Domestic wholesale quarantine facilities.
Unfortunately, some domestic wholesale facilities engaged in the resale of imported fish, having received such poisoned, infected fish that is barely alive from the stress and hardships of flight and local keeping, release it into wholesale and retail sale the very next day. Instead of treating this fish for several weeks (and sometimes months), properly quarantining it, restoring its health, feeding it up, growing it, and only then releasing it for sale, they merely sort out the live fish from those that died in transit, transfer them to fresh water, add certain preparations that partially slow down the development of known diseases, and immediately pass them on to secondary wholesalers and retailers. As a result, Asian fish that always arrives on the night from Thursday to Friday is already being sold in full swing at the Moscow Bird Market by six o’clock on Saturday morning!
Needless to say, once introduced into an amateur’s aquarium or a pet store, such fish (known in professional jargon as “fish off the wheels”) will not only die within the next three to four days, but will also infect the remaining aquarium inhabitants with a whole bouquet of tropical diseases and parasites. It will also contaminate the water in all aquariums and all objects that come into contact with the water brought along with the fish. This will cause problems not just for the near future, but for years to come. For example, a drop of water containing ichthyosporidiosis will dry up, but the pathogen in the form of cysts (protective capsules) will remain. Even ten years later, the cysts will be alive, and upon entering favorable conditions, they will begin to awaken, actively divide, and you will get a new outbreak of a terrible disease.
This is why books whose authors recommend, for instance, floating the incoming transport bags with fish directly in aquariums to equalize the water temperature without realizing what they are actually advising people to do, do not help and sometimes cause irreparable harm. It is enough that the disposable fish bags, upon delivery to the store, already come into contact with the inner surface of the very same transport boxes in which the imported fish arrives, where that exact water with disease pathogens has spilled.
Quarantine facilities that think not about momentary profit, but about the prospects of aquariology—and their own prospects as well—behave quite differently. Here the approach is different: first – competent treatment, thorough quarantine, restoration of the immune system in general, and the respiratory and digestive systems in particular, acclimatization to our water parameters and feed items, and only then – sale. In a good quarantine facility, fish go through this path from supply to sale anywhere from two-three weeks to three months, depending on the fish species and its initial quality.
Of course, its cost increases somewhat as a result, but the buyer can be sure: this is a healthy fish that will not die in a few days or weeks from an unknown tropical disease or general poisoning, but will live and delight the aquarist’s eye for years. Even if the imported fish arrived without acute oxygen starvation or nitrogen poisoning, it still requires urgent therapeutic measures as a result of other factors and a weakened immune system. If the fish has obvious signs of distress, treatment often needs to begin from the very moment of unpacking, otherwise it may be too late.
Fish arriving from Asia goes to large and small quarantine facilities, of which there are about a dozen in Moscow and the region, and from there it is distributed to wholesalers, regions, the Moscow Bird Market, and stores. Theoretically, the main task of quarantine facilities is to perform treatment, holding, and adaptation of imported fish arriving in the country on their premises before releasing it into further commercial circulation. Practically, however, no more than three out of ten quarantine bases bother with this. From the rest, the incoming sick, poisoned, and stressed fish immediately goes to wholesalers, partly to the regions, and the majority (up to 80%) goes straight to the Moscow Bird Market, which is also effectively a powerful wholesale “base” of the country.
Instead of taking care of the health of the arriving fish, large importers essentially shift these problems onto the shoulders of wholesale and retail traders who do not know how to do this, lack the necessary biological and other knowledge, and, what is worse, are well aware that fish received “off the wheels” will die within a few days in the aquariums of end consumers—amateur aquarists—along the way bringing a bouquet of tropical diseases and parasites into the aquarium, which will subsequently cause a lot of trouble even for healthy fish.
Retail sellers at the same Bird Markets behave no better. Knowing full well that they have acquired fish “off the wheels” which, for the most part, is doomed to early death without treatment, they strive to get rid of it as quickly as possible by selling it with minimal profit. If you visit the Bird Market, take a look under the counter. The number of dead fish corpses lying around there will terrify you! Today, the Bird Market is the exact opposite of what it used to be. There are practically no aquarists left among the sellers who breed fish themselves. Most of those we see behind the counter today are resellers who have no idea about the species they are trading. Bred fish at the Moscow Bird Market make up no more than 20%, while the remaining 80% are imports, practically all of which are “off the wheels”. Sadly, this negative trend is also spreading to the regions.
Things are no better in pet stores. Many of them are used to buying fish at the Bird Market, a habit dating back to the 1980s when it could be done quite safely while observing only standard quarantine and sanitary-hygienic measures. Today everything has changed! Often, fish brought from the market, which flew in from the other side of the planet the day before yesterday, carries an infection capable of wiping out the entire pet store within a few days. This leads to pet store owners often being forced to either completely abandon the trade in aquarium fish or stop working with imported and new species, limiting their assortment only to livebearers and labyrinth fish brought to the store by local amateur breeders. And over the past year or two, even these groups of fish have degenerated genetically due to years of inbreeding (crossing closely related individuals). There are fewer and fewer high-quality, correct forms and robust angelfish, barbs, and others. As a result, end consumers—amateur aquarists—suffer, as they are unable to buy the fish they are interested in at the store.
Meanwhile, we would like to warn the reader:
If in the same tank with the specimens you like there are obvious runts, or worse yet, dead fish, refrain from such a purchase; it will bring you nothing but grief. Take a close look at how many dead fish are lying under the counters of the Moscow Bird Market vendors. Before buying fish in a pet store, visit it several times, observe how the sellers care for it, how long it has been in the retail tanks, on which days new fish are brought to the store, and how often. Most of you will understand for yourselves whether it is worth buying fish here or if it is better not to risk it. Only with such an attentive and competent approach can aquariology bring you true pleasure rather than frustration and grief.
Imported fish “off the wheels”. Geography of aquarium fish suppliers. 
