New Fish issues

[BayCat]

Hi all,

I could use some advice.. I live in Tucson, AZ and we've got a somewhat limited selection of pet stores so I thought I'd try out the store on the far side of town. I first went to look and thought the fish looked pretty good, so I came back the next week to check again and ended up getting a group of 7 Panda Corys despite a lone dead fish in the tank which obviously made me a little wary.

 

I got home, added them to my quarantine tank, dosed with the med trio, and observed. I lost the first 2 by the next morning. I lost another later that day, 2 more the next morning, and by the 3rd morning they were all gone. Along the way I watched for signs, checked ammonia, monitored temp, and did not feed but it wasn't until the last morning that I noticed some potential gill flukes. Did I miss something here? Should I have immediately changed tactics after the first fish died? If I see a dead fish at the store is that an automatic red flag? Does this "just happen" sometimes? Is there an issue with the quarantine tank? Should I reach out to the fish store?

 

Quarantine tank is a 10g plastic clear tote with lid and extra holes added. I have a quiet flow 10  internal filter and an air stone. The tank is ~77F with no heater during the summer because the house temp is quite steady. I keep it bare bottom with fake plants with some snails to keep a small bio load in there. I've had it going for about 3 months and have moved 2 previous groups of guppies through it that are now doing well in a display tank.

[lefty o]

generally, if i see a dead fish in the tank at a fish store, i stay away from the fish in that tank. you dont know if it was just something with that one fish, or if they all have a parasite. now that doesnt mean that another tank with no fish dead in it, wasnt just cleaned by an employee, but a dead fish is a sign.

[BayCat]

7 minutes ago, lefty o said:

generally, if i see a dead fish in the tank at a fish store, i stay away from the fish in that tank. you dont know if it was just something with that one fish, or if they all have a parasite. now that doesnt mean that another tank with no fish dead in it, wasnt just cleaned by an employee, but a dead fish is a sign.

Thanks. Yeah. I should have known better.. I was impatient and made a long drive to get them. I probably made it worse by stressing them with the trip, tank changes, and meds. Hindsight... Hope I learn and grow and just maybe someone reads this a has another little scrap of experience too

[lefty o]

it happens, we have all been there, and done things we probably shouldnt have with fish.

[The Goatee]

Side question: how many fish stores are circulating/filtering water across many tanks / series of tanks? If there was a problem in one tank, how quickly does it spread to all tanks? How isolated is a tank death or issue I guess is my question?

I don’t buy from Petsmart anymore, save maybe betta, but one near me recently had posted papers across all their tank displays about not selling fish for a week. Makes me think they had a system wide problem?

When I have a fresh tank or QT, I tend to add all compatible fish together from same place at once. If fish store tanks are more isolated, maybe I shouldn’t?

[lefty o]

the petco's and petsmarts are all linked together, and it is a good point. if they are all circulating the same water, they can all have the same issues.