Transfering fish from LFS bag to home tank

[kw0me]

something shocking i found out in one of my lfs is when you get a fish they wont put more than 2 in a bag and the water they put in the bag is from the GOLDFISH tank..........cold dirty water.......now i know why the fish i brought would be colourless until about 2 hours or so from putting them in my tank. this also being the lfs i got guppys from that infected my tank with dropsy recently.

 

[Madcrawdad]

something shocking i found out in one of my lfs is when you get a fish they wont put more than 2 in a bag and the water they put in the bag is from the GOLDFISH tank..........cold dirty water.......now i know why the fish i brought would be colourless until about 2 hours or so from putting them in my tank. this also being the lfs i got guppys from that infected my tank with dropsy recently.

It's my understanding that dropsy isn't a disease per se...more of a condition due to poor water conditions over time (ie, I don't think a tank can be infected with dropsy)

 

[kw0me]

from my experience all my fish were cool then i put 2 new female guppys in that did look fat i thought they might be pregs from the lfs. now my male guppy has gone fat and one of my tetras looks like its going fat and im streessed! going to the lfs today to get meds to dose my whole tank and see if i can save them seems to me like im pissing on a bushfire to try put it out....

 

[Pagan]

This is where working at a LFS has advantages. I always know when we have an outbreak of anything, and if we have an empty tank I can segregate the fish I want and watch it for up to a week before buying it. When I get it home I do the basic floating bag for around 15 minutes, then net it into my QT tank.

 

[echoofformless]

So I'm the only one who tests the pH and hardness of both the LFS and the tank water to see how different they are?

I use that to determine how slowly the new water is added to the bucket, bowl or bag in which the new fish are residing. If the relative parameters of each body of water are almost identical, the main concern is the temperature.

 

[Mgamer20o0]

So I'm the only one who tests the pH and hardness of both the LFS and the tank water to see how different they are?

I use that to determine how slowly the new water is added to the bucket, bowl or bag in which the new fish are residing. If the relative parameters of each body of water are almost identical, the only concern is the temperature.

thats a factor also. making sure all the lfs water is replaced with my clean water is another reason why i take so long.

 

[Omega]

I was wondering what different methods people use to transfer their newly purchased fish from those baggies the LFS uses to their home tanks.
I understand about the acclimation process and all that.
The way I was doing it in the past was to add tank water to the baggie, let sit for a while and then pour off about half the amount added down the drain and repeat. The idea was to dilute the LFS water to minimal amounts. Then I would let the new fish just come out of the bag on their own.
This seemed (in my mind anyway) an easier system than netting them out of the baggie.

That's what I do. Haven't lost a fish yet.

 

[Rbishop]

I didn't mention the pH/hardness testing, since the local stores have the same water. If from a new place or mail order, it is a bit more involved.

 

[echoofformless]

It's true that local stores can have the same water, but that doesn't mean much of anything once you're talking about established tanks.

For example, if your LFS is very serious about constant fresh water and cleanliness, chances are their water will be little changed from its original source parameters. Some LFSs are serious enough to use new water almost daily.

But your tank might be well established and you probably don't change the water daily. That means you might have some softening and more acid.

And in my case, I have blackwater tanks. I'm taking fish from often high alkalinity LFS water and putting them into below neutral water.

Not to mention that just because it's a "local" fish store that really doesn't mean they have the same source water. For example here in Philadelphia we have three plants as tap water sources. Two get their water from the Schuylkill River, which has a higher mineral content and is slightly harder than water from the Delaware River. The other one gets it from the Delaware, and serves not only parts of Philadelphia but also parts of Bucks County.

That means your friend who lives across the street might be getting their water from a different plant. Same goes for an LFS.

Not to mention if you live in a more rural area, the sources of tap water can be all manner of wells, aquifers, springs, etc. Three or four different sources may be found within only a square mile.