Was part of the tail missing at Petco? My local Petco loses fish all the time, the store employees often tell me if they cannot sell the fish in less than a week it likely will die. But that may not be all the Petco’s
Check your ammonia and nitrate level with a reliable test kit. Mouth open is an indicator of low oxygen and aggression with tail suggest aggression from store or tank mate. I would seek other recouces for fish in lieu of PetcoI got a royal gramma for my newly cycled tank yesterday from Petco and when I got home today it was dead. Could it be velvet or ich? Ammonia and nitrite are at 0 and he was swimming around just fine when I put him in the tank
Salinity is 1.025 I didn’t get a good look at the store but I have a picture of when he was alive. Definitely going to hopefully get a refund tomorrow
part of tail was missing when you bought, could have been aggression at the store, could have been stressed.
This is one of the most unreliable kits often producing false test results. I suggest taking a water sample to a store that does NOT use Api kits and have them test your ammonia and nitrates and compare readings- then you'll know where your levels truly are at
Salifert tests kits are a good option, hut personally I use Hannah checkers
Power head does not offer the needed oxygen but rather water flow. Suggested is an air stone.
Hanna or Salifert brand
Oh i didn’t know that I thought the water movement gave it oxygen I have an air stone in my other tank because I’m using chemiclean but when that’s finished I’ll put it in the other tank my filter is fluval AC50
Nyos, Salifert, and Red Sea are all good choices for test kits. Hannah checkers are really expensive, most people only use them for dkH and phosphate.
Nyos is less than accurate and most people use hanna for nitrate, ammonia, calcium, alk and in some cases Magnesium. I use the Hanna Master kit especially when it comes to coral and also easy to read. $55-$60 is not expensive when it comes to sustanability
It will aerate the tank if it is providing surface agitation. The protein skimmer will also provide oxygenation.
$75 to start now for hanna test kits, with an additional ~$1 per test beyond the initial 10 they come with compared to ~$20 for between 50 - 200 tests on salifert depending on the kit. If you're testing Alk, calcium, nitrate, and phosphate weekly with hannah you're adding about $16 / month to your running costs of your tank.
