Fish Didn't Survive Acclimation... My fault, or unwell fish?

[Biokabe]

So, I picked up a blackcap basslet today from my LFS, and for the first time in my 12 years of reefing, it didn't even make it past acclimation. I didn't do anything particularly different with this guy - after the drive home, floated him for about 20-25 minutes, then into the acclimation container. From there, added 1/2 cup of tank water to his container every 15 minutes, then turned off the lights and powerheads in the tank and added him to the tank. Well, after the second time I added water, I noticed him swimming upside down at the top of the container. It didn't concern me too much at the time, because I know that they have a habit of swimming upside down.

By the time I put him in the tank, he was fully upside down... and then when I put him in, it was obvious that he wasn't just being a basslet, because he was just drifting in the current from the return pump. He was still breathing, but made no effort to swim. Finally he settled up against the overflow... hoping that he was just tired, and not wanting to stress him, I left him alone for 15-20 minutes. But when I came back, he was no longer breathing and was stiff as a board. Suspecting that he was at this point an ex-fish, I pulled him out of the tank; no struggle on his part whatsoever. Which wasn't surprising, being dead and all.

So, my question... was there something else I should have done to acclimate a blackcap, or did I just happen to get a fish that was on his way out already?

 

[pecan2phat]

Did you check the salinity from the store water?
A lot of LFS keep a low salinity to mask a lot of parasite/disease and if the difference between the store and your display is great then it could have been osmosis shock.

 

[Lasse]

Transport time from the LFS to your aquarium (time in the plastic bag)? Air or oxygen in the plastic bag?

As you describe your handling and if the answer on my questions above are below 6 -12 hours and oxygen - I suspect that there few things you could have done better. It does happens with hearth attacks and acute stress reactions occur even among fish.

Sincerely Lasse

 

[Biokabe]

Did you check the salinity from the store water?
A lot of LFS keep a low salinity to mask a lot of parasite/disease and if the difference between the store and your display is great then it could have been osmosis shock.

They keep their fish-only tanks at 1.021 RSG, which I have verified on my own (water in the acclimation container when I put him in was at 1.023.

Transport time from the LFS to your aquarium (time in the plastic bag)? Air or oxygen in the plastic bag?

As you describe your handling and if the answer on my questions above are below 6 -12 hours and oxygen - I suspect that there few things you could have done better. It does happens with hearth attacks and acute stress reactions occur even among fish.

Sincerely Lasse

It's about 45 minutes from my LFS, and they always bag everything up with extra air/oxygen - about half-full with water, and then they inflate the bag until it's rigid with either compressed air or oxygen. I believe it's oxygen but I wouldn't bet my life on it. From the time he was bagged until the time I opened the bag, probably 2 hours.

 

[BranchingHammer]

This may be a possible cause for the death of your fish:
Ammonia is toxic to fish, but it exists in an equilibrium with its much less toxic counterpart, ammonium. At lower pH's, more ammonium is present compared to ammonia, so the fish is fine. In the fish's bag, the fish was respirating and creating CO2. CO2 lowers the pH of the water in the bag because it results in the formation of carbonic acid. The fish is therefore fine in its bag because the CO2 that it's creating offsets the toxicity of the ammonia that it's creating (more acidic environment results in more ammonium rather than ammonia). In your aquarium, the pH is much higher, say 8.3. When you add that water to the fish's bag, the pH goes up quickly. This results in the conversion of ammonium to ammonia in the higher pH environment. Since the ammonia has had a chance to build up from the fish's respiration, the water becomes toxic to the fish. If the fish rests too long in this toxic water, it may die.

Did I explain it right @Jay Hemdal?

I learned this from Jay, and I recently acclimated my fish by only matching the temperature and salinity—without drip acclimation. They are still doing fine in QT, and I will only do it this way in the future.

 

[Lasse]

Check if it is compressed air. Never ever pack fish with compressed air. The risk for bubble disease is very high if you do that. Compressed air not only rise the gas pressure of oxygen - it also rise the pressure of nitrogen (80 % is nitrogen in the air) When the fish is transported to atmospheric environment (you open the bag) surplus nitrogen will form nitrogen gas bubbles in the body of the fish. The fish get the bend! Symptoms can be as the ones you describe. Look for tiny gasbubbles in the upper head and along the base of the dorsal fin.

This may be a possible cause for the death of your fish:
Ammonia is toxic to fish, but it exists in an equilibrium with its much less toxic counterpart, ammonium. At lower pH's, more ammonium is present compared to ammonia, so the fish is fine. In the fish's bag, the fish was respirating and creating CO2. CO2 lowers the pH of the water in the bag because it results in the formation of carbonic acid. The fish is therefore fine in its bag because the CO2 that it's creating offsets the toxicity of the ammonia that it's creating (more acidic environment results in more ammonium rather than ammonia). In your aquarium, the pH is much higher, say 8.3. When you add that water to the fish's bag, the pH goes up quickly. This results in the conversion of ammonium to ammonia in the higher pH environment. Since the ammonia has had a chance to build up from the fish's respiration, the water becomes toxic to the fish. If the fish rests too long in this toxic water, it may die.

Did I explain it right @Jay Hemdal?

I learned this from Jay, and I recently acclimated my fish by only matching the temperature and salinity—without drip acclimation. They are still doing fine in QT, and I will only do it this way in the future.

Exactly why I ask for time in the bag - 2 hours - IMO probably not the reason but I always do as you - just in order to be safe. IMO it was a perfect and good description of the dilemma. However I would rather use the word ammoniac instead for ammonia - but I speak more Oxford English than American English. This because many use the word ammonia when they mean the ammonium/ammoniac complex (NH4/NH3)

Sincerely Lasse

 

[Biokabe]

Check if it is compressed air. Never ever pack fish with compressed air. The risk for bubble disease is very high if you do that. Compressed air not only rise the gas pressure of oxygen - it also rise the pressure of nitrogen (80 % is nitrogen in the air) When the fish is transported to atmospheric environment (you open the bag) surplus nitrogen will form nitrogen gas bubbles in the body of the fish. The fish get the bend! Symptoms can be as the ones you describe. Look for tiny gasbubbles in the upper head and along the base of the dorsal fin.


Exactly why I ask for time in the bag - 2 hours - IMO probably not the reason but I always do as you - just in order to be safe. IMO it was a perfect and good description of the dilemma. However I would rather use the word ammoniac instead for ammonia - but I speak more Oxford English than American English. This because many use the word ammonia when they mean the ammonium/ammoniac complex (NH4/NH3)

Sincerely Lasse

I'm pretty sure it's oxygen - it's dispensed out of a giant green heavy metal canister, and I'm pretty sure I've seen "oxygen" on the canister. But I don't know 100% that it is. That said, all the rest of my fish have come from the same LFS, and none of them had anything remotely similar while acclimating (obviously, since they're all alive). Would I have had to dissect the fish to see those traces of gas bubbles, or would it have been evident from a visual inspection?

 

[Lasse]

If it is oxygen - normally no problem. However - there is ways to produce oxygen from ambient air by oxygen concentration with help of a molecular sieve. IMO it needs to be very good equipment if it should run for a prolonged period because the surplus nitrogen must be very low in the concentrate and I would not use this in any pressured system (including plastic bags) but thats IMO. In your case it is probably normal produced oxygen and it is nearly 100 % pure O2

Normally - on a living fish you can see them if you have good eyes - however do not think they are visible in either way when it is dead.

Sincerely Lasse

 

[Jay Hemdal]

I'm pretty sure it's oxygen - it's dispensed out of a giant green heavy metal canister, and I'm pretty sure I've seen "oxygen" on the canister. But I don't know 100% that it is. That said, all the rest of my fish have come from the same LFS, and none of them had anything remotely similar while acclimating (obviously, since they're all alive). Would I have had to dissect the fish to see those traces of gas bubbles, or would it have been evident from a visual inspection?

If it was a green tank, it was oxygen. @BranchingHammer mentioned ammonia toxicity, and that is surely a killer, but only in fish that have been shipped overnight. The ammonia would not have had time to build up in the bag during this short of a transport.

Two possibilities come to mind: the fish was indeed compromised/sick when they bagged it, and it couldn't survive the added stress (gill flukes for example, impairing respiration). Secondly, I worked retail for 10+ years, and it does happen that the salesperson mishandles the capture and the fish gets whacked with the net, or get run into the rocks. You may see it happen or not. The person catching the fish almost always knows. Lots of times there is no problem, but sometimes the fish dies from injuries.

Jay

 

[BranchingHammer]

If it was a green tank, it was oxygen. @BranchingHammer mentioned ammonia toxicity, and that is surely a killer, but only in fish that have been shipped overnight. The ammonia would not have had time to build up in the bag during this short of a transport.

Two possibilities come to mind: the fish was indeed compromised/sick when they bagged it, and it couldn't survive the added stress (gill flukes for example, impairing respiration). Secondly, I worked retail for 10+ years, and it does happen that the salesperson mishandles the capture and the fish gets whacked with the net, or get run into the rocks. You may see it happen or not. The person catching the fish almost always knows. Lots of times there is no problem, but sometimes the fish dies from injuries.

Jay

Thank you for clarifying that Jay!