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COVID-19 Prep

12K views 115 replies 38 participants last post by  Mike00726 
#1 ·
So who's prepared to eat their fish if things get really bad? I'd probably start with my angelfish, battered, and fried in oil. Maybe dipped in ketchup if the flavor is off. I've heard discus are pretty decent eats. Not sure I'd eat a pleco.

What's the deal with everyone buying TP? Out of all the things to stock up on, why TP? I could understand dry goods, gasoline, water, maybe ammo. What is some of craziest stuff you guys have seen?
 
#4 · (Edited)
What is wrong with some of you? Re-think your remarks before sounding off. Seriously. On an official, moderator-telling-you-to level and on a human level.

Instead of giving everyone an opportunity to come across as insane or disrespectful, I'm here to remind everyone that mocking, joking or otherwise being an idiot won't be tolerated when it comes to discussion of this pandemic.

My advice? Bite your tongue if you're going to pop off with smart remarks. Not everyone on this forum is based in the US. Many are in the EU, Southeast Asia, UK, Australia. Many in nations that have been hard-hit.

You think it won't hit you? It may not. But it may impact someone you know. My source (for 11 years) for Cardinal Shrimp, coincidentally a forum member, wasn't too concerned a few weeks ago. She's dead today. 41. Biologist. Great shape at her annual physical in January. I'll share more at some point when this is all over.

Seriously. Bite your tongues if you so much as have the urge to be ridiculous. This is not the time.

P.S. Take care of yourselves and make time to zone out and relax when possible if you're stressed. Sit in front of your tanks! This hobby community is pretty great, so remember how much fun it can be if things get difficult.
 
#6 ·
What is wrong with some of you? Re-think your remarks before sounding off. Seriously. On an official, moderator-telling-you-to level and on a human level.

Instead of giving everyone an opportunity to come across as insane or disrespectful, I'm here to remind everyone that mocking, joking or otherwise being an idiot won't be tolerated when it comes to discussion of this pandemic.

My advice? Bite your tongue if you're going to pop off with smart remarks. Not everyone on this forum is based in the US. Many are in the EU, Southeast Asia, UK, Australia. Many in nations that have been hard-hit.

You think it won't hit you? It may not. But it may impact someone you know. My source (for 11 years) for Cardinal Shrimp, coincidentally a forum member, wasn't too concerned a few weeks ago. She's dead today. 41. Biologist. Great shape at her annual physical in January. I'll share more at some point when this is all over.

Seriously. Bite your tongues if you so much as have the urge to be ridiculous. This is not the time.[
/quote] :crying:
 
#8 ·
50% at a minimum, according to an epidemiologist friend at U of Washington who's been doing a lot of the viral sequencing for Seattle's outbreak. She says up to 70%. And yes, the very old, immunocompromised, and those with other risk factors like diabetes will get hit hard. Here the Coachella Fest has been cancelled, and a dr friend says they've created a COVID-19 unit at his hospital, and are fighting with our very conservative county to declare a public health emergency. Hasn't happened yet.

Given how the CDC & the administration bungled first the testing (and still haven't gotten us to drive-thru testing like South Korea) and the public health response, it's going to get a lot worse before it gets better. Without testing, we have no clue what the prevalence or incidence rates are. Stopping flights from the EU (but not Britain? WTF?) is closing the barn door after the horse got out. So yes, wash your hands, take care of each other, and if we need to practice social distancing we can spend more times with our tanks, and connecting with our community on here.....
 
#7 ·
Hi All,

Thank you @somewhatshocked. Like @Quint my family is at 'ground zero' here in the Seattle area and believe me it is not fun or funny. My wife and I are both 70ish and we have stayed home for a week now. For older adults the fatality rate is high. Our local aquarium club, GSAS, just cancelled our annual big auction because no groups are allowed that larger than 250 people. For smaller groups you have to maintain a 3 foot separation from each other. We may have to cancel meetings all the way to next fall. All schools K-12 in 3 counties, 44 districts are closed. All the major Universities are closed or doing classes online. Most companies have told office workers to 'work from home' but some folks can't find daycare. Restaurants are basically empty.

You get the idea. Don't kid yourself, COVID-19 is extremely contagious and even if you are younger you don't want to bring this home to you folks or grandparents. Also, just because you only have a few 'known cases' in your area that is only because they are just starting testing.....the numbers will go up. I am not medically trained, but I am thinking this could easily take three or more months before we see the peak and then it will hopefully start to ramp down. In the meantime, please keep yourselves safe. -Roy
 
#9 ·
We're all entitled to our opinion but not our own facts. Not gonna clean this thread up more than once.

Keep it cordial, don't spread disinformation, spare others any snide remarks.

And remember: Please keep your racism to yourself. No exceptions there.
 
#10 ·
We just got a talk today at work about how if we have a cough, we're supposed to "drag our butts to work and don't use the virus as an excuse to take time off". Nevermind that Covid-19 is presenting as just cold symptoms for a lot of people. (And even if you end up with a bad case, that doesn't mean it won't start out mild.) If we think we have the virus, we're supposed to get tested and stay home if it's positive, but if it's negative we're expected to come in. I asked if we would get paid for the time off since we were being ordered to stay home, they said they'd get back to me.

Wanna know the kicker? I work in a grocery store.
 
#11 ·
Everyone else is going bonkers at the grocery stores, but I'm starting to run low on fish food. Going to my LFS today before they end up shutting down. lol
 
#12 ·
my daughter have no school for 4 weeks, the city school district council announce all public school closure today, re open after Easter.
and this afternoon I went to the local Walmart, it was busy, while people doing shopping stocking up necessaries, bunch of high school students from the nearby high school happily running around celebrating their first afternoon of unusual liberty.
 
#14 ·
I hear your pain. Just found out all K-12 schools in Illinois are closed 3-17-20 to at least 3-31-20. I'm not a teacher, but I am curious are the teachers going to get paid during these times? Sadly teachers seem to be one of the more underpaid workforce as it is.



As an airport worker, I can either see you being overly busy doing extra duties for local flights or completely out of work...

Scary times indeed.
 
#15 ·
As a retiree in my 60's with other underlying factors, my anxiety level is at an all time high. Fortunately, I don't have to travel to work or anywhere else. I did go to the grocery store a few days ago but was still a bit concerned. Depending on how things continue to progress, may have to try PeaPod delivery services. Most of the schools in the surrounding area have closed for a couple a weeks and some for a month or more. And my neighbor's college-age daughter is now self-quarantined in her Boston apartment after cutting short her vacation in Spain.

But on a nicer note, I own a townhouse condo in a community of 100 units - single people, couples - both working and retired -, families with children, really a great mix of folks. Many of us have dogs so when out walking our pets it's quite usual to run into one or several other neighbors. As my dog is a senior, she's not walking well or too far any more so we're out much less. And often lately I'm cleaning up inside accidents, rather than outside messes. So we've been off schedule from some of the dog owners I usually see daily. A few days ago one of these people texted me to see if everything was OK as she hadn't seen me with the dog for several days. I assured her we both - the dog and I - were fine and thanked her for checking in.

So in this time of heightened anxiety and worry for many, maybe give a thought to someone close to you who may have greater concerns about this pandemic. Just check in a little more often in to see that all is well. And then send this to my son at ..... :wink2:
 
#16 ·
Overheard a customer call it the "Tom Hanks virus" yesterday. I guess it took a household name catching it for some people to take it seriously. But around here at least, they certainly are. The grocery stores are running out of everything. At my shop I've never sold more dog food than in the last week and a half. Almost no one is buying just one bag. I've got bare shelves and people getting angry that I don't have their brand and flavor choice in stock. I tried to stock up too, but underestimated badly.

My nephew goes to school in Charlotte with 1,300 others yet he still goes. But they've cancelled his baseball games with 22 kids playing outside. Makes no sense to me that schools remain open in cities with confirmed cases. Hope you all are stocked up and staying safe. Social distancing and clean hands go a long way. My worry is resurgences months from now when life starts to get back to normal.
 
#20 ·
For those who do still think it funny, try to call a doctor and why waiting think if you were having chest pains and over 70? Just just got released and here in the Round Rock/ North Austin area and believe me there is no slack left at this point for any more sick people! We are now fully into computer records and communications and just getting in touch with the doctor treating you may require 45 minutes to an hour for a message to go through and much longer for the doctor to answer. Doctors and nurses are scared but we are the ones who have to look at our own situation and figure out what WE need to do to protect not only ourselves but those who we don't even know.
Four folks in our immediate neighborhood were just laying out plans for what we can do to help all of us weather the storm. A simple act like a restaurant owner who is now almost totally shut down offering boxes of disposable gloves really sounds like a small thing but when you think it through, one person going to the store, getting whatever supplies the neighborhood needs, and making certain that he doesn't bring the virus home is actually quite large, isn't it?
We each have merits and talents and now is just the right time to use them.
You old military guys do remember your CBR training, right?
Contaminated, QT until safe, or safe are now the three major food groups.
If we don't resolve to all row together and in the same direction, we are all going down.
 
#21 ·
It's still the calm before the storm here. Called my GP for an appointment and saw the senior PA 25 min later. The staff members were abuzz with their first likely covid case until I could finally access the positive flu test from another facility last week. No one was disappointed. Highly unusual flu though.

I fully expect to lose at least two senior family members in the coming weeks. I can only imagine what it's like for them, watching this arrow flying at their faces.
 
#22 ·
Just cancelled my trip to see the kids in AZ now that everything is shut down in both areas. I'll likely lose $200 on airfare cancellation but what else is there to do? I'm pretty much alone in the office now while setting up a home office for my gf to work from home. I do have to run to the butcher shop at noon and pick up hamburger for my mother and my house.

I wanted to find some hardscape for a new 16 gallon setup. Maybe I'll downsize the 45gal and divide the fish between the new 16 and the old 29? I need some new pool filter sand...
 
#23 ·
I work in a hospital. So you can imagine my fright. But luckily, I work in an area separate from sick people and in charge of an inventory area which doesn't have direct public/patient contact. We have just recently had outbreaks here in Michigan and there has been widespread panic. The first comments I noticed on this page we're absolutely ridiculous. There is still food available. I'm not eating fish out of my tank, I don't care what the case. Especially since most of the fish I keep are smaller schooling fish, so that wouldn't do me much good would it?
 
#29 ·
I should think cancellation fees will soon be a non-starter as the airports close. Seems logical if the airlines don't fly that they would not charge the customer.
Do expect it to take a lot of time to finally get an answer as many of the call centers will be in larger cities and many will no longer be staffed, so waiting is going to be the game.
My bigger concern involves how many of the little details are being overlooked as they try to get back up to speed on those details, It takes a really experienced person to look through to the fine line.
Do the planners know how much value to place on chicken feed deliveries? Hell, no! Cancel that function as totally unneeded, right?
Unless you know there is a connection between feeding chickens and getting eggs in the store for us! You folks who raise fish probably have a better idea of how that works than the folks in Washington in charge of chicken feed!
Who thinks delivering fuel filters to truck stops is important enough to keep it going?
 
#34 ·
Something interesting: Both local fish stores and nurseries in area are remaining open through the mandatory closures of many businesses due to virus in my state. Both argue they are essential to health - of pets in the case of fish and for nutrition in terms of spring planting of vegetable gardens.

The nursery I went to a few days ago and they were very on top of sanitation ( wiping surfaces, sanitizing stations to wipe carts, counters, etc... ), diligent on encouraging social distancing, and control of overall numbers of customers at any one time.

The fish store I haven’t visited and won’t because it is a mess on a normal basis, can’t imagine that they are sticking to protocol.

Any other states have these two business sectors still operating?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 
#35 · (Edited)
Any other states have these two business sectors still operating?
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
PetZone in San Diego is advertising "curbside service" in addition to their usual online delivery service. Guess you phone or email them what you want, and they deliver it to your car in the parking lot.

Makes sense that nurseries that sell vegetables & other edible plants would stay open. I'd planted a winter garden for the first time, and it's suddenly coming in very handy. I've got kale coming out of my ears, so gonna have to get online and find some recipes....
 
#37 ·
I just went to our local Petco--which was open. Wanted to get some ghost shrimp, but was told state regulations only allow them to sell feeder fish, and "essential products." Was so baffled that I didn't have the presence of mind to claim that they were feeder shrimp. (My angels have been eating them when the molt, so I wouldn't have been lying.) They've suspended shipments of all aquatics for the next month. But the dog grooming parlor was open & doing a land office business, even though barber shops & hair salons for people are closed. I saw a staff person helping someone carry out a big aquarium from their DPG sale. Not sure an aquarium is considered an essential product--though some on here may beg to differ

Very interesting to see how the new restrictions are being implement--and not.
 
#47 ·
But the dog grooming parlor was open & doing a land office business, even though barber shops & hair salons for people are closed.
For many animals, regular grooming is essential to their well-being. Mats aren't just ugly, they can impair the animal's movement and eventually result in sores and infections. And if the owners don't have the equipment, knowledge, or dexterity to do it themselves, it could result in them or their pets getting injured.

Right? People don't seem to realize this is a respiratory virus, not a cholera outbreak.....
The idea is to stock up so you don't have to go to the store and get exposed as much. The average family shops twice a week, so 2 weeks' supply = 4 times as much. Yeah, there are some hoarders out there, but even if everyone bought only 2 weeks' worth of groceries, the stores would still be overwhelmed.
 
#38 ·
My LFS is asking customers who can to try to make visits during the week to spread business out a bit. It's a small place and there's not a lot of room to keep one's distance from others. Saturdays and Sundays are always quite busy there. They've also offered to prepackage orders if you call ahead and will bring it into the parking lot.
 
#44 · (Edited by Moderator)
Uncle Ned's? I bought a half dozen dwarf corys there Monday or Tuesday. They told me the same thing when I called.

Is anyone else trying to find a middle ground in all of this? I'm trying to use common sense without getting paranoid. I'm washing my hands much more often than normal, not going out unless I really need something, using my keys to press the elevator buttons, etc. I probably have another 10 days- 2 weeks supply of groceries including some emergency staples like powdered milk and dried beans. Massachusetts has been fairly proactive with closings, although they have not issued a shelter in place yet. So basically I'm staying inside, avoiding crowds. I'm semi-high risk being over 65, but I'm fortunate that I am retired, living in senior housing, and am enrolled in the VA healthcare system, so I won't get gorged if I do get sick.
 
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