Dead fish not sure why

[Blb472]

Picked up a small harlequin basslet. Everything was fine until I moved the fish to a bigger tank. Tested the water in both tanks, they matched up other than a .002 difference in salinity. Acclimated before putting him in the new tank. 36 hours later found him dead what could it have been

 

[Anchor]

Temp differences, DIsease, New tank? Could use more info on parameters.

Welcome to Reef2Reef! Hope we can help you out.

 

[Blb472]

Both tanks sitting around 78°. It is a newer tank than the original but wasnt an instant addition of fish. Salinity in the newer tank is 1.025 the tank he came out of is 1.027. Had my lfs test the water in both they matched up beyond salinity. The only difference in the two tanks is the original was set up with all nutri-seawater the newer tank I mixed my own water

 

[Dom]

Generally speaking, the local fish store should not be the final answer in your decision making as they are motivated by profit. Ethical local fish stores are a dying breed, but they are still out there.

Ammonia may be the issue in the new tank. It will be difficult to pinpoint the cause of death without a complete list of your water test parameters. Also, post a photo of your tank as a picture is worth a thousand words.

 

[Marco S]

One of the important things people forget to match when transferring fish, inverts or coral is PH. I made this mistake once and it is the only time that I ever lost fish due to a tank transfer. My PH in one tank was 8.14 and the other tank was 7.75. Before that I did not acclimate because my thought was that I use the same water for all my tanks, the same heater set to the same temp and everything matched...so I thought until I realized the PH was different in all my tanks. Now I acclimate everything for at least 30 minutes.

That being said, if you acclimated them properly then it was not a water parameter that caused the death...at least it should not have been.

 

[Blb472]

One of the important things people forget to match when transferring fish, inverts or coral is PH. I made this mistake once and it is the only time that I ever lost fish due to a tank transfer. My PH in one tank was 8.14 and the other tank was 7.75. Before that I did not acclimate because my thought was that I use the same water for all my tanks, the same heater set to the same temp and everything matched...so I thought until I realized the PH was different in all my tanks. Now I acclimate everything for at least 30 minutes.

That being said, if you acclimated them properly then it was not a water parameter that caused the death...at least it should not have been.

The ph matched up I made sure to check. Ive been doing freshwater for a long time but saltwater is new to me so im still learning. The only thing that was different was the salinity so I acclimated them until it matched up. I transferred two fish the other is doing great so their is no telling and cant bring the fish back. All I can do now is keep learning as much as i can to avoid it in the future

 

[Marco S]

The ph matched up I made sure to check. Ive been doing freshwater for a long time but saltwater is new to me so im still learning. The only thing that was different was the salinity so I acclimated them until it matched up. I transferred two fish the other is doing great so their is no telling and cant bring the fish back. All I can do now is keep learning as much as i can to avoid it in the future

How long have you had them? If one survived and one didn't, maybe it was just that fish's time to go. Sometimes fish just die and there's nothing you can do about it. If the water parameters are good, you acclimated them and they have no sign of disease or damage from other fish, then maybe it just died of natural causes.

Or it could have been the stress of the move itself. Was it hard to catch it? How long did it take to catch it? If it takes more than a few minutes for me I just let them stay another day to calm down before trying again. You could also hurt them while catching them. I've denied fish from certain LFS's after watching in horror as they squeezed them against the glass and rock trying to catch them.

 

[Blb472]

How long have you had them? If one survived and one didn't, maybe it was just that fish's time to go. Sometimes fish just die and there's nothing you can do about it. If the water parameters are good, you acclimated them and they have no sign of disease or damage from other fish, then maybe it just died of natural causes.

Or it could have been the stress of the move itself. Was it hard to catch it? How long did it take to catch it? If it takes more than a few minutes for me I just let them stay another day to calm down before trying again. You could also hurt them while catching them. I've denied fish from certain LFS's after watching in horror as they squeezed them against the glass and rock trying to catch them.

Ive had them just over a month and a half. I just wanted to get some ideas because of the stress of now worrying my other fish which is the one I truly enjoy is gonna be next. I appreciate the help man.

And yea I get what your saying about catching them I mainly do fast aggressive fish in my freshwater tanks. It wasnt difficult the basslet was more of a hider than anything.

He kept digging the sand out under the live rock which is where I found him so in honestly wondering if he tipped it on himself