My goby has passed away

[aflux]

My poor hi fin red banded goby didn't make it through QT - found him stuck to the PH intake last night.

I tested the water yesterday and this morning, here are the readings:

SG: 1.025
pH: 8.1
ammonia: 0
nitrite: 0
nitrate: 0
Temp: 76F (a bit low, was 78 when I went to bed, but 2F drop over 8 hours shouldn't be fatal)

He just wouldn't eat - tried mysis, enriched brine shrimp, cyclopeeze, but never saw him touch any of it. Had him since Tuesday.

What do you guys think went wrong?

I got him from liveaquaria.com, gonna try for a refund or replacement. Don't know what to do, if my fish keep dying in QT, might as well just put 'em straight in the DT.

[BreezyKnight]

Really sorry to hear about your goby, that's awful news. I had a similar disaster yesterday, my pregnant guppy died and it's just so frustrating. You should defo try and get a refund or replacement, if not I think you should speak out about your experience, maybe a warning to others about liveaquaria.com.

[aflux]

I've just emailed liveaquaria's customer service. Their 14-day livestock policy should cover this, considering it only lasted 2 days. I'm expecting a refund or at least a credit. To be honest, I'm starting to think I'm just not cut out for this QT thing - the new one's going straight into the DT.

[aflux]

Just wanted to follow up - got a response from Liveaquaria in just 3 hours, which I think is pretty impressive. They're giving me a credit for the full price of the goby ($16.99), so that's a win. Unfortunately, I'm out the shipping costs, but at least I got my fighting conch in that order too. Decided from now on I'm only buying fish from local stores and sticking to online for dry goods - coflakes are way cheaper that way.

[felinxo]

Los head myself \ dryway disc hi

[aflux]

Los head myself \ dryway disc hi

That's a solid policy. When acclimating fish, I make sure to test the temp, SG, and pH at the start and before adding them to the tank. If the SG and pH match my tank's parameters, I just float the bag. Otherwise, I use the drip method to get them to match up.

[flame9x]

I've found that even when SG is the same, there are other parameters that can be off, so I always drip acclimate. It's just an extra precaution to minimize stress on the fish.

As for my QT tank, I've got a basic setup - a heater, a PH intake, and some live rock. Nothing too fancy, just enough to keep the water stable and clean.

[aflux]

I've been wondering, what other parameters could impact the acclimation process besides pH, temp, and SG. I mean, I've heard of a few, but I'm not entirely sure.

My QT tank's actually pretty well-equipped - I've got an external filter with filter floss and some LR rubble that's already been cycled in my main tank, plus a piece of fully cured LR from the main tank as well. I've also got a maxijet 900 creating some surface agitation and a heater to keep the temp stable. There's even some sand in there for the fish to hide in. It's basically a mini FOWLR tank setup.

[felinxo]

I've found a gem of a place for buying fish, their water's always spot on at 1.026, no hidden nasties either. I've tested it myself, regularly over a few months while stocking up. They know I was testing, no issues. They'll even hold onto fish for a couple of weeks to make sure they're healthy.

Mark at Pets At Home, Southend, is a legend, and Jeff's top notch too. The whole team's great, five stars from me, except for those overpriced coflakes, that is.

[aflux]

Los head myself \ dryway disc hi

I think I'm going to stick with Hidden Reef from now on - their tanks always look great, not a dead fish or sign of ich in sight. I've had a good run with fish from them so far, none have died on me yet. I might ask if they'd be willing to hold fish for a couple of weeks for me, that'd be a big plus.