A fish died in quarantine. Should I medicate?

[Tbg299]

Last night, the sleeper goby I have died in my QT. I removed it from the tank while it was in its final death throws and tried to revive it in a bucket with no success. It was 36 hours after being introduced to the tank. I have a Melenarus wrasse who appears to be healthy and is eating well. I'm wondering if I should dose PraziPro just to be safe though.

 

[Tbg299]

No in some places its used to catch fish. I.E Indonesia where fish I got came from. Just had bad experiences from that facility more than once. Similar effects many times. Very high mortality rate. Cant say this for sure but really seems odd.

Wow, that's awful. I thought these kinds of fishing methods were universally illegal. So basically you're buying a fish that is already most likely doomed to die.

 

[DrZoidburg]

Lots of people just do it anyway. Random fish collectors trying to make a living over there I presume is tough. I can not prove this directly right now though.

 

[Rmckoy]

what the heck?? That is very disturbing if true. I can't even imagine how cyanide would get into aquarium water. Spraying cyanide to exterminate pests? Contaminated water pipes? What led you to suspect this?

A lot of places banned the use of cyanide to capture fish from the wild .
This was a very common practice for collecting years ago .
Cyanide a general area , capture all the fish stunned and add them to aquariums with hopes of them surviving to make it to your lfs .
Survival rate was low . But the amount they were able to capture in one dive was profitable .

 

[DrZoidburg]

Sad as it is it does still happen.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Salinity of the water in the bags was very low (1.015 SG). After 40 minutes of drip acclimation, salinity in bags reached 1.020 and I lowered the salinity in my QT to match this. Maybe it could have been osmotic shock, but then wouldn't the wrasse also have shown symptoms?

Fish just don’t handle salinity rises very well. Combine that with ammonia issues in shipped fish and it is always best to match salinity and do a faster acclimation.
I’d contact the shipper though - they should NOT be shipping fish at 1.015 without telling people!
Jay

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

A lot of places banned the use of cyanide to capture fish from the wild .
This was a very common practice for collecting years ago .
Cyanide a general area , capture all the fish stunned and add them to aquariums with hopes of them surviving to make it to your lfs .
Survival rate was low . But the amount they were able to capture in one dive was profitable .

Cyanide is still very widely used in Indonesia and Vietnam. Some collectors in the Philippines have been switched over to nets, but some cyanide is still used there.
Jay

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Also I should note if you have any fish disease questions throw it in that section of the forum. It will get good advice. @Jay Hemdal Can you think of any bacteria(maybe cyanobacteria), or toxin other than ammonia that could cause symptoms of nerve damage?

No, i don’t know of any toxins like that showing up during shipping. IMO this was likely a combination of the salinity rise and ammonia toxicity. 1.015 to 1.020 is pretty far to raise in one shot. Maybe the wrasse is more resilient than the goby to salinity change?
Jay

 

[Rmckoy]

Cyanide is still very widely used in Indonesia and Vietnam. Some collectors in the Philippines have been switched over to nets, but some cyanide is still used there.
Jay

In recent years there was a huge ban on a lot of places ?

 

[Rmckoy]

Are these the same fish you’re referring to in your other post ?

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

In recent years there was a huge ban on a lot of places ?

It has been illegal in the Philippines since the 1970’s and is illegal in Indonesia…but it is still widely used. It is available as a palm tree fungicide so is easily purchased. Rumors have it that it is also used in the Cook Islands and some Red Sea collecting sites. East Africa is ok, so are the Maldives, Tahiti and Sri Lanka.

Jay

 

[vetteguy53081]

No, i don’t know of any toxins like that showing up during shipping. IMO this was likely a combination of the salinity rise and ammonia toxicity. 1.015 to 1.020 is pretty far to raise in one shot. Maybe the wrasse is more resilient than the goby to salinity change?
Jay

I totally agree with this very statement, and Yes they need to make customer aware of salinity when shipped
Not too many people are going to test bag water.

 

[Rmckoy]

I totally agree with this very statement, and Yes they need to make customer aware of salinity when shipped
Not too many people are going to test bag water.

I test bag water every time !!
not only salinity , also check alk

 

[Tbg299]

There is definitely an issue with quality control at the DD California facility. First, I was sent the wrong type of damselfish which were misidentified, and now this. Like Jay mentioned, transporting fish in 1.015 SG salinity is way too low. I'm curious if whether they are topping off the bags with RO water, or are actually running their fish tanks at that salinity.