HELP!! Porcupine Puffer might be sick.

[Rbacchiega]

Good point Borderjumper.

When considering a fish in the LFS I'll tell them I'm interested in it and ask them to put it on hold a couple of days. A decent LFS will do this for a customer. Then I'll take a look at it over the next few days and if I'm happy with it THEN I'll buy it. There have been plenty of times where I won't buy a fish after looking at it for a few days

[Borderjumper]

Ive actually sat in front of a tank and watched a fish for an hour.. also if there is one visably sick fish in the tank you might as well pass as the whole tank has been exposed.. and ask if the tank is on a shared system.

One question I always ask now after a bad discus experiance is if the tank is on a UV sterilizer. I wont buy the fish it it is.

[my2rotties]

Most puffers I see at the store lay on the bottom of the tanks and don't really do all that much. They are active at night and sleep during the day. When I bought Griff, I had many to choose from and he was just super active and had been in the store for a few months. It was also five minutes to closing time and it was night time for him, so he was out. Some fish are difficult to buy since their natural habits are hard to assess in the store. Some injuries could happen just prior to purchase and the bruising and damage may not show up right away.

I think they should have given her another fish since she just wanted to help him instead of rush him back for an exchange while he was still alive. I'm sure they would have taken him back alive. Mind you I don't know anything about this store. I'm sure he didn't even cost all that much but it is not about the money most of the time. It's a little life and puffers are quite endearing.

Having a dead fish in the morning really sucks especially after trying so hard to save it.

[my2rotties]

Why is that? I am just curious just to learn to be a better buyer in the future.I have UV on my system and thought it is an excellent investment.

Originally Posted by Borderjumper

Ive actually sat in front of a tank and watched a fish for an hour.. also if there is one visably sick fish in the tank you might as well pass as the whole tank has been exposed.. and ask if the tank is on a shared system.

One question I always ask now after a bad discus experiance is if the tank is on a UV sterilizer. I wont buy the fish it it is.

[Rbacchiega]

Just what I was about to ask. I only run UV sometimes, havn't ever run it on my Discus, but have occasionally run it on my SW tanks.

[alfredshouse]

these are all really good points. Im thinking the fish may have been injured during bagging,cause it looked great before.But Ill never know. I can say that I did learn alot from this experience. From now on I will watch the fish for awhile and I will also watch them bag it.

[Borderjumper]

this is just from my personal experiance, but its like buying a fish in a bubble.. its been in basically sterile water.. and I take it home and put it my healthy, but far from sterile tank. I think its ok in your personal tank cause the fish isnt being re-homed, but IMO it lowers a fishs resistance and if that fish is moved into a new enviroment that is not as sterile.. its going to be exposed to stuff it has no resistance to.

[my2rotties]

That makes perfect sense and thank you for sharing.

Originally Posted by Borderjumper

this is just from my personal experiance, but its like buying a fish in a bubble.. its been in basically sterile water.. and I take it home and put it my healthy, but far from sterile tank. I think its ok in your personal tank cause the fish isnt being re-homed, but IMO it lowers a fishs resistance and if that fish is moved into a new enviroment that is not as sterile.. its going to be exposed to stuff it has no resistance to.

[Rbacchiega]

Very interesting. Makes sense too. But if you're running UV at home and the store is aswell, wouldn't it be fine? I only run UV when I notice something isn't quite right with my fish. For example, noticed the new CBB had what looked like a burn near the base of his pectoral fin. Ran UV for the last 3 days and it's cleared up. Odd indeed.

[Borderjumper]

I dont run UV.. I like my buggy tank but I do have a big honkin one I set up when I see a problem, like an ich spot . Im just not a believer in running one all the time. Again, its JMO as I have never run one for more than a few days.