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Really off topic tbh, my little girl wanted a tropical fish tank for her birthday so 4 weeks ago I brought and set one up for her, went out to buy her fish over the weekend spent £40 on the ones she wanted today all dead, white spot infection. I have read up and this takes 7 days to incubate so the fish had ot when I brought them. I called up the hollybush garden centre and they said sorry no refunds no replacement as they only garrentee there stock for 48hrs, what chance have you got when u buy fish already infected from.this place without knowing and not able to get a refund no credit nothing name and shame Hollybish garden centre Cannock there stock is ****

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I had ich on my clown loach years ago. I messed up the temp and it stressed them, along with the disease and I lost them. Guessing it came in from pets at home when the misses and son bought some new tetras. Lots of £s gone. The treatment is a pain, many many water cycles to cure, and if I was you, quite honestly I'd get rid of the gravel if your starting again (if you've lost everything) as I wouldn't risk it. 

Or, and its a ball ache, get a big pan and boil the hell out of the gravel. I done that a few times when doing a deep clean. 

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I had tropical fish for many years and bred many rare species. F1/F2 Lochariidae etc. At one stage I had 7 tanks including a 6ftx2ftx3ft .

In all honesty the issue is with your set up and stocking not the fish supplied. You don’t put £40 of fish in a new tank. Once cycled you put a single guppy in it then a few more to build up the ammonia load for the nitrogen fixing bacteria. Test frequently for ammonia and nitrite, if clear for 1 week of daily tests then add another small  fish and repeat. You can shorten the process with seed filter media etc but at your level it’s not worth it. White spot treatment stains the silicon and it never comes out. Just leave the tank to cycle for a while. A UV filter is great but adds too much cost to justify for your set up. I used to have UVs on the big tanks and a hospital tank to quarantine fish. 

In the end I sold my entire aquatic collection as it was getting too much. 3 boys, 2 dogs, 1 cat and 400 fish. 

PM me your number and I’ll call you sometime to explain in detail. Too complicated and boring to type. 

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I only buy fish from 1 place now, and have that many Pleco's and shrimps in a 200ltr tank i am now looking at moving some on to reduce the number in the tank. This is actually a garden centre, but very knowledgeable honest staff.  

Whit spot is a funny one, you may need to do a course of treatment now in the tank to remove any dormant spores, i have to read up on stuff now cus i forget things, but im sure you need to raise the temp to stimulate the growth of the spores and dose over a few days. (Not 100% though) 

 

@WalkedUpBang on regarding the amount of fish in one go, i obviously didn't read all the OP's post. Too many Too fast. Aslo using a small quarantine tank is a good idea, it cast me a good number of shrimps due to introducing an infection from contaminated fish, medication is risky with shrimps etc. 

Edited by Dougy
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4 minutes ago, Dougy said:

it cast me a good number of shrimps due to introducing an infection from contaminated fish, medication is risky with shrimps etc. 

Yes invertebrates and scaleless fish (rays, clown loaches etc) are very sensitive to medications. I loved the crustaceans though, could watch them  feeding for hours. I used to hatch brine shrimp for them, and hand feed some fish crickets etc, the locariidae had fresh veg everyday. Plants were on CO2, sub gravel soil, liquid fertiliser and huge lights. I can’t believe how much effort it all was and by the end I had automated water changes, plumbed in tanks etc. 

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I had an awesome fighting fish. 
 

The staff in the centre listed a few fish he was supposedly ok to live with but he kicked the **** out of all of them. 
 

In the end he got stuck in his little sponge Bob house and died 🤦‍♂️
 

RIP Connor the fighting fish! 

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10 hours ago, WalkedUp said:

I had tropical fish for many years and bred many rare species. F1/F2 Lochariidae etc. At one stage I had 7 tanks including a 6ftx2ftx3ft .

In all honesty the issue is with your set up and stocking not the fish supplied. You don’t put £40 of fish in a new tank. Once cycled you put a single guppy in it then a few more to build up the ammonia load for the nitrogen fixing bacteria. Test frequently for ammonia and nitrite, if clear for 1 week of daily tests then add another small  fish and repeat. You can shorten the process with seed filter media etc but at your level it’s not worth it. White spot treatment stains the silicon and it never comes out. Just leave the tank to cycle for a while. A UV filter is great but adds too much cost to justify for your set up. I used to have UVs on the big tanks and a hospital tank to quarantine fish. 

In the end I sold my entire aquatic collection as it was getting too much. 3 boys, 2 dogs, 1 cat and 400 fish. 

PM me your number and I’ll call you sometime to explain in detail. Too complicated and boring to type. 

£40 of fish was only a pair of young rams and 3 young barbs that they recommended to start off with it wasnt like I brought £40 worth of guppies at a £1 each and over populated it , the tank had been cycling for a month i did the ph test all came clear even took a sample to the centre for them.to ok it first, i used to breed Oscar's many moons ago so not my first time fish keeping just disappointed with there response tbh more than anything 

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To be fair to you that’s a low stocking for a sized reasonably tank (70-100L). The rams would typically have a lower pH range than the barbs so it seems an odd mix for them to sell you as tank mates. Certainly rams wouldn’t be a typical starter fish for a tank. I do feel bad for you and your daughter that it’s been a disappointing outcome but I know that if I had a tropical fish shop I wouldn’t guarantee the fish past the shop door as it’s impossible to know what’s occurred to them. So on balance 48 hours seems reasonable.

Don’t give up though, find another shop that will give better advice. Tell them it’s a new tank, tell them the history and then stick with them. It’s cheaper to buy equipment online these days so undercut all shops profits but I always bought from my preferred shop because it fostered a good relationship. 

Just my two pennies worth. Good luck 👍

10 hours ago, Dougy said:

This is a bit of a beast, 1 of 3. , we dont see much of them. 

fish.jpg

tank.jpg

Great planting, makes me nostalgic for my tanks 😢

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13 hours ago, WalkedUp said:

In all honesty the issue is with your set up and stocking not the fish supplied. You don’t put £40 of fish in a new tank.

Agree with this but the issue is still with the fish supplier, in particular they should not have given rams to a new tank! 

Find a good 'local fish shop' not one within a garden centre and not a chain, definitely not pets at home! Just be warned, fish tanks can be like guns, start off with one and they multiply.

 

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I would politely write to them saying that you are dissatisfied and ask what they will do. I would mention their Facebook page and good Google reviews and suggest that their next review might not be so glowing.

I have had three pay-outs this year for bad service - largest - £116. I write a rather nice complaint. That said, i have written many, many thankyou letters / e-mails when the service has been above and beyond.

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