My First Death ;_;

[koinukun]

I had a really bad algae problem and wanted another fish so I went into the LFS and bought the biggest coolest looking albino bristlenose I could find. He looked very healthy in the bag and I introduced him into the tank very slowly, floating the bag for 1 hour and putting 1 cup of my tank water into the bag every 10 mins or so. I fished him out with a soft net and threw the bag water out.

That day he did some exploring but then just hid under a rock. That night he was very active. The next morning my tank was absolutely pristine and sparkling clean, not a sight of algae anywhere! All of that day he just hid until the lights went out then he was out and about and very active.

I woke up this morning to find my newest addition to my tank tummy up on the substrate.
I immediately fished him out before he was eaten, no sign that any of the other fish had had a nibble. I checked the water but everything was at 0ppm, nitrates were 5ppm.

What did I do wrong? He was such a great looking fish too, and quite large, about 3.5-4 inches. Everywhere I read said that they were fairly hardy. I want to get another one but I kinda broke the bank with that one for the moment so I'll need to wait a while.

Any ideas or comments very much appreciated!

Thank you!

koinukun~

 

[jonnyf84]

I had a really bad algae problem and wanted another fish so I went into the LFS and bought the biggest coolest looking albino bristlenose I could find. He looked very healthy in the bag and I introduced him into the tank very slowly, floating the bag for 1 hour and putting 1 cup of my tank water into the bag every 10 mins or so. I fished him out with a soft net and threw the bag water out.

That day he did some exploring but then just hid under a rock. That night he was very active. The next morning my tank was absolutely pristine and sparkling clean, not a sight of algae anywhere! All of that day he just hid until the lights went out then he was out and about and very active.

I woke up this morning to find my newest addition to my tank tummy up on the substrate.
I immediately fished him out before he was eaten, no sign that any of the other fish had had a nibble. I checked the water but everything was at 0ppm, nitrates were 5ppm.

What did I do wrong? He was such a great looking fish too, and quite large, about 3.5-4 inches. Everywhere I read said that they were fairly hardy. I want to get another one but I kinda broke the bank with that one for the moment so I'll need to wait a while.

Any ideas or comments very much appreciated!

Thank you!

koinukun~

mmm tough one, is it possible his cave collapsed? bristlenose's are sensitive to ph under 6.5 or over 7.5, it may have even over fed or you could simly have been unlucky and bought a dud fish. Sorry i can't be more help.

 

[goosej13]

take the body to the fish store... most of the times they will refund u

 

[koinukun]

My LFS are really anal about taking fish back if they die or are sick. They wouldn't do anything except say tough luck. (>_<)

Maybe it was the pH, it's about 7.6 (>.>)a

Thanks for the replys!

 

[Miss Wiggle]

if a fish dies that soon after being added to the tank there's a strong chance it just didn't acclimitise to your water conditions properly. sounds like you dd everything right, sometimes it just goes that w

one thing to note though, you said he was the biggest fish you could find. biggest does not necessarily mean best or strongest, it probably means he's a hand in from someone else's tank or he's been sat in the shop for absolutley ages waiting to be sold.

sometimes with older fish you find they struggle to adapt to changing water conditions, guess they're just that bit weaker than a younger fish and they find it hader to adapt.

I've heard of plenty of cases of previously healthy mature fish being re-homed and just not acclimitising and passing on within afew days, so this may be what happened.

 

[koinukun]

Thanks Miss Wiggle!

I always thought that bigger was better but from what you said I can totally see what you mean. I'll go out and see if I can find a smaller one. There have been some VERY small bristlenoses for sale (1inch or so). How small is too small, as I can imagine if they are very small they may have the same problems acclimatising to my tank?

Thanks again!

 

[Miss Wiggle]

yeah you wanna strike a balance. too small and it's like putting a baby or toddler into a new environment, it'll be chancy if they settle into it, but you don't want OAP either.

To be scientific about it I'd say find out the growth rate and the expected age of the fish. If (for example) the fish gets to 6" and lives 10 years, then you'd wanna find out what size it is after maybe 6 months or 1 year which I'd expect to be 2/3" and that would be a good time to buy the fish.

however that's a lot of ball ache, just try and pick somewhere in the middle and take plenty of time watching the fish before you decide to buy.

 

[mark.w.jones]

They do grow relatively quickly so he won't be small for too long. Males reach around 4" fully grown. As Miss Wiggle mentioned when buying any new fish, check them very carefully in the bag before you say yes. Look out for sunken bellies, ripped fins, missing scales, any signs of white dots or a dusty coating on the fish, lethergy or strange swimming action, odd body shape or growths as these are all bad signs. Check the tank they came from to see the condition of all the other fish for the above as well. Don't be completely put off by a dead fish. They often die in transportation. Just tell one of the staff and as long as they deal with it promptly that's fine.