Bloody Sunday!!!

jerms55555 · Post by **jerms55555** » Mon Jun 06, 2005 4:45 am

Hey guys Sunday was a terrible day as I was moving all my L236s into a new 40 gal that has been cycling for about a month without fish and one week with 12 rummy nose tetras....Well my intentions were to take out the tetras and throw in the 8 plecs.......But as I was acclimating them in five different bags (its a drip system that drops into their bag for about an hour or 2....I came back in a 1:30 minutes and noticed one was lifeless....so I poured this back in which carried 3 L236 and two quickly darted into the slates caves but the third dropped like a stone!! I was like holy $HIT!!!So I started to pour the other bags in, and found another one which died the same way!!!

So now I have 6.......But what happened....I was kinda of sad but happy at the same time because it wasn't my zebras!!!!!!

Now, the water was perfect.....But could it have been just totally stressed out??? How come the others didn't die??? Do you think the ammonia built up so much in the bags that the weakest didn't make it??

Kimbo · Post by **Kimbo** » Mon Jun 06, 2005 6:17 am

Was there enough oxygen in the bags? Also yes some could of been pooing in the bag alot due to the stress etc of the move and built up the ammonia levels, or they could of died just due to the stress of the move?

Hope the others all stay well for you

Kim

Tom2600 · Post by **Tom2600** » Tue Jun 07, 2005 1:12 am

Hi

Very sorry to hear you have lost some plecs.

As to why, its a guessing game really.

How many plecs were in each bag? i.e. were the two that died in bags with more than one plec? If so, a build of toxins combined with the stress if probably the cause.

I am curious to know where the 8 plecs were kept prior to this move? Do you have other tanks? If so I personally would have just used exisiting tank water over a couple of weeks to fill this tank. This would have seeded the filters very quickly.

I personally don't think a drip system is required for moving plecs between tanks. Floating the fish in a large bag or container and add a small cup of new tank water every 5-10 minutes. After 30-40 minutes just release the fish.

I would only use the drip method for fish that have been travelling for a long time i.e. imported fish. ....and when introducing fish never leave them for more than 5 minutes unattended as unfortunately losses can and do occur in a very short space of time.

Figners crossed for your remaning plecs.

Tom

jerms55555 · Post by **jerms55555** » Tue Jun 07, 2005 2:27 am

Hey Tom2600
I was putting the water from the previous tanks over to this new one, but the wierd thing was one fish was in a bag by itself and the other one that died was in a bag with two others.... ?? The others seem to be doing fine now, eating like pigs!!! I think it was stress and a build up of toxins like you said......

Des · Post by **Des** » Tue Jun 07, 2005 7:27 pm

Hi jerms55555,

Sorry to hear that you lost some L236. Even though they were not zebras ,it is still painful.
I always drip feed , either with new stock or even with fish moving from one tank to another. If I were to do this, I would have put all the plecs to be moved in one small bucket ,therefore ensuring enough oxygen exchange,( sometimes use an airstone) then drip feed from the new tank.
I wonder whether the cause could have been due to a large ph difference between the 2 tanks ?. Was nitrite zero?.

Regards,
Des.

Adam · Post by **Adam** » Fri Jun 10, 2005 6:23 pm

Hi Jerms,

I'm sorry to hear that you lost a couple of your L236.

As Des has said it really is best to use a bucket or something similar when acclimatising fish using the drip feed method. I always use an airstone to ensure there is enough oxygen and sometimes a heater, in winter, with a guard on it so as to prevent heat loss. Were the two fish you lost larger than the others?

I hope that the other L236 are doing well.

Adam

jerms55555 · Post by **jerms55555** » Sat Jun 11, 2005 12:24 am

Yea they were larger than the others! One was like 2.5" and the other was like 4"...I am glad i learned this now before any other losses.....The others are doing great in their new home! Hopefully they kick out a spawn to replace the other two....

I noticed also was that the bags were pretty full of water and kind of tweaked up against the bucket to not allow air in.........
But thanks for the responses, I just don't want to loose any more fishes!!!

This whole thing is trial and error...And hopefully somebody can learn from my mistakes!!!!
thanks again!!!!

Adam · Post by **Adam** » Sat Jun 11, 2005 2:11 am

Hi Jerms,

I suspected that the two fish that died would have been the largest ones, its nearly always the larger fish that succumb to the lack of O2 first. As they are larger they require more O2 than their smaller counter parts. I hope that the remaining L236 spawn for you.

Good luck mate.

Adam