Bought 4 Anthias. One dead in bag when I got home!

[ScubaTC]

Tonight, I just purchased (1) Square Anthias, (1) Sunburst Anthias and (2) Bi-color Anthias from LFS. All were in separate bags except for the 2 bi-colors. They were bagged together. At the LFS the 2 bi-colors and the square were all being kept successfully in a tank together. LFS said the 2 bi-colors were mated as they stayed together all the time. He has had them for about a month I think.

Anyway, the LFS fed them and they looked very healthy. The drive home was about 20 minutes. Nothing out of the norm with temps, etc.

When I removed the individual bags from the brown bag they were all in I noticed one of the bi-colors was upside down, no longer breathing and mouth gaping wide open. The other was very stressed. I floated the bags and slowly acclimated SW over a 1 hour period. All were ok except for the remaining bi-color. It began to turn upside down while in the bag like the other but was still rapidly breathing. I went ahead and moved the fish to my tank and had the lights off to help keep them calm from the other fish. The one that died (before I got home) went down the toilet. The remaining bi-color was tail up in a rock, but I could still see its gills moving so it wasnââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t dead yet. Now that 2 hours has gone by it seems to be adjusting a little better and is upright, on the sandbed and breathing a little better.

The other Anthias did well. So my question is, are the bi-colors very delicate fish? Iââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢ve have had stressed fish die before, but that was after adding them to the tank and being picked on by other fish. I have never brought home a fish that ended up dead in the bag! My thoughts are the live one was very stressed because of the other mate being dead in the same bag?? Should they have been bagged separately as to not stress each other? I paid around $36 for this dead guy. Sheesh! I hope the other pulls through. This is my first experience with Anthias.

Thanks for feedback. I am asking because I would like to get a few more. I have a 180 gal.

 

[RicksReefs]

how big was the bag and the two fish? it's possible they died due to a lack of oxygen.

FWIW, you should throw the DOA's in the freezer till you talk to the LFS, they may replace it with proof, a.k.a. the body.

 

[ScubaTC]

Thanks for the tip. I thought of that after I flushed him Oh well. I didn't want my girls to see the 'new' dead fish so I was just thinking along the line of getting him out of their site right away before they caught on. They were excited as one of my daughters picked one out. Luckily, "hers" was not this one.

The bag was the same size as the others that had the fish packed alone. The size was pretty much standard size for a small fish.

I didn't think about the oxygen, but now that you mention it that may explain why the other fish was breathing so heavy and then was doing a little better in my tank. The ones in the other bags that were separate were not doing this. I also slowly dripped my tank water into the bag, but it was over a 45 min period (15 mins floated for temp adjust, then 45 min dripped tank water).

If this is the case, its another learning experience for me as they never end. I'll be sure to avoid this in the future. But I also trust this LFS and would think he knew if they had enough oxygen or not for a local ride home. He could have added oxygen to the bag since it was not larger than the others. I did not watch him bag them so I don't know. My daughter was keeping my hands full enough while I was there - lol.

Thanks for the feedback.

 

[smiller]

I have lost anthias just from netting them in a move from one tank to another.

 

[SSweet1]

Anthias are delicate but I think the sunburst is the more delicate one. Did you test the LFS water? I bought a copperband from AZ that didnt even make it home either. The water was loaded with nitrates. Carrie

 

[sea devil]

SHAME,SHAME Sweet 1..... A Z!!!!!!! YOU SHOULD KNOW BETTER

 

[sea devil]

We here at Atlantis are about the only LFS that I know of that puts O2 in the bag. We have a 48 hr return policy. All we ask for is corpse & h2o sample.

 

[ScubaTC]

Thanks for the 48 hour info. I'll keep that in mind. I don't blame the LFS for this, it could have been the stress alone. Every individual fish is a little different and this one may have not handled the stress of being in a bag. It's just a first for me to have one die so fast.

 

[Iammatt219]

Could have also been ammonia poisining as teh fish were fed in the store prior to purchese then stresed outwhen in the bag. Both fish releasing ammonia could have easily brought the levels up to toxic within 10 minutes. Again this depends on the size of the fish bag and the quanity of water that was in the bag. In my experience I have seen more fish die from ammonia poisining in the bag than from lack of oxygen

 

[SDguy]

I have seen a couple threads besides this one where an anthia simply drops dead, mouth wide open. I've seen it happen too. It's as if they had a heart attack. Very creepy looking. They can be delicate fish. I don't think it was lack of oxygen. Even 20 min without pure O2, there would still be some 02 in the water, unless it was a really tiny bag. Sorry for the loss.

 

[smiller]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6765453#post6765453 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by SDguy
I have seen a couple threads besides this one where an anthia simply drops dead, mouth wide open. I've seen it happen too. It's as if they had a heart attack. Very creepy looking. They can be delicate fish. I don't think it was lack of oxygen. Even 20 min without pure O2, there would still be some 02 in the water, unless it was a reallt tiny bag. Sorry for the loss.

Exactly my point from my above post. I agree!

I had had these anthias for over a year BTW.

 

[sunfish11]

WoW! That really sucks. If you see fish under that much stress in the shipping bags again I would release them straight in my tank after only temp aclimation(floating the bags). Anthias are delicate but if they were healthy I would seriously question what happened. I would also ask you why you bought so many different species of anthias at one time... With a 180 you could have a nice harem of anthias of a couple different species. I would add a male and at least 3 females at the same time. Wait then add a male and females of the other species. Since your last experience was pretty bad I would recomend liveaquaria.com because they have a 2 week guarantee on the fish and a good reputation.

Lisa

 

[reefkeeps]

I agree that Sucks!