Now With Test Pics!new Fish Added To My Tank Die Within 24 Hours..

[MrsM]

right , im on it!! thanks...oh and if it does come to a full clean i got a mucky bum gold fish in a tank in kitchen...his gravel and filter sponge may come in handy for cycling the tropical tank

 

[Aquascaper]

That's good, pm me if you want the discount code for All Pond Solutions it's valid for the whole of October as far as I'm aware

 

[MrsM]

cool thanks!!!

 

[MrsM]

ok i have a theory and just wanted to run it past you guys here...ok..so...firstly i bought "aquarium safe" fake plants from ebay. .approximately 10, they have a white stone/ceramic/plaster base(not sure what it is)..ive studied the effects of plaster/limestone and ceramics on waters ph...well what i think is that the amount of fake plants i put in with the "stone" base effected my waters ph...gradually...hence the cory being ok...yet when i add a new fish.....death within hours...due to ph shock?! so what do you think? a possibility.....

oh and by the way i removed ALL ebay plants the otherday, 30% water change and fresh carbon in the filter...cory is still happy swimming around had to get rid of the snail..it kept falling off the shipwreck...he went back to the lfs, i cant keep sticking my hand in to turn him round, i hated it anyway, hubbys idea to get a snail...yuk!

do you think those fake plant bases made my ph really high and that maybe if id have drip acclimited the new fish they may have been ok?

found this statement on a website.....

Note that ceramic or plaster aquarium sculpture can leach calcium, which raises pH values and adds hardness to the water. This may not be a concern for hard water fishes such as cichlids, but it is not desirable for soft water fishes such as neon tetras, angelfish, and gouramis. Plastic aquarium sculpture is desirable because it does not change water values.

i think the stone bit of the fake plant messed with the ph.....

 

[snazy]

I think when I asked before about Ph you said your Ph is the same as in the shop. How you acclimate fish is the first major important step because of Ph difference and mineral content differences and fish die within a day if not correctly acclimated because of the shock of different conditions. Some man made stuff we put in the tank can not only leach calcium but lead and all other metals(chinese ceramics for example ) How did you acclimate the last guppy? What is the Ph in the tank now? What is the tap Ph?(put a glass of water to stay overnight and then test the Ph)

 

[MrsM]

the only time my tap or tank ph has been tested was at pet shop...both results were dark blue, she said its the same as theres....i never let the tap sample sit overnight though and by the time id walked to the pet shop the sample from the tank had cooled down(also read temp alters ph slightly)... cant do ph testing until hubby finishes work so it will be tomorrow i can test...

the ebay plants came from china hong kong and germany but all the same design base....

to acclimite the guppy i floated for 20mins, then every 10-15 mins added a small amount of my water...after about 4-5 times of adding tank water i netted him and disgarded bag water.... i dont think i did it for long enough, i need a ph testing kit i bet my water was a really high ph and the lfs(not the pet shop where i got my water tested) is lower

 

[snazy]

the only time my tap or tank ph has been tested was at pet shop...both results were dark blue, she said its the same as theres....i never let the tap sample sit overnight though and by the time id walked to the pet shop the sample from the tank had cooled down(also read temp alters ph slightly)... cant do ph testing until hubby finishes work so it will be tomorrow i can test...

the ebay plants came from china hong kong and germany but all the same design base....

to acclimite the guppy i floated for 20mins, then every 10-15 mins added a small amount of my water...after about 4-5 times of adding tank water i netted him and disgarded bag water.... i dont think i did it for long enough, i need a ph testing kit i bet my water was a really high ph and the lfs(not the pet shop where i got my water tested) is lower

The temperature won't change the Ph. The tap water Ph can change overnight because they sometimes add CO2 to the tap water which evaporates after a while and gives you the right Ph value unaffected by gas.
When using the API test kit, there are two bottles for Ph, low range Ph bottle that shows max 7.6 Ph and high range that will give the value for anything over 7.4 Ph. If they tested the water with the low range only, any Ph equal or higher than 7.6 will turn blue. They have no way of knowing if it was 7.6 or 8.2 for example, unless they tested again with the high range Ph test to get the exact value. For fish, this is a great difference and I don't think they tested your water or even theirs right if the test turned dark blue. As I mentioned before, it's not only the Ph that matters, but mineral content(which also includes metals, calcium, etc..). So wrong acclimating can kill your fish within hours or day because their body could not adjust to the new water parameters. There is a very nice article below explaining what you can do wrong during acclimation. With so many dead fish and the cory surviving, I would be very careful how I acclimate. For example, if you are tucking the bag with the fish under the fish tank lid, you can cause oxygen deprivation and damage to the fish during acclimating.


http/www.bestfish.com/floatdip.html

 

[MrsM]

ive just read that link...ive sometimes, not always, fastened the open bag to the side of the tank so most of the opening was closed...so possibly i suffocated those fish whilst acclimating....

im not sure of the best accimating method to use on new fish for my tank...i think ill just have to test my tank and the new fishes water to know the correct method.....

say for instance the ph is pretty much the same in tank and new fish bag....would you just float for 10-15 mins, net and dump lfs water?

and if the ph is 0.2 or more different...what then? drip method? bucket and airline tubing until ph matches tank...im assuming the frequant drips will keep temp up and also cause enough surface agitation to oxygenate water in bucket?

 

[snazy]

and if the ph is 0.2 or more different...what then? drip method? bucket and airline tubing until ph matches tank...im assuming the frequant drips will keep temp up and also cause enough surface agitation to oxygenate water in bucket?

Yes. That's the safest method in most cases as although you test the Ph and it's the same, you can never know the mineral content difference without extensive water tests most of us don't posess. The only time I don't do that is when transferring from one of my own tanks to another as I know it's the same exact water(also minimal temp difference) and acclimating fish in this case is unnecessary stress.

You don't need surface agitation because the water coming directly from the cycled tank is already oxygenated. Also the more water it adds via the tubing, the more the temperature equals with that of the tank(with the exception of very cold rooms of course)Since Ph is kind of the only reference test we have, you have to keep the acclimation until the initial water and tank water match. The higher the difference, the longer(slower drip) you should drip acclimate, keep taking out water from the bucket with the new fish if you have to. You can add at the same time fresh dechlorinated/temperature matched water to your tank. It's like a small water change too
Don't forget to drop a towel over the bucket with new fish to keep them in the dark and less stressed.

 

[MrsM]

great stuff thanks for that...im going to aim for a new fish in a week or so, im going to do a few more small (10%)WC's and run another load of new carbon through the filter at the weekend, then see how things go....thanks again

 

[snazy]

No problem. I really from next time all the misfortunes are left behind.

 

[snazy]

No problem. I really from next time all the misfortunes are left behind.

I meant I really hope....
I am eating my words while typing, sorry

 

[MrsM]

afternoon..well i gave it a go..had the drip going at between 1-2 drips per second, did the whole process for an hour and half, then tested the temp...it was low!! was down to 22, so i netted him and put him in the tank, my tank is 24 and id read they can cope with a 2 degree temp change.. (is that true??)anyway...he had a swim around and then went into hiding near the filter....he comes out for a swim and then hides again, i think his swimming looks "odd" its fast and jerky...shock? he is still alive after 28 hours...he has not lost colour, he is not breathing rapidly /gills moving slowly..i do hope he lasts but im worried he will die too....it seems my tank has a high ph due to some crappy stone bases on ebay special plants! i did do a 50% WC... but my ph is still high, its showing around 8!! but that is on the test strips

will the fishy make it? is it normal for new tank mates to hide after being in the tank for over a day??

 

[Aquascaper]

It is quite normal for them to hide while adjusting to their new environment. Try keeping the lights off for the rest of the day to minimise stress.

 

[snazy]

Hiding is ok. As long as he doesn't stay near the heater or filter on top of the surface staying on one spot or swimming in a strange way, then he is just adjusting. As long as you acclimate slowly they can adjust to the new Ph, unless the difference is huge, then it takes days if they survive at all and there isn't much you can do. The first 24-48 hours are critical. Is he eating and what type of fish is he? Can we get a video