why my fishes died?? :(

[DEVANSH]

hi guys, i lost 3 fishes yesterday ,
as i was selling my fishes , one guy was interested in buying them(2 dolphins & 1 white albino cichlids all of 3 inches ), he had bought a parrot fish from me recently also so it wasnt out first time. what happened was that he came along yesterday evening & we started to pick these fishes from my 67 gallon tank which has lots of rockwork in it, it took us nearly 10 minutes to get each fish in the net!!! but as he had to go long way about 2 hour journey from my place so he asked to get fresh water from tap rather than using aquarium water , which might have less oxygen? he bought my 4.5 inch parrot fish like that only (in freshwater from tap) & there was no problem so we went ahead & put all three in new water & the white cichlid even tried to jump out of it, after 5 minutes he came back & said that they are gasping for air so we transferred them back to the tank, we could see them still trying to breathe but unable to move much, soon all of them passed away

I do 30% WC every week. & add some epsom salt in aquarium.

now the question arises that what went wrong??
1.I think transferring those fishes in complete new tap water did them in, but then why didnt the parrot also die??
2.AND/OR they might be highly stressed on being in the same bag as they were always aggressive towards each other in the tank.

please tell me what do u think what went wrong & how to avoid such instances again??
should fish be given only in the same aquarium water?? does it have enough oxygen for 4-5 hours??
should cichlids of 3 inches above be packed in different bags??

 

[jwalkerafc7]

i always transfer my fish in water from their aquarium just to keep the fish semi in the same water quality. if you put them in tap water many things could have went wrong such as temperature and of course all the unhealthy things in tap water. the parrot fish could have got lucky, thats the only thing idk about.

 

[Gruntking]

Tap water has chlorine, and different temperature than your tank. The fish can be shocked and die. Just leave them in tank water next time!

 

[Chizzle]

You should have used water from the aquarium. Where did you get the idea to use water from the tap? Tap water has chlorine in it which probably burned your fishes gills and put your fish into shock.

If you're going to be traveling more than an hour, I would get a battery operated aerator.

Some other tips are don't feed your fish 24 hours before you plan on transporting them. That way they won't crap in the water and kill themselves from ammonia poisoning. Use bag buddies, its an additive used when shipping/transporting fish.

 

[EastBay]

At least if you use tap water, you should condition it with a little bit of prime or something. I would not recommend, however, adding tap water for the reasons stated above. Like someone else said, that parrotfish just got lucky to survive.

 

[J.Lake]

Agreed, if its a long trip you stop feeding them for at least 24 hrs. Bring a battery powered air pump as previously states. Or use a supplement like bag buddies. IMO i dont think 2 hours is really that long.

 

[Sidrock]

Sorry for your loss Devansh.

One or both of the following can be the cause:

1. Shock due to change in temperature and/or PH. (What's the temperature of the tap water in Delhi these days? Must be very very very hot if it's coming from a tank at the top of your apt. blding or house.)
2. Chlorine. (Tap water from Municipal water supply in Bombay/Mumbai is chlorinated (just chlorine and not chrolamine) . I presume it's the same case with Delhi. This can be the cause unless your water supply is not from the Delhi Municipality.)

To avoid this from happening again, if you have not done a water change recently, just use 70% aquarium water and 30% tap water in the bag/container and add a smaller dose of the de-chlorinating agent.

Good luck,

 

[luvinbluegills]

From the way you describe the reaction of the fish, it was without a doubt the tap water. I have traveled with fish for 1-3 hour trips in just regular bagging with no problems. Twice now I've hand-carried fish from a certain lfs in Chicago, driven back home to Pittsburgh (7 and a half to 8 hours), and haven't lost any along the way.

2 hours is nothing. When I was younger it was always at least an hour to buy the fish, catch the bus, and get them home into the tank. Except with very special situations or serious mishandling I can't imagine a need for special precautions with a 2 hour trip.

Especially not fresh tap water. ;-)

 

[nishant_datta]

hi guys, i lost 3 fishes yesterday ,
as i was selling my fishes , one guy was interested in buying them(2 dolphins & 1 white albino cichlids all of 3 inches ), he had bought a parrot fish from me recently also so it wasnt out first time. what happened was that he came along yesterday evening & we started to pick these fishes from my 67 gallon tank which has lots of rockwork in it, it took us nearly 10 minutes to get each fish in the net!!! but as he had to go long way about 2 hour journey from my place so he asked to get fresh water from tap rather than using aquarium water , which might have less oxygen? he bought my 4.5 inch parrot fish like that only (in freshwater from tap) & there was no problem so we went ahead & put all three in new water & the white cichlid even tried to jump out of it, after 5 minutes he came back & said that they are gasping for air so we transferred them back to the tank, we could see them still trying to breathe but unable to move much, soon all of them passed away

I do 30% WC every week. & add some epsom salt in aquarium.

now the question arises that what went wrong??
1.I think transferring those fishes in complete new tap water did them in, but then why didnt the parrot also die??
2.AND/OR they might be highly stressed on being in the same bag as they were always aggressive towards each other in the tank.

please tell me what do u think what went wrong & how to avoid such instances again??
should fish be given only in the same aquarium water?? does it have enough oxygen for 4-5 hours??
should cichlids of 3 inches above be packed in different bags??

hey Devansh,

As some other posters have suggested, always ship fish in the water from the tank they are in. Also, fish bigger than 3", depending on the fish species and the size of bag, should preferably be packed separately. for instance, you can still get away with having 2-3 mollies in the same bag but so with cichlids.

another tip is to fast the fish atleast 2 days before shipping so they dont poop in the bag.

its best to get the fish packed from an LFS. they fill the bag with oxygen and pack it tightly. this enables for longer transport time. or you can use a battery operated airpump and diffuser on a bucket / plastic container. hope it helps.