feeling sad, fish death

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altabc

altabc

newbie
Feb 8, 2009
148
0
0
Victoria, B.C. Canada
Last Sunday I introduced a Peter's elephant nose to my 46 gallon bowfront tank. His roomies were 10 neons, 5 lemon tetras, and 5 rasboroa het. When I came home from work on Tuesday afternoon he was dead. I know that whn I introduced him to the tank, all my N readings were at 0. This tank has been running, fish in, since January 11.

This Saturday I went back to the LFS that sold me the fish. They were genuinely astonished that I lost the fish so quickly. They had the fish for a month. I survived the rapid fire questions that they asked me, (right down to "did you burn a teflon pan"?) and they asked me to bring a water sample in.

All Ns were at 0, but! they questioned my pH level. It comes out of the tap at 7.0, my reading is 7.4.

I have no shells or anything like that, so it is a bit of a mystery.

They asked me not to do my weekly water change, and to test my pH several times a day, and at night as well.

They are going to bring another elephant nose into the shop for me. We will then look at my pH readings. They say they will keep the fish, and very gradually raise the pH in-store, then sell me the fish at their cost.

Do you all think this will work?

Sorry this is so wordy. I am trying to anticipate any questions.
 
BettaFishMommy

BettaFishMommy

finkids make me happy :-)
Mar 17, 2008
5,354
2
62
Deadmonton, lol, Canada
Real Name
Sherry N.
although i do not know much about elephant nose, it seems to me that a ph change wouldn't be enough to kill if the fish was acclimated properly to your tank at home. and 7.4 is not that high, i would think. what was your acclimation process with this fish? and did the store say what their ph in the tank in the store was? also, other water factors such as TDS (total dissolved solids) may come into play here, i'm no scientist so i won't even try to explain it, but others here have extensive knowledge in all this.

also possibility that the fish was already ill at the store. a month might not have been long enough for some disease or infection? any new fish to the store added to his tank at all during the month he was at the store? just a thought.

i would examine these factors and maybe chat with the store manager? what is their usual return policy?
 
altabc

altabc

newbie
Feb 8, 2009
148
0
0
Victoria, B.C. Canada
They fed the fish for me at the store so I could watch hime eat. He seemed to have a good appetite. The Ph at the store is at 7.0. The owner of the store was the one who offered to accilimitize the fish to a higher pH and offer at cost. It is a privately owned store. My understanding about elephant nose fish is that they can be quite sensitive. Yes, a lesson on total dissolved solids, and what it means, may be applicable here. Anyone out there that can explain it??
 
BettaFishMommy

BettaFishMommy

finkids make me happy :-)
Mar 17, 2008
5,354
2
62
Deadmonton, lol, Canada
Real Name
Sherry N.
i've done a little research and yes, it seems they are a sensitive fish, but surely the store would have not sold you the fish if they knew you wouldn't have knowledge to care for it, hence the barrage of questions when you went back.

that is nice of the manager offering to do that, but the whole tds thing might need explaining here for sure, since the tds in the water at the store and your water might be different. there are other factors here too, such as kh and gh, but i won't even attempt to explain any of it, since i'm still trying to grasp the whole concept myself. experts! wherefor art thou? lol.
 
altabc

altabc

newbie
Feb 8, 2009
148
0
0
Victoria, B.C. Canada
Thank-you Bettamomma (hope you don't mind my slang-speak) I have such a clean tank that there was no reason for them not to sell me the fish. Maybe they asked me for a water sample just to see if I was truthful. The barrage of questions was the result of their surprise, and my wanting to know just what went wrong. We, and I stress we, were trying to figure this out. I simply can't point a finger. The folks at this LFS are determined that I succeed. I was very excited about that fish! And yah! Haven't heard from the experts yet!
 
BettaFishMommy

BettaFishMommy

finkids make me happy :-)
Mar 17, 2008
5,354
2
62
Deadmonton, lol, Canada
Real Name
Sherry N.
now now, don't get me wrong, i am not saying the lfs people are the bad guys here, i too am wondering how the heck this poor finkid went to the happy fish bowl so sudden.

and you can call me BFM, that's what everyone else calls me, lol.

speaking of those experts..... (whispering voice: pssst! experts! enter stage left!)
 
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