Hi, sorry for your loss.You did the correct way of acclimation as well as others hobbyist's suggestions here. Everyone here stated a different way of acclimation and it works for them. I never heard of anyone dumping livestock in without proper acclimation especially with such wide parameters. Only in the worse case scenaro, you need to get the livestock in clean water. The powder brown tang got stressed out by lower pH, co2 increased by the PBT and caused low pH while travelling home in the bag. I'm sure there was no ammonia present in his tank, except it was developing during the trip home. The high nitrate indicates his poor water management. By putting the airstone in the bag, you were trying to rid of the co2 and increase o2, good for you! But too late and too sad. 2 questions: I'm sure when you were picking out the PBT in the tank. Did it look healthy? Second: How long a trip did it took to take him home? I have had PBT in the past and they are my one of my favorites. One in a client's tank for more than 8 years to this day alive and well. When we first got him, he was near death with ick, but recovered. Regards Ken

I also do as you did. I float the bag, open, for roughly 30 minutes while changing 1/4 cup of water at a time. This is the same for fish I just bought 15 minutes earlier, or fish I've had shipped for over 12 hours. Never lost a fish doing this, and I wouldn't ever just drop a fish in the tank unless the danger ws greater keeping it in the bag (really low pH, stuff like that). I know some stores do that as the fish have been bagged for 24 hours or more, and the faster you get them in clean water, the better. This DOES NOT apply to fish you just bought at the local fish store.

Please feel free to express your opinion in the vendor ratings forum, that's what it's there for.

I to float the bag for about 20 minutes then add a "yogurt" container to the bag, then about 20 min later I take one container of water out of the bag and then add another one. I do the about 4 to 5 times ( and depending on the size of bag and fish) so by the time I am done I should have 95- 100% of my water in the bag, then I net the fish and put it in the tank. None of the bag water enters my tank.

There you have it Lee. You did nothing wrong & you did your best to save that fish. So don't feel too bad or guilty about losing it. It happens. But I concur with those who suggest you post a thread in the vendors opinion forum so other's will have a chance to share their experiences, both good & bad. It will help everyone interested become more informed consumers. At least some good would come out of this bad experience.

JMO

Anthony

Hey Everyone...thanks so much for all your posts…

I really appreciated all your thoughts on what might have happened. Also great to confirm that I’m not doing old school & that it is the right thing & way to acclimate new fish. Not causing them to die if I do so... craziest thing I ever heard...I tell ya. I have NEVER encountered this before. So sad.

Also thank you everyone for making me feel better about it all. I was really bummed about it and heart broken. Thinkin just my luck. Wow, feeling like this is a support group. BIG HUGS EVERYONE!

Someone asked how long the ride home was? Maybe 20mins… Someone else also asked “did the fish looked healthy?” The fish was very shy and some have torn fins. So as always you never know what you’re getting. I kinda took my chance too since the guy told me when I asked him if the fish was eating, he told me that he wasn’t sure cause he doesn’t watch when he puts food in the tanks. I asked him what he feeds. He told me, everyone gets fed Only brine shrimp. Thinking to myself, no wonder the fish are looking skinny.

The guy still claims, I killed the fish myself by acclimate the fish as he still protests he doesn't & claims NOT to acclimate any fish no matter if the water chemistry is totally off. He said, if he gave me an exchange or discount for another fish (replacement) then he said he would have to give to everyone else one too. You mean there is others? :eek: :shocked!:

But I do feel bad about posting him in vendors... as it persuades people not to buy there, right? Thinking it’s not his fault really that the fish didn't make it? Or is it? What do you even say on the vendors thingy anyway that I didn’t already say here?


.

Post it on the vendors forums.

It is a good way to keep the vendors honest, and to steer newbies in the right direction.

Re: How long do u acclimate new fish? & SAD story to fol
 

You said it all in your first post right here
Fish are shipped for 24-48 hour by air and truck. Your fish should make it home with out a trace of bad water....even if the fish is dead when you left the store. There is no way the readings of the bag water should have been this high. Put a post in the vender's Experiance fourm and if you don't want to put the name down of the place just say "The basement fish seller" and everyone in Edmonton knows who it is.

PS I think someone already mentioned his name anyways :confused:

You know what strikes me as off is that the source water was 1.016. I'm no marine biologist but I think that's awfully low and has to be hard on fish. In my opinion, the stress of the move killed him, but the only reason he died is because he was severely compromised to begin with. Obviously a move is stressful but it's not supposed to kill the fish. So don't beat yourself up too bad, I don't think you did anything wrong here, and I'm astounded at how uncaring the vendor's attitude he is taking. I know if I was local I don't think I'd be buying from him and I'd certainly wouldn't hesitate to voice my disgust. Feel free to post whatever you like in the Vendor experiences forum; that's what it's there for; just stick to the facts, don't try to draw unsupported conclusions or stuff like that.

I feel for you, and you definalty should post that in vendor ratings. I myself have never been to the "basement LFS" but have considered it. I think alot of people would appreciate your experience as a warning.

So post in the Vendor's Ratings already :biggrin:

Honestly, you'll be doing others a favour. There may be newbies who haven't read this thread but do check out the Vendor's Ratings postings. Besides, the peer-pressure may force this basement guy :evil: to clean up his act, or at least his tanks if he wants to keep doing this. If not for us humans, think of the fishes' lives you may help to save :biggrin:

Yup, I was planning to drive to Edmonton this weekend to buy some fish from this guy (NOT!) but now I'll just stay on the coast & go to OA:biggrin:

Anthony (Burnaby supporter)

PS. if he doesn't watch his fish eat, he probably doesn't care enough to keep his systems clean so the bad water was from his end, not your fault.