Help!!!!!!!!! Sick Fish

[rookie07]

I have a 24 gl auqapod.
PH=8.2
amonia/nitrite/nitrate=0

I add my first fish, and 2 fire shrimp 2 days ago.
shrimp are fine.
the fish(not sure what type, small and purple) went into hiding in the rocks as soon as he was placed into tank, 2 days later(today) he is lying on the sand and breathing very heavily, he hasnt moved in 3 hours(aside from the heavy breathing).
What can I do, not sure what to do, I check the water parameters, could it be Specific Gravity? that is alittle low, 1.023.

 

[reefman]

1st :how long has the tank been up
2nd:where u get the fish from and id will be needed. pics
3rd: how did u acclimate it
4th: whats temp is the water

your SG is fine

 

[rookie07]

tanks was running/cycling for 6 weeks before any fish were added.
Fish from local pet store, big name chain, cant think of it now(its in tribeca/finacial district)
used dripped method for acclimating, temp is 79-80
picture will be up soon

 

[rookie07]

 

[1UCKY]

What are your water parameters?

 

[rookie07]

i only did the 4 that I listed. Do I need to do everything else? What parameters are you asking about?

 

[reefman]

it look like a wrasse of some sort.
i hope u didnt get it at petco or petland.

 

[1UCKY]

Sorry about my question...Started reading after the 3rd line:banghead:...It might be that something is stressing him/her out.

 

[rookie07]

my mistake. the acclimating sttyle I used was, slowly adding 1/2 cup tank water till bag was almost full, the poured all into tank. Sorry if this makes a difference

 

[reefman]

r u saying u pour all the water from the bag into your tank?

 

[fluidimagery]

In my experiences wrasses are a hit or miss thing. The fish may have already been stressed at the LFS and adding him to the tank may have put him over the edge. I had a beautiful Scott's fairy that seemed perfectly healthy but didn't eat for about 2 weeks until it finally starved itself, then I have a sunset wrase that was swimming around the tank immediatly. Another died in shipment. Wrasses seem hardy once acclimated and are eating but don't be hard on yourself. I don't feel they're an easy fish in general. It seems you're on the right track, try a fish that's a little hardier (false perc maybe?)

Besides, most wrasses aren't going to be a good candidate for a 24g cube as they're pretty boisterous swimmers.



Never, ever pour LFS water into your tank! Use a net, or better yet a cup to catch the fish and place them gently in the tank.

 

[1UCKY]

That explains it all.....

 

[rookie07]

yeah. was that a bad thing. i read somewhere yesterday that I should not have poured the water into the tank. I didnt know that at the time.

 

[rookie07]

Keep in mind, it was the same place that I got my live rock from. it was rock from there tanks(yes it was cured along time before they place the rocks into the aquariums

 

[reefman]

no water especially from LFS like petland n petco should be place in your tank. u dont know whats in their water.
next time, after matching the SG/temp, when ur ready to put fish in, use a mesh net, drain all bag water or even use your hands to put fish in.
depending how big a difference the bag water is from your tank water, i would acclimate at least 1/2 hour.

 

[fluidimagery]

I'm not bashing the LFS, no idea who it is even. I'm just saying don't be bummed out about your wrasse. I'm going to take a stab and say it isn't your tank but probably an already stressed fish either from the LFS or from the acclimation process.

What are you testing your ammonia with... just to rule that out?

The most important parts of acclimating is getting the salinities and temps right. If you don't have a refractometer, I'd suggest getting one. A lot of LFS's keep their salinities lower than we usually keep our reef tanks... (somewhere around 1.017) If you go from .017 to .023 in a matter of 1/2 an hour that fish is going to be over stressed. Try testing the salinity of the water the fish comes in first and then your tank. To be on the safe side... raise the salinity up .001 every hour. So in my example, the fish would be acclimating for about 6 hours. Someone correct me if I'm talking out of my a$$

 

[reefman]

i have acclimated a goldflake angel for over 2 days before.
now this is only because the SG in bag was 1.010
most LFS with fish only will have SG 1.017-1.019

 

[1UCKY]

I'm not bashing the LFS, no idea who it is even. I'm just saying don't be bummed out about your wrasse. I'm going to take a stab and say it isn't your tank but probably an already stressed fish either from the LFS or from the acclimation process.

What are you testing your ammonia with... just to rule that out?

The most important parts of acclimating is getting the salinities and temps right. If you don't have a refractometer, I'd suggest getting one. A lot of LFS's keep their salinities lower than we usually keep our reef tanks... (somewhere around 1.017) If you go from .017 to .023 in a matter of 1/2 an hour that fish is going to be over stressed. Try testing the salinity of the water the fish comes in first and then your tank. To be on the safe side... raise the salinity up .001 every hour. So in my example, the fish would be acclimating for about 6 hours. Someone correct me if I'm talking out of my a$$

I totally agree with you!

 

[rookie07]

Wow, I have so much stuff to learn. thank you for the lesson, and.... what time is class on monday?
Thanks a bunch.
Phil
PS.. what do refractors cost? ALSO, Ive been using Instant Ocean test kits. Are these good. I hate having to pour in stuff from little baggies. Is there no better way to check water parameters?

 

[fluidimagery]

I like the Salifert kits for everything but Phosphate and Nitrate (scales are too vague and hard to read)

Phosphate I use a Hanna Meter (wait on that as it's $$) Salifert isn't horrible until you get below .1.

Nitrate, I'm still in search of something worthwhile. Nobody has 0 phosphate or nitrate which seems to be a common misconception with new comers. The tests we use usually can't detect low enough.

You can probably find a used refractometer on here somewhere. Typically they're around $40.