Pet store rescue!

[richgrenfell]

My dog and I went to our local petsmart to get some dog and cat supplies. I almost never buy fish there but I always walk through (you never can tell what you'll find). Off in a corner in 76 degree water, I found the fish pictured below.
The poor thing looked like it felt horrible, and was cowering in the top corner. My dog was wagging her tail and gave a bit of a whine. funny how animals can tell things about one another isn't it? Anyway, the fish looked really rough and i decided I needed to walk away. The whole time we were shopping, I couldn't stop thinking about that fish! i really felt sorry for the poor thing. I knew all it really needed was some good heat and TLC. So after I had all I needed (and my dog decided she didn't like one of the other dogs in the store), I went back for another look. i know the fish room person pretty well (and about every other one in my area too), and I overheard her talking to the manager "we'll have to come down on the price but he came back twice so he'll probably take it". Not wanting to prove the lady wrong I said "so how much does this fish REALLY cost?"
she just laughed and shook her head. "Well, i don't know how much is he worth to you?" The price on the tank was $39.99" I dunno, i'm gonna have to do alot of nursing, and being wild it will most likely need to be de-wormed, and i'll need to treat for external stuff and...."Oh alright! she said, how does $25.00 sound?" I looked down at Raven (my dog) and she seemed pretty happy with it so I said "Yeah that sounds about right". He (or she) is in a 90 degree 15 gallon quarantine tank. Some color has returned and the bars have faded considerably. I thought i'd post because you guys are always looking for pics of wilds and I thought you'd enjoy the story! I just couldn't leave the poor thing there to meet his doom due to neglect. i'll try and get him to eat tonight. Do tell me what you think of this fish.

Rich

[April]

id say in a bit he should look like a happy fish. take a pic in a few weeks for us.
let us know if he gets eating. could be worse...i was envisioning alot worse.

[richgrenfell]

He was alot worse looking in the store. When I tanked him his color changed almost instanly! I have the lights off at the moment. But i'll post progress reports.

Rich

[susankay1]

I'd say you are a hero. Good to know I'm not the only soft hearted person out there....besides my hubby!

[April]

look at my avatar...yours doenst look that much different than that one. that one was meant to be a royal blue wild. i got him from a lfs.

[richgrenfell]

So you think he'll color up to look like that one? I didn't say i though he was a crap fish. i was pretty happy once I got him home and at a sufficient temp. Just hard to tell when he's almost black cowering in the upper corner...

Rich

[April]

very good possibility he will look like that one .
that one in my avatar ended up showingmore red eventually . guess diet. was more blue when i got it.

[richgrenfell]

He was sold to me as a wild blue. My plan is to use this fish as a cross hopefully. I have a group of 7 red turks, and I have decided to keep 3 of them. once they are a bit more mature, if this guy is still around, i'll mix em' and see what happens.

rich

[yogi]

I think you made a great choice in rescuing that discus. From the picture you posted it shows a lot of potential. I have to agree with April that it might end up as a royal blue. I think you have a better chance of ending up with something called a gypsy blue. There is a debate on how the name gypsy came about, but that is another story. A gypsy blue is usually not as nice as a royal blue, but much nicer than a common blue. good luck with this fish

[Jason]

:thumbsup:

[Francisco_Borrero]

I have no doubt it is a royal blue. It may not look like much now, and may take quite a bit of TLC, but will get to look a lot better (more intense and/or iridescent blue, reddish-brown striations instead of olive, and eye that reflects life, overall thickness, general deportment, etc.). If it gets to look half as nice as April's, you'd have done fine. It probably will do that and more.
I would say that heat alone, good food and good water would do wonders for him. However, It does look as if it had been mistreated for a good while. I would be looking at the poop and thinking in a general deworming just as you suggested, whether you meant it or not.
Good luck and thanks for sharing, Francisco.

[richgrenfell]

Thank you for all the comments. I am a little excited now that Francisco thinks he's a Royal! Francisco, I will pay attention to the poop (i have not tried to feed yet) but will probably do a deworm. I have some flubendasol around. I never thought i'd get this interested in just one fish!

Rich

[Jason]

get the fish eating well then do a treatment or two of panacur before the flubendazole course.

definately a good find, its fully striated!

[April]

yes i agree. more striations than the one in my avatar.
mine the striations petered out a bit in the center.
i paid 120 cad for mine.but they had the price at 200. on the tanks.
keep us updated.

[richgrenfell]

I'll certainly post updates. how much is 120 cad in usd?

Rich

[brewmaster15]

Hi Rich!

I think that one will be a real nice one with a little TLC.
:) Just don't break QT. :)

-al

[brewmaster15]

by the way....remind me to tease you on this...


My plan is to use this fish as a cross hopefully


Crossing strains! ;) :) LOl

-al

[knobby]

Looks like a pretty 'saveable' fish to me.

Nice price too ! (as long as it survives hehe)

Hasn't been long yet....but any signs of improvement?

Hi Rich

I'da brought him home too :thumbsup:

Good Luck with him..... or her ;)

Beth

[April]

120 cad is about 2000 usd. lol.
not really....about 200.
our dollar is catching up!!!

[richgrenfell]

He seems to be doing a little better this evening.
at first he didn't move around much and just kind of stood in one place. He's moving around a little bit more. He bumps into things sometimes though. I tried a bit of live brine shrimp, but he didn't take any. I'll try some CBW's tomorrow.
Even though he's moving around more, his stress bars are pretty dark tonight....

Rich

[richgrenfell]

Looks like he wasn't any better off here than at petsmart. found the poor thing dead this morning. sad.....

Rich

[O]

Sorry to hear that, Rich. Too Bad! I guess you did not get to him in time.
:'( :'( :'(

O.

[richgrenfell]

Yeah I picked him up on Monday, and he got there friday afternoon. So he spend the whole weekend in cold water. petsmart has a 2 week no questions asked warranty. i think i'll ask them to order me another blue and just be there when it arrives. Maybe i'll end up with a nice fish anyway.

Rich

[April]

aaaaaaahh..... so sad. i was hoping he would do well and youd have a great fish .
sorry to hear. poor thing.
well you did your best.

[RandalB]

Rich,
If you want wild blues, talk to Paulio here on simply. Save yourself the aggravation....


RandalB

[Carol_Roberts]

Appears to be lots of bad bugs going around right now - airborne too. I don't know if I'd risk the rest of my discus by bringing home fish that have been through Petsmart.

[richgrenfell]

You know Carol,
that is one hell of a thought! I need a few things, i'll just get a credit. When i'm ready for wilds i'll look up some of the people that sell clean ones. Thanks for the advice!

Rich

[Tristanyyz]

Good Idea!

Check out www.belowwater.com he is based out of Montreal however will ship anywhere. I am very happy with the wilds i bought from him, and plan to get more in the near future.