dead lionfish

[Shep]

hi everybody, it's been a while since I was on the Ohio Reef...

my tank (54 gallon corner, wet/dry) has been running smoothly since last summer...for the last three months it has had just 2 inhabitants, a pretty large snowflake moray (had him 6 months) and a medium cinamon clown (for at least 2 months)...I change the filter pad every week and 5 gallons every 2 weeks...have not lost a fish since the cycle has been complete with the exception of a small green chromis the eel got and a larger one that I removed...

Sunday I purchased a dwarf lionfish at Gerber's (saw him eat). Got him home right before the Patriots game kicked off. Poured him into a bucket I mix my saltwater in and about every 15 minutes I would add a cup or two from my tank to the bucket. I did this till the water had well more than doubled and at halftime I dumped him in (1.5 - 2 hours). He found a place to set in some rocks and pretty much stayed there unless the snowflake would come check him out at which point he would swim up a little bit and puff out. The snowflake would lose interest and leave and the lionfish would go back to his spot in the rocks. Monday night when I got home everything looked normal. Came home Tuesday night to find the lionfich dead on his back on the pottom of the tank. I had to work late and had things to do when I got home so I didn't check everything but my amonia was near zero (this weekend coming up is a water change weekend) and my nitrates were near 40 at the most (they will go down Saturday with a water change). Both the snowflake and the clown ate like pigs last night after I took the lionfish out.

I don't get it, I know the nitrates are a little high, but it certainly doesn't seem high enough to have done this. I thought a couple hours of aclimating would be sufficient. Any thoughts or advice would be appreciated.

thanx,
Shep

[Twizted1]

How did you remove the lionfish from the bucket? If you used a net then that could have done it. Also a cup or 2 of water to what they usually give you @ gerbers (or any lfs) seems like a big shock to the system to me.  I drip all fish for @ least 2 hours. In the case of a lion I would drop 2 drops a second for a hour. Then speed it up to 4-5 a second for an hour. Then I would speed it up to a dripping stream until the water volume has more than doubled. Just something we learned from la when we had a wartskin die on us.

[Shep]

hey thanx for the reply...

never netted him till he was dead (poured him in)...I'll look into the drip method, haven't used it before, not sure what I need, but I don't wanna have this happen again...

[Neogenesis]

Sorry for the loss.

As for as dripping goes, basically all you need is some air hose, and I just tie a know in it.  Tighten it to slow the rate, loosen it to speed it up.  I drip everything from fish to coral, it's just less shock on things.

[Twizted1]

Sorry for the loss.

As for as dripping goes, basically all you need is some air hose, and I just tie a know in it.  Tighten it to slow the rate, loosen it to speed it up.  I drip everything from fish to coral, it's just less shock on things.

Yep, just air line. I bought some ridged air line also & bent it into a hook shape. That way I don't have to worry about the air line slipping out of the tank or fight with clips & the like. But all you really need is air line tubing & some way of clipping or holding it to the tank.

[woltersb]

If anyone needs it I have a bunch of IV tubing that you can adjust etc... just PM if needed

[Wall_Tank]

You need to know what the salinity of the water that the fish is living in at the fish store.   Many fish stores run salinity on the low side 1.015-1.017.    Fish do not respond well to increasing salinity, so you need to go very slow.  If you tank is at a typical reef tank of 1.026, I would not do this in less than a 24 hour period.

You also did not mention if you were heating your acclimation bucket.    You need to maintain the water in the bucket at the same temperature of your tank.   You could have thermally shocked the fish as well.    I would also run an air pump to keep appropriate Oxygen levels in the bucket.

[Shep]

mystery solved:

I took some water to Gerber's to have it tested. I have an API kit and I test my water every two weeks. It consistently tests pretty well. The one thing I never thought to check was the salt level (good call Wall Tank). They measured it at about 1.031. This really left me scratching my head because I always mix my salt to 1.022. Seemingly several things colided here to make a serious situation. First was my failure to check the salt level in my tank, assuming it was 1.022 because all the water I put in is. The second is that my hydrometer is not acurate because I only showed about 1.025 on it when I ruched home to check it (which still would have raised a flag if I had just checked it). But the third thing, and the thing that had me really scratching my head was how in the hell did the salt level increase. I talked to a friend that has a lot of experience and he had a quick answer and it makes sense. He told me that when you mix up your saltwater there is usually a little but that does not get absorbed into the water so it does not show up on your reading. Some of that leftover salt will get absorbed bu the water by morning, but you have already taken your reading and probably don't do it again, and some of it stays in the bottom of the bucket and gets dumped into the tank as a thin milky like slurry at the end when you are dumping the newly made salt water in the tank. Probably not a significant amount, but gradually over time it adds up. This would also explain why it has not affected the health of my snowflake and my clown, as I have had them for quite a while and it is a gradual increase. I have begun to slowly lower my salt level and I am going to look into refractometers instead of a hydrometer. Any thoughts on how much I should expect to pay for a decent one or what brands/models are good would be appreciated.

thanks again for all the thoughts/suggestions...
shep

[Neogenesis]

I highly recommend this, http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/milwaukee-digital-seawater-refractometer.html

I got one for Christmas and LOVE IT!!!!!  Much better than a hand held refractometer.  They can be had on Amazon for around $85 at times.

[Miles]

This is the one I have... I'm happy with it....

Sybon Refractometer with Automatic Temperature Compensation
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00204I4I4/ref=oh_details_o02_s00_i00

[Viggen]

Sorry to hear...... I did a similar thing with a flame angel, salinity was 1.0015 when shipped and I didn't acclimate properly and my qt setup was 1.025..... He died a few days later

I purchase the Milwaukee unit that neo... Suggested and I also have one similar to mil3.......

The Milwaukee does cost more but is much much easier to read.  I would say its a necessity when doing hypo treatments however the other style refractometer is a lot quicker to use.  It can be kinda difficultntonread depending on how good or bad your eyes are. 

[Shep]

thanx to everyone for the info...I have ordered me a refractometer, my hydrometer is way off...

shep

[Twizted1]

Glad you got it figured out. It's always nice to have answers.