Going to Your Local Fish Store? 8 Rules for Picking Out New Saltwater Fish! - Ep. 33

[@pokedan6846]

The script at 5:00 wrote off pretty much every single shop in Australia let alone Melbourne. The ones I know that are close iv seen mix nets and buckets so qt is a must!

[@andymingni]

Stores that QT sell at a premium, locally, I've noticed they sell for about double that of a store that doesn't. If you have your own QT tank and aren't in a rush to put it in your display, a store that doesn't QT, but is overall reputable is a viable option too.

[@marksmith566]

Good luck finding a LFS in the UK that does half of that! Great video as always 🙂👍

[@Wangsium]

Have but very very very very very expensive

[@apss5736]

I have found a few but they are rather uncommon

[@fishpony1211]

Yea around here, in south Florida, i have yet to see any lfs quarantine their fish

[@invaderjoshua6280]

Honestly screw any store that dose that. Everything coming into a store needs a 2+ month quarantine with meds. It shouldn't be pushed off to the end user, and then have no return policy on top of that like so many lfs's don't. Hell WWC gets praised for their lack of a return policy by reefbuilders. Screw this industry, its rotten to its core. Catchers mistreat fish, wholesalers mistreat fish, stores mistreat and don't quarantine fish. Then we are treated like the bad guy for wanting consumer protection of our purchase.

[@apss5736]

Yeah one of my local fish stores quarantines fish for 3 weeks

[@fishpony1211]

@@invaderjoshua6280 in the process of opening my own facility because of many of your complaints… i have many as well. Its tough honestly to find a good place to buy fish. Corals is another story. Around here you can find corals everywhere

[@invaderjoshua6280]

@@fishpony1211 Hope you become one of the few. We need more people that stop treating customers like crap the second they walk out.

[@fishpony1211]

@@apss5736 thats awesome!

[@rae_ray8944]

I have learned soo much about aquatics. I never even knew there was so much.

[@jamesgreen9372]

Great synopsis ! Getting a "inhabitant" for your tank is a lot like getting a roommate: 1. Observe the place offering the potential roommate : Is it a prison, mental hospital, ... or graveyard? Are the current roommates willing to pay you to take them? ..... 2. Observe his current domicile: Are there bars ... to keep them IN? Does their current apartment share a water supply with a nuclear reactor? Are there warning placards outside their current apartment reading, "Radiation," "Toxic Waste Inside," "Danger Rabid Animal" ... "Enter At Own Risk?" Is her bed hovering over the floor and spinning to the Santana song "Black Magic Woman?" .... 3. Health/ Quarantine Procedures : Does your potential roommate expect that your room will be part of his quarantine space when he gets Ebola, the Plague, Cholera, Smallpox, ... etc.? Does this potential roommate think quarantine time is measured with a stop watch? ... 4. Behavior: Does this potential roommate sleep in a coffin and call Transylvania "Home?" Do they blink with a second set of eye lids? ... 5. Injury/Disease : Does this potential roommate have the university Infectious Disease Department on speed dial? Do they have gills ... any gills? Are limbs fall off as you interview, and do they spontaneously regrow? ... 6. Food - When you discuss the kitchen, do they ask your opinion on pica, cannibalism, and insects as a food group? Do they tell you they are on the Vampire Diet? .... 7. Grace Period : Have a "Grace Period" in the roommate contract just in case the Agent Mulder, Professor Abraham Van Helsing, Reporter Carl Kolchak , or the pair Detective Matthew Sikes, and George Francisco show up at your front door. 8. Pick "Civilized" human "In Person" : Big Foot, Yetis, Romulus and Remus, ... etc make poor roommates. Go for "captive breed." Those raised in civilization by June Cleaver do best, and nothing goes well on the internet. The picture never matches the selection and some do not even photograph, i.e. vampires. Happy Pre-Halloween, Jim

[@MyFirstFishTank]

:-)

[@laurencefreeman46]

Kudos to any fish store that quarantines for three weeks. I work at an LFS with a good reputation and we don’t have the space or patience for that. We do quarantine fish from our tanks with problems, but that’s it. Salt tanks have copper to prevent ich too.

[@freakygoblin3068]

One thing I look for.. I prefer someone in my local Local Fish Store (LFS) to say they do not know something but will find out for me than try to pretend they know. A general piece of advise is try to find a local reefer "sponsor". Someone who can help you in general. They may be able to make suggestions as to where to buy. I would add one more step at the beginning.. know what fish you want and don't buy a fish which simply looks cool or on an impulse.

[@BulkReefSupply]

Great advice! "I don't know" is a much better answer than making something up!

[@dannyprestwood9085]

I look for health of fish in the tank live or dead. However that all depends on if there is a dead fish in the tank when I come in. However when I worked at my friends shop before we would open the shop we would remove all dead fish from the tanks. All the tanks were on seperate filtration. If we recognized the tank had sick fish we would treat the tank and mark the tank not for sell. Not gonna lie the shop was a hole in the wall store. I kept the tanks clean and did water changes and I was and I still have passion for a what I do. I usually buy fish that have been in the tank for at least two weeks or more and I would ask them to feed the fish so I could see how they act.

[@SighsInternally]

I did something similar, I walked into Petco, picked out 2 damsels that looked aight, bought em on the spot

[@RobBoryckiGolf]

Great video for all beginners. Well done!

[@RogueAquariums]

some great advice Matthew. This is a hobby of patience so don't rush the QT process. I think we have all been guilty of this at some point or another.

[@brianguidry4696]

Coarl fever is a fish and coarl store by me in Louisiana and he dont let you take or pay for a fish till it make it 14 day in copper QUARANTINE.

[@drewchance9562]

Thanks you for what you are doing I appreciate you

[@adrian8967]

I've been to that store. Are u base out of Vegas?

[@stevenmoreno9600]

You guys located in Vegas ? That was a store from Vegas. Cool

[@turbinemagic03]

0:30 kemon achho everybody- he says bengali, I'm from India and I am bengali 😃

[@madmikewengert]

LoL I’m over $6,000 in on my tank and I only have 2 clownfish lol but let me tell you my tank is epic

[@ElecManEXE]

That feel when you have one single LFS within a 2 hour drive radius and said LFS has a grand total of 2 saltwater tanks.... Gonna be PetCo or online for me. Not my prefferred methods, but work with what I got, I guess.

[@foxchase725]

I'm lucky enough to live within 1 hour drive of TSM aquatics, which fully qt all of their fish before selling them

[@newpatch36]

Shout out to @Water Colors Aquarium Gallery in Grand Rapids, MI for being exactly the type of store Matthew describes above. Y'all rock!

[@offswitch1]

No stores in nj quarantine i can tell you that.

[@dobermanguy9437]

When I buy a fish I make sure it's eating and it looks healthy and its eyes are clear I quarantine my own fish I don't depend on nobody for that I have a quarantine tank setup 24/7 ready to go all people in the saltwater hobby should have a quarantine tank you can keep an eye on them for a week or two and when all is good you can just let the fish in the main tank as always works for me then If i need to medicate I can treat the fish in the quarantine tank very few fish stores quarantine their fish they may leave their fish in some copper solution for prevention I found one store that totally quarantines their fish that was many years ago and they charged a little more but it was worth the price like I said I rather do it myself buying a fish and not quarantining it is playing Russian roulette 🐠🐠

[@invaderjoshua6280]

@5:36 but you should be saying that. I am.

[@missunderstood2647]

For living in a semi large city (aka Las Vegas baby!! :D) LFS choices are unfortunately limited to big box stores and tiny minimally stocked drastically OVERPRICED stores. 😖 I'll be shopping online forever 😫

[@badassmofo3081]

I live in the hillbilly Part of my country, so no saltwater lfs. Online buying fish seems rather scary to me, imagine blasting 200 Cash on a marine betta that dies after a week.

[@apunderwaterdistractions9865]

I’ve been to a LFS that cuts the bags open and dumps the fish in their tanks also dead fish in the tanks. My first time there I bought 2 fish and they died that same night, never again

[@BulkReefSupply]

Ouch! At least you know now and can avoid!

[@WillAsplund]

sadly the LFS doesnt have the variety. I end up having to order blindly there, and paying a premium instead of just getting them online from a reputable source (which I admit is also blind).

[@tomboys588]

How big is that store at 1:27!?

[@emanuel12451]

It’s not huge but it’s decent in size

[@BradfordRMcKnight]

Yeah I have an LFS that does all of this.. they just charge $400 for a yellow tang.

[@joserman2131]

Went into a new fish store last week never again . Dead fish in every single tank multiple dead fish

[@haketheflake2688]

pick the most sick fish and get a good price and heal it up, its the most rewarding feelingever, remember to quarantine

[@BulkReefSupply]

Maybe not the best for a beginner, but if you're experienced with administering medications, it certainly is rewarding!

[@apss5736]

these would also work with freshwater too

[@Eazy_Company]

Yes certainly, fish behavior, asking about qt, if they're willing to do feeding for you that's always a plus, a strong feeding response is always good. It's all applicable. He mentioned Bettas in the videos but also gouramis can breathe air (Mentioned cause their popular freshwater fish). Or coloration looking at tetras or Rasboras, dull= bad. All the sickness signs he talked about are applicable. Really everything, this guy nailed this video.

[@thorbradshaw2637]

What are some good reputable online fish stores?

[@BulkReefSupply]

We've been working with Marine Collectors lately as they offer pre- quarantined fish. That said, if you're looking for basic beginner fish like the ones Matthew mentions and plan to quarantine them yourself, you're probably best off with LiveAquaria.

[@bjmarchives]

Or be like me and try to get the sick fish to medicate and save their lives, also always sold at a heavy discount

[@lightningfrom9396]

fish at 12:21?

[@Richard-bz1qe]

I see this video after my first clownfish ever die of Brooklynella within days of bringing them home. Funny part is the owner of the store explained to me that its not practical for him to quarentine fish from a business perspective and also said the quarentining is a just a fad. He also claimed that UV sterilizers kill all parasites in his tanks so his fish are totally safe to add without quarentining. Well, lesson learned for me. I wont be going there again. I hate to think that this guy is selling brook infected fish to unsuspecting people.

[@BulkReefSupply]

Bummer to hear! Luckily, it sounds like you learned this lesson pretty early and can correct it from here on out.

[@joe0813]

I buy from only two places..... TSM Aquatics or Marine Collectors

[@MACNTOSFAM]

the golden rule; the most important thingto do about picking a fish… DO YOUR RESEARCH ON THIS FISH YOU ARE EYEING AT. ain’t that right teach?!

[@MyFirstFishTank]

:-)

[@abdabaloley]

How did I just find this video

[@biswajitdey13]

Bhalo achi! ❤ Apni kemon achen?

[@justdabubbletip1452]

Just buy from TSM

[@invaderjoshua6280]

I'm at the point of just hating LFS's. Screw them, it should be standard for a store to have a 48h+ return policy for dead or diseased livestock, with a water sample, and dated video showing the tank before adding the fish. So few do this, and its completely consumer unfriendly. On top of the return policy for dead livestock, all lfs's should be quarantining all livestock for 3-4 months with meds before going up for sale. If I go buy a friggen kitten 99% of the time it has had its damn shots. These two things, the lack of consumer friendly return policies, and the lack of care for customers/livestock with the lack of quarantining makes me hope BRS, LiveAquaria, Amazon, etc. Drive these shitty places out of business. Hell petco/petsmart with their almost guaranty of a fish having disease and you needing to buy meds with each fish, is more consumer friendly. At least they have a 2+ week guaranty with water sample 99% of the time. This bullcrap can only happen because of our lack of consumer protection here in America. We deserve better, and we need laws forcing quarantine of incoming livestock at all stops before we get our livestock.

[@-Wreckanize-]

What i've noticed, is that LFS that have a wide variety of fish species are usually not the best places. They don't care about health, supplier reputation, or not as strict with where there fish come, with the goal of just drawing more customers in.

[@Chris-zc6ih]

i live near both WWC locations in florida. so i’m pretty sure i’m okay, but not 100% certain

[@hurricaneaquatics]

Be careful. I bought 20 frags from WWC and paid close to $600 for them. They most all contain Aiptasia and other pests. I will never buy there again.

[@TheHectorDesigns]

PETCO 👀 not

[@BulkReefSupply]

Maybe not always the best option, but some Petco stores are certainly better than others!

[@invaderjoshua6280]

Still better then 99% of lfs's. At least they have a return policy, with water test. I feel like im playing russian rulet with my wallet at lfs's.

[@invaderjoshua6280]

@@BulkReefSupply Plus petco, and lfs's get their fish from the same sources. Petco is just more consumer friendly for the most part.

[@XMRNYC]

I've had great luck with Petco so can't complain.

[@matthewbaidya8976]

Wait! Was that a Bengali intro? 😮

[@JasonFolk07]

The start there was great lmao you probly spent X amount of money and 1000 hours setting up the tank just setti.g up the tank .... if I didn't love fish so much I would say F me ahahahahah

[@chrismetalwilson2588]

My six line wrasse sleeps in a mucus sack weirdest thing I've seen

[@apss5736]

Heard of it in parrotfish but never knew wrasse did it. Possible defense mechanism maybe?

[@chrismetalwilson2588]

@@apss5736 yea not sure just know I seen him coming out of it in the morning

[@SeancGilchrist]

@@apss5736 a parrot fish is a wrasse

[@apss5736]

@@SeancGilchrist oh sorry i am not the most knowledgeable in saltwater

[@chrismetalwilson2588]

@@SeancGilchrist nice learn something new every day

[@marcelrodriguez2067]

When i go to my LFS there are more dead fish then alive 😂 you can probably find parasites there that havent even been discovered by scientists lol

[@BulkReefSupply]

😬

[@emanuel12451]

No way I buy from Blue Reef all the time!!

[@emanuel12451]

Are you in Vegas?

[@HorseWithSnakeLegs]

M.

[@redfish7644]

Waste of time video,, better off just telling us where we can buy quarantined fish online ,,