I need quick help!!!

sjgsm

sjgsm

Member
I just bought 2 false percs from the LFS and i bought one maybe a little bit smaller than the other...unfortunatley the little one has been swimming hard so i turned my powerheads off to see if that was the problem...welll he is still swimming hard and he seems to lay down every once and a while in the sand bed and start to fall to his side... but as of right now he is at the top as if he is getting oxygen from the air...or even trying to get food.... can someone help me I feel if he goes down to the bottom again i might go crazy...oh PS... i got them 10 hours ago....and added them maybe 8-9 hours ago....is it possible that it is still stressed? please help
 
dedwards

dedwards

Member
How did you acclimate the fish? Do you have enough surface disturbance to add oxygen to the tank? My clowns like to sleep on the bottom on their sides when the lights are out. Maybe your clown is just getting used to the new tank. Is he breathing hard?
 
sjgsm

sjgsm

Member
I left the bag both of them were in floating on the surface for 35 minutes....then added about a cup of my tanks water then let it sit for 25 minutes...then let them free...and he will breathe really hard then stop for maybe a minute and begin breathing hard agin... and I seem to have enough oxygen due to the fact that the other one seems fine laying in the fake anemony i bought until i can actually put a real one in...thats why im confused...only one is doing bad and it is the smaller one..
 
greatfullreefer

greatfullreefer

Active Member
You acclimated them waaay to fast, salinity acclimation is just as important as temperature. In the future try drip acclimation or float bag add a little bit of tank water every 10 minutes for 1.5 to 2 hours then put them in your tank. Also never add the water from the bag into your tank.
 
dedwards

dedwards

Member
Here is my method for acclimating anything that goes in my tank:
Items used:
5g tank
large HOB fish holder (same that LFS use to hold fish while bagging)
4' tube
several electrical cable tie-downs (self-adhesing with a clip)
Method:
1. Float fish bag for 15-30 minutes in display tank
2. Setup a drip line into the large HOB holder, which is hanging inside of the 5g tank so that you don't spill water everywhere. I use the cable tie-downs to hold the tube in place so it doesn't fall out of the tank. Also I tie 2 knots in the tube (first one is about 6" from the end and the other is about 12" from the end) These are your means to control the amount of the drip.
3. Cut bags and place fish in the holder, LFS water and all
4. Adjust the knots in the tube so that it drips about 3-5 drops per second
5. Let it sit for about 30 minutes. This is about how long it takes for the water to get near the top.
6. Dump 1/2 of the water and let it sit for another 30 minutes...keep doing this until the acclimation period is up. Usually about 2 hours.
7. Replace missing water in the tank with premixed saltwater that was made the previous day.
 
dedwards

dedwards

Member
I do agree that you acclimated your fish too fast. The only thing to do now is to wait it out and hopefully he makes it through.
 
ophiura

ophiura

Active Member
I am assuming that all of your water parameters are very good? What is your pH, specific gravity, and other parameters? Did you watch this fish long at the LFS? Did you ask to see it eat? How long had they had it at the LFS?
 
jacknjill

jacknjill

Active Member
DEdwards, what kind of tube do you use? and also, do you have to set the 5 gallon tank up higher for the water to drip down?
 
sjgsm

sjgsm

Member
I am assuming that all of your water parameters are very good? What is your pH, specific gravity, and other parameters? Did you watch this fish long at the LFS? Did you ask to see it eat? How long had they had it at the LFS?
temp. 77,PH 8.1,sg 1.024,ammonia 0,nitrite 0,nitrate 10,I think he is just stressed and also getting used to the new tank... I can agree i acclimated too fast but he seems to be doing as little better now, and the LFS had him for atleast 2 weeks in a tank of like 30 other same sized perc. clowns
 
sjgsm

sjgsm

Member
I did not ask to see it eat... but I got helped from my friend who works there and said that they were all healthy hence the reason why he looked fine... he was like all the rest of them in there...and after a couple hours i threw 5-6 vibragrow balls...they each ate... the little one just seems to be a little stressed... probably because of my fast acclimation, but as of now he seems to be doing ok... I will let you know his status as it changes(if it changes) ...thank you ... i will try your drip method for now on DEdwards
 
ophiura

ophiura

Active Member
The behavior is somewhat similar to what you would see in a freshwater dip of a fish, so I do suspect that it may have been that there was a particularly large (as an example) salinity difference between the systems. Some fish handle that better than others. Good to know he's doing better!
 
dedwards

dedwards

Member
I have my 20g on top of a 3' book shelf and the 5g is on the floor directly below it. I use the standard air tube line. Not sure the inner-diameter or outter-diameter but it is the standard sized tubes. I picked up ~6ft of it for $.99 at Wal-mart. (one of the very few fish supplies that I would ever buy from there...lol) Let me know if you guys would like a pic of how I setup for a drip acclimate.
 
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