Coral Beauty dead within 5 hours

[JoeyPB]

I bought a Coral Beauty today. I drip acclimated for 3+ hours and added it to my QT tank. An hour later, I checked on him, and he was swimming back and forth across the front of the tank, in the middle of the water column - seemingly fine. An hour after that, I check on him, and he was dead on the bottom. I'm clueless.

10 gallon, bare QT tank with cave ornament
RO/DI water
30gal HOB
PETCO brand powerhead aimed at water surface
Temp 79
SG 1.023
Ammo 0ppm
Nitrite 0ppm
Nitrate 5.0ppm

I added API Stress Coat to the tank before adding the fish. I don't think the Nitrate level could be enough to kill it, but I could be wrong on that with it being a new, stressed fish. The trate level, stress and possibly conditions at the LFS are all I can think of. This is my first death, so I'm a little bummed

[slitherbomb]

Maybe it was just a bad fish. How big was he? Maybe being in a 10g stressed him out because it was too big.

[ocean]

I'm sorry about fish....I don't know for sure but API Stress coat is for freshwater, I don't see anything on the bottle that says saltwater use. I have a bottle I use to use for my betta's. Just an idea.

[JoeyPB]

Originally Posted by slitherbomb

Maybe it was just a bad fish. How big was he? Maybe being in a 10g stressed him out because it was too big.

He was about 3 inches

[JoeyPB]

Originally Posted by ocean

I'm sorry about fish....I don't know for sure but API Stress coat is for freshwater, I don't see anything on the bottle that says saltwater use. I have a bottle I use to use for my betta's. Just an idea.

On the bottle it says for Fresh or Saltwater use. So I don't think it was that.

[JoeyPB]

I'm thinking it must have been stress. I've bought a starfish, snails, crab and shrimp from the same LFS but this was my first fish purchase from them. Every time I go in there, I see a number of dead fish in the tanks. I didn't see any dead fish today, though, and I decided to make the purchase on a whim. They also net the fish and are rather careless in the process. I think I might not purchase fish from them anymore, despite them having the best selection in the immediate area.

I also think I'm going to by an Acclimation box to take to the LFS with me to streamline the process -- to rid the net and unneeded stress.

[paulace2372]

Sounds to me like stress, your water doesn't seem to be the issue. Something I do is find out when the LFS has the fish delivered and make sure that I leave it around 5 days before making a purchase- this just reduces the stress process and allows for any bad fish to buy their ticket before being sold. Some LFS will qt the fish but some will be on sale the next day! Dead fish are never a good look in a tank - doesn't really fill you with confidence, perhaps giving the LFS some feedback on your feelings and find another supplier is what I'd do. As for the stress coat- yeah it's fine for salt water but really don't over do it.

[redsea]

Sorry to hear about your angelfish.

[FTMMWS]

Thats a bummer Joey,,sorry to hear it...I think i would stop buying fish from that LFS...

[Grizz]

+1 FTM.
Do you know how long the fish was at the LFS Were his colors very bright as some harvest them using cyanide and i causes bright colors sadly most only last 1-2 weeks just long enough to sell to some one. thats why the sell them the next day then offer you half the cost back Ask the LFS to hold the fish for 7-10 days for you this lets it calm down Remember how freaked out Nemo's dad was lol

[Buffy]

Sorry to hear about your fish? I've seen a few dead fish at the lfs and because of that I won't buy any. If yours has that issue then they don't take care of the problem, seems like they just remove the fish and continue on. So any fish you buy from there may have the same problem. I would take the fish back and explain how you feel. I wouldn't take any other fish unless you had 100% guarantee for a (someone put length of time here) period of time so you are sure the fish are disease free and healthy. JMHO

[JoeyPB]

Originally Posted by Grizz

+1 FTM.
Do you know how long the fish was at the LFS Were his colors very bright as some harvest them using cyanide and i causes bright colors sadly most only last 1-2 weeks just long enough to sell to some one.

I'm not exactly sure how long the fish was at the store. I know it wasn't more than 3 days as I had gone to the LFS on Friday and saw one Coral Beauty and I then made the purchase on Monday when they had 3. I knew I would be taking a risk buying a new arrival, but I thought it would develop Ich or something treatable -- not instantly die.

The fish I chose was the most colorful they had. It was gorgeous with the brightest gold of any I've seen. Perhaps cyanide was used. That's something I never knew.

Thanks for all the feedback guys. I'm sure the death was due to stress. Never having had any livestock deaths, I got comfortable in my purchasing ways. That's definitely changed now. I won't be purchasing from the LFS anymore. I suppose I'll be driving the 30 minutes to Virginia Beach to an LFS that was suggested to me. I'll also do a lot more questioning with my future purchases on their tank conditions and the specific fish. Has anyone had any experience with the Reef Gently AccliMate pro? I think I'll be purchasing one of those as well.

[JoeyPB]

Originally Posted by Buffy

Sorry to hear about your fish? I've seen a few dead fish at the lfs and because of that I won't buy any. If yours has that issue then they don't take care of the problem, seems like they just remove the fish and continue on. So any fish you buy from there may have the same problem. I would take the fish back and explain how you feel. I wouldn't take any other fish unless you had 100% guarantee for a (someone put length of time here) period of time so you are sure the fish are disease free and healthy. JMHO

To me it seems like they don't fix the problem. I've already given a fish funeral, so I can't take the fish back. There are signs on all their tanks stating that all Saltwater Fish are non-refundable -- no exceptions. That should probably have been a crystal clear warning.

I'm taking this as a $25 lesson well learned.

[Grizz]

Yea when i see that ALL SALES ARE FINAL I tell them No thanks im saving to get the Sucker tattoo removed.
That Reef Gently AccliMate pro, is a lot of money IMO Here's what i do float the bag in the DT for 20-30 min. then pour the bag water with fish into a pail the run an air line with knots in it from the tank to the pail slowly dripping when i double the amount i dump out half then let it drip fill i do this 3-4 times it takes around 2 hrs

[Bettacrazy]

oh, sorry for your fishy loss my yellow tail damsel fish fish was pretty skittish too.

[Buffy]

Originally Posted by Grizz

Yea when i see that ALL SALES ARE FINAL I tell them No thanks im saving to get the Sucker tattoo removed.
That Reef Gently AccliMate pro, is a lot of money IMO Here's what i do float the bag in the DT for 20-30 min. then pour the bag water with fish into a pail the run an air line with knots in it from the tank to the pail slowly dripping when i double the amount i dump out half then let it drip fill i do this 3-4 times it takes around 2 hrs

I'm lazy and since I was at the store....I bought the 3 pack acclimation "kit".Proper Handling of Aquarium Fish: New Fish Acclimation Kit (haven't used it yet though)

P.S. Wish I still lived in Va Beach, I miss it there.

[Grizz]

Nice find that even has the valves better then knots