I ordered an Australian Harlequin Tusk from Live Aquaria. It was supposed to have arrived yesterday morning by 10:30 but was delayed in Indianapolis and now won't arrive until today. Due to where I live, I have everything shipped to my office at work. I was prepared to leave early yesterday, but will need to be in the office all day long today. I brought a 5 gallon bucket of water from my tank at home and a small fluval filter I can attach to it. My plan is to take the fish, hopefully it is still living, and place it in a second bucket still in the same water it was shipped in, and every half hour or so add a cup of the clean water I brought from home. After doing this for a couple of hours, I will then put him in the bucket with the filter until I can go home this evening. I am not sure if this will be the best technique to use or not giving the circumstances that the fish will have been in the shipping bag for at least 40 hours or longer. Does anyone have a different plan I should follow or any tips? Thanks.
Fish Acclimation after long shipping
- Thread starter yakfishin
- Start date
Actually now I'm thinking my best bet would be to keep him in the bag and float it to match the temperature. Once that is done to do a quick check of the salinity and match it, and then straight into the bucket with good water? I don't want the fish to experience an ammonia spike. Would an ammonia spike be likely to occur after about 40 hours of being in the bag?
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TheAngelfish
Member
How's he doing?
I am not really sure how to answer that. He appears to have a bit of a buoyancy issue going on. Over the weekend I would frequently find him in a vertical position with the top of his head, but not his mouth, above the water surface. He would just sort of bob around in that position. But there were times when he seemed to be normal, and he did eat. I checked on him this morning before going to work and he was not surface bobbing as I had found him doing the previous two mornings. His eyes look clear and I don't see any red gills or anything indicating ammonia poisoning. Other than the surface bobbing, which does not at all seem normal to me, he otherwise appears to be fine. I am curious to check on him after work.
So here is where I am at now with this fish. I still have him in the quarantine tank. He is no longer behaving so strangely, he swims more normally and doesn't bob at the surface. From all outward appearances he seems quite healthy..... with one exception, and that's his feeding. He ate the first day or two that I had him, but now not so much. I never witness him eating.
I have used fresh clam, fresh shrimp, fresh pieces of silversides and carnivore frozen food. I just don't ever witness him eating. I believe he is eating. I will drop a couple of pieces of shrimp in his tank and an hour later a piece or two will be gone. But I never witness him eating it when I first drop it in. From what I can tell though, he does not appear to be thinning out or anything. No stringy white poop or anything that I can tell that would indicate parasites, but I will have to say that I am no expert on that sort of thing.
I almost wonder if this is just an acclimation to captivity problem? It's almost like he has a case of the 'sads'? Anyone have any opinions? Do I keep him in the quarantine tank until I now his appetite is fine? Anyone ever had a fish not do well in a bare quarantine tank but snapped out of it in the display tank where the environment is a bit more enriching? I just don't have a clue at this point.
I have used fresh clam, fresh shrimp, fresh pieces of silversides and carnivore frozen food. I just don't ever witness him eating. I believe he is eating. I will drop a couple of pieces of shrimp in his tank and an hour later a piece or two will be gone. But I never witness him eating it when I first drop it in. From what I can tell though, he does not appear to be thinning out or anything. No stringy white poop or anything that I can tell that would indicate parasites, but I will have to say that I am no expert on that sort of thing.
I almost wonder if this is just an acclimation to captivity problem? It's almost like he has a case of the 'sads'? Anyone have any opinions? Do I keep him in the quarantine tank until I now his appetite is fine? Anyone ever had a fish not do well in a bare quarantine tank but snapped out of it in the display tank where the environment is a bit more enriching? I just don't have a clue at this point.
Do you have a pipe for him to hide in, some sort of shelter? If all else fails you may have to put him into the tank rather than see him starve. Or not, if you judge the risk too much. A fairly drastic measure rather than either would be putting a healthy chromis into qt with him---their movement seems to reassure some fish: they're the ultimate non-threatening roomie.
