Who Gives A Fish Forums

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.

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.

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.

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.

Los head myself \ dryway disc hi

felinxo wrote: ↑Tue May 06, 2025 7:32 pm 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.

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.

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.

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.

felinxo wrote: ↑Tue May 06, 2025 7:32 pm 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.