Cherry Barbs dying

[Lady Hobbs]

Not sure the problem here. I got 5 of them Friday and already 3 have died. My first batch didn't last long very long either. I got 20 neons the same day I got these Barbs and all 20 are alive and kicking and doing great.

Not going to buy anymore of these barbs.

[Lady10Godiva]

That is strange. At least your neons are doing okay.

[Lady Hobbs]

The last of them are doing well in addition to the one I've had for over a year. I have to say I'm not surprised.

The store where I got them just set up new tanks 2 weeks ago after a store remodel. I asked how long would they have to cycle before they got their fish in. Her response was "we cycle with plants." Oh sure, Lady. Two bunches of stem plants is going to help cycle a tank jammed full of fish? NOT!

You should have seen the goldfish tanks! The distributor literally LOADED the goldfish tanks with comets and those tanks had 20-30 dead fish in it. She was cleaning them out when I stopped in. The tanks were all way overstocked so I assume the barbs were ill when purchased.

Of course they blamed the distributor for bringing too many fish and I asked her where was everyone when he was putting 200 fish in every uncycled tank? (No response) Gez, I don't care if you have plants in the tank or not, you still have to stock with some common sense.

[ryann]

Its a shame when that happens. The LFS that I go to is usually very good at not overstocking their tanks. Its really a shame when you buy fish from them and the fish do not even last more than a couple days because of their mistake. Do they at least have a 5 day guarantee or something like that where you can get them replaced or your money back?

[Lady Hobbs]

They have a 10 day but it costs me as much for gas to drive across town than the price of the fish that died. What was weird is there was far more fish in their tanks this week with the tanks not cycled than they always have in their tanks.

[imma24]

I go visit a LFS near my job and they usually have 1 small tank that is chock full of tetras. I always wonder "who is going to buy all those fish?" and then a week later I come back and they are nowhere in sight - I wonder if someone actually bought them or they all perished.

[Lady10Godiva]

I guess they dont directly order their fish then. One store that I go to always has the live fish boxes sitting around that their fish come in. I think they offer them to people buying a lot of fish or with a long drive.

The cycling comments reminds me of a funny comment my tiny local lfs shop said. Told us we should get an undergravel filter and let the tank run empty for 3 months for it to cycle....no ammonia or anything...just let it run and use electricity.

[~firefly~]

Hmmm...this thread just got me thinking - does anyone ever test the water of your LFS? I'd be interested to sample the water and test for ammo, nitrite and nitrate to see what the conditions they are in (albeit temporarily).

I wonder if testing the water in the bagged fish would be a fair assessment?

[AquaCats]

Hmmm...this thread just got me thinking - does anyone ever test the water of your LFS? I'd be interested to sample the water and test for ammo, nitrite and nitrate to see what the conditions they are in (albeit temporarily).

I wonder if testing the water in the bagged fish would be a fair assessment?

I check mine, because the tapwater pH in my region is 8.1. The LFS had 7.0. I didn't know if they were using additives or water from another source. Fortunately, the fish adjusted to the higher pH of my tanks.

[Strider199]

Sorry to read about your loss Lady Hobbs.

Even though we know it happens, it still kicks when the fish we bring home pass away in so short a time.

When buying new stock, I am always anxious. Even after checking them out at the lfs for a week after their arrival.