Thanks very much for the continued help, everyone, I really appreciate it. Seems that the general consensus is an issue with acclimation from hyposalinity, particularly since I've gotten stock from a few different sources and had the same issues.
Do you buy chance release bag water into tank?
Additionally, try to change up acclimation and try mine- I pour bags after floating them into bucket and add a cup of water every 15 mins over course of an hour and scoop fish from bucket into a cup and release into tank.
I always avoid putting bag water into the tank, mostly due to ammonia potential. I used to do the method you mention, but the store recommended I try drip instead.
I have. Ordered many fish from liveaquaria and saltwater fish...no issues they won't handle...shipping is free with 79bucks to 99$ between the two of them...I don't know why people presume the lfs is better...they both get the fish from suppliers...chances are good these large companies handle the fish well...as it all effects their profit..and they have 2week guarantees..
Good point - I imagine that everyone gets their fish from only a handful of major distributors. No one, be it an LFS or online store, wants their stock dying. The liveaquaria 2 week guarantee is particularly impressive.
I will tell you if your lfs keep the fish on hypo plus copper. The problem you could be having is the acclimation. I had my fish on QT for 2 months salt at 1.009 and cupermine after 28 days I stop the copper. And started to raise the salt.. first day lost one yellow tang .. a week later lost one flurry clown fish .. and that was bcoz I raise the salt too fast .. so I started to raise the salt 1 point a day .. 1.009 1.010 1.011 well you get IT. Now after 2 months I got all the fish and put them on my DT aclimatación by drip . Out of the 3 fish I had left 2 die in less then 1 hour . Only one survived and they where all fine the day before even one hour before I transferred them to the DT . So in my opinion is the salt dramatically changed on both systems yours and your lfs.. it take time to acclimate the fish to new lvl of salts
The LFS that does copper treatment doesn't keep the treatments active once fish are in the store's display tanks. Just the hypo. 1.009 seems really low for yours, but the idea of the very gradual increase seems to be a general consensus here.
Have you tried an ICP test to check for toxic metals that may be coming from top off water or a source inside the tank?
I've not tried that, but someone else recommended it, as well. If my new plan doesn't pan out I'll probably send in a sample.
you are dripping to long. once a bag opens the ammonia will basically react with the air and "activate" making it dangerous to fish and starting to burn them. try a shorter drip time. might help.
This is possible, but unlikely; I only have the fish in the bag for ~30-40 minutes before getting them to the tank for temp acclimation. Less than 2 hours from tank to tank.
I didnt read every response in this thread, but just incase it hasnt been addressed: Internal parasites dont usually respond to copper and often have no outward symptoms other than stringy poop, which is easy to miss. Fish are eating heartily and swimming fine until they go belly up. If you are using a qt before putting in your tank, use prazi pro or metro plex + focus to make sure that isn't the culprit. Since some of your fish are lasting a long time, that may be the issue. Also (again, sorry, I didnt read all 4 pages) what happens when you get a fish not kept in hyposalinity and add it?
It's not been addressed, no. As you said, the stringy poop is tough to see, and honestly I've not been able to notice if this is an issue. Definitely a good idea to add prazi for when I rebuild the QT. I mostly worry since some last days and others weeks - very inconsistent. I'd also like to believe that the stores aren't so bad that parasites are utterly rampant through the whole LFS community, but I suppose it's possible.
I haven't added a normal salinity fish in awhile. The main LFS' I go to all do hypo. A few folks have recommended going with LiveAquaria or the like, that might be helpful.
This is not true. Follow the acclimation procedures that the place from which you bought the fish recommend. If they say drip - then drip. If not then don't. Many companies recommending drip acclimation have added anti ammonia chemicals to the water in the bag. If you are using a bag from an LFS and its only a short time - there is no ammonia built up in the bag - you can choose to drip or not drip.
No most companies don't add anti ammonia chemicals due to cost. They rely on people to get the fish home fast and safe. and you'd be surprised how much waste produced when stressed, spoiler, it's a lot.
After a few fish died, the store recommended the longer drip acclimation to try and help. Since I'm normally less than 2 hours from tank to tank, ammonia isn't a huge problem, but regardless it hasn't helped doing either drip or "bolus" of adding a half cup periodically to the bag.
