LFS Loss Rates

[Anonymous]

Vitz, if you don't think the wholesalers have similar losses just ask them. I see the undertakers going around wholesale outfits with a big tub of dead fish when I go. I am sure etailers that stock and tranship have the same numbers. I suspect now that I broke down and put in copper my loss rates will go down a bit. I always hated copper but with these new strains of ICH that are resistant to hypo salinity I had no choice. Formalin was not doing the trick 100% and It just is a pain to make sure the employees are vigilant to not use a copper net to catch something in an invert tank.

dude-i spend about 14 hrs a day working in one, no need to ask

 

[RichardS]

Thanks for the intelligent responses. Plenty of good stuff to talk about but it's a busy day and I still have some of that husbandry to do.

This could be a good thread if everyone can refrain from feeding the troll.

 

[swsaltwater]

Vitz I to do not like shops with improper setups. I am always looking for ways to improve mine with new tech. I only kept the crap systems the previous owner had a few months. I spent every cent of the shops first 2 months profit to do a 15k+ upgrade then. Now I am doing a large one that will put it over the top on filtration. He had no respect for the livestock but I sure do. I hate to see the dead fish but it happens. The only healthy fish I loose are jumpers. The others I usually can pinpoint from the acclimation tub after shipment, seldom does a fish die that I didn't have as Not for sale due to it's appearance on arrival. Powder Blue Tangs are an extreme example. If I get a top quality one it will do great, if it is stressed at all upon arrival, nothing I do will save it as it won't eat.

 

[Anonymous]

depending on what's causing the 'stress', have you tried keeping them covered and dark for the the first 24-36 hours ?

often tangs will lie on their sides on the floor, or 'lean' on the sides of a tank and get a fairly severe 'burn' on their skin where they touch the tank floor or sides, when stressing, as well (probably from the bacterial biofilm). placing a tang in a tank that's first scrubbed may help

 

[swsaltwater]

I have tried isolation in a qt tank in the dark amoung other methods. A number of meds. PBT's are a 50-50 for me. I keep em in my show tank with no issue though. I have tried a ddark 80 gallon alone, no change, they never start eating or they are fine, nothing in between for me.

 

[Anonymous]

Hey guys,

I think that we hear from lots of 'good' stores and wholesalers on the forum, but from very few of the 'bad' ones that I think outnumber the 'good' ones. In a thread like this, I don't think we are going to hear from any facility that experiences 50% plus DOA and DAA, and I know they are out there.
What do you guys think the loss rates overall for LFS are?

 

[cindre2000]

Well, I cannot say to much about where I work since I do not work to much with the budgeting; however, I can try and chime in a little.

The store is a not soley aquatics oriented so the system is quite old and could use an upgrade. Saltwater fish/inverts consists of a row of twenty gallon tanks lit by ambient lighting. There is at least a 200 gallon communal sump with a diy wet dry made out of a trash can. Coral is kept in a 125 and a 180 with VHO and 'show' fish. There is also a 300 gallon rubbermaid live rock bin.

I would day DOA depends a whole lot on the shipment. On a good week we lose about 5%; on a bad week (shipping delays) we can lose a whole lot more. Additional deaths from already ailing fish would only raise the total to 10-15% on a good week. Fish loss due to me usually are damsels and chromis since they have to be overstocked in their tank. Overall fresh water has a much higher number of losses to crowding and volume.

Maintinence includes feeding the fish and topping off the system. I am normally to busy to test the water except for salinity during high volume sales weeks. Actually I might as well do that tommorrow. Water change so far has been every other week on all of the systems (depending on water availability).

There is a lot I would want to change; however, it is a small store and they are still recovering from poor management (lost two stores). Hopefully they will get a new freshwater system soon and I can revamp the old tanks for salt, 50 gallon displays are so much better than 20s, even if they are poorly plumbed (fixable).