help with sweetlips

[eeltastic]

i bought a sweetlips from my lfs the other day. my levels are all fine. my temp is 80. salinity is 1.023. he was doing fine for 3 days or so and then went vertical for a while. stopped eating. went on his side and eventually died. i was feeding him/her brine twice a day. any suggestions on what i did wrong? i acclamated for an hour in a bag for temp and added tank water to the bag every 15 minutes. any tips?

 

[pezenfuego]

Originally Posted by eeltastic
http:///forum/post/3002617
i bought a sweetlips from my lfs the other day. my levels are all fine. my temp is 80. salinity is 1.023. he was doing fine for 3 days or so and then went vertical for a while. stopped eating. went on his side and eventually died. i was feeding him/her brine twice a day. any suggestions on what i did wrong? i acclamated for an hour in a bag for temp and added tank water to the bag every 15 minutes. any tips?
Next time be sure to follow the acclimation instructions outlined by this website.
https://www.saltwaterfish.com/site_11_03/acclimation.php

 

[hollywooddiver]

i had the same problem. acclimation the way they do it on the site is just one way and really isn't gods word. if the way you have been acclimating has worked for all your fish ( and this is really the only immediate loss in a while) then do it the way you know. i had this happen to my goatfish. it was a mystery. everything that i added to my tank for a month died ( a goat and a cleaner shrimp) so i stopped adding things. did a 50% water change every week then let the tank run for a couple months before i added anything else. Now everything survives. Sometimes its just a mystery. But make sure all your levels are correct again and have your lfs test it as well. And make sure (not saying you didnt do it) to watch the fish at the lfs for a week or so and make sure you watch them eat at the store. Sorry for your loss.

 

[srfisher17]

Was this a spotted sweetlips? There are many things that could have happened; the trip from the reef to your tank isn't easy. I sure wouldn't replace this fish. They are really an "expert only" fish, need huge tanks, and will eat about anything; other fish & inverts included. IMO, very few hobbiests have the ability to care for a sweetlips. They're cute when very small; but get huge (30"+) and are very difficult to raise. IMO, they shouldn't be sold at all unless the buyer really knows what he's getting.

 

[lion_crazz]

Originally Posted by srfisher17
http:///forum/post/3002826
Was this a spotted sweetlips? There are many things that could have happened; the trip from the reef to your tank isn't easy. I sure wouldn't replace this fish. They are really an "expert only" fish, need huge tanks, and will eat about anything; other fish & inverts included. IMO, very few hobbiests have the ability to care for a sweetlips. They're cute when very small; but get huge (30"+) and are very difficult to raise. IMO, they shouldn't be sold at all unless the buyer really knows what he's getting.
I fully agree. Sweetlips are an incredibly tough fish to keep. Very few have success with them and those that do, it is usually by luck of getting a very durable individual fish.
Things you could do better in the future would be feeding your fish more nutritious foods (brine is only a treat), and possibly doing a more accurate acclimation by dripping the fish (instead of floating).