Question for experienced people

[fishguy710]

I work at a fish store and sold a guy a orange toadfish and lionfish. I gave them to him in a 5 gallon bucket and he called later saying the lionfish had died this was almost 4 hours after selling it to him. Do you guys have any clue what could have happened or where I messed up?

 

[lion king]

Unless the lionfish was super small, those 2 would have been fine to transport in a 5g bucket. It should not be common practice for a lfs to transport fish together, There are too many variables as to guess how the lion died.

 

[DrZoidburg]

4 hours is a long time to be in a bucket. If all done right it shouldn't be fatal though. Was any visible attack marks? How long was their trip? How was it acclimated? All things considered it could be a lot of things.

 

[fishguy710]

The guy that bought them said it was 15 minutes but didn’t call the store back until 3 1/2 hours he brought the fish back and was very upset. Our big bags kept popping with the lionfish so I offered him and bucket and he just said to put them bothe in the bucket. Could the toadfish hurt him any way because the toadfish is still alive.

 

[DrZoidburg]

The guy that bought them said it was 15 minutes but didn’t call the store back until 3 1/2 hours he brought the fish back and was very upset. Our big bags kept popping with the lionfish so I offered him and bucket and he just said to put them bothe in the bucket. Could the toadfish hurt him any way because the toadfish is still alive.

Don't know if it would effect other fish to die. Said searching that it had poisonous spines and were aggressive. If they were close in size maybe not aggression, but possibly a sting? Did lionfish have any obvious marks?

 

[fishguy710]

Don't know if it would effect other fish to die. Said searching that it had poisonous spines and were aggressive. If they were close in size maybe not aggression, but possibly a sting? Did lionfish have any obvious marks?

Not that I could see no. I’m thinking it’s just poor treatment of the fish. But I would think the lionfish wouldn’t die from a sting unless it was really bad.

 

[DrZoidburg]

I thought both too but can't be sure how it will effect other fish. If they could give you more info on everything it might help. In relation to this set up another with a tank, they came with a cooler. Just 1.5 hr drive sloshing around they lost 3 of the fish even before being acclimated.

 

[lion king]

The toad fish is not venomous. Since he was 15 minutes away and it was 3.5 hours since, alot could have happened. From improper acclimation to stress which triggered an underlying condition. If he used a net, alot of accidents happen that way. If your lfs run low sg and he just dumped him in reef level sg, that's a problem. If your lfs runs copper he could have suffered internal organ damage, and the stress of transport could have triggered liver failure. This also happens if he had been collected using cyanide.

 

[HB AL]

It's very likely he left them in the bucket for alot longer than he said and they died from a depletion of oxygen combined with co2 build up. Just a guess though

 

[CryptoNautical]

The guy that bought them said it was 15 minutes but didn’t call the store back until 3 1/2 hours he brought the fish back and was very upset. Our big bags kept popping with the lionfish so I offered him and bucket and he just said to put them bothe in the bucket. Could the toadfish hurt him any way because the toadfish is still alive.

"He just said to put them both in the bucket" to me that's the nail in the coffin. That was a risk the buyer was making and he's liable for anything beyond the point of purchase. Way too many variables

 

[fishguy710]

Thank you guys for the education and now I know what to do in the future!

 

[WVNed]

Sadly a lot of people lie. Anything could have happened. I would not worry about it at all.

 

[ChuckiePony]

Having just experienced a heartbreaking blow to most of our beautiful predator tank (couple eels, 2 lions, little coral shark and the toadfish who’d all been settled for a long time), I can assure you at least SOME toadfish species secrete toxin when stressed. I got our Whitelined Toadfish out quickly when I discovered him ailing from a wound (he and the coral shark had tried to squeeze back into same spot at same time the evening before and he got squished into the rocks a bit) and it was disturbing enough to have to euthanize him as he vocalized (yes they grunt) only to walk back into the room to see the whole 260 gallon tank flailing and going belly up. Lost 3/4 of the livestock within 20 minutes…including a Hawaiian dragon.