melanurus wrasse assimilation-need assistance

Ordered a melanurus wrasse online and it just came in today at work. As soon as i received my order at work, i immediately left to go home (about a 15 minute drive) to start the assimilation process. I started the assimilation process. fish was being assimilated using the bag it came in being floated and me manually pouring just a tad bit of water every 5 mins for about 1.5 hours. the poor Melanurus was drastically swimming running into the edges etc… After about the .5 hour mark I noticed he was upside down and not moving but barely breathing. I went to net him and there was no struggle at all. I carefully removed him from his assimilation bag and placed him into the tank and he sank to the bottom and fell in between 2 rocks. He is barely breathing and has not moved for a good 10 minutes. I feel he may not make this unfortunately. Because fish are fish I will let him be as I have to get back to work anyways but my questions is as follows:

is this normal behavoir for a very stressed fish, will he make it, can i do anything? very upset currently.

Tank conditions are excellent, checked last night (but dont have #'s with me, 0 amm, 0 nitri, 0 nitrate)

 

Ammonia builds up and can get toxic after opening the bag to start acclimating. What is your SG? If it is drastically different from the original water, it could cause issues. Get some numbers ASAP and we can help you further.

 

was 1.024 when i checked last night

 

Unfortunately, 1.5 hours is to long, imo, to acclimate a fish that has been shipped overnight. Once you open the bag, CO2 is released and the pH levels rise, which in turn causes the build up of ammonia to become toxic.
I personally believe and use the following acclimation procedures:
1.) Call the dealer and ask what the salinity is.
2.) Set the QT tank to that salinity.
3.) When you get the fish, float for 15-20 minutes.
4.) Put the fish directly in.

If you do not have a QT and the salinity that the fish came in is > .002 difference in salinity than your DT. You can use the method you stated (or drip acclimate), but not for longer than 30 minutes. Another thing you may consider is using Prime or Amquel to help with the ammonia that will build up during this time. In any case, 30 minutes is probably more ideal for acclimation once the bag is open if the salinity is > .002 difference.

I sure hope your melanarus makes it. They are gorgeous fish (I have one myself as well and love the personality of the fish).

 

i agree with you but in order to keep the 14 day live guarantee from Reefs2go they instruct you to assimilate for 2+ hours. So i'm torn on following their procedure which guarantees my guarantee or do what i think is right and similar to your method. Now i do agree with you 100% on adding some amquel next time, that makes perfect sense.

Keeping my fingers crossed as i'm back at work now, Hope i come home to a healthy swimming Melanarus and or a burrowed one (at least not dead or in same condition i left him in )

THanks for the help

 

Yep, if you don't see him tonight. He's probably healthy, alive, and borrowed! These guys are great to watch!

 

it sounds like you have had experience with them. I did a lot of research before getting one and felt like i was taking a chance with them. Although they are classified as reef safe i do see the occasional report of them tormenting/eating shrimp/snails. What is your experience with them?

 

He's been a model citizen so far, however, he's only been in the tank 2 months now (I had him in QT for 8 weeks before that). I have never seen him eat any snails, corals, and my cleaner shrimp is as happy as can be still.
I can also say my friend (who also has a HUGE melanarus) has had similar results. I do believe he said that it did eat his fire shrimp, however. But other than that it has been great for him as well. He's had his for over 2 years now.

 

well that is reassuring

Thanks again