Leopard Wrasse anyone?

So, the Leopard Wrasse is probably my favorite fish, besides the Kole Tang.
Specifically, the blackspotted (guinea fowl wrasse).

I ordered one from my LFS and I was there when the shipment came in. (I get discounts for picking the fish up when the shipment gets there...idk why though really) He looked fine in the bag, I brought him home and acclimated him over an hour 1/2 into my new tank... (i don't have a quarantine tank) and he died over night. My water levels were spot on.

I don't know what I did wrong. Now I'm afraid to get another one.

Any suggestions of what happened?

 

man theres all kinds of things that couldve happened.. first one i think is just straight up stress.. also u could have acclimated it too long.. post your params.. also u should have tested the water the fish came in..mainly i just test the salinity when i get shipments in... most fish stores keep their salinities alot lower than we keep in reef tanks.. unless the fish store has a coral tank.. sounds like u just shocked the fish..

post your params..

 

well I wasn't really sure, I brought up a sample for the LFS to test before I picked up my fish and they said everything was perfect. (I'm trying to buy a kit soon)
I'd like to chalk it up to stress also. I read up on the shipping of them, and it is said that they don't ship well...

 

dont take offense to this, but u need to bite the bullet and buy some test kits..at least if its just the api reef kit test kits.. 90% of these fish stores just tell the person, yeah your water is straight, buy all these fish and corals, they will do perfect in your tank...when ur water is not up to par.. the only reason i say this is because i see sooooooooo many people on here say "well my fish store said i had perfect water" and then they go out and get some test strips and their readings are way way way off from perfect..

idk i only trust one person with my tank...ill let u guess who it is..lol...

 

also what is perfect water???

 

could have been an ammonia issue
we dont know how long the fish spent in the bag

if you picked the fish up in the bag that it arrived at the shop in and then took it direct home it may have been in that bag a very long time

Ammonia is more toxic in higher PH water
the bag the fish was shipped in, would have a higher CO2 level and that would have reduced the PH of the water in the bag
stressed fish expel more waste
those 2 facts combined make the transit bags a potential toxic soup

thus the damage may have been done during acclimatisation, as your adding water of a higher PH into the bag the fish is in, thus increasing the toxicity of the ammonia present in the bag

a commercial ammonia binder such a Seachems prime, if added to the bag prior to acclimatisation is a good idea if purchasing fish that have spent more than a couple of hours in a plastic bag IMO

Steve

 

haha, I don't think anyone knows what perfect water is... As for as my LFS scamming me, they have the charts posted right behind the counter so I can compare the test tubes to the chart as they do it. So they really can't lie to me. Hehe. But i really do need to buy a test kit. Next paycheck. Top of list.

 

so Steve, I would just add it into the bag that the fish is in before I acclimated them? or add it in while they are acclimating? gosh, there is sooo much to learn!

 

adding some to the bag is best bet
and then follow the same acclimitisation method
1.5 hours is a lot longer than I use personally ( but I have never got a fish in transit pack and max time they ever spend in bags is less than 3 hours)

I typically float bag for 15 mins to acclimatise temp
then gently pour contents of bag including fish into a plastic handled jug
to this I add half a cup of tank water, every 5 minutes until water level in plastic container is twice what it was so its probably half hour for something like a wrasse

once this has been achieved I remove fish using a wet hand from jug and place in aquarium (nets are not ideal IMO)

Adding the prime after the temp acclimitisation and when fish and water are in plastic container is also OK IMO

neutralise the ammonia, before adding any water of a higher PH is the key when introducing fish that have spent a uncertain amount of time in the bags

Steve

 

I've been using a small plastic tube tied in a knot that drips like 2 drips a second. The LFS said to acclimate 2 1/2 times the water that was in the bag so thats what I did and it took around that amount of time to acclimate. I will definitely look into getting some of that. Should I worry about that with acclimating corals also?