question on sick corals

[rogerwilco357]

ok if you go to the pet shop and buy a dog or cat and it has worms or is ill in another manner they usually give you your money back or help with the vet bills alot of them send you to their vet whom is on retainer and they take care of the problem if they can...that being said I question whether or not the same applies to the LFS or are they immune to such letigation? if they sell you a fish that is ill should they replace it ? or if they sell you a coral that is invested should they be liable? Or do we have no say in these types of animals ..I mean when people say you want 50 bucks for that rock they usually say no it's a coral and it is alive then people go wow it is alive explain and so it begins. No I guess dogs and cats are sentient? and corals aren't? I guess I wonder this because I buy my corals exclusively from one dealer and they get their corals from fish heads and other big name coral farmers so all my corals have never had A problem till this one bigger colony that was not in the main show tank but in another tank he said it was too big to have with the frags . Now I asked him where he got it and he said one of his distributors..Well I think this one is from the wild as it came with eggs and AEFW..as I found out weeks later ..should he make it right and give me the coral dips and wrasse's at a discount or free? Or should he give me the money back for that piece given I have bought all my coral from him and spent this summer alone 1300.00 on pieces. If I loose all the corals I will not be happy..enough said what are your thoughts am I out of luck.? Now I need to buy another 500.00 dollars worth of equipment to set up the QT tank ..not to mention the dips and such..and the losses of my other corals . I was new to the acro always with the softies till he caught my interest with the sps..lesson learned..Tell me what you think
Roger

 

[rogerwilco357]

alot of views no response, chime in any response is a good response positive or negative
is the current policy regarding corals ok or not fair? are we really s.o.l when it comes to corals ?

 

[sirreal63]

While I feel your pain, you are not going to get very far with going after the LFS. It is possible to get AEFW and other pests from any place you get colonies or frags. If you added them to your tank with out proper QT then it is your responsibility. This is true with fish or corals. Pests happen and some of them are extremely hard to spot. He has no way of knowing where the AEFW came from but I suspect he will treat you right and try and help. Most LFS's are very good at taking care of good customers. It should not cost you $500 to set up a QT. Explain the problem to him, you may find he will help without any need for threats or attitude.

A simple clear plastic tote and a hang on or canister filter is all that you need to QT corals. It does not have to be elaborate but needs to be cycled as with any other tank. Dip your corals when you get them and QT for several weeks before putting them in your display. Ultimately this is your tank and your responsibility to care for what is in it. I know you would not intentionally introduce a pest and you can take precautions to keep your tank clean. Instead of placing blame and looking for restitution, solve the problem and prevent it from happening again. It is just another part of the huge learning curve we all go through. You have now joined the ranks of thousands of reef keepers. Welcome to our world.

 

[steelhead77]

As the LFS has no control once the coral or fish leaves their store, I think for most of them, the guarantee ends at their front door. If a coral dies or a fish gets infected, it would be hard to prove that it wasn't from something in your tank or your water or lighting conditions. Some LFS's I've dealt with will compensate, to a degree, if you bring in water to test. Looking at it from an LFS POV, as far as pests go, how would you prove that AEFW or ich, or whatever was not already in your tank? Unfortunately in this hobby, it's mostly buyer beware, that's why most folks will say ALWAYS QT your fish and dip your corals.

 

[rogerwilco357]

so

so

if the people who sell these are not at fault the people who buy them are ? even though they are dipped the eggs do not die but them being wild colonies and not from a farmed colony is our gamble ? I was told this was from a coral farmer like the others I have bought..now if i buy them from my neighbor then it is my fault if not qt. but when you buy them from a business i think there is a difference but again it seems that the subject is taboo..so we will live with the thousands of dollars lost due to wild colonies infecting other farmed colonies. thanks for all your insight look forward to the next post .

 

[sirreal63]

It really isn't a question of fault unless you can prove malice on the part of the LFS. You can get pests from any place, even a coral farmer. It really sucks, but it does happen.

 

[steelhead77]

Look at it from the LFS's viewpoint. Are they supposed to take your word for it that you didn't add a coral from the guy down the street that had flatworms or whatever? How would they (or you) be able to prove where the pests came from? If the coral just bleached out and died, how could they know what your acclimation process was or your lighting or your water? Do you see where they could rightly not claim responsibility? On my local board, one reefer who discovered flatworms in his tank, notified everyone he sold corals to so that they could return them to him for their money back and treat their tanks. But this was a lone guy, not an LFS.