Acclimation of super low salinity water

Jeeper · Feb 17, 2016

Picked up a wrasse today. And I floated it and then opened the bag and tested the salinity at 1.014... I use a refractometer and calibration fluid and calibrated it (it was right) and tested again and still got 1.014.... I keep both my tanks at 1.026. I'm drip acclimating it right now but I am worried that this is gonna be a shock to the fish... Anyone have any ideas?

smh254 · Feb 17, 2016

All I have is Slow the drip down

TaylorPilot · Feb 17, 2016

Is it a QT tank with nothing in it? If so, pull some of the water out, top off with fresh to lower the salinity to get it closer to the bag and raise it over time slowly. Did you pick it up locally or was it shipped to you?

Jeeper · Feb 17, 2016

Got it locally and there is nothing else in the tank... I have plenty of RODI made up but it's probably 65 degrees...

TaylorPilot · Feb 17, 2016

Reason I ask is if it was local, I would take it back and alert them to the issues with their water parameters.

TaylorPilot · Feb 17, 2016

Jeeper said:
Got it locally and there is nothing else in the tank... I have plenty of RODI made up but it's probably 65 degrees...

Put it in a pot on the stove and warm it up a little.

TaylorPilot · Feb 17, 2016

Just slow down and get the QT right. The fish will be fine in a bucket for awhile if it aerated. Match your salinity, and get the temp up into range, then drip him with that water.

Jeeper · Feb 17, 2016

I'm going to drain it down and use my top off tank water it should be 73 or so... Thanks, for some reason I couldn't get past the ultra low salinity...

cb684 · Feb 17, 2016

Here an article I found recently about hyposalinity: http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2007/6/fish

Esage · Feb 17, 2016

Jeeper said:
Got it locally and there is nothing else in the tank... I have plenty of RODI made up but it's probably 65 degrees...

What store in Knoxville?

Jeeper · Feb 17, 2016

The Aquarium.

Reefrookie220 · Feb 18, 2016

I've had this issue with the same store. My Lubbock fairy wrasse was in some super low SG.

I just did a slow drip in a larger container with a bubble stone. He made the transition just fine.

Esage · Feb 18, 2016

That is crazy. I've never bought a fish from there.

Jeeper · Feb 18, 2016

I lowered the tank SG to 1.7-1.8 and dripped him till he was reading 1.6. I placed him in the tank and got him to eat. Wife said he's swimming around today so hopefully he's good. I'm going to do 3 gal water changes every day till I get the SG back to 1.026. I thought about mixing up a bucket and putting my top off pump in it but it might stagnate.

TaylorPilot · Feb 18, 2016

Allot of people run their FOWLER systems at a lower salinity because it is easier on the fish. But if they are going to be selling them to people who are running reef tanks, I think they should run them at levels that match the systems they are going to be going into. From what I have read, fish take moving from higher to lower salinity allot better than they do going from low to high.

Jeeper · Feb 18, 2016

And I should have asked. I will next time I buy one and have the tank set to whatever they are running. I bought my other two fish from Aquatic Marine and they were at 1.026.

Had I followed their acclimation procedure on the warranty card I do not think the fish would have fared very well.

Reefrookie220 · Feb 18, 2016

I would like to be fair and say that I still frequent this store and buy livestock, they are a tad pricey but hey it's West Knoxville. And aquarium life support systems makes nice stuff.

On an odd note, if you think bioballs are obsolete, ask to see theirs in use.

Rob.D · Feb 18, 2016

Reefrookie220 said:
On an odd note, if you think bioballs are obsolete, ask to see theirs in use.

They aren't obsolete...plenty of people use outdated and inefficient products.

cale0721 · Feb 18, 2016

Jeeper said:
The Aquarium.

I have heard they run their fish only displays at a lower salinity but I didn't realize it was that low.

Reeflogic · Feb 19, 2016

It's fairly common practice for LFS to run lower salinity, saves money for them, eases the acclimation or adjusting the fish to captivity, and also makes it easier if they do hyposalinty treatments before placing the fish up for sale. You'd be surprised how many do this. It's another perfect reason to have a QT set up and ready to go. The first question I ask is what they run their salinity at and if they have used hyposalinity for the fish. The common salinty for LFS is around 1.017, or that is my opinion over the many years of buying fish. QT QT QT!!