Dear all,

Just thought I'll bring up a topic for discussion here.

Having just returned to the hobby 6 months ago, I realised from hopping around the LFSs, that there is a variation in the quality of fishes sold.

As an example, let's talk about the Cherry Barb.

I have managed to buy some good quality Cherry Barbs from a couple of LFS, but have also seen some LFS with very poor quality stock. For example, fishes with deformed backs and bodies, looking especially thin, bloated stomachs etc. And these fishes are not those that have kept in the shop for a long time. I've witnessed the shopkeepers pouring out the fishes from the supplier bags and straight away the fishes are of very poor quality.

So my questions are:
1) Is the discrepancy due to the fishes being imported from different countries?
2) Does the fish come from the same supplier but with variations in quality for different batches?
3) Why do some LFS still take in such poor quality fishes which will likely die in huge numbers and make a loss? Why don't they just reject the suppliers outright?
4) Why don't the suppliers just cull the poor stock instead of releasing them for sale? Newbies to the hobby will unknowingly buy such fishes only to have them die soon and exit the hobby quickly. Hence, the business makes a short term gain but loses out in the long run. Afterall, ornamental fishes is not a necessity in life and people can just move on to other hobbies.

Just some questions at the back of my mind cause I feel that if the LFS business is to make any headway, then there must be a greater focus on quality. Afterall, if the LFS rejects poor quality fishes from the suppliers, the suppliers will feel the pain and will subsequently have to improve at their end.

Thanks for any replies.