After so many years in the hobby and having seen, kept, and QTed so many fish, I've come to the point more and more each year where I can see death coming on many fish... the fish is alive, and many times with no obvious symptoms of disease... but by its behavior, reactions, and many other intangibles, the fish is a goner, regardless of who's hands it's in and what is done with the fish... the fish is alive... but will die... sometimes days out and sometimes weeks... to many people that lack experience the fish may otherwise look good. I call these the "living dead"... many people who work in the industry know these fish, but do not use that exact term... A good friend of mine who works in the industry (whom I respect... one of the good guys), says many fish are passed along like "hot potatoes" through the chain... it's a great analogy really... whoever has the fish (or animal) passes it along like a hot potato before it dies, and in the end it's the hobbyists like us that suffer. So just beware especially on expensive fish, that many times when you are getting a "deal" it is not the case, as a dead fish is worth nothing. Places like the Diver's Den weed out the living dead, and eat them on their end. Do not be discouraged completely though... it is great that we could now get small conspics with more regularity... I got my little girl when she was smaller than my key a while back... super-photographer Gary Parr was over my house last week and got some nice shots of her I could post later... Chaetodontoplus are great fish... I call them the puppy dogs of the Pomacanthids, because that is just how they act!:spin3:
Copps
Sorry, I do not agree with you on this one.
The way you put it above "living dead" can be a fish that arrived with some flukes (just an example), even if you put it in QT , you wont realize it got flukes you will lose the fish, sometimes a matter of a couple of days.
If you wont treat such a fish then, as you put it "... the fish is alive... but will die... " , will happen.
Yes, there are many fish that will arrive with nothing much for us to do, usualy fish from Indonesian and Philipines origins that rcvd bad handling and/or bad collection methods.
But some other fish can fall in your "living dead" category , you as experienced aquarist can know that a Centropyge sp., for example, does not behave as it should, but with all the respect to your eyes and experience, you wont be able to know why , as you do not have two microscops in your head.
Just categorizing it as a "living dead" is not right.
In most cases there are things we can do, and then they are not "living deads" anymore.
While I know most hobbists do not have an access to a microscope or to know what they actually see in it, all the hobbists who actually QT can use some common medications to avoid some common patogens.
Thats why its always reccomended to use medications in the QT.
FW dips , copper, praziquantel and formalin are a must.
Other treatment depends on species .
