From my in box

[Coryman]

Got the message below in my in box a little while back and thought I would see how you guys would deal with it. It came without and introduction or a signature, just an e-mail address. Normally I would delete such mails as they are becoming all to frequent, but this one is well, interesting!

Ian


I purchased a species of corydora from walmart. I bought a pair (I always buy in pairs), and one died almost right away. The other one has survived but now it seems as though his eyes have been "pecked" out. He has only empty sockets. What should I do? Should I buy a couple more to keep him company? I'm not an ethusiast per say. I buy the fish and my husband takes care of them. Please help me. His other tank mates are as follows: 2 Plecos (1 is about 7 inches the other is about 3 inches), 3 goldfish (all between 4 and 6 inches), 1 angel fish (about as big around as an apple), 5 tetras ( about 1 inch), 2 cichlids (about 2 inches), 1 parrot mouth cichlid (about 3 inches) and 2 black fin sharks (about 3 inches). The tank is 50 gal with vegetation and rock formations for cover.

[ginagv]

LoL well it may just be me, but my instinct is to find out where she lives.. go over and rescue that poor cory then smack her on the head....

that poor poor cory....

Gina

[wrasse]

I agree Ian... its hard to know what to say. She is not the fishkeeper, he is. Maybe recommend she buys him a good book on fish instead.

[celticfish]

I made a very big boo-boo once by placing an aggressive cichlid with some alibino sterbai.
They had their eyes pecked out too...
After the incident they fish had grown flesh over their sockets and it look like the sockets were never there.
I believe the feelers are their saving grace.
They forage for food and seems to feel one another out with them.

In his list of tank mates I reckon the angel fish or the parrot fish is the culprit.
So unless he removes it I say just leave the fish be and not add on more cories.

Here is a picture before the boo-boo.


And here is one after the incident.
You can see its well fed and doing well.
This picture is taken by Eugene Sng.


Another picture but closer.
The socket is lit up by the flash.
With just the aquarium lights the socket is "smooth over" by the flesh growth.

[Jools]

This is a wider comment, but because I had a hand in suggesting that Ian post this particular example here too, I hope it's within topic.

What, actually, makes people think they have the right to expect online help? I mean, don't people know what time it takes to run a site. And to email directly (one-to-one not re-usable) as opposed to some form of work shared forum? If this were an LFS, then fine, you're going to buy something, probably. But its not. If this were the ICT industry we'd be charging $50-£200 an hour for the expertise (technical consultancy). But its not.

I have certainly emailed experts out-of-the-blue asking for help, but I've try where possible to give something back and always consider if the recipient is likely to be bombarded with such requests or not.

I also find this an increasing trend in my inbox too, in fact one that I now have a stock reply email for. It makes me wonder, is this just because more and more people are online, or is it something else.

Jools

[MatsP]

I'm pretty sure it's "more people know how to get in contact with others that they expect to answer the question".

I don't get many e-mails - probably because my e-mail address isn't quite as public as Jools' or Ian's, but I do get the odd PM that I have to say is more suitable in a public forum - and I explain why I think that is the case each time.

The same applies to "Urgent" or "please help" notifications in the subject of posts - what makes someone think their question is more urgent than someone elses?

--
Mats

[2wheelsx2]

The same applies to "Urgent" or "please help" notifications in the subject of posts - what makes someone think their question is more urgent than someone elses?

The same thing that makes people think they can push to the front of the line while talking on the cellphone. I recently had someone PM me on another forum for a CO2 system I was considering selling. A friend of mine told him that I was thinking about selling, but he didn't respond until the day before a business trip and then the guy PM'd and said he needed it that day and can I deliver. When asked why he didn't contact me earlier, even though he had known all week, and sorry I can't deliver as I'm on my way out of the country, the response was that his other deals had all fallen through and now he wants mine and he needed it right away. Needless to say, he didn't get the courtesy of a response on that one.

[grokefish]

I don't mind the 'urgent' ones, If I can help someone and they need advice quickly then I am happy to help.
On the flip side, if something has become 'urgent' its probably too late anyway.

Remember the user that posted an 'urgent' topic not long back then proceeded to slag everyone that replied, that was amusing.

[Coryman]

This particular mail came through the contact webmaster at my site.

No introduction, no 'Dear Sir' or even basic 'Hello' and at the other end just an e-mail address, not even a 'Thank you'.

Sorry but in most of these cases the red button comes into play.

Ian

[ginagv]

My reaction is still an emotional one.. That poor baby.. that had to hurt and now he's all alone..

If I were ANYWHERE near by I'd go rescue that poor soul.. I swear...

And yes, I am an overly emotional woman.. sue me

Gina

[MatsP]

But Ian is clearly not nearby - as far as I know, the nearest Walmart to England would be somewhere on the east coast of the US.

And if you have three or four e-mails like this every week - which I wouldn't be surprised if it was - then you clearly can't go fetch every mistreated fish that appear in your inbox - even if all of them are within reasonable driving distance.

--
Mats

[ginagv]

Oh I know.. and like I said I am an over emotional girl.. I can't watch nature films.. I can't watch lions kill gazelles... I can't watch anything die.. This is why I can't go to pet stores.. I'd buy everything! I can't go to humane shelters, I'd bring home the entire place.. I just can't think about it without getting upset...

I'm too empathic or something.. that poor cory had to suffer getting his eye eaten out buy that cichlid! So I feel for it.. and being a social fish, not being able to see or feel any friends must be terrifying.. thats all I'm saying...

Just wipe off your computer screen.. It's just me being overly emotional all over it


Gina