EEEYOWW!!! I tested a LFS's water yesterday...

[slice]

The wife and I bought a 4-ship flight of Green Chromis yesterday. They are doing
very well and love their new home.
We bought them from our second favorite LFS; our first livestock purchase from there.
On a whim, I decided to test the first pour-off from the bag.
Ph ~8.0 Ammonia .25, Nitrite 0, Nitrate...wait for it....80+!!!
We didn't buy those fish, we rescued them.

 

[flower]

Originally Posted by Slice
http:///forum/post/3263197
The wife and I bought a 4-ship flight of Green Chromis yesterday. They are doing
very well and love their new home.
We bought them from our second favorite LFS; our first livestock purchase from there.
On a whim, I decided to test the first pour-off from the bag.
Ph ~8.0 Ammonia .25, Nitrite 0, Nitrate...wait for it....80+!!!
We didn't buy those fish, we rescued them.

There is a reason you are told to get your fish acclimated ASAP and not put that water into your tank. After being cooped up with no filtration, what did you expect. However I don’t think the water was that polluted when the fish were sent out. Also fish can handle much higher nitrates than coral or inverts. 80+ isn’t all that bad for fish.

 

[slice]

They were aclimated over a 3-hr period, I did that part right. They were bagged for maybe 25 mins before I ran that test.
I understand a bit of ammonia building up in the bag, I just was astonished from the Nitrates, that had to have come from the LFS water, right?

 

[noah's nemo]

I honestly never tested my LFS's water,but like flower said trates of 80 for fo systems are really almost normal levels.Mine hover the 40-50 range..I have heard of fo systems with them well into the 100's with no affects to the fish....So i guess what i'm saying is,it may not have been all that bad after all.I still would not add it to my tank though.

 

[mrdc]

Really doesn't surprise me. I will need to test my store next time just out of curiousity.

 

[flower]

It’s always cool to run the water tests just to see, I do it all the time. I was always amazed that the SG tested out at 1.010 even from saltwaterfish.com..If memory serves (LOL, it doesn’t always) Cranberry said that level was hypo

 

[noah's nemo]

I never oredered online from anywhere,but i was always told they all ship in hypo conditions for parasite control..I also know of LFS's that keep all there holding tanks at hypo levels.I also read somewhere that our fish actually are more comfortable in lower SG's than we think..I have kept mine at 1.021 for about 2 years now.

 

[flower]

Originally Posted by Noah's Nemo
http:///forum/post/3263214
I never oredered online from anywhere,but i was always told they all ship in hypo conditions for parasite control..I also know of LFS's that keep all there holding tanks at hypo levels.I also read somewhere that our fish actually are more comfortable in lower SG's than we think..I have kept mine at 1.021 for about 2 years now.

Yes, I agree fish can. I have a reef, well what is left of it. I keep my SG at 1.025. Until now however I never knew WHY they shipped fish in that low of SG. I always manage to glean so much information from folks on line…Thanks.

 

[mrdc]

My 2 cents on LFS stores is that they probably don't care as much about their water levels because they are expecting a quick sale on their fish. I know my store sells most of their order in two or three days.

 

[flower]

Originally Posted by mrdc
http:///forum/post/3263219
My 2 cents on LFS stores is that they probably don't care as much about their water levels because they are expecting a quick sale on their fish. I know my store sells most of their order in two or three days.

I think it is more of a hard to keep things up properly…too many hands in the tank kind of situation. I watched a person at Lakeland pet store, here by me. They girl just poured the fish into a barrel to acclimate from like a foot away from the water. Here I am carefully easing my new fish out of the bag in to the tub for acclimation, then gently adding water and removing water trying not to disturb the poor fish any more than I have to.
I don’t ever buy fish from there, just equipment and supplements. All their coral is covered in hair algae. I told the guy I don’t buy their coral for that very reason, I don’t want to put that crap in my tank.
The only place I go "locally" for fish or coral is all the way to Lake Geneva, 40 minutes away. That guy acclimates his fish the way I do. He is the owner and the only one that handles the fish and tanks.

 

[mrdc]

A new store here treats all his fish for two weeks in copper before he will sell them. Not sure if that is good or bad. I like the idea of not selling them until he makes sure that they look healthy but I don't know if the copper is a good thing.

 

[noah's nemo]

I really feel bad for those who do not have a good LFS.Mine is family run and owned,and i can honestly say,he has the customers best interest in mind.Even though he's not a personal friend,he relies on me and those of us who go to him to let others know about his nice little store...

 

[spanko]

First of all hyposalinity levels are 1.009.
In some conversations with LFS owners where I live they keep there tanks at a lower Sg for cost purposes. (less salt mix needs to be used) usually around 1.020. Whether that saves much I have not done the calculations but a penny saved etc.........
"By the way natural sea water According to Randy Homes-Farley:
For example, the specific gravity of natural seawater (S =35) is 1.0278 using the 3.98 °C standard, 1.0269 using the 60 °F standard, 1.0266 using the 20 °C standard, and 1.0264 using the 77 °F standard."
So 1.026-1.027 with respect to what temperature the water is being tested at.
If you want to read the full article it is here;
http://lmgtfy.com/?q=Specific+Gravit...ow+Complicated!
Go to the first link that comes up.

 

[flower]

Originally Posted by Noah's Nemo
http:///forum/post/3263226
I really feel bad for those who do not have a good LFS.Mine is family run and owned,and i can honestly say,he has the customers best interest in mind.Even though he's not a personal friend,he relies on me and those of us who go to him to let others know about his nice little store...

Exactly the same here. The guy is now in his 80s he says that he will hold out, as long as the store pays for itself and his health holds out. He has a 225g reef tank that has been up and running for over 26 years in the store. I always went there and visited his tank with my kids before I took the plunge. He became a good friend over the years. Big stores like ***** are driving him out of business.

 

[mrdc]

Yeah, when I started 7 years ago there were a couple of locally owned mom and pop LFSs and Petsmart. Now there are 3 big chain stores and they have put a hurting on the smaller stores.

 

[beaslbob]

80+ppm is very common on systems with little to no plant life like algaes where water changes are used to maintain conditions. For instance, if they had 8ppm nitrates build up each week and do a 10% weekly water changes, the nitrates before the water change will be 80ppm. IME 1-2ppm/day is very reasonable in a pristine, algae free tank.
my .02

 

[srfisher17]

Right, nitrates of 80ppm are harmless to fish; but bad for inverts. In Bob Fenner's book (The Conscience Marine Aquarist); he mentions that nitrate levels in wholesalers, holding facilitys, LFS, etc., are often in the hundreds, even thousands of ppm---with no apparent ill effects on fish. I have to admit: I've kept many fish for 10+ years with nitrates never under 80 ppm. This is not my habit now and sure don't suggest it....just making the point that nitrate danger to fish is very controversial (and, IMO mis-understood).