Fish arrived barely alive

[ReeferMadness1313]

Bad news, everyone. I woke up this morning and the fish didn't make it. I really thought he would pull through, unfortunately he didn't. Thank you to everyone who took the time to help and offer advice.

 

[Lyss]

I was going to post earlier when I saw this but it looked resolved so I didn't -- was going to say that an acclimation sounded risky to me and could result in ammonia poisoning. When I recently received fish through shipping I floated the bags to temp acclimate, then tested the salinity in the bag water -- the salinity was very close match so I just netted and released the fish into my tank rather than risk ammonia in the bag becoming toxic. They did great, and that was the vendor's instruction for acclimation anyway.

But in any case, following the acclimation instructions provided by the specific vendor is the best way to ensure that if the fish doesn't make it you will be covered.

 

[patrickb]

As soon as I open a bag an air stone goes in there. Then time is on my side.

Be careful doing that. If they have been in there for a while, ammonia will be high and the water will be acidic from excess CO2. Aerating the water will offgas the CO2, causing the pH to shoot up and thus making the Ammonia much more toxic to the fish.

 

[Lareng]

I was going to post earlier when I saw this but it looked resolved so I didn't -- was going to say that an acclimation sounded risky to me and could result in ammonia poisoning. When I recently received fish through shipping I floated the bags to temp acclimate, then tested the salinity in the bag water -- the salinity was very close match so I just netted and released the fish into my tank rather than risk ammonia in the bag becoming toxic. They did great, and that was the vendor's instruction for acclimation anyway.

But in any case, following the acclimation instructions provided by the specific vendor is the best way to ensure that if the fish doesn't make it you will be covered.

I’m no expert on this but I have read that when ordering fish online the bag with the fish is filled with pure oxygen to help the fish survive for an extend of time. While the fish live in the little water ammonia builds up, but the co2 also are trapped in the water resulting the PH to drop. The ammonia is not toxic in low PH conditions and here comes the problem…. When opening the bag the co2 escape the water and PH is increasing resulting the ammonia to be toxic. Adding an air stone only make this process worse. In these cases the drip acclimation is not a process you want to do for very long and some just skip this part if fish have been a long time in the bag.
Correct me if I’m wrong as this is only knowledge I got from reading, I have no experience yet.

 

[ReeferMadness1313]

I was going to post earlier when I saw this but it looked resolved so I didn't -- was going to say that an acclimation sounded risky to me and could result in ammonia poisoning. When I recently received fish through shipping I floated the bags to temp acclimate, then tested the salinity in the bag water -- the salinity was very close match so I just netted and released the fish into my tank rather than risk ammonia in the bag becoming toxic. They did great, and that was the vendor's instruction for acclimation anyway.

But in any case, following the acclimation instructions provided by the specific vendor is the best way to ensure that if the fish doesn't make it you will be covered.

This is good to know. I was under the impression that acclimation could never be skipped. I will keep this in mind for future reference. Thank you!

 

[JumboShrimp]

I should have clarified that I’m talking about fish I get bagged from LFSs only an hour or less away; not shipped as online purchases.

 

[ReeferMadness1313]

I should have clarified that I’m talking about fish I get bagged from LFSs only an hour or less away; not shipped as online purchases.

Oh ok I gotcha! Thanks for the clarification.

 

[All_talk]

Sorry to hear about you Royal Gramma, you should try again when you are ready. They are one of my favorite fish and I think all tanks should have one. I've had mine for about 12 years.

 

[Karen00]

I was happy reading the earlier comments where it sounded like he would pull through. So sorry for your loss! :-(

 

[bruno3047]

Bad news, everyone. I woke up this morning and the fish didn't make it. I really thought he would pull through, unfortunately he didn't. Thank you to everyone who took the time to help and offer advice.

Get your information online from reputable sources. The Petco link I gave you for proper acclimation procedures would be a good start. Good luck in your future reefing endeavors.

 

[rmorris_14]

The fish is in QT now. It's only been a couple hours, but he is doing pretty well so far. I think maybe he was just "playing dead". Thank you everyone for the help! I truly appreciate you all taking the time to give me advice.

Good job getting the fish taken care of! I have thought my Royal was dead Multiple times. I'm glad it looks like your situation is going to have a happy ending

 

[rmorris_14]

Good job getting the fish taken care of! I have thought my Royal was dead Multiple times. I'm glad it looks like your situation is going to have a happy ending

OH NO!! i didn't make it to the end before I posted. Im So sorry Im sure you did all you could.

 

[welsher7]

Get your information online from reputable sources. The Petco link I gave you for proper acclimation procedures would be a good start. Good luck in your future reefing endeavors.

This isn't very helpful and the link provided would have resulted in the same situation.

As others have said fish that have been shipped over night should not be acclimated in that way. Once the bag is opened the Ph will drop and the ammonia becomes toxic. For fish that have been shipped over night a standard float in the tank with the bag sealed. Then open and immediately net and place in the tank or QT. Or if you insist on slowly acclimating you should dose the bag with a Seachem Prime to detoxify the Ammonia, but you still have to deal with the Ph swing...

Also as a general good practice you should never introduce water from the LFS or shipper in to your aquarium as it could potentially introduce disease or other unwanted things in to your tank. A lot of places use some level of copper in there fish systems, so floating in the tank and adding more water then tilting the bag for the fish to swim out is not recommended.

 

[Porpoise Hork]

Get your information online from reputable sources. The Petco link I gave you for proper acclimation procedures would be a good start. Good luck in your future reefing endeavors.

Petco uses sand with the baby leopard geckos. This will kill them.. This is one of the reasons I don't trust their guides or anything that chain stores that they say for that matter.

 

[bruno3047]

This isn't very helpful and the link provided would have resulted in the same situation.

As others have said fish that have been shipped over night should not be acclimated in that way. Once the bag is opened the Ph will drop and the ammonia becomes toxic. For fish that have been shipped over night a standard float in the tank with the bag sealed. Then open and immediately net and place in the tank or QT. Or if you insist on slowly acclimating you should dose the bag with a Seachem Prime to detoxify the Ammonia, but you still have to deal with the Ph swing...

Also as a general good practice you should never introduce water from the LFS or shipper in to your aquarium as it could potentially introduce disease or other unwanted things in to your tank. A lot of places use some level of copper in there fish systems, so floating in the tank and adding more water then tilting the bag for the fish to swim out is not recommended.

The link I provided specifically stated that under no circumstances do you put an air stone into the bag. Numerous people responded to her request for help by telling her to put an air stone into the bag. One guy even said “once I put the air stone into the bag, then time is on my side”. I would say chances are very good that her fish died of ammonia poisoning if she had followed their advice.

 

[bruno3047]

This isn't very helpful and the link provided would have resulted in the same situation.

As others have said fish that have been shipped over night should not be acclimated in that way. Once the bag is opened the Ph will drop and the ammonia becomes toxic. For fish that have been shipped over night a standard float in the tank with the bag sealed. Then open and immediately net and place in the tank or QT. Or if you insist on slowly acclimating you should dose the bag with a Seachem Prime to detoxify the Ammonia, but you still have to deal with the Ph swing...

Also as a general good practice you should never introduce water from the LFS or shipper in to your aquarium as it could potentially introduce disease or other unwanted things in to your tank. A lot of places use some level of copper in there fish systems, so floating in the tank and adding more water then tilting the bag for the fish to swim out is not recommended.

I defy you to find me one reputable dealer online that says to take the fish and pop it into your tank or QT right out of the shipping bag. I’ll be here.

 

[TheReefPA]

Sorry to hear about the loss. Don’t let it stop ya on trying again, grammas are awesome.

 

[vetteguy53081]

I was going to post earlier when I saw this but it looked resolved so I didn't -- was going to say that an acclimation sounded risky to me and could result in ammonia poisoning. When I recently received fish through shipping I floated the bags to temp acclimate, then tested the salinity in the bag water -- the salinity was very close match so I just netted and released the fish into my tank rather than risk ammonia in the bag becoming toxic. They did great, and that was the vendor's instruction for acclimation anyway.

But in any case, following the acclimation instructions provided by the specific vendor is the best way to ensure that if the fish doesn't make it you will be covered.

I acclimate 100% and never lost a new arrival and in fact have received fish detained overnight and they still came through.
Risk with shipment is often temperature/temperature changes. Second being ammonia. You cant take a cold fish and throw it into a warm tank without osmotic shock and other risks to both new arrival and current occupants.

 

[Lyss]

I acclimate 100% and never lost a new arrival and in fact have received fish detained overnight and they still came through.
Risk with shipment is often temperature/temperature changes. Second being ammonia. You cant take a cold fish and throw it into a warm tank without osmotic shock and other risks to both new arrival and current occupants.

I said I float to temp acclimate, then check salinity and if it's a match the fish goes right in, but I also got them from Biota and that was their instructions -- float to temp then add. I think it's always best to do what the vendor says -- and I know some say to drip acclimate -- so if anything goes wrong you're safely covered by their guarantee.

 

[vetteguy53081]

I said I float to temp acclimate, then check salinity and if it's a match the fish goes right in, but I also got them from Biota and that was their instructions -- float to temp then add. I think it's always best to do what the vendor says -- and I know some say to drip acclimate -- so if anything goes wrong you're safely covered by their guarantee.

Guarantee is live arrival- not how acclimation was performed as they cant prove method used. If fish arrives normal and healthy- By all means consider their protocol. Winter is a tough time of the year in general to ship