local livestock the best

[AJ_77]

Totally agree - it gives me chills when I gamble on a fish from a local LFS - very risky. The last one died in 2 days, took out a tankmate and made the rest sick. I might get a scolding for not having a Q-tank, but that's a side discussion.

There is the rare time when I have good confidence in the livestock I'm casing, but even then it's a matter of choosing the best specimen out of 5 or 6 available.

And, like you, the fish I adopt from others fare way better, with zero mortality. Some might argue that these also had to come from a store at some point, but that's not the point. The point is that most shipments appear to be in bad shape, and it's a calculated risk to buy one of those fish.

The only "store" I have complete confidence in, based on experience, is J&L.