Help, girlfriend is about to kill me!

penpen

penpen

Member
We got a Damsel today to be the test fish for our new tank, he was doing fine in the bag and I was adjusting the lights, well, 30 minutes later, I forgot that he was floating in the tank (in the bag to adjust temp), and he was at the bottom of the bag breathing heavy, released to the tank, and he dropped like a rock. He has attempted to move a bit, but not much. He seemed to get motivated when seeing the food container but soon weakened in his attempt to get to the food. I dont know what to do, search found nothing, tank levels are fine, Ph, alkalinity is fine. I hope he gets better cause if he dies, my boss is gonna kill me!
 
t316

t316

Active Member
So basically you cooked him? He was trapped inside of a bag, while the lights were on, so you cooked him?
 
hunt

hunt

Active Member
if you cooked him you could at least try and shut off the lights and see if that helps. I know how you feel though, When we had freshwater, we had a huge red devil cichlid in a 75g and the heater went outta wack and cooked the fish.
 
meowzer

meowzer

Moderator
You don't want a damsel anyway.....and you sure don't want to use a fish to test if your tank is okay...
 
ryancw01

ryancw01

Member
Penpen, you can't just fill up a tank and throw a fish in. Judging by your other posts it looks like you just set this tank up in the last 2 or 3 days right? Don't think he is going to make it bud. Hide the all the knives in your house from the girlfriend.
 
pezenfuego

pezenfuego

Active Member
Originally Posted by meowzer
http:///forum/post/3232949
You don't want a damsel anyway.....and you sure don't want to use a fish to test if your tank is okay...
I think what he meant was that after his levels were fine, he wanted to test the tank with a hardy fish rather than putting in an expensive and fragile fish. In that instance, I see no problem with it. Not everyone hates damsels you know.
Depending on whether or not he got cured LR, 3 days could be adequate for the cycle.
I'm still confused as to how you harmed this fish.
 
ryancw01

ryancw01

Member
Originally Posted by Ryancw01
http:///forum/post/3232951
Penpen, you can't just fill up a tank and throw a fish in. Judging by your other posts it looks like you just set this tank up in the last 2 or 3 days right? Don't think he is going to make it bud. Hide the all the knives in your house from the girlfriend.
By the way, I am not judging you. I did the same thing with my first freshwater tank and an oscar. He ended up being fine after a day or so. I just didnt know any better and it is hard not to get excited and get it started.
 
meowzer

meowzer

Moderator
PEZenfuego;3232952 said:
Not everyone hates damsels you know.
QUOTE]
OH YEAH

LOL...the little blue yellow tailed ones are ok in a big tank...the rest..welllll
read threads LOL
Click to expand...
 
penpen

penpen

Member
all the levels are fine, used 3 different tests. I know, I am a newbie to saltwater, and you all take your hobby seriously, but being a new tank, with levels normal, I got a $5 fish to see if it was ready, I do have some hermit crabs in there as well, and they are up and moving just fine, not a problem, but this fish is puzzling, he seems to be improving a little, but I was really wanting this little guy (or gal) to do well. I also noticed that a hermit crab that we got, has white fuzzy stuff around his legs and body, puzzled about it, the LFS had a fish that someone brought in and said it was a fungus, I am thinking real hard about taking this guy out.
 
teresaq

teresaq

Active Member
The problem I see is you didnt acclimate the fish. You really should have read this https://www.saltwaterfish.com/Acclimation_ep_48-1.html
Fish are shipped all the time and are in thier bags for at least a day or more.
What kind of flow do you have in your tank. What is the SG in your tank and at the lfs. If there is a big differance then your fish is in trouble.
T
 
ryancw01

ryancw01

Member
When did you put water in the tank? Was it today? I wouldnt take the hermit out just yet. It would not effect the fish that fast.
 
penpen

penpen

Member
He floated for an hour at least. He has been moving a lot more than he was earlier, hopefully he will be alive and well in the morning. I have 2 powerheads that are supposed to be 1300gph but it doesnt feel that powerful, and I only have 1 running.
 
flower

flower

Well-Known Member
Originally Posted by penpen
http:///forum/post/3232935
We got a Damsel today to be the test fish for our new tank, he was doing fine in the bag and I was adjusting the lights, well, 30 minutes later, I forgot that he was floating in the tank (in the bag to adjust temp), and he was at the bottom of the bag breathing heavy, released to the tank, and he dropped like a rock. He has attempted to move a bit, but not much. He seemed to get motivated when seeing the food container but soon weakened in his attempt to get to the food. I dont know what to do, search found nothing, tank levels are fine, Ph, alkalinity is fine. I hope he gets better cause if he dies, my boss is gonna kill me!


I didn't read through the other posts...it could be a blessing in disguise, damsels are very aggressive mean fish and very, very hard to get out of the tank later after it kills everything and begins to bite your hand drawing blood.
In the future..Don’t float your bags in the tank unless you can secure it to the rim and make sure it doesn't fill with water and drop too fast to the bottom of the tank. I hate it when that happens, I have had fish survive because it happened late in the acclimation and I have lost a few over the years because it happened too fast...acclimating in a seperate tub (the way I do it now) works much better.
 
penpen

penpen

Member
sadly the fish did not make it through the night. I cant find the body anywhere which leads me to believe that the hermit crabs have had their way with it maybe, but, lesson learned here for me...
 
ryancw01

ryancw01

Member
Sorry for your loss. So let's start over with this because I think you went a little too fast. I am thinking you filled up the tank with water yesterday? Did you get live rock in there already? I was following your other posts that you got your lights in on Friday and then yesterday you were putting a fish in already so let's start with the levels. Did you test for nitrite and ammonia?
 
penpen

penpen

Member
The water has been in the tank for about a week now, just didnt have a powerhead or light on the tank. A live rock went in with the fish (had some coral on it too). Salinity is fine, all the levels are fine, used 3 different tests, ph was 8 i think (and according to the test that is fine).
 
t316

t316

Active Member
Originally Posted by Flower
http:///forum/post/3233013

In the future..Don’t float your bags in the tank unless you can secure it to the rim and make sure it doesn't fill with water and drop too fast to the bottom of the tank. I hate it when that happens, I have had fish survive because it happened late in the acclimation and I have lost a few over the years because it happened too fast...acclimating in a seperate tub (the way I do it now) works much better.

Flower, I did not read the op that way. I clearly interpret the poster to say that the bag was floating on top the whole time, forgotten about breifly, then when released, he went straight to the bottom. No mention of the bag filling with water and sinking on it's own.
There are several confusing things here though. Were there lights or not? First it's stated that you were working on the lights, then later there has never been any lights. Was the tank even cycled? You mention that live rock went in with the fish.
No worries now, the fish is dead. So step back, re-group, and tell us the setup and status of the tank. Don't add anything else to tank for right now.
 
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