Doctor's office tank, oh so bad.

55gSW · #1 02/01/2006, 07:54 AM

I had my son in to the doctor's office yesterday. They had a new tank in there, a saltwater tank. My guess would be that it's a 90g. (I have a 75g and this was the same length, same width, just a little taller). Anyway, the poor fish are in very bad condition. There is a pair of ocellaris clowns, with the biggest female ocellaris I have ever seen. Her mouth though, looked deformed and her body, the best I can describe it is it looked like her scales were irritated or had fine scratches on them. Very odd look, and the male looked the same way. There is also a large pj cardinal with horrible coloring but I couldn't make out any injuries as it was hanging in the back corner of the tank. Other fish include a 6" yellow tang, 6" hippo tang, 10" sailfin tang, 12" naso tang and another 10" tang that I didn't recognise. All the tangs with the exception of the yellow and naso had severe HLLE with the hippo being the absolute worst. Not only was his/her HLLE very advanced but this fish also had the scratchy look to it's scales plus major loss of color and the fish was listing too.
I tried to talk to the receptionist about the condition of the fish and tank and of course, it's being taken care of by a service. Even though she seemed somewhat concerned she made it pretty clear that the service was responsible and if a fish died, they replaced it just like they did with those (and she pointed to the naso and yellow). The doctor was even less responsive, saying that they were working on it. Whatever that means....
This has been bothering me all night, I can't stop thinking about that poor hippo tang. I wonder if it made it through the night.
What else can I do?

rizkeeper · #2 02/01/2006, 07:56 AM

To some people, this Hobby is only a business. Why would the maintenance comapny care? Fish dies, add another and charge the client.

old salty · #3 02/01/2006, 08:12 AM

Vote with your wallet; go to another doctor if it really bothers you.

CeeGee · #4 02/01/2006, 08:12 AM

I swear I believe that you should have to have a license to keep these animals.

Ira NZ · #5 02/01/2006, 08:16 AM

Why would they care? You might as well complain about the condition of posters on the wall or a little potted plant on the receptionist's desk. That's all they are to most people...

Sadly, that's the way it is.

roons · #6 02/01/2006, 08:29 AM

that many tangs along with everything else going on in that tank..................doesnt this fall under animal cruelty? tell the doctor youll take control of the tank if he treats your kid free of charge..........heh

ficklefins · #7 02/01/2006, 08:31 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by old salty
Vote with your wallet; go to another doctor if it really bothers you.

I would agree with this comment as long as you make it clear to the doctor that this was the reason you are going to another Doctor.

You could offer to help, but I don't think it would make a difference, especially because they showed no interest in helping. Sorry to hear about the horrible tank.

j0tca · #8 02/01/2006, 08:59 AM

Tell him what a horrible detraction it is from his lobby compared to how it couldbe. Then offer to take care of the tank for the same fees as the service. Bu a shingle, hang it out your window and go into buisness.

piscivorous · #9 02/01/2006, 10:45 AM

Animal cruelty.......

davidcalgary29 · #10 02/01/2006, 11:36 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by piscivorous
Animal cruelty.......

...and a clear indication of how he views his professional obligations and responsibilities. A doctor who is nonchalant about proper pet care is probably not the best person to entrust either yourself or your family to, IMO.

55gSW · #11 02/01/2006, 11:56 AM

It's a shame because he is a good doctor, but I think I will have to find a new one. I would offer to take over the tank, (I did offer some suggestions) but you know how you get those looks from people who are not into fish? Yeah, got that response....

roons · #12 02/01/2006, 12:00 PM

seeing that you are in fl, i would bet there is some sort of organization for the protection of animals, manatees come to mind, but i would bet you could find someone that has some sort of pull in that aspect to pay him a visit.....................its against the law to not care for a dog in your custody.................i dont know why exotic fish would be any different

brad23 · #13 02/01/2006, 12:06 PM

It's a shame but as someone said above, most people just look at them as dumb fish and could care less if they died because they can just buy some more.

Pandora · #14 02/01/2006, 12:12 PM

That's so sad. Especially coming from another doctor. We who work in this profession, I think should care about scientific learning in general, and specifically concerned about care for all living animals, not just people. Of course, many don't put fish in that category, to them, an aquarium is just another colorful decor item, like a painting or a lamp.

Also sad that the aquarium servicing company they are hiring seems to think it's more cost effective to replace sick fish than it is to change the water conditions that caused the illness to begin with, and prevent future illness. Is that the attitude a doctor should have... that you shrug your shoulders when a perfectly curable disease comes by? If I knew nothing about the hobby and hired someone else to do the servicing, and they did such a horrible job, I would open a book and see if I could do it myself better. Or at the least take the initiative, fire those guys, and hire someone better. The guy got through med school and seems to be good in his field now, so he's obviously got what it takes to do something about this situation, he just chooses not to because he doesn't see it as a priority.

Healthcare is a business when it boils down to it. They put up the tank thinking it would be an easy way to spruce up the office and draw in new customers (patients). This backfired bigtime. If it were me, I would put in a not-quite-so-subtle complaint, but I'm a bit of a nut.

Perhaps you could do some research and find a better aquarium servicing company in the area, and give him their business card?

55gSW · #15 02/01/2006, 12:34 PM

Quote:

Perhaps you could do some research and find a better aquarium servicing company in the area, and give him their business card?

That's a GREAT idea!!

To be fair to the doctor, I do believe that he is simply too busy to give the tank much thought. I'm going to do that, take in a business card from another outfit and see if things improve....

Drouse · #16 02/01/2006, 02:47 PM

I have a 90 corner in my office. I take great pride in my tanks.

My office tank however developed a large HA outbreak for the past 6 months. It looked horrible. I was greatly embarassed by it a worked every weekend to get it back in shape. Granted we are not talking about fish here, but the patients loved the HA. It looked so natural to them. Now that it is 90% gone they come in and complain about the coraline algae.

Only a few of my true reef patients appreciate the delicate balance of a reef tank.

Pandora · #17 02/01/2006, 02:57 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Drouse
I have a 90 corner in my office. I take great pride in my tanks.

My office tank however developed a large HA outbreak for the past 6 months. It looked horrible. I was greatly embarassed by it a worked every weekend to get it back in shape. Granted we are not talking about fish here, but the patients loved the HA. It looked so natural to them. Now that it is 90% gone they come in and complain about the coraline algae.

Only a few of my true reef patients appreciate the delicate balance of a reef tank.

Hehe, I know, reminds me of when kids at a school would oo and ahh at aiptasia (I think their parents loved it, too). I think the average patient would look at HLLE and think it is part of the natural coloration/shape of the fish.

Keep us updated, 55g, sounds like a good story. And the thing about being busy... I can certainly understand (or at least I could before my health forced me to put my residency on hold). But at the same time, if I were so busy I couldn't take care of my pets, I would find other arrangements before I saw them diseased from neglect.

reefdood · #18 02/01/2006, 03:28 PM

I was subbed out to maintain tanks like that. Twenty year old system, UGF through an overflow that held media, glass scratched to hell, etc. I tell you this, when I left the tanks were as clean as possible. That's all they wanted, and if we wouldn't do it they'd find someone else who would. I was working for a company (not self employed) so I couldn't pick and choose who's tanks were worth the time.

scunan · #19 02/01/2006, 03:49 PM

I know of a solution to this problem depending how many of the other patients you know who also use this doctor. If you point the problem out to other paying customers of the doctor and enough people complain, the doctor will take some sort of action.

Doctors do not like to lose paying customers.

matty0h_52 · #20 02/01/2006, 04:14 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by davidcalgary29
...and a clear indication of how he views his professional obligations and responsibilities. A doctor who is nonchalant about proper pet care is probably not the best person to entrust either yourself or your family to, IMO.

Totally agree

Drouse · #21 02/01/2006, 04:31 PM

"Doctors do not like to lose paying customers."

What profession likes to lose paying customers?
I'd like to lose all my non-paying.

McCrary · #22 02/02/2006, 02:21 AM

The doctor probably doesn't think you know as much as you do. Try to go in and talk to him about what he could do to change the condition of the tank or how he would go about getting another company to service the tank. The doctor probably cares less about losing a patient than the maintence company does about losing an account.

Ti · #23 03/29/2006, 02:24 AM

boycott the Dr.

NexDog · #24 03/29/2006, 10:00 AM

Just be more vocal with the doctor. Tell him he should be ashamed and embarrassed to have such a tank. Ask him what kind of compassion does he really have if that compassion doesn't extend to all creatures in his care. He only has the tank to have something exotic and pretty in his office and that in itself is pretty bad. Explain to him the amount of care these animals really need and explain that there's no way any "servicing" company can competently take care of the tank unless they are coming round at least twice a day to monitor things.

He has to find someone competent to look after it or he should take it down. It's disgraceful that people take the term "ornamental fish" so literally.

MyMonkey · #25 03/29/2006, 10:03 AM

If it bothered me badly enough I would likely chose another Pediatrician. However, good ones are often hard to find. Especially with the limitations imposed by insurance companies or otherwise. My wife is a Psychiatrist, if she ever has an aquarium in her office, it had better be in excellent shape. Otherwise, I think it is a representation of the Doctor's efforts to maintain his/her office. I simply hope that neglect does not bleed into other areas of the practice.