Re: dying rams

["S. Bunch" <sherryb@hpcisp.com>]

----- Original Message -----
From: alex pastor <alexp@idirect.com>
To: apisto <apisto@admin.listbox.com>
Sent: Sunday, October 10, 1999 5:35 PM
Subject: Re: dying rams


: I have only ever purchased one pair of rams and so far so good.  They've
: spawned a number of times, but of course, the eggs have never hatched.
They
: have proved to be tough little critters because the male is in and out of
: the guppy tank, or 'penalty box' whenever the eggs have not hatched and he
: harasses the female to spawn again when she's not ready.
:
Sounds like a great pair of rams!

: However, when I purchased the fish I did so from a store where they'd
spent
: at least two weeks.  The manager is someone who has considerable
experience
: in dealing with stressed and diseased fish.  I won't buy anything that
: hasn't been in the store for a couple of weeks.   If I see something I
like,
: I ask how long it's been at the store and if it has only recently arrived,
I
: come back a week later.  Expensive apistos don't usually sell very
quickly,
: but sometimes they are all gone.   I think it's still better than bringing
: home diseased fish and watching them die because I can't diagnose what's
: wrong with them.  Also, new arrivals are not just labeled as to puchase
: price.  Recently arrived shipments are kept under observation for a few
days
: until there is a reasonable indication that they are healthy.  No sale
: sticker goes on a tank where the fish are either  too sick to treat or are
: receiving treatment.  It sounds ideal, but it isn't.  There are some fish
in
: various tanks that I would never consider buying.  Some fish arrive so
: debilitated that they cannot be 'revived' under store conditions.
:
Yeah, I goofed by not buying from my regular LFS. There was a new LFS opened
up closer to home, and although they were not quite as experienced yet, they
seemed to be really trying. I was hoping to encourage them so that I could
derive some of the benefits from them being so close. (One block from where
I work compared to 25mi. for my regular LFS) An expensive lesson for me, I
guess.

: In other words, I would not buy fish, sight unseen, 'right off the truck'
so
: to speak.  If they are locally bred, (and I also do sell fish to the store
: occasionally), then at least I've got some idea as to the breeder and so
: does the store.  Otherwise it's a risk I'm not willing to take.  Also I've
: built up a customer relationship with the staff at the store, so that we
: understand one another as to my expectations and their ability to provide
: fish that are acceptable to me.  It's just as important for them to have a
: satisfied customer as it is for me to have healthy fish.

Yeah, my regular LFS will hold fish for me. I had just backed off from the
store because the owner, who I usually deal with, wasn't around much for a
while, and the guy he had running the store for him had a real attitude. The
owners back now though, and I haven't seen the other guy for a few weeks.
Maybe I got lucky and the guy got fired or quit.
:
: Just thought I'd put in my 2 cents worth.
:

I'll never be so rich that I won't accept a couple more cents. :-)

: G. Kadar
:
Sherry



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