Bristlenose deaths?

Y

yonsu

AC Members
Jun 5, 2006
156
0
0
Just a question. The store I work at received a shipment of 12 bristlenose plecos recently. We had one pass away on arrival, and four sell in the first night. Wednesday, they all appeared fine. Thursday, I came in to find all seven of the remaining plecos dead. I assume it is the water parameters; what in particular could be responsible for the sudden deaths?

Ammonia-between 0 and .25
Nitrite and nitrate- 0
pH- 6.8
Hardness- 150
Alkalinity- 40

No fluctuations occured in that night as far as I am aware.
Thanks.
 
yonsu said:
Just a question. The store I work at received a shipment of 12 bristlenose plecos recently. We had one pass away on arrival, and four sell in the first night. Wednesday, they all appeared fine. Thursday, I came in to find all seven of the remaining plecos dead. I assume it is the water parameters; what in particular could be responsible for the sudden deaths?

Ammonia-between 0 and .25
Nitrite and nitrate- 0
pH- 6.8
Hardness- 150
Alkalinity- 40

No fluctuations occured in that night as far as I am aware.
Thanks.
Click to expand...

IMO, I think the problem may have been TDS(total dissolved solids) related. A swift change in TDS levels can cause osmotic shock. Osmotic shock interrupts healthy gill function by reducing the intake of oxygen and the release of carbon dioxide and ammonium from the fish. It can kill quickly or damage slowly decreasing a fish's life span significantly.



http://www.fishyportal.com/cgi-bin/pub/diag?c=v&id=55
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/434048/osmoregulation

osmo.jpg
 
This is interesting. One thing I can say is that we had alkalinity blocks in the sump to increase the alkalinity and by the day they had died, they had all completely dissolved and the alkalinity may have dropped a bit. Could this be responsible for their sudden deaths?
After light acclimating, we acclimate our bristlenose by just floating the bag for 15-20 mins, pouring out 2/3 of the water, and pouring the remainder and the plecos into the tank. We do not do drip acclimation on them, as they are not what management deems a "sensitive fish." Is it normal for them all to pass suddenly at once a couple days after we place them into the tank because of the method in which they were acclimated?

We just received a shipment of Microglanis iheringi, and they are all passing one by one a day after placing them in the water. This may be irrelevant, but it makes me wonder if it may be the water. They are on the same water supply (but the system is very large).
 
I would always drip acclimate a fish, no matter how sensitive the fish. With the stress of shipping and the sudden shock of new water chemistry I would think a few days is a reasonable time frame.

Alkalinity as in raising KH, correct?
 
JUST A THOUGHT, WHAT WAS THE WATER TEMPERATURE, THEY LIKE IT AROUND 76 DEGREES, AT LEAST MINE DO.
 
jpappy789 said:
I would always drip acclimate a fish, no matter how sensitive the fish.
Click to expand...

This is a bad idea if the fish has been in the bag for more than a couple of hours. Ammonia will have built up, but the pH will have dropped, rendering the ammonia harmless. Drip acclimation in this situation can cause the pH to rise as the higher pH tank water goes in and the ammonia to turn to the toxic form. Best to equalise temperature and then just dump the fish in the water. If the TDS is very different you will have to dump it into similar water and acclimate it from there, but acclimating in the shipping water can be lethal.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
AquariaCentral.com
Top Bottom