- Location
- Flushing NY 11355
After you read this, hope it save your live stock next time you run into the same issue.
I am transferring my fish from a system to another. The original system is small and primitive(air pump and live rock) but never lose a single fish there. I put fish that I am not keeping as pets there. I made sure it's a simple setup so that I can catch the fish when letting go. I even choose live rocks with no holes for that. Since it's getting crowded with more and more baby clowns, I decided to move them to a slightly bigger system. After I cycled the new system, for extra safety, I put only two fish to test the water even though all the parameters are at safe level, such as zero ammonia, 80 degree temp.....
Two days passed, the fish are very active and swimming exploring everywhere. So it's safe to put the main batch which include my black ice, platinum(all that means they are prized fish) in yesterday morning. They are perfectly happy and eating like a charm. Cool.
So The problem comes!
Hmm, the overflow has slits that are too big and my yellow line gobies(they are tiny) will get inside. So, I grab some mesh and cover them. In about an hour, I see a dotty back pose like my assessor, belly up. What the heck!? I scoop it into a net, it wiggled for one last time and died. I then saw two 1.75"-2" B/W clown(that means they big and healthy) floating crazy plus one start to turn very pale. I immediately realized the whole tank must be poisoned. Good that their old system is still intact and that I only mix very little of the water from the new system this morning trying to balance the salinity for the next batch of acclimation. Now the pale and floating start to act normal again, wish they pull it thru while re-acclimating back to the old system.
I removed the mesh from the new system and realized they were painted previously. I would never imagine these paints are so poisonous as we used them all the time in art and light shows.
Lesson 1: Whenever you come across paint, be extra careful
Lesson 2: Never throw away your old water and keep it live for at least 1 to 2 days.
Lesson 3: ALWAYS have some RO/DI or AGED tap water around, kept them in bucket.
I am transferring my fish from a system to another. The original system is small and primitive(air pump and live rock) but never lose a single fish there. I put fish that I am not keeping as pets there. I made sure it's a simple setup so that I can catch the fish when letting go. I even choose live rocks with no holes for that. Since it's getting crowded with more and more baby clowns, I decided to move them to a slightly bigger system. After I cycled the new system, for extra safety, I put only two fish to test the water even though all the parameters are at safe level, such as zero ammonia, 80 degree temp.....
Two days passed, the fish are very active and swimming exploring everywhere. So it's safe to put the main batch which include my black ice, platinum(all that means they are prized fish) in yesterday morning. They are perfectly happy and eating like a charm. Cool.
So The problem comes!
Hmm, the overflow has slits that are too big and my yellow line gobies(they are tiny) will get inside. So, I grab some mesh and cover them. In about an hour, I see a dotty back pose like my assessor, belly up. What the heck!? I scoop it into a net, it wiggled for one last time and died. I then saw two 1.75"-2" B/W clown(that means they big and healthy) floating crazy plus one start to turn very pale. I immediately realized the whole tank must be poisoned. Good that their old system is still intact and that I only mix very little of the water from the new system this morning trying to balance the salinity for the next batch of acclimation. Now the pale and floating start to act normal again, wish they pull it thru while re-acclimating back to the old system.
I removed the mesh from the new system and realized they were painted previously. I would never imagine these paints are so poisonous as we used them all the time in art and light shows.
Lesson 1: Whenever you come across paint, be extra careful
Lesson 2: Never throw away your old water and keep it live for at least 1 to 2 days.
Lesson 3: ALWAYS have some RO/DI or AGED tap water around, kept them in bucket.
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