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What to Look out for when buying Saltwater Fish
Before buying marine fish will need to look at two areas:
- Appearance and
- Behaviour
We now look more closely at the appearance of the marine fish, area to look at include eyes,mouth,fins,skin,sclaes and abdomen.
- Eyes
- Mouth
- Fins
- Skin & Scales
- Abdomen (Stomach)
The eys should awways be bright and clear and normally set in the head, Bacterial infections will knowly show up as grey cloudy film or light misty appearance over the eye. Fish with sunken eyes, that look to small for the socket is not a good sign and normally show signs of posioning.
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There should be no evidence of injury around the mouth, an injury around this area has the potential for the saltwater fish to not eat and may cause fungus or bacterial infections.
The fins should have good shape with no rough or jagged edges. Signs of poor fins is fayed o ratted which can be a tell tale sign of ammonia burn from collecting and poor water quality or just fighting with other fishes, again this can lead to bacterial infection of other fish diseases.
The skin and scales should be smooth and well colored. Indistinct, discolored blotches on the upper sides are usually a sign of an internal disease, especially if associated with rapid breathing. Uplifted, raised or missing scales are also a bad sign.
The abdomen or stomach should be well rounded and contex in a healthy looking fish, when a fish starts to loose body mass the abdomen will become concave (sunken in) Fedding becomes an important part of the well being of any fish and if eating well should allow to get over fish stress and othe minor issues.
Guide to Buying Saltwater Fishes
Buying saltwater fish for your newly set up saltwater aquarium is the most exciting and rewarding part of setting up.
When choicing your saltwater fish we need choice the healthy nad happy fish to ensure the best chance of a maintaining a nice aquarium.
Saltwater Fish carry so many pathogens - organisms that cause fish diseases, which it only takes a period for the fish stress to give the pathogens a foothold and make them sick.
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Here are a few guidelines to help ensure that buying your saltwater fish is easier and less stressful to you.
Finding a Dealer
While you are in the process of setting up your saltwater aquarium we have a few weeks to look while the aqaurum goes though the nitrogen cycle.
Talk to the salesperson that is knowledgeable on the subject and learn what you can from him, preferably look for a specialist shop that sells just fish and equipment rather tahn a general pet shop with a few tanks.
It should be clean with a good selection of livestock and equipments. The supplier should also be prepared to tell you the name of his suppliers. Once you have found a dealer you like stick with him.
Buying Saltwater Fish that are Healthy
When you have selected your dealer, now its time to choice your fish. Plan the fish you want to buy and dont buy that fish staright away, observe and study the fish and look for dead or dying fish with the same aquarium.
Even if the fish you spotted and want looks healthy, if one or more of the fish in the same aquarium is about to die or worst, dead – walk away! There is a problem in that aquarium tank
Make sure that all the fishes in the aquarium are swimming around and behaving normally.
NEVER buy saltwater fish without first doing a research about it, as we neeed to know whats normal behaviour for the fish you want.
For example some fish swims in a strange way and others like to hide most of the time and may only come out at night. So research is important.
Finally, it’s important to know if the fish is eating and what is it feeding on, by asking simply questins to the dealer you will learn what its eating habits are and how often they need feeding.
Text and Photo Source: Saltwater Aquarium Online Guide
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