Cichlids for sale in various LFS

[Radshell]

Hi all,
With my work I travel alot and recently I have seen a number of lfs who have african cichlids for sale, what worries me is many of the cichlids have a "very hollowed out" stomach area.

Question 1, is this from lack of food for the fish over a period of time or is it a deformity in these fish??

Question 2, if these are bought and bred with, does it affect the breeding and fry?? (Not saying I want to buy them, to me they look deformed).

I look forward to your comments.

Regards

Radshell

[Hypancistrus Zebra]

Generally it means they are net getting enough food due to either too much competition with other fish, or they are sick and not eating properly.

Im sure there are deformities that occur from time to time but I think you will find most of the fish are suffering from lack of food.

The lack of food will not affect breeding so long as the fish's health is restored promptly.

Wilson

[nemo1981]

yeh just likely it's not enough food.
see it alot at one lfs about here

[hareysfish]

most of the time its from not getting enough food as with most lfs they bearly feed the fish as to cut down on the amonia in the crouded tanks as well. i know the lfs only feed their fish every second day for that reason.

[braddo]

Definately not enough food they either do not feed enough or a really low grade food to keep em alive.

[davo0903]

Sorry to drag back an old thread, but I was at a lfs where this was all too apparent. Most of their fish looked more like swimming skeletons. I saw one medium sized E. Blue that was so emaciated that I nearly didn't recognise it for what it was. It made me sick. It makes me wish that we could name and shame stores like these, I tell ya. God it made me angry.

Sorry, but I just needed to get that off my chest.

[Ulysses048]

I agree - definitely not fed well enough.
I sold some of my Crimson Tides to LFS here - they are still the same size as when I sold them while others from the same batch have almost doubled in size..... small tanks - not cleaned often enough - and fish all starving with hollow bellies at one particular LFS.
Make me soooooooo angry - and can't help but feel that these fish could not possibly produce good quality fry after such bad treatment !!!!!
Just my opinion ...........
Regards

[shaz]

hey from what you were saying could either be not enough food this does not always mean that the LFS is not feeding them enough it can also be caused due to so many fish going for the same food some fish are way to  bossy and greedy
Other than that it also can be worms awhile back i bought a colony of fish from a private seller and well alot of the fish had hollow stomachs so i took them home and fed them and fed them some more when some started to gain weight yet others didn't i took a further look and sure enough the fish had worms it was a simple treatment and now they are all putting on weight.
but to stand up for LFS i work for an aquarium i'm not saying which one but i know we feed our fish every morning and afternoon and as for water conditions we do water changes every week usually if u come in on a monday you would see me spilling water everwhere and as soon as one of our tanks looks cloudy or a fish seems unwell we do all the necessary water tests to fix the problem.We even catch some of the fish that are slightly skinny and pop them in the plant tank so they can fatten up not all fish shops go to such measures but my bosses love fish they don't just sell them to make money they are hobbists and enthusists just like you and me.just thought i'd say my 2 cents

[Savage_roo]

Ya there is shop just up the road from my place
I went to only a few weeks back a few of the tanks where cloudy
and several tanks had uder feed fish
I think we should put up a shame file
So may be these shop owners might pick up on this form 1 day and see just what people think of their shops
And mabe do somthing about it

Andrew

[davo0903]

I'm not suggesting that all lfs do this. Actually, I'd say the opposite. Most I've seen seem to look after their fish well. But you can't tell me that tank after tank, fish after fish, is all due to one dominant uber-fish. When I tell you that these fish are being starved, its because they are. They could have worms...that would mean that this lfs has about 30 odd tanks with a worm infestation, which is unlikely, and if it was, why aren't they being treated for it. No, its a dead set travesty, and all it does is give all lfs a bad name, which most don't deserve. I'm not having a shot at all lfs, but don't make excuses for this scumbag.

[waltec]

What you also have to remember is that before you bag fish for transport you should starve your fish for at least 1 day.  We usually have the advantage of knowing when we need to bag our fish, unfortunately shops don't have this luxury, so they tend to feed them a little at night so their stomachs aren't too full the next day.

I'm sure you guys would be the first to complain if you bought some nice fat (healthy) fish from lfs only to have them keel on the way home due to an ammonia spike!!

Also if you look at African cichlids in the lakes, you would find that they tend to be a little hollow.

Matt

[Aquariums Alive]

Well guys
I myself feed the fish every night just after i shut the doors
Also every bag gets Stress Coat and Oxygen just to try and help everyway we can

Throughout the shop everything gets a mix of NLS HBH Veg Flake Brine shrimp Mysis Shrimp

I have found when feeding quality foods all the fish act and look alot more colourful and with all foods being natural colour enhancers all the fish look great

I guarantee all fish purchased for 7 days
And by feeding high quality foods and using Oxygen and Stress Coat Im helping make sure my fish will survive


Brad

[here fishie fishie]

I must admit when I did a tour of lfs not to long ago, there are "some" lfs I wouldn't buy fish from at all. {other side of brissie city}
To plug one stand out that we visited was Clayfield Aquariums. Pity they are more into the plants & Marine side of things as far as cichlid keepers go.
I think Radshell, the trick is to find a few lfs that have a, lets say "healthier" selection. If I ever need anything I have a choice of 3 lfs that take great care of their fish.

The thing with skinny fish it may be lightness of food & not much to really worry about.
BUT
If the fish are lethargic & look like they have been pinched behind the eyes, bent spines...then I wouldn't go near them.{IMO} Another test if you think fish are suspect, is to ask the staff to feed them, if they don't eat don't buy.
Hope that helps.

ps Radshell, the yellows are going great, cheers

Frenchy :D