This is a Tough, but Enjoyable Hobby

Jesterrace · Dec 17, 2018

67chevellemalibu2 said:
From both. Only have a Christmas Wrasse that has survived from Liveaquaria. I am done with them.

I just thought of something. Are you waiting at home when the fish arrive to your door, or are they sitting outside for an hour or more? Just asking since it is entirely possible the lovely Indiana fall/winter temperatures are killing the fish, along with sitting in the bag a bit long. Not sure about your LFS, but mine basically meets the shipment at the Airport as soon as it comes off the plane and gets them back to the store and starts the acclimation process.

laverda · Dec 17, 2018

You do not need to keep a QT tank set up all the time, alhough I do. Just keep some filter media in the sump of your display tank. Then when you need a QT tank is add water from your display and put the filter media in the QT filter, add a heater and your set. I would also drop the salanity to match your new arrivals water.

Jesterrace · Dec 17, 2018

laverda said:
You do not need to keep a QT tank set up all the time, alhough I do. Just keep some filter media in the sump of your display tank. Then when you need a QT tank is add water from your display and put the filter media in the QT filter, add a heater and your set. I would also drop the salanity to match your new arrivals water.

True, but if you have to treat with copper you are doing basically a complete tear down (filter media included) once the process is done and because the biofiltration is no where near as good on a QT tank as it is with a regular display tank you have to watch the parameters like a hawk. I get the merits of QT and I agree it is generally best practice to do so, but if there are alternatives available (ie letting your LFS do it for you) and you aren't buying expensive fish then the cost benefit analysis comes into play for the cost and hassle of maintaining your own QT tank.

ReeferReefer · Dec 17, 2018

Coralreefer1 said:
Unfortunately for me, the main reason for me losing fish is they jump out of my tank.

Seems like there is a simple solution that could save the lives of your animals.

Jesterrace · Dec 17, 2018

Yeah, I don't get the whole obsession with the aesthetics on a coverless tank. I see people complain about the looks of a cover on a tank and I point out that a dead rotting fish on your carpet is far worse than any lid that they could put on the tank (to say nothing of the waste in money).

Gatling · Dec 17, 2018

Hi, Can someone post their QT setup?

I have a small tank (fluval) and I don't really have the setup for a second smaller QT tank. I don't have any fish yet but reading this thread, I don't want to lose any! Whats the best thing to do for a small tank?

marlinmon · Dec 17, 2018

Gatling said:
Hi, Can someone post their QT setup?

I have a small tank (fluval) and I don't really have the setup for a second smaller QT tank. I don't have any fish yet but reading this thread, I don't want to lose any! Whats the best thing to do for a small tank?

There's an existing QT article detailing everything to the nth degree. That's what I follow.

ReeferReefer · Dec 17, 2018

Jesterrace said:
Yeah, I don't get the whole obsession with the aesthetics on a coverless tank. I see people complain about the looks of a cover on a tank and I point out that a dead rotting fish on your carpet is far worse than any lid that they could put on the tank (to say nothing of the waste in money).

I don't get it either. Especially these days when you can get high quality screens for rimless tanks, like the stuff Octo Aquatics makes.

Js.Aqua.Project · Dec 17, 2018

Gatling said:
Hi, Can someone post their QT setup?

I have a small tank (fluval) and I don't really have the setup for a second smaller QT tank. I don't have any fish yet but reading this thread, I don't want to lose any! Whats the best thing to do for a small tank?

Check out these articles:

https://www.reef2reef.com/ams/beginners-guide-to-acclimation-and-quarantine.299/
https://www.reef2reef.com/ams/video-how-to-sterilize-a-quarantine-tank.201/
https://www.reef2reef.com/ams/fish-and-treatment-guidelines-with-chart.191/
https://www.reef2reef.com/ams/how-to-quarantine-coral-and-inverts.228/

67chevellemalibu2 · Dec 17, 2018

Jesterrace said:
I just thought of something. Are you waiting at home when the fish arrive to your door, or are they sitting outside for an hour or more? Just asking since it is entirely possible the lovely Indiana fall/winter temperatures are killing the fish, along with sitting in the bag a bit long. Not sure about your LFS, but mine basically meets the shipment at the Airport as soon as it comes off the plane and gets them back to the store and starts the acclimation process.

I always get a shipment delivered the day my wife works from home. They always arrive by 10:30 am. There in the bag less than 24 hours. The bag or bags are floating in the tank by 3:15 pm when I get home.

Mical · Dec 17, 2018

67chevellemalibu2 said:
From both. Only have a Christmas Wrasse that has survived from Liveaquaria. I am done with them.

I've never had a problem with LA. Most of my fish are from them. I do buy ORA raised only these days.

Jesterrace · Dec 17, 2018

67chevellemalibu2 said:
I always get a shipment delivered the day my wife works from home. They always arrive by 10:30 am. There in the bag less than 24 hours. The bag or bags are floating in the tank by 3:15 pm when I get home.

So there are floating for nearly 5 hours?

67chevellemalibu2 · Dec 17, 2018

No, I never said that. I float the bags for 15 minutes starting around 3:15 when I get home from work.

Jesterrace · Dec 17, 2018

67chevellemalibu2 said:
No, I never said that. I float the bags for 15 minutes starting around 3:15 when I get home from work.

Oh okay. Either way though I think the combination of the length of time from when they arrive to when they go in plus the 15 minute acclimation time is doing it. It's estimated that fish can survive in a shipping for around 8-12 hours MAX and factoring in the overnight shipment from LA plus the 5 hours they are waiting at home in the bag before going in and it's probably too long. Furthermore online orders need more time to acclimate than they do from the LFS (as they have been out of a temperature controlled environment for much longer). My worst failure with a fish came from the one time I made the mistake of picking up a fish directly from the LFS when it was still in the shipping bag right after it came in (similar conditions to getting them from an online order). I will NEVER do that again, fish was dead from ich/velvet within a week. Either way I am not trying to point fingers or anything, just trying to trouble shoot why you have had such rotten luck with online orders.

Coralreefer1 · Dec 17, 2018

ReeferReefer said:
Seems like there is a simple solution that could save the lives of your animals.

Yeah, I know, however, I have mangrove plants in my tanks!

laverda · Dec 18, 2018

Jesterrace said:
Oh okay. Either way though I think the combination of the length of time from when they arrive to when they go in plus the 15 minute acclimation time is doing it. It's estimated that fish can survive in a shipping for around 8-12 hours MAX and factoring in the overnight shipment from LA plus the 5 hours they are waiting at home in the bag before going in and it's probably too long. Furthermore online orders need more time to acclimate than they do from the LFS (as they have been out of a temperature controlled environment for much longer). My worst failure with a fish came from the one time I made the mistake of picking up a fish directly from the LFS when it was still in the shipping bag right after it came in (similar conditions to getting them from an online order). I will NEVER do that again, fish was dead from ich/velvet within a week. Either way I am not trying to point fingers or anything, just trying to trouble shoot why you have had such rotten luck with online orders.

I have seen fish survive much longer that that in a bag. If packed properly the should handle 48 hours with out an issue. It is all to common for UPS or Fedex to deliver a day late. When I worked for an online vender sometimes people would refuse there orders for what ever reason. That typically ment it would take 3 - 5 days to receive them back. I remember a customer refusing to take a large order because UPS rolled the box up his driveway. Sadly we did not det the order back till Monday 4 or 5 days later. All the snails were dead, but about half of the fish survived. Granted it would have been much better if the customer had accepted the order as we would have replaced anything that died on him anyway. Needless to say the sooner you can start acclimating the better. Refferrefer I would have your wife open the box and float the fish for you at least.

Jesterrace · Dec 18, 2018

That's what I was getting at. I think he would have better luck if the acclimation process weren't started nearly 5 hours after they arrive. Either way though, this is an advantage of picking up one that has been in your LFS' holding tank,it's ready when you are (in terms of you being able to pick the time when it arrives at your house).