Fwd: wild-caught fish

["Ed Pon" <edpon@hotmail.com>]

Tsuh Yang Chen wrote:
>there was a recent thread about wild-caught fish in this list.  i have
>noticed that many of the wild-caught fish from south america tend to 
live
>in your tanks or at the shop for several weeks but inevitably waste 
away.
> i wonder if this is due to the fish's inability to adapt to a new
>environment and new food, or other causes.  
>
>i recently found my mystery trumpet-nose marbled knifefish dead.  this
>unidentified gymnotoid had lived in my 55 gallon for about 4 months.  
its
>body shows no sign of disease or starvation.  it obviously did eat
>something while there otherwise it wouldn't have lasted this long.  the
>tank in question is very stable, heavily planted and houses nannacara
>anomala, apisto nijsseni, catfish and tetras.
>
>any thoughts on the subject would be appreciated.
>
>tsuh yang chen, new york city

Wild caught fish slowly wasting away also happens with discus.  Since 
soft water became more available (reverse osmosis), I have seen very 
little of this in both discus and apistos.  The dealers that I now buy 
fish from are aware of the needs of these fish for soft and acid waters.  
The reputation for delicacy that the discus have acquired was largely 
due to the fact that most people were not able or did not know that 
discus required soft, acid waters.  When kept under proper conditions, 
discus are quite hardy.  In general, I have found the same to be true of 
apistos.  If your fish were shipped over in good shape, and the 
wholesales and retail store handled the fish properly, and you were 
providing soft and acid water for your apistos, I would expect your 
apistos to do well in your tanks.

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