Man, that was a nasty ulcer! Any determination on cause from the necropsy? Are you able to determine the type of bacterial infection? I work in a lab and do a lot of microscopy myself, so I can understand getting into that even while being frustrated over the dead fish. Glad you could distract yourself from the frustration.I forgot I was frustrated as I bent over the microscope all evening..... I hate fish dying, but I enjoyed the necropsy.
I hate saying this, but I prefer buying my fish from DD over the LFS that aren't so "L" anymore. You can't beat the warranty DD gives you. So far they've given me 4 weeks on these fish. If the Cockatoo isn't symptom free next Monday, they'll extend it again. I don't buy from LiveAquaria, because I want to see what the fish look like. I never ask for them to be fed at the LFS. So, it's a Catch 22, but DD works better for what I'm looking for.
I'm restocking like my 100g which are smaller lions, scorps, waspfish and perhaps a stingfish. The thing is, these can be so rare, you have to buy them when you see them and possibly grow them out if they don't fit in with the current stock size. I'm only going with a single fuzzy as my mated pair turned aggressive when they started producing eggs. So, I suspect I'll pass up a couple of "less pretty" ones to get that special specimen.
I guess I have a different relationship with the LFS near me. I have one especially that definitely still has that local, small town business vibe and they are amazing. I've gotten to know the owners over the years and they are always ready to help their regular customers. They definitely aren't just about the dollar and while they don't have an official guarantee, they'll definitely give store credit or a replacement to a regular customer for an unhealthy fish. I love being able to go in and have them feed any fish I'm interested in so that I can see them eat. They never grumble about that like some stores do and they're always willing to honestly tell me about how long the fish has been in the store and how well its been eating and if its been healthy. I got my fu manchu, antennata, snowflake eel, and tomini tang from them without any issues and they've all been perfectly healthy. So while I appreciate Diver's Den and the fact that they condition fish and offer a guarantee, I'd much rather support my local store and see the fish in person. I also hate having fish come straight to me right after the stress of shipping. Just personal preference though!
Going with a group of the smaller scorps sounds nice! And yeah, I understand wanting to wait for the nicest specimen since you can only have one of each species. Diver's Den is definitely a good source for the rarer fish, so I understand that! So are you looking for a yellow or red fuzzy?