Is my "death rate" normal?

[HarmonyAZ]

I waited for my test kit to come to start re-stocking. Water parameters looked good (I think... ammonia and nitrites of zero). This is a mature tank, btw. I started with danios. Out of 12 (3 LFS trips), I have 9 survivors. Ok, not bad. Then added 3 serpae tetras. All have survived, for 5 days now. Yay! Water still tests the same. BTW, gh is 16 and ph is 8. Today added 6 cardinal tetras and have lost 3 within hours. Actually, I've only found one body, sucked into the filter intake, but only see three live. This bothers me. Is 50% instant death normal, with water testing ok?[B/] I'm reading 79/80 degrees on two thermometers. The other fish in there are a clown loach and an albino tiger barb that never really bothers anyone.

Also, the new tetras will fit thru the filter intake holes and I'm running an AC 500 on a 29g tank. After finding the first corpse in the tube, I rubber-banded some nylon (think L'eggs) over the end. I'm sure it must've been dead before being sucked in, but thought I'd safeguard until I could ask someone. Should I leave it on til the cardinals get too big to get sucked in or am I being silly?

Thanks for ANY feedback!!

 

[~*LuvMyKribs*~]

No fish should die when you add them to your tank. You never know what condition they are in at the pet store, however, so you really can't be sure why they died. If all your water params are good, (although i think your ph is a bit high), then there should be no reason for them to die when added to your tank. If this is the case then it was beyond your control and i would take the bodies back to the lfs and get some more. They will test your water and if everything is okay then they should give you more hassle free. You slowly adjust the fish right?

I've always found that tetras can be really touchy.

I bought a pleco the other day and within a few hours he was dead. I took him back to the lfs and looked in the tank i got him from, and 2 more in that tank were dead. Just goes to show that it isn't always your fault.

Maybe you should lower your temp a bit too. To maybe 75F or 73F.

But no, the death rate is not normal. No fish should die when added to your tank.

 

[HarmonyAZ]

Thanks! I found a good LFS and they bought these fish Mon. and quarantined them til today. I have been there 5 or so times and have never seen a dead fish, out of about 80-100 tanks (I'm guessing). Anyway...

I recently learned my heater thermostat was wrong and my tank was at about 84 degrees. I lowered it to 79/80 but was afraid of it being hard on the existing fish to go much lower. I guess they don't care much, though, huh? Another problem with going much lower than 79 is in the summer here in the desert my house will be 80-82, so I imagine the tank will be as well. I thought consistency would be better. Does seasonal consistency in temp matter???

As for the ph, I know it seems high. I posted it here last week when I first found out what it was and it didn't seem to raise red flags. Plus before I got the test kit I had the LFSs test my water and they never mentioned it. So I figured it was just some local normal thing like the hardness. I've asked this before, but again... should I focus more on fish that like hard, alkaline water???

How do you all slowly adjust the fish when you add them? I poured these into a bucket from the bag, added an airstone, and added about a cup of my tank water to the existing 2-3 c. of water. Then about 10 minutes later added another cup. Then about an hour later, netted them and put them in my tank. I tried the drip method with a piece of air hose but couldn't get it to drip.

THANKS for any thoughts!

 

[~*LuvMyKribs*~]

Yep that method of adjusting fish sounds good! I do the same thing but while floating the bag in water to let the other fish in the tank see them first. They always come up to the bag and have a look-see. Add a little tank water every 5-10 mins for about 40 mins then drop the bag in and let it sink- and the fish will find thier own way out. A lot less stressful than just pouring them from the bag into the tank.

Your temp and ph shouldn't be a problem- as long as the fish you keep can handle it. I would suggest looking up all the fish you keep and see what conditions they like- and try to give that to them. I dont know if the danios, tetras, loach and barb all like higher temps and higher ph. They will all probebly be okay though.

8.0 ph is on the higher scale- but some fish do like this. I would focus on the fish that would suit your water params the best. This would help lessen any fish loss because you are keeping fish that love the conditions you are giving them, as opposed to just 'dealing' with it.

 

[OrionGirl]

Just a suspiscion, but I think the airstone may be the culprit. If the fish were in the bag for any length of time (30 plus minutes, if I had to guess), the pH could have dropped significantly as biological processes worked on the buffer and the fish respired CO2. By adding the bubbler, the CO2 would have gassed off quickly, resulting in a rapid spike to the pH.

For fish that have been bagged for long, my bigger concern is getting them out of the ammonia-laden water, so I add an amount equal to what's in the bag, then start doing smaller additions. I wouldn't run any aeration--it's unlikely to help, IMO.

 

[HarmonyAZ]

This fish store is about a 20 minute drive from my home, so they were probably in the bag 25 minutes. I hope it was the air stone. At least I'll have learned a lesson for that $5 in fish I lost. I had to run another hour-long errand right after dropping the fish at home and thought that being in a bucket that long might be harmful to them. How long are they ok in a still bucket, on average? Anyone have a guess?

Is there an alternative to bagging for bringing them home? OrionGirl, I noticed you mentioned keeping a cooler in your car for buying fish. Is that just to keep the bag in or do you have the store use more water and put them straight into your cooler?

I don't think my water is too hot. The remaining three cardinals are tending to hover near the heater.

THANKS!!!

 

[OrionGirl]

I use the cooler to keep the fish in the dark, and regulate the temp. The temperature extremes of CO and WY can complicate fish transport, especially when the fish have to be bagged for more than 10-15 minutes.

The longer the fish are bagged, the worse the water conditions become. Fish can't 'hold it', and the waste has no where to go in the bag, so moving them to a bucket AND diluting the water (unless this will cause a massive change in water parameters) is important.

 

[HarmonyAZ]

So would it be better to just bring a bucket of water to the LFS and immediately empty the bag into it, once in the car? I don't think I can cut the bagged time to below 25 minutes otherwise.

 

[~*LuvMyKribs*~]

Hmmmm.... if your just dumping the bagged water into a bucket how does that solve anything? Its still the same water.

I think its okay for the fish to be bagged for 25 mins... just cut the bag and add a little tank water as soon as you get home. Add a little every 5 mins, that will not only help your fish adjust to thier new environment, but put 'fresh' water into the bag. The pleco was the first fish I've ever lost within days of a new addition.

Maybe ask the lfs to put the fish in a larger bag with more water because you have such a long drive home. That will probebly help out a little.

 

[HarmonyAZ]

It would be a bucket of water, not empty.