What did I do wrong?

[Zalman]

This weekend I was at my not so LFS and I picked up a copperbanded butterfly. Now I have never bought fish from here before but the fish seemed healthy enough and was eating frozen foods so I decided to take the risk. (my LFS hasn't had one in awhile and I was tired of waiting for them)

I get it home and place it in my 10 gal QT. Basic setup... HOB filter, heater, and some PVC rings I added as an after thought. (which I think is where I made a mistake)

I used water from my tank for my QT.
Params:
Salinity 1.025
ammonita 0
nitrite 0
nitrate 0
temp 79f

I placed the fish in my tank sunday afternoon/evening and by lunch time monday it was dead. Now with my params seeming to be fine and the fish appeared to be in good health, my guess as to what I did wrong is the PVC rings I added raised the water level and my filter was running but the water was no longer splashing down into the tank and perhaps reduced the oxygen levels too much....maybe?

Anyone have any other thoughts? Or are my assumptions correct? I just want to learn from my mistakes to prevent this from happening again

 

[Chris27]

I don't know if I would blame the water level....too many other factors with a new fish.

What was the salinity of the LFS water vs. that of yours? How about the temperature?

A rapid increase in salinity is especially dangerous for a fish. Most LFS keep salinity on their fish only tanks a bit low...perhaps that was the problem.

 

[britreefer]

agreed with chris27, I work at a LFS and we have our fish only systems at roughly 1.009- 1.012 (hyposaline). if you got a fish from a similar system then you need to acclimate very slowly. what you did was fine, there seems to be no problem from what you have told us. the water level thing is kinda a stretch. if you dripped acclimated into your QT for 40 minutes or so then I would assume you had a bad fish with some type of disease or stress issues. let us know about your LFS salinity, and your acclimation method.

 

[MrTuskfish]

I agree with both of the above. A HOB filter doesn't have to 'splash", it just needs to circulate the water and keep the surface disturbed a little. CBs are very tough to acclimate and their place of origin has a lot to do with how they adapt.

 

[Zalman]

Honestly, and I was kicking myself for not checking. I know my LFS salinity but this was not my LFS and I didnt check their salinity. Unacceptable on my part and a careless mistake. I am I did drip acclimate the fish for about 30-45 min. But i suppose if their salinity was really low perhaps I did not drip it long enough. I am so accustomed to dealing with my LFS, the lowered salinity possibility didnt even cross my mind.

 

[britreefer]

give them a call, they should tell you. and if they dont know what their salinity is then maybe dont buy fish there again.. :/ and your correct if it was low salinity then you may still have been too low when you put him in the tank.

 

[Zalman]

I will give them a call just to verify what their salinity is. At least then I can have peace of mind. I appreciate the feedback and next time I will be more careful when buying fish from unfamiliar sources.

 

[snorvich]

If the LFS SG is low, 40 minutes of drip acclimating will not normalize SG.

 

[Zalman]

The employees claim the salinity is kept at 1.022. Would a 40 min drip from that not be long enough to go to 1.0255?
Even though its too late to change anything at least I have learned something.

 

[britreefer]

yes 40 would be long enough for it tho reach 1.025 if your not dripping stupid slow..some people do. sounds like you got an unlucky fish, sometimes they just come in very sensitive and have trouble acclimating.

 

[Sk8r]

Preset your qt tank to the fish store salinity and bring it up by allowing evaporation.

 

[sandwi54]

One of my LFS keeps their salinity at 1.014 and I keep my QT 1.025. I always acclimate for about 2 hours and fish have always been ok. Of course, adjusting the QT salinity would be a better and safer way to acclimate a fish.

 

[Chris27]

Preset your qt tank to the fish store salinity and bring it up by allowing evaporation.

Yet another reason why a QT is in integral tool to successful fishkeeping. Adjusting the salinity in a tank without livestock is quick and easy, allowing you to skip the acclimation, and dump them right in after the bag has been floated to equalize the temp.