernhamlet]

Modernhamlet's first rule of buying fish:

Never buy a fish from a tank that contains dead fish.

Modernhamlet's second rule of buying fish:

Never buy a fish from a store you do not trust unless they're going into a quarentine tank.

 

[Sharlene1385]

YES! Fish store will not do anything about the sick ones, but I took the fish there to show that they where sick, gal argued and argued saying I know nothing and that its just stress not their water. Anyway.... they gave me cup or so full of salt to add to help heal the fish FREE! She asked if I wanted Ick medicine, and I said I didn't have the money, so she gave me free salt. I left the fish in the kritter keaper to keep from stressing them, added salt, heater and air stone. If they live, great. If they die, they go back and mom said we will get fish from Petco! Said this without me asking. When taking out fish, I found that when the red one had babies last night, there were 6, I ended up saving 5! Left them in 10 gal to see how they do, as said before, if they die they die. I'd rather lose them to natural causes such as being eaten or just dieing from ick or something then to kill them or take them to the lfs. If they live and grow a bit, I'll take them good fish shop and see if I can get credit for more plants. I'll see about adding some breeding grass when putting parents back in. I'll try to save them, but I'm not going to cry if I don't....can't even see them right now. I just didnt' have the heart to hurt them. I don't have baby food, but I raised sword fry on crumbled up flakes when they where first born, hopefully I can do so with these too. I want to add a bit of salt to 10 gal to get rid of ick in it and make sure it'll be safe for the adults when I move them back in. Pray they'll all survive. Cross ya fingers.

Oh... and the gal says tetras do weird things when stressed, and can swim upside down then...its just stress.... acting funny, sluggish, upside down, nose diving, its all just stress. Not stress related disease, just plain stress. YA RIGHT! I've had tetras-- neons, blood line ...and never seen fish swim upside down. So I still might lose them if that is swim bladder disease, I hear its hard to cure. Anyway, they do seem to be....alive for now. Anyway.... how long should I leave them in the salt treatment, besides the fact that wait till ick is gone, but anyone know approx. how long that will be