Paracites,wild caught and sellers?

[MaryPa]

What`s the normal procedure for prepping wild caught fish before selling? Do most sellers treat them for paracites? Wouldn`t that be the sensible thing to do? If I were selling wild caught fish, such as loaches, I would be sure they`re paracite free or to the best of my ability i`d try to be sure.

[SueM]

I know Pete does Mary, soon as the shipment comes in.
With my natives, I keep them for at least 3 weeks before I send them off, and I add a couple sensitive fish with them.
Any seller that doesn't, doesn't care about the fish, and even less for the customer.
Did you get some bad fish?? if so, mind if I ask who, so I don't do the same?

[flamingo]

With my wild caught fish I usually treat them for fungus and parasites since they're the two most common diseases, etc. that come form wild caughts IMO.

I also have this new Gel-Tech stuff that you soak the fishes food in for a minute then feed it to them. It's THE BEST stuff I have used by far. Not only do your fish go wild and eat anything you put this stuff on, but it also gets rid of parasites and the like. Two kinds I use: anti-parasite, and anti-internal/external bacteria.

Usually I somewhat quarantine with most of my wild caught fish, depends more on where they were caught. Some places are just "dirtier" and known for certain bugs and diseases. Some places like large rivers, you'll usually see fungus, in creeks you'll see small parasites ( around here it's the little nasty black encrusting ones).

I don't sell any of my fish, but I still go through and treat them. One fish can ruin a whole set-up, kind of doubles when with native fish.

[harif87]

Try either a long quarantine or give them a series of 10 second or 10 minute hydrogen peroxide or potassium permagnate baths to rid them of parasites.

[violet]

There is a story behind this but is not relavent to quarrantine. I bought some natives on auction. These are fish I believed were grown in ponds on the owner's property, then caught, held in tanks and prepped before shipping. The ones I had gotten a couple of months ago were. They were fat & sassy, and not super skittish. I loved them an bought more.

In a round about way he later claimed the fish I bid on and won on a Saturday night, he then went out and caught Sunday. We finally had email contact and I paid Monday and he shipped the fish Tuesday. One day of quarranteen isn't any quarrantine. When I questioned a couple of odd things he said I got this, these are his exact words:

Actually, I do quarantine fish, and say so prior to setting a shipping date if I have to wild collect them. These guys looked pretty good after collecting them, so I decided to send them. I did happen to have a good stock in tanks ready to go, but they sell fairly quickly through my website and from walk ins.

huh? He had known good fish but chose to ship fish he has just caught instead?

The fish look okay and are doing well so far, they are just thin. He WAS trying to overcharge me when I asked to buy triple the qty BEFORE I got the *just caught them for you* story.

FYI, this is a good sized seller of live cultures in Florida who sells on AB and the contact info is his son's name I think. But it's actually the dad. Whether he really did just catch the fish or was trying to scam me doesn't matter, I won't be buying from that those sachs of crap again.

A good seller will take the time, weeks, to make sure fish are okay before selling them. Not all sellers are good. Not all sellers are truthful. A reputation takes a long time to buid and only one mistake to ruin.

[book_em_danio]

I have a lfs that holds pretty much all but the cheapest (under $5) fish for at least 1-2 weeks. Part of the reasons is sickness. Part of the reason is growth. Part of the reason is he can get them looking better after the stress of shipment. The main reason is more money for him.
He has asked me if I'd be willing, for a small fee, to hold some of his quarentine tanks, as he only has so much room.