Dealing with the LFS

[gilpil]

I try to visit the 2 LFS an least as possible, mainly because of the people who work at one, and then the other does not know much, and the fish always look terrible. Anyway, I am new to this and wanted to ask the people who have been doing this for a long time, what they look for when they are considering a fish at the LFS? What questions do you ask them?
Maybe I am just frustrated with my options, but I do want to get better at picking out fish, I guess these questions come about because after 6 months of absolute success, I bought some "easy fish" and they did not last long at all. Anyway, any suggestions would be great. Thanks all.

 

[effloresce]

Make sure their eyes are clean not cloudy or with a film over them, make sure thye are swimming around and look active, make sure they dont scratch the rocks/sand or have scrated on them, also make sure thye dont have white blotches on them, if possible ask the LFS if they would feed the fish for you, make sure the fish comes out while feeding time and is eating, also make sure they are plump.

 

[gilpil]

the feeding tip is a good idea, I just lost an ocellaris clown who I had for about a week and a half, who would eat the food, but spit it right back out. I got really thin and died.

 

[beth]

Always take a magnifying glass with you to the LFS and give the fish a good look: are the gills red? breathing normal or labored? Fins have any sign of spikes eroding, colors good and vibrant? Ask the store to feed the fish to see if he will eat. You want to look for any skin or eye discoloration, any marks on the fish. Fins should be perky with clean edges, etc.
Not that any of that is a sure fire way to get a healhty fish, but its a start.

 

[duke13]

Also, if your local fish store is called '*****', don't buy any of their fish (unless you can intercept them from their supplier before they put the fish into their diseased tanks).