[quote=”Peter Finke” post=4685]I think that Ruinemans is different; they know what they get and sell. For many wholesalers fish are fish and selling fish is like selling tomatoes or software. But when Ruinemans got licorice gouramies they knew that these are blackwater fish living in very soft, acid waters and feed on small live food.
Although it is bad news that the fish are ill, it is good news that they did not ship them because of that. In most cases it’s Oodinium and very, very often traded Paros are infected by that. But it’s not seen by the people and often it’s not even seen by the aquarist who buys them. The cause is very often to be found in Asia already. Whereas European wholesalers as Ruinemans know well about the differences and try to act accordingly, the Asian weeks after the catch are often a martyrium for the fish. It begins with the catchers who earn cents only and often combine one small catch and others in the same bag, removing the dead every second day. Then at the exporters station, there are generally no Paro-specialists working, and many other species are their bread-and-butter-fish. Let’s not talk at all about feeding …
When the small but fine Mannheim-shop “Rasbora aquaristics” still existed, the owner Mme. Hanel mostly received Paros in the condition of illness by Oodinium. And she treated them with heat and salt before selling any of them further. My first P. ornaticauda which I got from there had such a history, but afterwards they were sound and without any illness. I am not sure it is the same this time, but I do think it a good sign that Ruinemans realized and tries to combat it. However, we can only hope they will recover.