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11/26/2020, 08:45 AM | #1 |
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Join Date: Sep 2020
Posts: 12
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Adding fish - The proper way
So I've been rather unsuccessful in adding new fish to my tank so I thought I'd ask before I go out and get more fishes only to have them die a couple of days later.
A little bit of background, my previous tank exploded (cracked) and flooded my house 2 months back so I had an opportunity to "restart" with a new tank. I now have a 4x2x2ft tank and it was started on the 19th of October 2020. Tank is now cycled, and I have also added couple of corals in it and they seem to be doing fine. Tank parameters are Salinity - 1.025 Ammo - 0 No2 - 0 No3 - 2ppt dKH - 9.5 Ph - 8.3 Calc - 430 Mag - 1420 Phos - 0.1ppm Tank is currently having a Cyano outbreak but a manageable one. I'm still dosing Microbe Lift Special Blend weekly, and Polyp Lab medic as a preventive measure. So I've recently started adding fish, only to have most of it die off within 3 to 5 days. What have died so far - 2 clowns, Yellow Tang, Blue Tang, Algae Blennny, Mandarin Dragonnets. Scopas Tang Whats surviving so far - Purple Tang, Lopez Tang, a shrimp, a hermit crab, yellow tail tamarind. Ps. if introduced live tigger pods to the tank I'm always puzzled when I wake up in the morning and find some fish dead. They seemingly die at night when lights are out. I couldn't really figure out why. Parameters seems ok. Parasites? Idk. Usually when I add fish in, I'll do a freshwater dip. I'm always very nervous when doing a freshwater dip and dip max 1 minute before introducing it into the DT Question is, what's the best way to introduce a fish into the tank, assuming a QT is out of the question. Is it to Floating bag to match temp - drip acclimatise, fw dip, then straight into DT Or should I fw dip first only acclimatise? Or am I missing out anything? I really want to make sure I'm doing it right. Having fish die all the time is quite demotivating. Sent from my SM-N986B using Tapatalk |
11/26/2020, 09:52 AM | #2 |
Moving on Up
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Southern NJ
Posts: 5,167
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Question is are you getting healthy fish to begin with? Sounds like you are not doing a quarantine so you are definitely taking a chance. Now that you have added fish that haven't been quarantined you very well could have a parasite in the tank. My suggestion is make sure the fish your getting are extremely healthy. Healthy fish have a better chance of fighting parasites off. Where do you purchase fish? Take a look at TSM aquatics. All fish are treated and properly eating before they are sold makes things a lot easier.
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11/26/2020, 09:53 AM | #3 |
Moving on Up
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Southern NJ
Posts: 5,167
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What I do when I get a new fish is place it in a 5 gallon bucket and drop for about an hour or more then place them in the tank.
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11/26/2020, 09:54 AM | #4 |
Moving on Up
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Southern NJ
Posts: 5,167
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Drip for an hour. Lol. Not drop.
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11/26/2020, 10:33 AM | #5 |
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Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: Miller Place, NY
Posts: 7,206
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Sounds like you need to wake up around 2-5 AM & search the tank with a flashlight. Dying overnight sounds like a red flag to me.
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250 gallon mixed reef, 2 Reefbreeder's Photon V 2, Deepwater BLDC 12, DAS EX-3 Skimmer, MTC mini cal, 2-3/4" Sea Swirls, Aquacontroller & 6 Tunze pumps. |
11/26/2020, 11:24 AM | #6 |
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Join Date: Jul 2019
Location: NW Indiana Valparaiso
Posts: 505
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Hmmm, ive never fresh water dipped any of my fish & i never acclimate over 30 min tops, never had one die or get sick done this way. I don't do drip its too slow, instead knowing the source water salinity i pre-mix new saltwater to match then put the fish immediately in the new, clean toxins free water, now i have plenty of time to start adding DT water to it to match. Just seems the common sense way to me im a bit stumped more do not do this?
I agree 100% on only buy fish that are medicated beforehand from a store you trust or a good online retailer that states so, especially if not doing a QT. Dragonnets are a bad idea on a new tank they will starve if they do not die of something else like freshwater dipping etc. Can only survive in a large established DT with a lot of live rock. Tangs are ick magnets & they stress out so easily it is not funny, you will never read that it is a good idea to put them in a tank just cycled, a large mature tank absolutely. All of the above i have witnessed on others tanks that were rushed so just stating what i have witnessed not spanking here.
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Montipora Digitas, Cyphastrea, Blastos, different Leptoseris, Green Stylo, GSP, gorgonions, Ricordea mushrooms, psammocoras, Birdsnest coral, Clownfish, Watchman goby, Royal gamma. Current Tank Info: Nano Reef tank |
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