To Ram or not To Ram

[JoeBob]

Well I finally found a GBR and I'm ecstatic. Got her on Sat. and she's doing well. Unfortunately, the big angels I had in my 55 dont seem to want to stop chasing her so they had to move to my bros 75g. My question is this, I REALLY want a male to put with her and I found one today at lunch.....the thing is...he's at Petsmart, been there since at least Monday when I first saw him. He's hiding under the edge of the only plant in the tank and doesnt look happy or very healthy..No visible disease and I figure if he's still alive at Petsmart, once he gets to my tank he would love it, BUT am I pushing it? I know better than to buy sickly fish, but GBR's are hard to come by in my area and I've been checking in with 6 different LFS for the past couple months and it doesn't look like any more are coming soon. I just don't want to take a chance on hurting the rest of the fish in my tank, I'm pretty sure the GBR at Petsmart isn't going to make it if he doesn't get out of there. Please save me (and my other fish) from myself

 

[bruinsbro1997]

If you do, I would QT him for at least two months before putting him in the main tank. Some diseases take longer to show than others and can remain dormant for awhile, so the longer the QT the better. But in a few months there might also be a better shipment of GBRs as well. It all depends on what you want to do, I guess.

 

[LyndaB]

Never buy a sick fish. You especially never buy a sick fish if you don't have a cycled QT tank to put it into while you try to "save" it.

 

[JoeBob]

Thanks peeps, I kinda felt that was the right thing but sometimes I just get so *&^% impatient. Appreciate the good advice!

 

[LyndaB]

You learn as you go that patience pays..... not only for your own peace of mind, but also for the health and well-being of your existing fish. Hurried choices are impulse choices and that almost never ends well for anyone.