Help! just got a small puffer fish and it dies during acclamation

[nark54321]

Sup guys! so just got a new puffer fish from my LFS and i floated the bag putting about a half cup of water every 10min or so 3 or 4 times.(not sure if it matters but it was inflated when i brought it from my car and through the acclimation process)I left it to acclimate while i went down and ate dinner. 25 minutes later i came back and the puffer was deflated. i was very careful not to expose it to the air because of what i had Hurd about it puffing up with air is not good. When i got it in my tank it just floated around... I'm not sure if its shocked or actually dead. all my corals are doing just fine and so are my 2 small fish... any thoughts? please and thank you...

 

[nark54321]

Parameters
Ammonia- 0
Nitrite- 0
Nitrate- 15ppm
ph- 8.3

 

[saltyphish]

Did you have lights out? Most fish can get stressed and shocked from any aquarium transfer. I have seen fish that looked dead and suddenly come back to life after giving it some dark time. Most anything I add to my tank gets acclimated with at least a 4 hr lights out. Try turning the lights out and give it some time. Hope that is all that is going on. Other than that some fish just don't acclimate well and die. I also recommend a drip acclimation. If the sg,or ph were to different than a slower acclimation would help. Good luck

 

[NanaReefer]

Stressed fish, freaked out fish, breath rapidly, thus depleting the oxygen in the water rather quickly. I've seen this happen. When acclimating it's never a good idea to keep the fish in the bag for the process. Transfer to a 1-2g pail bucket open top, drip acclimate for 2-3hrs.

 

[haleyf1024]

I have always (and will always) acclimated the same way that you do with no casualties or ill effects, so I don't think it was anything on your part. Hopefully he is just stressed, and a lights out will help him calm down.

 

[Humblefish]

How long was the fish in transport (in the bag) before you began acclimation?

 

[iReef86]

Salinity of both waters could have been drastically different... My lfs keeps fish systems much lower than coral. Just my 2¢

 

[eatbreakfast]

Once the bag is opened oxygen levels can deplete rapidly, add to that the ammonia levels begin to increase affecting a fish's ability to breath, also stress from being exposed at the top of the water column where a fish will feel vulnerable to predators adds to a very tentative situation for the new fish.

 

[thormx]

I had something similar happen when I brought home my Fiji blue spotted puffer. I had him drip acclimating for 30 min when I had to leave the house to go to the store, on my way home my girlfriend called and said he was on his side and unresponsive. I sped home and he looked bad. So I put him in a small container with holes in it in the sump and he came back to life in a few minutes. I was so relieved! I left him in there overnight and he was good to go!

 

[nark54321]

yeah i left him in a big bag with a a lot of water overnight figuring he was just shocked i woke up in the morning and saw signs of decay i got him 2 hours after he got to the store maybe the constant acclimation was to much for him . sad to see him go he was so god **** cute.
:

 

[scardall]

Sounds like a combination of Stress from transport to LFS and soon after another trip, plus not using the best of aclimation processes for fish. Use drip methoed instead as others suggested. ( Oh yah one more thing, research to see how delicate the fish may be) Coris Wrassees are super delicate. Plus most LFS will hold the fish overnight for yah. It's likely the fish will be there the next day. :squigglemouth: