Help ! My new Tusk acting weird.Breathing heavy,laying on the sand

[gtdarock]

Hey guys ! I just got my Tusk, and I think he is not doing well.
He's an Indo, at was at my LFS for 2 months. I acclimated him for two hours, with dipping water from the tank to bag. He then laid on the sand for about two hours breathing heavy. Then finally moved around, then started to swim upside down. And now is laying flat on its side and breathing heavy. What should I do. All my reading are fine.

 

[aquaknight]

Eek! You don't happen to have an Oxygen test, do you?
Did you do a FW dip or anything other then acclimation? Did you test the pH of the LFS water and your water?

 

[gtdarock]

Sorry no oxygen test.No dip and I didn't test the PH. I thought these guys take a long time to acclimate-? Should I be worried-?
I had the lights off in the tank, during acclimation, but the living room light did reflect against the tank.

 

[aquaknight]

Ah, forgot got about temp shock. Did you have the bag in the tank or in a bucket? Over two hours, the bag temp will drop to room temp. Sounds like he was in the tank though. Could you have happened to have accidentally dipped too much water in at one time?
To be honest, and not to derail this thread, but I am not a big fan of extended acclimations. Consistency, not duration, is what's important IMO. Either a drip line or constantly adding water every 5-10 mins.
How much did total volume increase? The common figure I toss out is 4 times more volume. So the bag should technically be 1 part LFS water, 4 parts new tank water.

 

[bioneck47]

Harly's are sensitive to rapid changes in temps and Ph and do need to be acclimated slowly, but I beleive he still has a chance. My harlequin took almost two days to fully recover and was swimming very erraticaly the first night. I actually thought that it was dying too but it turned out he was just really stressed. Just try to leave him alone and keep the lights off and hopefully he'll pull through. good luck!

 

[gtdarock]

Hey guys, I lost him this morning.

I don't know what happened. But lately, I'm seriously thinking of giving up this hobby.Last month I lost a Queen that lasted one night, then the month before that a Gold Puffer, which last one night. Before I had Nitrate problems, but everything is good now. I just have bad luck, with everything I try to add. The only thing I would say could be my fault, is the way I am acclimating them. With a half of cup of water every 10 mins, for about an 1 1/2 hour.Sometimes, I panic, when I see them breathing heavy in the bag. I don't know what to do anymore

 

[prime311]

Assuming your Nitrite, Ammonia, and Nitrate levels are fine. It almost sounds like theres contaminants in your water like from cleaning supplies or something or stray voltage. Your acclimation method is fine. I'd say check for Copper, but even Copper shouldn't kill fish like that(only inverts). Are you using RO/DI? Perhaps theres something bad coming in your tap? What kind of test kits are you using? Have you had your water tested at your LFS? IMO get a small tank you can use as a QT and see if you have the same problems, just get something cheap like a Chromis to test with.

 

[rcreations]

Are you buying all these fish from the same LFS? If so it could be them.
I always drip acclimate in a bucket for 2 hours and have never lost a fish after introduction into the tank. My drip rate is about 2 drops per second, almost a stream but you can still see individual drops. But I make sure the bucket temp is the same as the tank temp using a small heater in the bucket.
What other fish do you have in the tank and how long have you had them?

 

[kjr_trig]

Agree with Prime there has to be something going on in the tank, you may want to consider doing a couple of massive (like 50%) water changes over the next few days.

 

[gtdarock]

Hey guys, thanks for the support.Hey Prime, I have a copper test kit, I'll check for that tonight. I'm not using RO, not even my LFS does. And I buy all my fishes from them. I use an API liquid test kit.The only problem I use to have was Nitrates, being at levels at 80. But since I got a new skimmer and got rid of the bio-balls and added cheato, its down to 20. What do you think bad I'm getting from my tap-? Hey RCreations, the gold puffer I bought was from another LFS. All the rest, like the Queen, two anithas from last week, and the Tusk was from my regular LFS. So you think maybe cuz of their water-? I only did the drip about two times, about a year ago. But whats weird, is that the three fishes that I have for about 4 months, Naso,Orbit bat, and a percula are doing extremely well. So its puzzling me, that anybody else I introduce, don't last the night. Hey, kjr_trig, I'll do so big water changes this weekend. Will it affect my current stock-? If all my readings are good, what do you think could be bad.-? Aquaknight, was saying an Oxygen test-? Anyhelp would be great guys, right now I'm desperate !

 

[kjr_trig]

I also use tap water...What do you treat it with? I use Prime, I make sure I use it for top-off water too...Do you age your water a bit for water changes? I try to age it at least 3 or 4 days, prefer a week in a bucket with a small powerhead. Since the fish you have are doing well, I would maybe just do 3 or 4 25% water changes over the next few weeks.

 

[95harley]

If he's been healthy as you posted and you dripped or slowly acclimated him over 2 hrs, and your tank has good spec's. Here's my advice.
Typical Tusk behavior. They typically find a corner behind the rocks and go lay down for a day or two after a move.
1. Turn off the lights
2. Make sure no one is picking on him
3. Let him rest in quiet (even without food)
1-3 days he will be out and will slowly become bolder and bolder.

 

[kjr_trig]

Originally Posted by 95Harley
http:///forum/post/2635980
If he's been healthy as you posted and you dripped or slowly acclimated him over 2 hrs, and your tank has good spec's. Here's my advice.
Typical Tusk behavior. They typically find a corner behind the rocks and go lay down for a day or two after a move.
1. Turn off the lights
2. Make sure no one is picking on him
3. Let him rest in quiet (even without food)
1-3 days he will be out and will slowly become bolder and bolder.
Harley, the fish already died.

 

[prime311]

I stopped using my API kits. They were dreadfully inaccurate. IMO it's worthwile spending the extra on a better kit like Elos or Salifert. Aside from that, it sounds like you're doing everything right. A QT tank is really worthwhile if you can keep a fish in QT for a few weeks then he dies in your tank right away then unfortunately somethings bad with the tank and/or a piece of equipment in it. I just reread your post too I see you have some fish living in it fine now? Makes me think theres something wrong at your LFS, which I like to call the ***** affect(cuz every fish I ever bought there died within several days).

 

[gtdarock]

Hey KJR, I use tap water and I also treat it with Prime, a great product. I also use it for top-off. I usually age water, for about 3 days, with a heater. So either though my levels are fine and my current stock is good,with doing a couple of water changes, what will it take out-? So Prime, will a Saifert kit be better -? So maybe I got bad luck recently-?

 

[prime311]

Well my API kits never showed any ammonia except when my ammonia was really high (.5+). Half the time the color didn't even really match anything on the chart. The Nitrate test also was way off showing 10PPM Nitrate when I actually had 40. I switched to Sera kits and am much happier, but I don't know where else to get those. Other testimonials lead me to believe Salifert and Elos are the best kits to get unless you want to spend like a grand on professional tests.

 

[gtdarock]

Thanks Prime, I'll look around for a Sailfert kit.

 

[kjr_trig]

Originally Posted by GTDAROCK
http:///forum/post/2636027
Hey KJR, I use tap water and I also treat it with Prime, a great product. I also use it for top-off. I usually age water, for about 3 days, with a heater. So either though my levels are fine and my current stock is good,with doing a couple of water changes, what will it take out-? So Prime, will a Saifert kit be better -? So maybe I got bad luck recently-?
It will reduce your nitrates for starters, if there was in fact a chemical or foreign substance that got into your tank somehow (which I don't think is the case or your other fish would have had issues), water changes would dilute that to nothing....I really hope just bad luck, the 2 recent loses (Queen and Tusk) are not the most hardiest of fish.

 

[gtdarock]

I hear ya KJR, I hate Nitrates. I will definitely work on those water changes this weekend, thanks ! I hope its bad luck. I know the Queen are very sensitive. I thought the Tusk are very strong.
So you recommend a couple of big water changes and I'm good.

 

[aquaknight]

Yea, I would have meant the oxygen test for the bag water. If you're running a skimmer, your tank oxygen levels should be fine, but dunno wierdier things have happened. You do have a sump and aren't running glass tops are you?
I would second the large water changes, and chalk this up to an unfortunute series of fish. As kjr mentioned a Queen and definitely a Tusk, aren't the hardiest of fish. If you still would prefer not to set up a QT, do the WC's, get better kits, and give your tank time, 3-4 weeks. Watch the other fish closely.