How do you acclimate?

[xraycer]

How do I know if it has parasites and if it does, what do I treat with?

Prazi pro

 

[fishnatics]

I float the bags till water temp is the same and then i slowly add tank water to bag and repeat process for about 30 min. I then net the fish out and put them in my tank.

 

[petspoiler]

My thinking is along the sames lines as xraycer, and was even before you posted that new tetras are dying.
IME tetras & some other small fish succumb suddenly to water parameter issues, ammonia & nitrites being worse than nitrates. That is why tetras have been used for water indicators: when they die without aggression something is "off".
I've had them start dropping when tanks were not completely cycled &/or water changes had fallen behind. They do best in mature tanks, but at the minimum, need plenty of BB stability- w/steady maintenance a close 2nd. sensitive to fluctuations.

This would be the reason that "Seems like the only time I don't have fish die is when they are added directly to the main tank,..... "
additionally, even with sufficient BB, small tanks just DO have quicker fluctuations in quality than larger ones. they are more high maintenance than large ones (may apply to your QT) so the same water change schedule that is good for a 100G can cause unstable/ever-changing water params in a small tank.

 

[ABigFish]

White, stringy feces is a sure sign of parasites. Also mouthing and spitting out food can be and really any other signs of stress


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[petspoiler]

I don't. However, I took at least one LARGE handful of BioMax from my FX5 that is running on a heavily stocked 100 gallon, and put that in the filter of the 35 gallon, in addition to a sponge that was used in the tank when I just had a few fish in there(so the biomax can seed the sponge). That should have been more than enough for the 30 or so Neons in there. Plus I have done waterchanges every other day. Doesn't matter if it is a large water change or a small one, I still have fish die and the Molly still acts very stressed. There's plenty of hiding places with at least 5 fake plants and 1 large driftwood branch on the bottom of the tank, plus a floating piece of driftwood and 2 floating plants. I can't figure out what I'm doing wrong...I only ever have problems with fish in this tank(QT tank), never in my main tank.

if you're depending on the biomax to seed a sponge, that means you already think more BB is needed in that QT tank.
That is not the method or point of using sponge filters. the way to do it is you have a sponge going in mature tank for long time so it is already also mature, then put that in the QT.
Also, doing water changes every other day tells me you intuitively know that the tank is still cycling & you start out with an approach to hopefully do damage control before fish are smacked by stress.
It isn't working & this is not your first rodeo, no offense intended.
Go in your fx5 and take out more BB. situate that at the beginning side of your new filter media so water pushes it through there.
That sponge filter is useless/zero/nada quotient for quite a while.

Medicating, even if necessary, will additionally stress the tetras. Best to first guarantee the BB aspect of tank. Your fx5 won't miss it at all.
When I take media out of a mature filter for another tank, I add the same amount of new media back in there.

 

[ABigFish]

I agree, if the tank is not cycled any medication will do more harm than good. Even if the medication treated the ailment it would just return or another would pop up. The root of all sickness in aquaria tends to be poor water quality


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[BCherdingthefish]

if you're depending on the biomax to seed a sponge, that means you already think more BB is needed in that QT tank.
That is not the method or point of using sponge filters. the way to do it is you have a sponge going in mature tank for long time so it is already also mature, then put that in the QT.
Also, doing water changes every day tells me you intuitively know that the tank is still cycling & you start out with an approach to hopefully do damage control before fish are smacked by stress.
It isn't working & this is not your first rodeo, no offense intended.
Go in your fx5 and take out more BB. situate that at the beginning side of your new filter media so water pushes it through there.
That sponge filter is useless/zero/nada quotient for quite a while.

Medicating, even if necessary, will additionally stress the tetras. Best to first guarantee the BB aspect of tank. Your fx5 won't miss it at all.
When I take media out of a mature filter for another tank, I add the same amount of new media back in there.

Water changes every OTHER day ...and only because the darn things keep dying. I don't think the tank is still cycling, that Biomax should have been way more than enough for them - I only added it because there was no BB in the tank, it was running empty for quite a while - however you could be right about them just being a lot more sensitive. I'm selling the large fish in my 100 gallon on Friday, after that I'm going to move the Neons to the 100 and see if any more of them die after that. I really hope not...
Also, I don't have a sponge filter...I put a sponge IN the HOB filter, with the Biomax on three sides of it(front, back, and most of it on the side where the water initially flows through)
I even had problems with fish dying in this tank back when it was fully stocked and the filter was mature. I just don't get why I have always had such horrible luck with small fish.

I won't medicate then unless I am positive they have parasites, thank you. No need to put them through additional stress!

 

[ABigFish]

How long has the tank had water in it? Other than it being uncycled only other thing I could think of was toxins from the tank or something placed in it. Unlikely IMO but always a possibility! Best of luck with the fish though!


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[jeremoose]

I'm curious as to how everyone here acclimates their fish. I have always just floated the bag to bring the water in the bag to the same temperature as the water in the tank, then netted the new fish and put them directly in the tank(usually quarantine tank) with no acclimation. Never had a problem. But now I'm redoing my tank and adding small fish, which I've always had bad luck with. Whenever I buy schools of small fish, it seems like I always have several of them die within the first few days, even if the water is fine. Is this normal with small fish? I would think not. Could it be due to not acclimating correctly?
I'm wondering how you guys acclimate, especially with small fish.

This is how I do it in all instances, even with shipped Crystal Red Shrimp which were in the bag for 48 hours. I check PH and TDS in the new fishes bag, if it's close to the tank I just float and scoop.


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[ABigFish]

To answer the OP question though I prefer the drip acclimation in a 5g bucket. Fish seems to adjust better to the tank once added. Especially with my clown knives since the young can be sensitive.


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