Alan. Firstly, sorry to hear the fish didn't pull through for ya'.
I admire and respect your determination in attempting to get the fish to ingest food.
Secondly. Bob, for you to say "force feeding directly killed the fish..." is an unfair accusation to make. If ya' wanna' get right down to it, organ failure was probably the direct cause of death. Once a fish begins showing signs of starvation/malnutrition, you can be assured internal organs are "shutting down" as they are serving no purpose. This is a difficult, if not impossible, process to reverse. You're knowledgable enough to know that! I do however respect you for admitting that you too are a bonehead. That's not quite what I was thinking when I initially read your response, but it'll do...
The attempt to get food into the "gut" is a last chance resort to avoid the innevitable. It's not like "plumping up a cow" in a feed lot prior to slaughter.
We all make regrettable decisions in life, not just in this hobby either. I too have brought home specimens who were sufferring in LFS tanks with the belief that the fish's only chance of survival was getting into the hands of someone who has the ability, and more importantly, the determination to provide what is needed for long term success. Perhaps I should just walk away and let the retailer take the loss. But I sometimes question the ethics in that as well...
. What ever, the wife calls me a "fish hugger", and maybe that's why.
The topic of ethics is too varied to even get into and this is not what the discussion is regarding anyway. Alan discussed this experience with the retailer, and us, in a respectable manner. That's what counts in my eye's. That, and the fact that that he did every thing one could possible do.
So when I look up to the score board it reads: AJ77; 2, Bob_I; 0
On a side note,
Quinn. What are they puttin' in the corn down there ? I can no longer understand a single word you say...
. (Not that that's a bad thing...
)