Well, not really either. I don't keep it running all of the time, but I don't do it last minute either. About a week before I know I'll need it I get it set up and get it ready. Since I'm using tank water the bacteria is already strong and propagates to the filter floss quickly. Then I add small amounts of ammonia to keep my biological filtration going until the fish are in there.
That's what I did with the first one. Here's why that can sometimes be a problem. In shipping the ammonia levels can get very high. The only thing that really saves the fish from dying in that condition is that the ph also drops. Lower ph decreases the toxicity of ammonia, keeping it from killing the fish. When you drip acclimate you are raising the ph pretty rapidly by increasing the oxygenation of the water. This causes the still present ammonia to increase in toxicity, which is very dangerous to the fish.
Here is a reference link on fish acclimating
Yea the drip can be an issue if fish are more than 24 hrs in a bag or if you have multiple inverts in one bag and there where some casualties. Matching just allows you to get them out of bad water almost immediately and worry about acclimation at a slower pace.
Between fish I take the tanks to the basement, scrub all of the components with detergent, rinse thoroughly, spray everything with a 10% bleach solution, leave sit for 24 hours, then rinse very thoroughly, and then leave to dry and outgas for at least a week. Before I use any of it I rinse again very thoroughly and then manually dry it all before setting up.
No, the red mouth was only with the last one. It did hide, but I didn't think anything of it because it was brand new and naturally stressed. Plus, from what I've read of Marine Betta's, lots of rock to hide in is their natural inclination. My reading says that red mouth is usually a product of fish farming situations with poor water quality. I'm hoping that's what saves me, since I have decent water quality and am only medium stocked at most. Maybe the disease won't propagate. It's treatable, from what I read, but this progressed so fast I don't know how treatment would've been possible.
I'm not sure what your arrows are pointing at, but I didn't notice anything in those areas.Hey Alex did this fall off (black arrown) can't tell for sure but maybe a fluke?
The tiny white spots between the yellow lines, paper towel lint or ? Looks a little velvety, but I can't tell in the pics still in the tank... If it was me, I would have prazipro or general cure, acriflavine, and copper or CP on hand just in case the display breaks with flukes or velvet.. I would also keep a close eye for hiding, swimming in powerheads, decreased feeding response, etc.
Maybe @Humblefish could tell you some antibiotics that would be good to have on hand, if other fish get a red mouth. Although the images I Googled , of the disease you mentioned, the fish had a bright red mouth even after out of water , I don't really see a potbelly appearance either.
