URGENT - New Fish Doesn't Look Good. Need Advice

[Anonymous]

I just recieved 5 new Scott's Fairy Wrasses from Dr's F&S. One of the fish is in bad shape. They are all in the drip acclimation bucket now, after 15 minutes of floating in the bag. This one fish is at the top of the buckett gasping for air. He makes a lunge every now and then, but he is obviously struggling.

Is there anything I can do to help this fish make it?

Thanks!

Louey

 

[Anonymous]

That's a tough one Louey. If he's gasping for air - my guess would be oxygen depletion from shipping. Can you add an air stone to the bucket and force oxygen into the bucket? Other than that I can think of what to do but wait it out.

 

[Anonymous]

Good idea Susan. I should have thought of that.

Battery operated airstone is now in the bucket.

Louey

 

[Anonymous]

Besides what Susan suggested, I can't think of anything. How much good water do you have now in the bag of the fish that is struggling?

 

[Anonymous]

Careful with the airstone before most of the water is replaced. An airstone will remove excess CO2 ---> raises PH ---> makes the Ammonia toxic.

Amquel helps detoxify the Ammonia but aerating the water too soon can cause organ damage because the ammonia becomes more toxic at higher PH levels.

 

[Anonymous]

All 5 fish are in a bucket together. I would say that that 3/4 of the water at this point is my tank water.

The airstone seems to be having a positive effect.

I'm going to give them a real slow acclimation. The drip has been going for almost an hour now. I removed some of the water so that it can go for another hour.

Keeping my fingers crossed!

Louey

 

[Anonymous]

I'll add some amquel

 

[Anonymous]

How's it looking?

 

[Anonymous]

I put the four good wrasses in the tank at the 2 hour mark of acclimation.

the sick one isn't dead yet. He doesn't look good. I left him in the bucket with the airstone running and went back to work. I'll see how he looks when I get home in 3 hours.

I just noticed that DFS offers a 14 day guarantee, so at least I won't be screwed out of the money.

Louey

 

[Anonymous]

Hope he makes it.

 

[Anonymous]

Me too!

 

[Anonymous]

If the fish is still clinging to life when I get home should I put him in the tank or leave him in the bucket?

I think I want to leave him in the bucket since he is sick and is most likely going to die. I'd hate for his body to foul my aquarium if I can't find his body.

On the other hand, he might have a better chance of living if he is in the tank. Better water, circulation, etc.

What should I do?

Louey

 

[dave_atl]

Ditto on what guy said, don't use an airstone early in the acclimation process, it sounds like you used it at an OK time. As far as what to do with him, it's a lose-lose situation. Leaving him in the bucket will stress him more and make him more sick. If he is diseased, adding him to your main tank could "infect" the other fish.

I guess this is why they came up with quarentine tanks.

 

[Anonymous]

I just got home and surprisingly, he's still alive. I think he might even look a bit better. He's on the bottom, right side up, and when I look over the top of the bucket he moves around a bit. Before he was curled up, upside down, gasping for air, or all three.

I took half the water out of the bucket and restarted another drip.

The temp in the bucket is down to 74, so I have to get it back up close to the tank temperature.

What do you guys think about putting him in my 75G refugium? There's not much in there since I just set it up last weekend. There is some rock on the bottom, almost enough to cover it from side to side, and a little bit of cheato.

I know this isn't a Q-tank, but at least he'd be alone and not harassed by any other fish. If he dies, I am sure I could find his body.

I am running a UV at a very slow rate now too, so that might help. (36W turbo twist at 295 GPH)

Louey

 

[Anonymous]

Sounds perfect.

 

[Anonymous]

Agreed.

 

[Anonymous]

Taps for this guy.

He didn't look good at all last night when I went to bed, so it was no surprise that he didn't make it through the night.

Thanks for all your tips. At least we did all we could for him. I guess this is just an example of the unfortunate part of our hobby regarding how many fish have to be collected for us to get what we want in our tanks.

This is the first time I ever lost a brand new fish this fast. I have never ordered on-line before because I like to see what I buy first. I couldn't find these wrasses locally my my LFS's didn't bend over backwards to get them for me. Oh well.

Louey

 

[Anonymous]

Sorry to hear that Louey. Dr. F & S has a good warranty from what I read in their catalogs. I haven't ordered live fish from them though. Come to think of it, I haven't ordered live fish since Flying Fish.com was in business. I was always very happy with their fish and shipping of them.

 

[Anonymous]

They said that they will ship a new fish out to me if that is what I want. Or I can take a credit.

I said that I want the new fish and they said they'll ship it once the 14-day guarantee on the other 4 fish expires. That way if I need more than one replacement they can ship them all at once. Sounds about as fair as you could ask IMO.

Louey

 

[AmeriFinn]

Foster & Smith have been a fantastic resource for me. I have been having some major problems with my 135g and they have been extremely helpful. Everyone I have talked to there really knows their stuff.