Petsmart and Ick

[Rivers2k]

I hate supporting the chain stores but there isn't much around me as far as LFS go. So I have purchased fish from Petsmart three times now and all three times they have infected my tank with Ick about a week later.

I know I should have a quarantine tank but right now I don't have the space for one. i do everything I can to not transfer any store water to my tank. Anyone else have similar experiences with Petsmart?

[XxNoobxX]

Originally Posted by Rivers2k

I hate supporting the chain stores but there isn't much around me as far as LFS go. So I have purchased fish from Petsmart three times now and all three times they have infected my tank with Ick about a week later.

I know I should have a quarantine tank but right now I don't have the space for one. i do everything I can to not transfer any store water to my tank. Anyone else have similar experiences with Petsmart?

I did... I have had bad experiences with petsmart.. and I noticed that my local petsmart have dirty tanks... I went to petco and I compared tanks' quality... Petco's tanks are cleaner than petsmart...

[Coyne]

I'm sure it varies from place to place. Where I live the Petco is kind of ghetto and the Petsmarts are cleaner.
I've never contracted Ich from either (that I'm aware of), though all the Mollys I purchased from Petco have all died of unknown causes.

[Random Fishy]

I have a huge pet smart nearby and they do keep their tanks relatively clean as far as I can tell. But did happen to notice some ich on one of their fish in one of the tanks. Besides I check very throughly for any signs of sickness and I don't buy fish from tanks with dead fish in them.

[shellieca]

I've decided not to purchase fish from Petsmart or Petco. Every female Betta I have purchased from them so far has died in less than a year, whatever it is ends with dropsy & I know its not due to my tank conditions. So far the males have faired only slightly better. As for Ich, yep I brought home one that had it from Petco, she was easily treated.

[Rivers2k]

I am always very careful to select fish with no signs of illness but that store get me every time. Just wondering if this is a problem across the board.

[Mumma.of.two]

There is always a risk of getting disease no matter where you buy your fish. Fish stores have so many fish coming and going that disease is always going to make its way into their system.

A quarantine tank really is a must if you want to prevent disease. I know you said you don't have the room but they don't take up that much space. In most cases a 5-10 gallon storage tub with a sponge filter and heater is all that is needed. It can be stored when not in use and set up on the floor in the corner of a room quite easily.

[Rivercats]

Originally Posted by Mumma.of.two

There is always a risk of getting disease no matter where you buy your fish. Fish stores have so many fish coming and going that disease is always going to make its way into their system.

A quarantine tank really is a must if you want to prevent disease. I know you said you don't have the room but they don't take up that much space. In most cases a 5-10 gallon storage tub with a sponge filter and heater is all that is needed. It can be stored when not in use and set up on the floor in the corner of a room quite easily.

Yep and you can keep some media in your regular filter so you have seeded media to use when setting it up. This is what I do.

[Fresh2o]

Just chiming in...my last Petsmart purchase resulted in Ich. Sadly I did not quarantine so I ended up treating the display tank. Fortunately everyone pulled through but the lost time and expense of medications were not worth it.

[Random Fishy]

I unfortunately dont have a quarintine tank. But sadly they Do cost some money. I want a five gallon fishtank so that I can store my fish in there during a complete water change or my snail in there as I am currently treating a very stubborn case of ich with meds. Although I plan on getting a heater very soon so I hope to kill all ich in the future by raising temp.

[Toad]

I've had crappy experiences everywhere. He'll I live near That Fish Place, and I almost never buy fish there because I've had waaaaay too many deaths and infections from their stock. I have better luck at petsmart, but I've just lost a bunch of fish due to something from them.

[Rivers2k]

Originally Posted by Mumma.of.two

There is always a risk of getting disease no matter where you buy your fish. Fish stores have so many fish coming and going that disease is always going to make its way into their system.

A quarantine tank really is a must if you want to prevent disease. I know you said you don't have the room but they don't take up that much space. In most cases a 5-10 gallon storage tub with a sponge filter and heater is all that is needed. It can be stored when not in use and set up on the floor in the corner of a room quite easily.

The storage tub is a great idea. Before getting married and having kids I had 5 tanks and 1 20 gallon dedicated just to quarantine. I never thought of using a storage tub.

[Andy Sager]

I hate to say this but fish get ICH from being under stress. Rapid water changes, Improper acclimating practices, temperature fluctuations and improper tankmates all can cause this. As previously stated, fish from anywhere can get sick. Not having a heater in the tank is just begging for an ich outbreak. Chances are if the fish had ich when you bought them, you should have seen it before the purchase as the fish would not be acting "normal".
Don't get me wrong, I am not defending the chain stores. There's a lot wrong with them in my experience. But a case of ICH is a preventable event if the fish are purchased or cared for properly.

Just throwing that out there

[Random Fishy]

Originally Posted by Andy Sager

I hate to say this but fish get ICH from being under stress. Rapid water changes, Improper acclimating practices, temperature fluctuations and improper tankmates all can cause this. As previously stated, fish from anywhere can get sick. Not having a heater in the tank is just begging for an ich outbreak. Chances are if the fish had ich when you bought them, you should have seen it before the purchase as the fish would not be acting "normal".
Don't get me wrong, I am not defending the chain stores. There's a lot wrong with them in my experience. But a case of ICH is a preventable event if the fish are purchased or cared for properly.

Just throwing that out there

Then how does a fish with ich act that is not considered normal? (Other than the spots on his skin) the fish that I saw at pet smart had ich, telling from from some spots forming on his scales. But had I not seen the spots he would have been totally normal to me.

[Random Fishy]

Sorry got glitchy and sent twice so I edited it.

[Andy Sager]

Originally Posted by Random Fishy

Then how does a fish with ich act that is not considered normal? (Other than the spots on his skin) the fish that I saw at pet smart had ich, telling from from some spots forming on his scales. But had I not seen the spots he would have been totally normal to me.

That's just it. Ick is a parasite so it doesn't "form" on the fish. Either it's there or it's not. If you are buying a fish with the spots already on it, then you are buying sick fish. ( The white spots are not "normal" ) If they develope it after you take them home, it didn't NECESSARILY come from the store. ( It may have, but it also may not have.) It could have been caused( actually unleashed is a better term) by your acclimating method.
Most fish when being attcked by a parasite( any parasite) don't usually act or look "normal". ( Once again spots are not normal) Most often they hide or in the case of schooling fish, lag behind the group or are seen flashing to try to rid themselves of the parasite. This is what I call not "normal". It's not 100% either. Sometimes a stronger fish with the beginning stages of the infestation may still carry on uneffected. As time goes on however, they will succumb if not treated or assisted.
Hope this clarifies for you

[Mebbid]

Originally Posted by Andy Sager

That's just it. Ick is a parasite so it doesn't "form" on the fish. Either it's there or it's not. If you are buying a fish with the spots already on it, then you are buying sick fish. ( The white spots are not "normal" ) If they develope it after you take them home, it didn't NECESSARILY come from the store. ( It may have, but it also may not have.) It could have been caused( actually unleashed is a better term) by your acclimating method.
Most fish when being attcked by a parasite( any parasite) don't usually act or look "normal". ( Once again spots are not normal) Most often they hide or in the case of schooling fish, lag behind the group or are seen flashing to try to rid themselves of the parasite. This is what I call not "normal". It's not 100% either. Sometimes a stronger fish with the beginning stages of the infestation may still carry on uneffected. As time goes on however, they will succumb if not treated or assisted.
Hope this clarifies for you

Due to the nature of ich it often infects the gills. A fish with no visible sign of ich might still have it. When you see fish in a normal pet store, they are often soo stressed that any visual observation of their behavior is likely to be vastly different from when they are put in a home aquarium. All of this points towards a quarantine container being the only reliable way to safely acquire new fish

[Cactuspixie]

I agree with Andy and Mebbid-

You can't keep tropical fish in cold water and expect them to stay healthy. You're lucky they lived long enough to get ich. Similarly, if you take them all out to do a 100% water change each week, they are going to be very stressed (and consequently unhealthy)
If you are not overstocked, your filtration is adequate, and your tank is properly cycled, weekly 25-50% pwc are potentially adequate (but you won't know unless you are testing your water each week for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and ph levels.

[Andy Sager]

Originally Posted by Mebbid

Due to the nature of ich it often infects the gills. A fish with no visible sign of ich might still have it. When you see fish in a normal pet store, they are often soo stressed that any visual observation of their behavior is likely to be vastly different from when they are put in a home aquarium. All of this points towards a quarantine container being the only reliable way to safely acquire new fish

I don't want to quibble but the use of the word "often" in the gills is not as accurate as you might think. It sometimes is only found on the gills but usually is found on both the gills and body. Be that as it may, you are 100% correct that quarantining fish in today's market is the safest and most recommended way of treating any new fish prior to putting them in your main tank. Anyone who doesn't QT is only asking for trouble.
I've been observing fish for over 45 years as a hobbyist and breeder so maybe I have a keener eye to "abnormal" behaviors however, if a fish is not acting "normal" in a pet store, as a former pet shop employee, I have to say that that is not a good pet store. I rarely if ever saw a difference in behavior between the fish from the stores I've worked in and when I brought them home. Again, maybe that's just me

[Random Fishy]

Originally Posted by Andy Sager

I don't want to quibble but the use of the word "often" in the gills is not as accurate as you might think. It sometimes is only found on the gills but usually is found on both the gills and body. Be that as it may, you are 100% correct that quarantining fish in today's market is the safest and most recommended way of treating any new fish prior to putting them in your main tank. Anyone who doesn't QT is only asking for trouble.
I've been observing fish for over 45 years as a hobbyist and breeder so maybe I have a keener eye to "abnormal" behaviors however, if a fish is not acting "normal" in a pet store, as a former pet shop employee, I have to say that that is not a good pet store. I rarely if ever saw a difference in behavior between the fish from the stores I've worked in and when I brought them home. Again, maybe that's just me

Hey where can you find a qt tank at good price? Walmart or something?