Strangest thing you've ever seen in an aquarium

[Astrivian]

Here's an idea. What is the strangest/most inappropriate thing you have ever seen in someone elses (hopefully ) aquarium?

Let me get it started with a good one:

A) A cat skull.
Yes a real skull from my roommate's pet cat. When it died he felt like he had to 'honor' it. So he removed the skull and put it in his FW tank . What a nutjob. It is still in the tank too, after four years, and it looks really gross.

[wwest]

I would have to say beer bottles. i had a friend that had a Pacu, i think the tank was 90 gallons? and that pacu was huge. well it was a party house and to be creative he thought he would make a structure in his tank with beer bottles. it was strange looking. but i guess if you are drunk 22 hours out of the day you might think it was cool lol.

[RocketSeason]

He removed his cats skull!?! That is AWFUL!?! There is definatly someting wrong with that guy. MAN! I thought my romate was a freak!

I have no stories like that, but when my wife and I were still dating, her little cousins would come over and throw items into her FW fishtank.

Items I found in the tank in one visit was:

a vase
a bottle of lotion
a battery powered alarm clock
perfume
pencils
a pad of paper

[jokeloma]

A full size pencil urchin that must have came in as a hitchhiker a couple of years ago.

[Astrivian]

He removed his cats skull!?! That is AWFUL!?! There is definatly someting wrong with that guy. MAN! I thought my romate was a freak!

Yea living with this dude was interesting. I learned a lot of wierd blue-collar habits and techniques. Removing the skull was one of these things; OMG i didn't go back into the apartment for three days it smelled so bad.

Although, i have to say a battery powered alarm clock is pretty cool. Was it still working in the tank? I guess the kids thought it would help wake up the fish in the morning

[CarmieJo]

You guys have some odd friends! And here I thought plastic aquarium ornaments were the worst.

[V]

picture this> u lose your brand new $1600 cell phone off the table,which rivals nasa's space platforms, only to find it again when u go to feed the tanks, which just as an added bonus isn't ever in the history of cell phones covered for water damage..lol i should turn the grounding probe into an electric kiddie fence!

[Danamck]

Worst thing I've ever seen (in a local fish store) - a 3 foot Blacktip Reef Shark in a 4 foot by 1 foot 55 gallon aquarium. Stupid, cruel and unethical.

Dumbest thing (in a different local fish store) - a Blue Ring Octopus. Yes - let's all purchase a pet that can easily kill us. Just plain stupid.

Believe it or not, there are many good fish stores in Northern California. There are also a few bad ones.

[RocketSeason]

We don't get fish stores like that here in Illinois.

But you have to be a complete Idiot to think that throwing a 3 foot black shark in a 55 gallon aquarium is alright. Its a FREAKIN SHARK for god sakes. You would think an LFS should have at least minimal knowledge of shark care.

A shark needs to swim to breath. I learned that on the Discovery Channel when I was 6!

[Small Fry]

The Corbrets Pets shop (horrible pet store chain) repeated the "shark incident" however it was some kind of bottom feeding shark (i was 8) and was a good 3 feet long the tank was no longer than 40" long as the shark had no room to turn around or swim.

But they gave this tank its own skimmer so it was all okay

(just joking for those who didnt catch that )

[Astrivian]

Here's something i just saw, since we are talking about LFS's. Out of a total of maybe 25, 20 to 30 gallon marine tanks: 7 dead fish, 2 dying, 1 almost completely decayed to the skeleton. OMG! I mentioned this to the employee (the only one there) and he just said "Yea that happens," and walked away.

Okay, sorry for the analogy, but could you imagine if we were talking about kittens instead of fish? Bet you wouldn't get a cat, or any thing, from a store with seven dead kittens in the cages.

[Danamck]

Astrivian -

Yes, that's common with a few fish stores around here. I know that part of the reason is that the larger stores deal directly with importers, so your naturally going to have a higher death rate.

I remember back when most marine fish were being caught with cyanide (early 90's?), a LFS owner told me this story:

When the fish are caught w/ cyanide - about half die instantly.
Of the 50% that live - half die before they ever make it to the exporter.
Of the remaining fish - half die on their way to the importer.
Of those remaining fish - half die on their way to fish stores.
And those that survive long enough to be sold to hobyists, 90% of those die.
I did the math, and decided to never buy another fish unless I was reasonably sure it was net caught. Of course, there really is no way to know for sure.

I have oftern thought that if I owned a fish store, I would have a separate section where I quarantined all new arrivals. They would be on display, but I would not sell them for at least 2 weeks. I realize that I would have to charge more for fish than other stores, but I know that I would pay more for a fish that was treated this way.

It amazes me that I can not think of a single fish store in Northern California that has a separate area for treating sick fish. I guess it's cheaper to let them die than try and save them.

And I agree - if we were talking about kittens, or puppies, or birds, or even mice and hamsters, this would be a different situation.

[CarmieJo]

OK, so it is a fact that shipping is hard on fish and some die just from that stress. But to not remove bodies from the tank, that is just poor business.

My favorite LFS has a policy that they won't sell a fish until it is eating. The owner is looking at expanding and doing just what you suggested Dana, quarantining all fish for a minimum of 2 weeks.

[Braves11]

At the nearby pet-pad i saw several goodsized clown loaches in an African Cichlid tank.
Also, has anyone seen the renovated Pine Knoll Shores Aquarium? They have one tank that has golf balls and such in it.

[pham411]

THIS! only mines was about a foot long. Nasty little bastards, they ate most my yumas and zoas

[Stevej72]

THIS! only mines was about a foot long. Nasty little bastards, they ate most my yumas and zoas

I had a Eunicid worm also mine was about 6 inches long.

[pham411]

is that what its called? eunicid, thanks

[wildeone]

At the nearby pet-pad i saw several goodsized clown loaches in an African Cichlid tank.
Also, has anyone seen the renovated Pine Knoll Shores Aquarium? They have one tank that has golf balls and such in it.

I just went there last week, and yes it does, it was the "Fairway Pond" tank. It had golf balls and lots of Koi. Great Aquarium by the way.

Here is a photo I took of the bug tank with the replica WWII German Sub in it.

[Astrivian]

Astrivian -
I have oftern thought that if I owned a fish store, I would have a separate section where I quarantined all new arrivals. They would be on display, but I would not sell them for at least 2 weeks. I realize that I would have to charge more for fish than other stores, but I know that I would pay more for a fish that was treated this way.

I agree danamck, this is a good idea. The store i gave a shout out to in the podcast, Premier Fish and Reef in Denver, does quarantine all new fish for a week or so before putting them up for sale. Of course, the fish are more expensive, but i have no issue paying more for quality. Also, it was more the fact, as carmiejo mentioned, that the dead bodies were still left in the tank. Talk about an ammonia spike. I am a believer in the aquarists rule of buying: if there is a dead fish in the tank, avoid the entire tank. I can see having a fish die in the middle of the day and the employees not seeing the body before a customer did. But seven? This tells me that they don't take care of, or care about, their stock at all.

Where's PETA when it comes to aquarium fish anyway?

[Danamck]

Samuel -

Where is this fish store in Denver? 20 years ago, while still living in California, I worked in Denver for 2 years. Talk about your commute! I spent 11 days in Denver, then got to come home for 3, then back to Denver. It was very hard, but I absolutely loved the area. As a matter of fact, I proposed to my wife while she was visiting me in Denver. When we eventually leave CA, the Denver area is on our short list of places we want to live.

OK - back to this fish store. When I was travelling, there was a very nice fish store that had a very nice salt water fish selection. In the fish room, all of the new arrivals were quarantined in the back in one of those acrylic "wall of small cube tanks" set up. Their tanks were always clean, and their fish were always healthy. They were also way more expensive than stores here in CA, but I attributed that to the quarantine philosophy and location. This is the only fish store I have ever seen a Bandit Angel. Look it up - they are stunning. He was eating and thriving. He was also $400. I was tempted, but I when I spoke with the owner, he was concerned that it might not survive the flight. I'm glad I did not purchase the fish, however. Upon researching this fish, I learned they ONLY eat sponge. He would of had a hard time finding sponge in my coral skeleton fish tank. And food with sponge in it was years from being introduced.

I am traveling to Denver on business in a few weeks. Whenever I travel, I always spend some time visiting LFS in the area. If you have any suggestions of stores that are worth the visit, and you have a few minutes, could you send me a list? Thank you.