Help!

[Malawakiwhite]

I feel like crying and have a lump in my throat. My african tanganyikan cichlid fish were delivered this morning. Looking into the bags one cyp was almost dead and one punk too. I left them in the bags and floated them for 20 mins. Then gently released them into a bucket. All the cyps looked lethargic. I tested the bag water PH was 8 same as my tank. I scooped excess bag water and began adding tank water bit by bit over 40 mins then put them in tank using a net. 2 cyps of 6 are dead. Only one has swam off the substrate the others look to be dying. 3 out of 4 punks seem ok. Seen 3 of 4 similis swimming about. Calvus has disappeared but seemed ok in bucket. I feel helpless and deflated have I done something wrong?

 

[fluttermoth]

Well, chin up; it could be worse; the first time I had fish delivered, I lost them all.

I've found you have to do everything far more slowly than you would if you had bought them at your LFS. Don't even take them out of the box until you've covered them with a towel. Stand the bags upright in a bucket, keeping the towel over the top, Then carefully cut the tops off the bags (don't even bother trying to untie them; you need to keep the stress as minimal as possible)

Dribble a tiny bit of water down the inside of the bags every half hour or so, or syphon water from the tank in through a knotted piece of airline so it just drips in. There's no need to rush this bit; the fish have been in there for hours, you can take as long as you like.

If they're going into a quarantine tank you don't have to worry about the water from the bag going in your tank, so, still keeping them covered up, lower them into your tank, and just let the bags sink and the fish swim out when they're ready. Cover the tank with the towel and leave them til the the next day.

I hope the rest of yours do okay; best of luck.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

Actually. it sounds like the water in the bags was the problem. If the fish have not been fasted properly, if there are too many fish in one bag, if there are big temperature changes along the way- all of these can cause big issues. It sounds to me like the water had become "toxic", likely due to ammonia build up.

There are folks who advocate getting the fish out of the bag ASAP. The higher the pH and the temperature of the water, the more toxic ammonia becomes. So if the water one may be adding to acclimate fish in bags raises the pH and temperature, one may actuallly be making the water more harmful raher than less so. The need to remove fish from bad water can be much more pressing than taking the time to try and acclimate. As long as TDS (hardness) are not radically different between the bag and the tank water, it is normally safe to move fish into the new water ASAP.

Remember, when fish are shipped, they spend a lot more time in the bag than when you get them at your LFS and bring them home fairly quickly. So unless you know the shipper well enough to know their normal routines regarding fasting, water params, water additives used etc., it is best to check out the fish on arrival and the more stressed and less active they are, the more important it is to get them into clean water faster.