Melanurus Wrasse died next day in QT

[QuinnLee512]

Make sure it’s eating in the store.

I'm sure the lfs will always say yes?

 

[QuinnLee512]

I hope your next one is a success! I’m partial to Mels they’re beautiful, awesome fish! Here’s my chunky boy

Side question. What do you feed him?

 

[Miami Reef]

I'm sure the lfs will always say yes?

Of course. A good fish buyer ALWAYS makes sure they see fish eating before purchase.

 

[SaltyT]

Side question. What do you feed him?

Mysis and LRS fish frenzy. I also have a lot of pods that he eats all day.

 

[QuinnLee512]

Mysis and LRS fish frenzy. I also have a lot of pods that he eats all day.

Funny that you mention pods. I bought a $45 bottle of pods from algaebarn when I had no livestock in my DT. I'm trying to figure out if they're still alive.

 

[SaltyT]

Funny that you mention pods. I bought a $45 bottle of pods from algaebarn when I had no livestock in my DT. I'm trying to figure out if they're still alive.

They’re still in there! Look around your tank with a flashlight at night when the lights are off you’ll see them scurrying around.

 

[Tamberav]

I'm sure the lfs will always say yes?

Just have them feed it in front of you.

 

[QuinnLee512]

Just have them feed it in front of you.

Thanks. Will definitely do that next time.

 

[adittam]

Thanks. Will definitely do that next time.

Definitely a good idea with every fish purchase to insist on seeing it eat. And don't let them tell you "they just ate a little while ago"; a healthy fish will take a few bites again if offered.

 

[adittam]

Also, it's worth showing those photos to the LFS you purchased it from along with your dated receipt. They might give you a credit toward a new fish.

 

[QuinnLee512]

Also, it's worth showing those photos to the LFS you purchased it from along with your dated receipt. They might give you a credit toward a new fish.

Worth a shot I guess.

 

[MaxTremors]

Sorry have to disagree. There was no ammonia in there. Have you heard of people using a fish to cycle a tank? I used a clown to cycle my first QT.

A clown is not a wrasse. Wrasses are far more sensitive than clowns. A wrasse could absolutely die overnight in an uncycled tank.

 

[MaxTremors]

Fish are shipped overnight in a bag all the time with just oxygen added to the bag. An uncycled 10 gallon tank with a HOB filter to provide water movement would be very unlikely to kill a fish overnight due to ammonia, in my opinion.

Right but in a bag the ph drops because of the added CO2, as soon as you open the bag and the CO2 starts to dissipate, the PH goes up and the ammonia becomes toxic. A fish in that amount of water in an unsealed bag would die of ammonia poisoning in 24 hours.

 

[QuinnLee512]

A clown is not a wrasse. Wrasses are far more sensitive than clowns. A wrasse could absolutely die overnight in an uncycled tank.

Would you mind explaining to me how an uncycled tank could kill a fish overnight? Keep in mind that it's freshly made RODI water with no ammonia in it.

 

[QuinnLee512]

Also how do people who use the TTM do it if everyone here is saying that a cycled tank is required? TTM requires that the fish be moved every few days and the tank cleaned and disinfected and re-used.

 

[Cjeippert]

QT kills a lot of fish. I hear it all the time.

I do both, but the drip acclimation and hydroplex dip seem to work pretty good. I have a high output pentair uv sterilizer that keeps ich, turbularia, and other bacteria issues managed well. It is not uncommon for fish to have a couple white bumps on fin then gone in a day. Seems like then they build an immunity to getting it bad. The fish seem to love the natural habitat, sand, rock, critters, and all that natural algae and stuff.

I am not aware of any lfs that actually do a real quarantine. At least not in AZ. ( wouldn’t they be using the same tanks over and over in the same building?)

for me the challenge is to get finicky fish (Tangs) to eat their vegetables off the clip or rock. If they learn in the first couple days, they seem to be fine. I wonder if those frozen cyclops would get that melanous wrasse fish eating.

In conclusion, I prefer to put nice fish right in the tank after a bag float, then drip acclimation, then 7 min hydroplex dip

 

[adittam]

There are a couple options:
1. Add bottled bacteria. Yes, it costs money, and you're going to go through a bunch of it doing the TTM, but that's a cost of getting the fish through QT faster than traditional QT. The bacteria you add start to help immediately, reducing ammonia levels.

2. Keep a bunch of bio-media in your DT and transfer smaller bags of it to each clean tank with the fish. They would need to be thoroughly sanitized and re-seeded with bacteria in the DT after each step of the TTM.

3. Monitor ammonia levels religiously, keep freshly made saltwater on hand, and do water changes to reduce ammonia as soon as see levels start to rise. This means using a more accurate tester than API or ammonia badges, because levels can rise quickly in a small tank.

 

[Cjeippert]

Are you saying that you think I bought a diseased fish? I really can't figure out what I did wrong other than maybe not acclimating it better prior to putting it into QT.

Maybe internal parasites in digestive tract or something in gills.

 

[Cjeippert]

I noticed him breathing rapidly pretty much from the time I put him in my QT. That was probably around an hour or so from being put in a bag at the lfs. I really want a melanurus wrasse so I might give it another try this week.

I hate when I see fish breath heavily, especially right out the gate. It makes me wonder if ammonia burned its gills on its journey

 

[Cjeippert]

Thanks. Will definitely do that next time.

They will drop a flake of food in. If it acts like a pirhana, good sign