Odd clown prob and questionable LFS advice

[Shotscane]

So i bought a pair of ocellaris clowns today brought them home and inspected them both tediously they both looked great. One of the clowns had been a new shipment still in the bag the other already out in the tank they were both obviously still juvenile males. So got them home and Dripped both of these guys into my Qt tank and everything looked hunky dory. Kept an eye on them for a couple hours and and ensured they were going to jive well together. They got along great no problem so i decided to feed them some krill and thats when things went downhill. One of the clowns did great ate like a pig. (the main display clown) The other guy seemed uninterested in eating so i left some krill in the tank in hopes he would gain an appetite. So i came back an hour later and hes sticking to the bottom of the tank guppy breathing and has a white stringy peice of fecal matter hanging from his hind quarters. In his shipment bag he had brown feces on the bottom of the bag so i figured he wouldnt have any parasites? Also the lfs store said that they shouldn't have been fed within 24 hours of acclimatization. Is there any truth to this? Also should I go ahead and treat for parasites or might there be some other issues at hand? Thanks in advanced foe the help

 

[Azedenkae]

There is, you shouldn't be feeding them within 24 hours of acclimatization, and that applies to most fish you would get really. The fish are stressed after a move, and feeding won't really help - it'd be better to let them settle in first. Especially since he was still in the bag at the LFS.

Anyways if he's breathing heavy then there's a serious issue. Can be a number of different things, but usually it has to do with stress. The other fish had time to settle in the LFS tank, and it wouldn't have been long between the LFS and your place, I assume, so he's all good.

 

[Azedenkae]

There is, you shouldn't be feeding them within 24 hours of acclimatization, and that applies to most fish you would get really. The fish are stressed after a move, and feeding won't really help - it'd be better to let them settle in first. Especially since he was still in the bag at the LFS.

Anyways if he's breathing heavy then there's a serious issue. Can be a number of different things, but usually it has to do with stress. The other fish had time to settle in the LFS tank, and it wouldn't have been long between the LFS and your place, I assume, so he's all good.

 

[Shotscane]

Thanks for your help unfortunately he did not make it through. Should I be worried about any parasites? If so should i pre treat the other clown to be safe?

 

[cet98]

sorry for your loss.....this is the reason i will never buy any fish from any LFS without monitoring them in a tank and asking for it to be fed prior to bagging it up....

 

[igarc009]

Plus 1

 

[Azedenkae]

Also don't ever buy a fish when it has just arrived, no matter how tempting it would be.

They just went through a big trip, there will always be a fraction that will feel the effects 'really badly'. If the LFS is especially careful, they may not lose any fish, but chances are that some will always die upon arrival due to just not being able to withstand the move.

 

[Teage29]

Most LFS get shipments on the same day each week. So ask and see what day that is then come back a day or 2 after to give the new fish a chance to settle in and lower the stress.

 

[Shotscane]

Yeah guess im going to be buying when i know i can watch them in a tank. Its painful to watch them suffer. So what about the people who order fish online is this a common problem for them?

 

[Azedenkae]

No, not really. The difference is that those fish arriving at the LFS probably traveled for quite a while, and not really in large, spacious bags.

Well, at least the fish sold through that method should be packed in larger bags, with oxygen, and done very carefully anyways. It does cost quite a bit to ship, the store does not want to mess up. As opposed to receive a fish shipment, in which case it's normal for a few to die off upon arrival and it not mattering too much given the costs of obtaining those fish.