3rdimension
New member
Apparently not. Mt aquarium is mostly through cycling process, my Allens Damsel suffered the most when the nitrite never got past 0.25 and the ammonia never went past 0.25 as long as it has been in the aquarium and both levels are decreasing daily.
So I placed it in a 10 gallon hospital tank to help revive it. It did well for 1 day, then I made a big booboo! I mixed salt in another 5 gallon water bucket, and didn't mix it long enough and wait 24 hours as highly recommended. I only learned what newly mixed salt can do to fish's gills if the salt hasn't cured for 24 hours. Burning the poor fish alive! It was pretty evident that's what it was doing to the poor fella after watching it's reaction in the hospital tank for maybe 30 minutes to 1 hour. Keep in mind at this point, I didn't know what newly mixed salt can do to a fish and was clueless why it was stressing so bad.
I finally decided to place him back in the main aquarium still cycling and at nearly 0 ppm ammonia and below 0.25 ppm nitrite. I had the fish in there overnight to at least give it some what more comfortable and not as painful of an experience. When I saw it the next morning it was laying on it's side breathing heavily and barely moving.
Back to square one again! So I decided to take out most the new salt mixed water in the hospital tank, then replace it with the main aquarium water and 1 gallon of fresh water. It has struggled to stay alive for over 12 hours now and on it's last limb and probably dying or dead as I speak.
I wish someone in the trade would have told me WHY your supposed to mix salt for 24 hours before placing it in the tank! and not just tell me that's what you should do! In the past I never waited 24 hours of mixing before replacing with new salt water, that's because I had 180 gallon tank with extra 40 gallons constantly running through it, and the water changes I made were usually only 5-10% of the volume, which had little to no effect on the fish. I never thought how it would effect a fish in larger quantities until now. I had to learn that on my own by researching on the internet.
Oh well hard lesson learned. I know it's just a $5 Damsel, but it has/had a life, a precious one and was really awesome in it's coloration and patterns. I guess I'll just have to pick up another one as soon as the tank is fully cycled. My 2 clown fish, black and white striped humbug damsel are doing awesome! and the other two damsels are doing just fine. I guess not all of them will be tough enough.
So I placed it in a 10 gallon hospital tank to help revive it. It did well for 1 day, then I made a big booboo! I mixed salt in another 5 gallon water bucket, and didn't mix it long enough and wait 24 hours as highly recommended. I only learned what newly mixed salt can do to fish's gills if the salt hasn't cured for 24 hours. Burning the poor fish alive! It was pretty evident that's what it was doing to the poor fella after watching it's reaction in the hospital tank for maybe 30 minutes to 1 hour. Keep in mind at this point, I didn't know what newly mixed salt can do to a fish and was clueless why it was stressing so bad.
I finally decided to place him back in the main aquarium still cycling and at nearly 0 ppm ammonia and below 0.25 ppm nitrite. I had the fish in there overnight to at least give it some what more comfortable and not as painful of an experience. When I saw it the next morning it was laying on it's side breathing heavily and barely moving.
Back to square one again! So I decided to take out most the new salt mixed water in the hospital tank, then replace it with the main aquarium water and 1 gallon of fresh water. It has struggled to stay alive for over 12 hours now and on it's last limb and probably dying or dead as I speak.
I wish someone in the trade would have told me WHY your supposed to mix salt for 24 hours before placing it in the tank! and not just tell me that's what you should do! In the past I never waited 24 hours of mixing before replacing with new salt water, that's because I had 180 gallon tank with extra 40 gallons constantly running through it, and the water changes I made were usually only 5-10% of the volume, which had little to no effect on the fish. I never thought how it would effect a fish in larger quantities until now. I had to learn that on my own by researching on the internet.
Oh well hard lesson learned. I know it's just a $5 Damsel, but it has/had a life, a precious one and was really awesome in it's coloration and patterns. I guess I'll just have to pick up another one as soon as the tank is fully cycled. My 2 clown fish, black and white striped humbug damsel are doing awesome! and the other two damsels are doing just fine. I guess not all of them will be tough enough.
