new2discus Posted May 23, 2007 Report Share Posted May 23, 2007 After reading the discussion on 'skinny unhealthy fish', i realised that as a reasonably inexperienced person, i might be stupid enough to take home a less than 100% fish. could someone please put a few points up for those of us that aren't as experienced to help identify both healthy and unhealthy fish before purchase please, many thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markoshark Posted May 23, 2007 Report Share Posted May 23, 2007 Swimming. - Is the fish easy to catch, or does the salesperson break up a bit of a sweat? When you place your hands near the top of the tank, do the fish come up and expect food? Any "mould" like substance appearing on any of the fish in the tank? Any dead fish in the tank? Fish gasping for air? Erratic behaviour for that type of fish? One fish slower than the others? Clear eyes, milky eyes, missing eyes? Marks or scratches. A big list. Ask the salesperson how long the store has had the fish in question. Fresh arrival, or been at the store for longer? Also note, that a lot of fish are highly likely to get certain diseases - Clown Loaches & Ick for example, and while they won't show signs at your LFS, when you take them home, they may get the infection. Not a big deal, easy to handle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted May 24, 2007 Report Share Posted May 24, 2007 Look at the fins too. Are they upright and perky or lying flat against the body? Clamped fins is a sign of something wrong, be it stress or disease. Is one shoaling fish not joining in with the rest? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
me love fishy Posted May 24, 2007 Report Share Posted May 24, 2007 and never buy a deformed fish, no matter how much you feel sorry for it, chances are as it grows it will die anyway Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wok Posted May 24, 2007 Report Share Posted May 24, 2007 make sure that you don't see the skeleton. Glass cats are the exception here :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HummingBird Posted May 24, 2007 Report Share Posted May 24, 2007 Easy to catch fish aren't necessarily sick of course, they could just be a naturally easy species to catch or the salesperson could just be skilled. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted May 24, 2007 Report Share Posted May 24, 2007 And being easy to catch might just be luck...Err...Or skill. I once spent 10 minutes chasing my silver sharks around the tank. Got Bridget to have a try, she caught all 3 in one swish in about 10 seconds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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