WC Azuls dead within 3 hours :( What happened?

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
Sorry to hear about the loss Bennifer. As for your acclimation method There's many different ways people acclimate fish including the simple dump. Some will tell you that it shouldn't be done that way and that a drip is the best acclimation method while others will swear by the float then dump method.

The reasons behind the dump method are sound and are even included in a sticky on here. It how ever is not as simple as it's name implies. I personally used to drip but since trying the dump method out of desperation when I received two fairly expensive fish at deaths door I've changed my acclimation routine. Previously when fish showed up lying on their side, pale and cloudy eyed I lost them now with the dump method I'm able to save them the majority of the time.

The sticky is about acclimating large fish. Reason being large fish typically travel worse then juveniles for many reasons. How ever poor shipping methods or handling can create the same issues a larger fish might have. For instance if a fish isn't fasted or the original water was of poor condition to begin with etc. Here's the sticky so you can see the detailed process and reasons behind it.
http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/threads/acclimating-large-fish.5350/
 
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No problem, I just hope it helps. I also wanted to add that further in the sticky it's also suggested adding salt and products like NovaAqua or StressCoat or something similar. Salt can help with nitrite, NO2-, poisoning, and or the treatment of osmoregulatory stress.
http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/threads/salt-and-its-uses.226328/

I received a group of African Scats recently and one came in on his side, breathing heavily and he was pale. He was unresponsive to movement of the bag simply floating as it was moved and then coming to rest on his side again after the waters movement settled. Using the "Squirt and Dump" into my quarantine tank along with adding StressCoat and salt the Scat fully recovered within hours and is doing well growing every bit as fast as his fellow scats.
 
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Oh great! I will definitely keep this mind should I receive a fish who is already on his last legs
 
I believe it takes alot to kill a fish by PH shock and also it is when going down in PH that it is the danger. For example going from 8.0 to 7.1 will not kill a peacock bass. Maybe a more delicate fish will be affected but IMO Cichla are pretty hardy.

I'm not exact here so don't quote me but. As the ammonia builds up in the bag from the fish it does not harm them as much as once the bag has been open. So keeping them in a bucket with the same water for 20 plus min is actually worse. Also it is not as bad when fish go from one temp to a "higher" temp, then when going down in temp from warm to colder.
Maybe some one can chime in with more info on the chemistry of opening a bag with fish.

I am not a kid and my fish keeping with never any losses has nothing to do with luck. Milkman you should try more challenging fish then Texas Cichlids
 
floating bags is one of those practices that people should stop . IMO .. get them out of the bag as soon as possible.. especially if they were shipped in to you. P bass are hardy fish and killing them off on a trip home from the LFS is rare. they were either in poor health from LFS ( wc azul at pet store , that's unusual around here, most are farm bred ), your tank chemistry is off, 90f is way too warm , low o2 levels.

I acclimated WC discus and altums with no issues if you ensure tank chemistry is fine before purchasing , receiving fish , new fish aren't thrown into a pecking order were they are harassed .

All my new fish get thrown into QT tanks , were 90% -95% of the bag water is dumped , then bag is slowly introduced into tank to allow tank water to slowly mix with bag water .. fish then just swim out .

BTW salt is an irritant why stress them out anymore than needed? if your adding salt to prevent nitrate issues , Id find the source of nitrate issue and remedy that way ..
 
Mr Pleco said:
BTW salt is an irritant why stress them out anymore than needed? if your adding salt to prevent nitrate issues , Id find the source of nitrate issue and remedy that way ..
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As I said above and it was also stated in the stickies it's the water in the bag they where shipped in becoming fouled that has caused the poisoning. Since the bags aren't filtered during the long transit and the fish produce waste by respiration there is no remedy currently available. That is that I know of. If you know of a way for a business and hobbyist to ship fish economically in a filtered environment I'd be happy to be enlightened.

Why stress them anymore with the addition of salt? Well the poisoning affects the gills and the fish ability to breathe, which I also stated above. So even if salt is an irritant it would help a suffocating fish breathe. So just ask yourself if you couldn't breathe and someone added something to your environment that made you able to breathe but made you itchy which situation would you find more stressful? Being itchy or not being able to breathe? I think most would be more stressed by not being able to breathe so adding the salt would decrease stress not increase it I believe.

heatherbeast said:
Timely advice, Kolt and company! I'll be receiving a trio of pbass by mail Friday, and will be sure to squirt and dump!
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I'm glad we could help! Good luck with your bass and make sure to share the little buggers when they arrive.
 
CANAMONSTER said:
I believe it takes alot to kill a fish by PH shock and also it is when going down in PH that it is the danger. For example going from 8.0 to 7.1 will not kill a peacock bass. Maybe a more delicate fish will be affected but IMO Cichla are pretty hardy.
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Cichla at the size the op bought are delicate especially being wc.
 
Happy to report that my trio of babies survived and are healthy and eating :) Thanks guys!

I floated the bag for 15 minutes then opened the bag and put a little water from my water in every 10 minutes for the next half hour and put em in!
 
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