Abzdot Posted January 13, 2021 Share Posted January 13, 2021 My tank is around around 10 months with a clownfish being in there for the same amount of time, I decided to get a fire dart fish today from lfs, I put his bag in the tank for 30ish mins for temp acclimation then drip acclimated for another 20. I left the drip unsupervised for that time and came back when my 20 min timer went off, I came back to see the fish laying upside down in the bucket. My Parameters are fine, further proving it, my clown is doing well. what should I do? Should I try getting my money back Quote Link to comment
Firefish15 Posted January 13, 2021 Share Posted January 13, 2021 Don’t give up yet, leave him in there for a bit. Were there any chemicals in the bucket you drip acclimated in? That depends on your store’s refund policy. If they have one, you’ll probably have to bring in your dead fish, receipt, and a water sample to get anything back. 1 Quote Link to comment
Abzdot Posted January 13, 2021 Author Share Posted January 13, 2021 1 hour ago, Firefish15 said: Don’t give up yet, leave him in there for a bit. Were there any chemicals in the bucket you drip acclimated in? That depends on your store’s refund policy. If they have one, you’ll probably have to bring in your dead fish, receipt, and a water sample to get anything back. Luckily he’s recovering!! 1 Quote Link to comment
Firefish15 Posted January 13, 2021 Share Posted January 13, 2021 Oh good! Hopefully the clown doesn’t pick on him too much. 1 Quote Link to comment
Tamberav Posted January 14, 2021 Share Posted January 14, 2021 Dripping fish is stressful... if salinity matches I just float and add them. Glad he is coming around. 1 Quote Link to comment
ajmckay Posted January 14, 2021 Share Posted January 14, 2021 Agree if the salinity (and maybe pH) match then don't bother with drip - usually I'll do some water exchanges though. I've even gone as far as preferring one LFS over another because they mixed their salt closer to my levels. Though honestly this ended up being dumb because of their employee rotation I found that over time they weren't really that consistent. If the fish went belly up after 30 minutes still in the bag that seems like it would be either an injury (firefish are super skittish and can freak out during handling) or shock. Just because your water parameters are fine doesn't mean they can't kill a new fish. For example if the LFS keeps their tanks at 1.023SG and you're at 1.025 that's a pretty big difference that can kill if not acclimated properly. Another example is temperature. Depending on where you live and the volume of water, the temperature of the water in the bag could go from 75 to 65 pretty quickly. Then if you heat it back up to 78 in 10 or 15 minutes that's a big shock. To mitigate this, I always bring a lunch cooler with me and carry livestock home in in. Keeps the temps much more stable. This is why most LFS don't offer guarantees on saltwater fish - your water can test fine but you may have acclimated wrong and they wouldn't really know. 1 Quote Link to comment
Abzdot Posted January 15, 2021 Author Share Posted January 15, 2021 Hi all! He’s doing better than before, however, he’s really shy at the moment and doesn’t seem interested in eating yet, should I give him few more days to acclimate or should I be concerned? First pic was when I put him in the tank and second was around 30 mins after himself being in he tank 1 Quote Link to comment
Firefish15 Posted January 15, 2021 Share Posted January 15, 2021 Fire fish can be quite timid. Don’t be surprised if you don’t see a lot of him for the first week. He’ll probably find a burrow or hole in the rocks. What are you feeding? Quote Link to comment
Abzdot Posted January 15, 2021 Author Share Posted January 15, 2021 11 minutes ago, Firefish15 said: Fire fish can be quite timid. Don’t be surprised if you don’t see a lot of him for the first week. He’ll probably find a burrow or hole in the rocks. What are you feeding? Currently I’m feeding vitalis platinum marine flakes some days and other days I’ll feed some frozen brine shrimp, however, I haven’t actual had a chance to feed him but I did plop some near his hidy hole Quote Link to comment
Firefish15 Posted January 15, 2021 Share Posted January 15, 2021 I’d recommend getting some really nice frozen food. If your LFS carries LRS Reef Frenzy Nano, that’s a great one. Blend of a bunch of different sea animals. Feeds corals as well. Quote Link to comment
Abzdot Posted January 15, 2021 Author Share Posted January 15, 2021 3 minutes ago, Firefish15 said: I’d recommend getting some really nice frozen food. If your LFS carries LRS Reef Frenzy Nano, that’s a great one. Blend of a bunch of different sea animals. Feeds corals as well. I’ll have a look when I go there again, the only downside of my lfs is it’s around 10 miles one way Quote Link to comment
Firefish15 Posted January 15, 2021 Share Posted January 15, 2021 Probably not worth it for one pack of frozen food! You could always call and see if they carry it. 1 Quote Link to comment
ajmckay Posted January 17, 2021 Share Posted January 17, 2021 I think it's fine to let the fish acclimate for the first day, but I would start offering appropriate food as soon as possible. And if it doesn't take to what you're currently offering then I would try to find something else quickly. If it doesn't eat in the first few days then I think that could be a sign of a problem and you will need to try to observe what the problem is. Quote Link to comment
Xj reefing Posted January 17, 2021 Share Posted January 17, 2021 In my experience using brine shrimp with garlic helps a lot. Quote Link to comment
Abzdot Posted January 17, 2021 Author Share Posted January 17, 2021 3 hours ago, Xj reefing said: In my experience using brine shrimp with garlic helps a lot. 6 hours ago, ajmckay said: I think it's fine to let the fish acclimate for the first day, but I would start offering appropriate food as soon as possible. And if it doesn't take to what you're currently offering then I would try to find something else quickly. If it doesn't eat in the first few days then I think that could be a sign of a problem and you will need to try to observe what the problem is. Thank you for the advice guys! I have been trying to squirt some food (frozen brine shrimp, frozen mysis and flakes) into his little den hoping that he'll nibble on it, however, I have lost his location which is surprising as there aren't many hiding spots for him. I will give him some more time to acclimate but I do hope he becomes more joyful! Quote Link to comment
ajmckay Posted January 17, 2021 Share Posted January 17, 2021 10 minutes ago, Abzdot said: Thank you for the advice guys! I have been trying to squirt some food (frozen brine shrimp, frozen mysis and flakes) into his little den hoping that he'll nibble on it, however, I have lost his location which is surprising as there aren't many hiding spots for him. I will give him some more time to acclimate but I do hope he becomes more joyful! If possible add more hiding spots. These fish in particular like lots of nooks & crannies to hide in. It may seem counter intuitive but often more hiding places encourages fish to be out more. Maybe it's because they are always close to a hiding spot that they can dart back into? Quote Link to comment
Abzdot Posted January 17, 2021 Author Share Posted January 17, 2021 53 minutes ago, ajmckay said: If possible add more hiding spots. These fish in particular like lots of nooks & crannies to hide in. It may seem counter intuitive but often more hiding places encourages fish to be out more. Maybe it's because they are always close to a hiding spot that they can dart back into? That sounds like a great idea however my tank isn't that big (just a fluval evo 13.5Gal) with limitations Quote Link to comment
Abzdot Posted January 19, 2021 Author Share Posted January 19, 2021 Hi all, still haven’t seen him since. I’m getting concerned now 😕 Quote Link to comment
ajmckay Posted January 19, 2021 Share Posted January 19, 2021 1 hour ago, Abzdot said: Hi all, still haven’t seen him since. I’m getting concerned now 😕 You haven't seen it since Friday? It's not uncommon for this species to hide a lot. Have you tried enticing it out with some brine shrimp? They can fit into really tiny holes - so check everywhere! Keep an eye on your water parameters/coral health. If you notice anything starting to look bad or any amount of ammonia then you will need to start taking the rocks apart enough to retrieve the dead fish. Hopefully it doesn't come to that though and it comes out soon! Quote Link to comment
Abzdot Posted January 19, 2021 Author Share Posted January 19, 2021 1 minute ago, ajmckay said: You haven't seen it since Friday? It's not uncommon for this species to hide a lot. Have you tried enticing it out with some brine shrimp? They can fit into really tiny holes - so check everywhere! Keep an eye on your water parameters/coral health. If you notice anything starting to look bad or any amount of ammonia then you will need to start taking the rocks apart enough to retrieve the dead fish. Hopefully it doesn't come to that though and it comes out soon! Yup, haven't seen it since, I am scared to find his body half decayed but also scared that if i find him hes gonna jump out of the tank 😛 Quote Link to comment
ajmckay Posted January 19, 2021 Share Posted January 19, 2021 23 minutes ago, Abzdot said: Yup, haven't seen it since, I am scared to find his body half decayed but also scared that if i find him hes gonna jump out of the tank 😛 Hopefully it doesn't ! That tank has a lid - no? Quote Link to comment
Abzdot Posted January 20, 2021 Author Share Posted January 20, 2021 15 hours ago, ajmckay said: Hopefully it doesn't ! That tank has a lid - no? No it does, I only meant when I was go out searching for him 1 Quote Link to comment
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