# New Clownfish Showing Ich



## iGeeve (Aug 29, 2012)

So this may be more of a "buyer beware" if anything, but does anyone have experience buying new fish from Big Al's that are infected with ich?

I purchased 2 clowns ove the weekend and the moment they were introduced into the tank, I noticed one is displaying signs of ich.

The fish were properly acclimated, and no other fish in my tank previously had ich.

Turns out, Big Al's holds no guarantee on diseased fish.

Yay!


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## y4zhuang (Oct 2, 2013)

Got a yellow tang from Bigals. turned out he had ich. Killed 7 other fish... he was the only one who survived... funny 

I would only buy equipment from big als. Otherwise, buy livestock from the boutique stores, that have better quarantine and less crowded systems.


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## iGeeve (Aug 29, 2012)

I just find it funny they have absolutely no warranty...and blamed my tank for this.


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## fesso clown (Nov 15, 2011)

The ownous is on the fish buyer to assume proper QT protocol. If we expect "clean" QT'd fish they would cost way way more. If never QT'd and treated profalaticly for ich then it is actually very likely that your new clowns caught it from your tank. 
You will always have ich in your tank unless you follow rigid QT protocol starting with a 72 day fallow period. 
Some people are OK with having an ich infected tank but you will always run the risk of utvshowing up on stressed fish and possibly killing them.
Head over to RC and do some reading of the stickies in the disease forum.
Good luck.


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## sig (Dec 13, 2010)

Funny things but the only place from which I have 100% survival rate is BAls.

Juts one example - Flame Angel in LFS going for around 40.

Big Als sells these for 80. Since there are not many rich people like me, the fish unintentionally gets quarantined for a weeks.
Here is me come to buy this fish instead of buying 2-3 flame angels ( all die) from some stores and risking to kill all other fishes.

savings equal to 0.00, but everything is healthy 

Regarding stress, I have different opinion from many. We always talking about bringing in a stressed fish, but is there any possibility that fish you have in tank will get stressed when new one introduced ( the same breed,bigger, etc).
*and here you get ich started by your existing fish*

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## iGeeve (Aug 29, 2012)

Well, that was quick. Whatever it was, my tank just crashed. 2 clowns, a PJ and a fire shrimp. The 2 clowns are new, but they replaced my previous 2 clowns. All we healthy prior. Went out for dinner, everything looked alright with the exception of the leather acting up. Came home to a dead shrimp, within an hour they were all gasping. 6 months and never any issues.


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## Syed (Oct 20, 2010)

sig said:


> Funny things but the only place from which I have 100% survival rate is BAls.
> 
> Juts one example - Flame Angel in LFS going for around 40.
> 
> ...


I agree with sig on Big Al's quarantining fish by accident.

Big Al's had a bluethroat trigger in their tanks for months. I reasoned that if it can survive that long in one of their overcrowded and disease ridden tanks, then it must be healthy. I scooped the trigger and lo and behold, no disease and the trigger was eating anything and everything I put in the tank. The point is Big Al's is hit or more often than not miss. You just have to be extremly careful with the live stock there.

I have gotten livestock with ich, brooklynella from Big Al's in the past. It's especially risky when they just get new shipments in livestock. Just be thankful you didn't have to deal with brooklynella. That stuff is is worse than ich


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## Bullet (Apr 19, 2014)

Wow sorry to hear about your losses 
Could be marine velvet - God forbid. Acts very fast and can wipe out a tank almost overnight 
In any case, it does seem to be buyer beware in this hobby 
May I recommend a LFS called Reef Boutique in Toronto. The owner, Colin prides himself on high quality, sustainable fish. I've never experienced a loss with one of his fish. 
Just an FYI re your shrimps. For inverts to die that quickly, BA's may have been treating with copper as some of the LFS do. Your new fish may have had traces of copper on it when you introduced it to your tank and your shrimps fell victim to it. Shrimps and inverts are highly sensitive to copper 
I'm located downtown so if I can ever help, please send me a PM
Sam


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## goobafish (Jan 27, 2015)

I'm sorry this happened . 

I know that a few stores have had some ich issues this year. I also agree with fesso clown, the onus is on your to ensure proper QT. There are places you can buy from where fish are quarantined for a certain period of time, but that is something that costs them money to do, and is often transferred to you in the price of the fish.

I bought a fish from Colin last night that he has had for over two months, he still instructed me to quarantine it.

I don't really see any difference between this and buying any fish that comes from the Phillipines, Malaysia ect. and expecting it to not be caught with cyanide. 99% of the fish imported from those countries were caught that way, despite any assurances stores may receive from suppliers. This means there is a decent chance your fish starves due to unwillingness to accept substitute foods, or ends up in full rigor with cyanide poisoning. 

There is a reason you are only paying a fraction of the former cost for these fish, there are a lot of risks involved when you buy them. Buying from stores where you are aware of where they import from, or if they are bred, and how they treat their fish makes it much less riskier. For example, Carl's Aquarium quarantines all new fish for 3 weeks and if I remember correctly, Reef Boutique only buys his fish stock tank-bred or from coral farms. Neither of these eliminate risk entirely, but they can help you avoid certain issues with your new purchases.


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## y4zhuang (Oct 2, 2013)

road trip to colin's from Downtown? haha


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## goobafish (Jan 27, 2015)

Right after I posted that I walked in to find the Yasha Goby I had in QT from SUM in full rigor from what I am suspecting is cyanide poisoning (no strange marks/damage, body in full rigor, and scavangers stay away). This is not the first time it has happened to me with a fish from there.


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## Bullet (Apr 19, 2014)

Sounds like cyanide 
Very sorry to hear this - I love gobys


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## fesso clown (Nov 15, 2011)

I saw those Yasha gobies, there were 2 left today... Tempting but I have learned my lesson. My tank is fallow right now and I am considering only Ora fish and the like....


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