Anyone know whats wrong?

[greggreenberg]

Got a cleaner wrasse and a damsel today. acclimated them for an hour and twenty min. as soon as they got in the water the wrasse started acting funny. i have a watchman goby diamond goby and a fire goby and they all seem to be fine. I come home to find the damsel dead and the wrasse near death. anyone know what could be wrong?
<div class="gc_ifarem_title">What is wrong with my wrasse? - YouTube</div><iframe style="width: 70%; height: 400px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/rq_LsXZg8Oo&feature=plcp"></iframe>
<div class="gc_ifarem_title">The wrasse before he died. What's wrong? - YouTube</div><iframe style="width: 70%; height: 400px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/OlJVTrEcqzQ&feature=plcp"></iframe>

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[ralph atl]

Post your parems...

Did you research fish and Quarantine each fish as required?

 

[greggreenberg]

they said at the store to acclimate for 45 min.
Phos 8
Sal 1.026
Alk 14
PH 8.4
Nitrate 0
Nitrite 0
Ammonia 0

 

[KrisDeitz]

What store. For it to die that fast leads me to beleive it was dying before you got it

 

[greggreenberg]

creation reef. both are dead..

 

[cedzaquaddiction]

How long did the store have them before you purchased them?

 

[greggreenberg]

not sure but i dont know whats happened?

 

[cedzaquaddiction]

Reason i was asking was if the LFS had them for a couple of weeks, they can tell you of any issues that they may have had with them. If they just got it in that day, or the day before, it could be the stress of acclimating from the shipping, the lfs environment, then to your environment.

From your list, it doesn't seem like any of the other livestock would've killed them...

 

[greggreenberg]

I also have a arrow crab peppermint shrimp and cleaner shrimp. doubt they did anything. as soon as i put them in the tank they started acting weird.

 

[cedzaquaddiction]

Sounds like they had some type of shock. How did you acclimate them, and how were they acting in acclimation?

 

[greggreenberg]

drip method. they just kind of floated around in the same spot.

 

[cedzaquaddiction]

That's a popular method that many have had success with. As long as your acclimation added enough water at the right pace, I can't think of anything else. I had a PB tang that didn't even make it out of QT, and everything else did. Still not sure where I went wrong.

Hopefully some others will chime in... Best of luck Man, and get some rest. It's almost morning time. LOL!!!

 

[greggreenberg]

I use this thing.
http://www.amazon.com/Doradon-FA18X-Aquarium-Acclimation-System/dp/B005YIVJSU/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1350721700&sr=8-3&keywords=acclimation+kit">Amazon.com: FA18X Aquarium Acclimation System: Pet Supplies</a>
Im nocturnal HA

 

[kwill]

I was watching Mr saltwatertank yesterday. He mentioned some LFS may treat fish by lowering the salinity(Hypo or hypersalinity not sure which term is correct here) Anyway he was suggesting they should be adjusted to the salinity in our tanks up to a week or more. Just acclimating them for the standard hour or two can stress the fish.

 

[tony_caliente]

Here are some other possibilities:
1. Spent too long in a poorly oxygenated bag (trip from the store to your home)
2. The water in your acclimation vessel (bucket) got too cold during the 80 minute acclimation period
3. I would think it was fine in the store, certainly you would not have bought it (and it wouldn't have been sold to you) if it was behaving that way in the store
4. I woudl think the LFS sg/salinity is close enough to the hobbyist levels to ensure all fish would thrive after proper acclimation (one would think anyway - otherwise hobbyist woudl complain of fish dying all of the time).
4. Maybe some airborne chemical or liquid invaded your acclimation bucket
5. IMHO, I think somethng went wrong in transit or during the acclimation period. That fish looked like it was dying as soon as you introduced it to your tank

I am just poking around in the dark here - process of elimination. I have never acclimated more than 45 mins, but maybe that is too short for most hobbyist -- don't know.

 

[rdnelson]

Sounds like an acclimation issue to me but it is very hard to be certain. My reasoning would be that many (can't speak for Creation) LFS keep salinity low and I would assume a lower Alk than you had. Done properly, aclimation should have accounted for that but you are taking two fish from lower alk and salinity and raising both over a short period of time. Unless the water in the aclimation bucket was pretty close to what the display tank was, you are then dumping them into water with high parameters. Add that to the stress of being caught, bagged, put in a bucket and then again being caught and put in the display can be pretty rough on a fish.

 

[reefrunner]

In speaking with a few people, I have heard that a long drip acclimation period is at times detrimental to a fish..... It creates undue stress to fish.... 15-20 min is a better length of time.....

 

[coolsurf]

Lot's of good feedback. I tend to think it's in the acclimation stage personally. I'm probably one of the few and will hammered for this but the longest I ever acclimate any fish is 30 minutes, typically 20 minutes. I find it detrimental for them to be in the acclimation stage for longer periods.

Not to say this was the cause but I am leaning toward it.

 

[rdnelson]

ReefRunner;806732 wrote: In speaking with a few people, I have heard that a long drip acclimation period is at times detrimental to a fish..... It creates undue stress to fish.... 15-20 min is a better length of time.....

I don't disagree with this entirely but I think it is a balancing act like so much else in this hobby. The key is that you slowly bring the water in the bucket to the same parameters as the display tank. Including temp, salinity, alk, etc. I know that in my case, one of the things I fail to do on a regular basis is remove some of the water from the acclimation bucket during the process. Doing that will help. If you don't, it would take a much larger volume of DT water mixed with the store water to get everything just right. Removing some of the water helps to speed the process a bit but you don't want it to be too fast.

 

[scruggs1]

I acclimate using a small plastic container with a lid. I drilled two 1/8" diameter holes in the bottom. Set the container on the water surface in the aquarium. Pour the fish/coral and water from the bag into the container. Put the lid on and wait a couple hours then open the lid and put them in. The water temp adjusts without worrying about temperature imbalances that occur with the drip method. Diffusion through the little holes slowly adjusts the salinity. Never lost anything with this method. I also open the lid and do a salinity check on the water before right before I put them in.