When acclimation goes bad...

[eschaton]

My new tank has been having algae issues, and I had been on the lookout for somewhere I could buy a combtooth blenny online. I found an eyespot blenny in the Liveaquaria Diver's Den, and he arrived this morning.

I decided to go forward with my normal acclimation process...float the bag for 15 minutes, then pour the bag into a container and slowly add tank water. But as soon as I poured the tank water in, the blenny jumped onto the floor! Not surprising given it's a blenny of course, but still. I wrestled with getting him off the floor for around five seconds, finally getting him into my hands.

Figuring there was no point continuing the acclimation in the container now, since he'd just jump out and was already stressed, I decided to drop him into the tank. He was in shock, and just drifted around for a second in the current. Then he brushed up against a rock flower anemone, and started spasming! Finally, he landed - right next to a gorilla crab! He's still a small blenny, so he would have been perfect snack size for the crab.

Thankfully, he seems to have survived his ordeal okay for now. He righted himself and is now sitting on the bottom of the tank. I had to shoo away the gorilla crab a few times when he was getting too close for comfort. But I'm optimistic now he might make it.

Anyone have similar stories?

 

[Cstar_BC]

Oh man . That brings back memories .

It was a freshwater Arowana , maybe 4-5” . Similar thing - jumped , hit the carpet . I was ice cold just completely in shock scrambling trying to pick up a flopping “expensive” fish .

I got him in the tank , he had nasty gashes on one side , and broke his front mandibular barbel. He recovered quickly enough .

However , I now have a net whose sole purpose is to go over the bucket to prevent jumping .

 

[Sailfin11]

Yes, funny enough, it was actually my first post here on R2R! I was moving my red coris wrasse to my tank and he jumped out of the net. He somehow got behind the stand, so I took me about 15 seconds to get him back into the water. Afterward, he looked like he broke his back and just laid on the rock for almost a day. I was super worried, but he eventually buried himself in the sand and recovered. Here's a picture:

 

[dreamcatcherr9]

My first Porc puffer; in the bucket drip acclimating. I went to scoop him up with a cup to put him in tank. I was probably scared, early into SWF hobby, poisonous fish, spiky, so with caution I scooped, and he jumped out of cup (which was probably to small).

Porc puffet hit the carpet, I couldn’t scoop with my hand! I went to try to scoop with cup, when suddenly, he inflated (puffed)!! I never saw or experienced before, seriously thought it was a bomb and about to explode!

lol, I seriously turned and ducked like it was a bomb (what feels like minutes is only seconds), then I realized what was happening (he wasn’t going to explode) but puffed huge now was not fitting in that cup anymore.

Screw it! I grabbed a net scooped him up and I go the tank. He was my first puffer. Survived through 2 other tanks (almost 3 years old), when he finally got stuck in a rock, got hurt, and eventually dead.

Cool fish. Funny memories.

 

[Mattj815]

I posted this when it happened. But my daughter loves the color yellow and wanted a yellow fish.

So I bought a yellow coris. After floating him, I brought the bag and a container into the bathroom and emptied the bag contents into the container. He jumped out and went right down the drain!

I kind of yelled some colorful words and my wife was like what happened? I told her and luckily she was thinking more clearly than I was and suggested I take the drain apart. So I ran and got some pliers while she emptied under the sink. I broke it loose and out he slid into a bowl of tank water.

I put him in the tank and he was pretty much good for a while. I lost him later down the road though. His name was P-trap.