Killed my first fish today :(

[mxman311]

:confused: So after a water test at my LFS and their approval I went to Petco and bought a Fuzzy Dwarf Lion Fish. He seemed really happy for the first 24 hours then went into hiding and died. The weird part is that he was eating just fine. He had 3 minnows the day before he died. Did I mess up by feeding him feeder fish? What killed him. Was it the fact that I went to Petco to get him instead of my LFS? Waist of 25 bucks!!

30 gallon tank
35 pounds live rock 20 pounds crushed corral substrate.
Cascade 1000 canister filter "no media just used to move water"
Red Sea Prizm protein skimmer with charcoal media.
Salinity 1.022
Temp 78
Nitrite 0ppm
Nitrate 3ppm
Ammonia 0ppm
Ph 8.0

WHAT THE HECK???

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[ILuvMyGoldBarb]

Feeder fish are nutritionally incomplete. However that is not likely what killed him. It's hard to say exactly what killed him at this point, but to save you more money, don't bother with a Lionfish of any kind for that tank. That tank is too small for even a dwarf lionfish. They are high bioload fish and need a larger tank due to higher water volume to help cut down the toxicity of their environment. Furthernore, in that small of a tank it would be extremely hard for you to do any cleaning in that tank without removing the fish. Removing the fish that frequently would be very stressful for it anyway.

[mxman311]

Feeder fish are nutritionally incomplete. However that is not likely what killed him. It's hard to say exactly what killed him at this point, but to save you more money, don't bother with a Lionfish of any kind for that tank. That tank is too small for even a dwarf lionfish. They are high bioload fish and need a larger tank due to higher water volume to help cut down the toxicity of their environment. Furthernore, in that small of a tank it would be extremely hard for you to do any cleaning in that tank without removing the fish. Removing the fish that frequently would be very stressful for it anyway.
I do feed the feeders a ton of brine shrimp, flake and krill before I feed any or my fish. I bet he was just sick when I got him.

[ILuvMyGoldBarb]

Brine Shrimp are not much more nutritious than feeders. You need to be filling them with something good like blood worms, mysis, and spirulina. As I said though, they are still not likely the cause of your fish's death. I'd bet there was something wrong with him just as you said.

[kaybee]

How did you acclimate the fish?

[mxman311]

How did you acclimate the fish?
I used airline tube to drip into a 1 gallon jug for 2 hours untill jug was full. Then netted him out into his new home.

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[spudbuds]

Not a bad start for acclimating. However, I think you should have turned up the drip rate a bit and filled the jug, then poured out most of it and did it again. It looks like you ended up with about 2/3 tank water with 1/3 store water. That's not quite fully acclimated to your tank in my book.

Not sure if that's what caused your problem, but something to keep in mind for next time. And I agree with ILMGB. Too small of a tank to house that fish long term.

Good luck with your next addition and sorry for your loss. Sometimes it happens even if you do everything right.

- Bill

[cocoa_pleco]

It might have been when the fish was in petcos care. No petcos in Canada, but i sometimes go to the US for fun and the majority i were at had alright freshwater fish, but the saltwater wasnt too healthy. Lionfish can be tricky to get to feed (my volitan took a while to eat) and im thinking maybe the petco employees didnt feed him much/the wrong food and he was starving, and moving to a new tank did it in

[jman]

agreed^^^but dont they have a return policy where you can at least get credit back i know if your water quality is fine they take them back and at least give u store credit?

[Halelorf]

agreed^^^but dont they have a return policy where you can at least get credit back i know if your water quality is fine they take them back and at least give u store credit?

I think there are no refunds for saltwater at Petco. I know freshwater if you tests are good you get a full refund within the first 10 days or so.

[Halelorf]

Just found a receipt from when I went to petco last night.

With your receipt:

"There are no refunds for saltwater returns. Freshwater returns must be returned within 15 days of initial purchase. Deceased aquatic life must have a water sample (please see store for details)."

So it says no refunds but doesn't say no exchange or store credit. Maybe call them up and see what they can do for you.

[mxman311]

Just found a receipt from when I went to petco last night.

With your receipt:

"There are no refunds for saltwater returns. Freshwater returns must be returned within 15 days of initial purchase. Deceased aquatic life must have a water sample (please see store for details)."

So it says no refunds but doesn't say no exchange or store credit. Maybe call them up and see what they can do for you.

Ya they didnt want to do anything for me at first then they said the would exchange him for a new fish. I went to take a look and there was at least 5 fish that looked very sick and 3 dead in there tanks. There was no way I was gonna take home another sick fish and risk killing my rabbit fish. After complaining for a while they ended up giving me a gift card. I am gonna go wed when they get there shipment and get the fish before they put them in there tanks. There tanks look so bad its not even funny. Worst tanks on the planet!

[Halelorf]

Yea I took a look at the marine tanks they had at mine. They are only one of two stores in the area that carry saltwater and they really shouldn't. They had a anemone spilling it's guts dead which killed on of the maroon clowns in the tank and was starting to kill the other clown. This time they actually had some corals which was a rock of mushrooms that I actually thought about buying except for the rock it was on. Their idea of liverock is a chuck of volcanic rock with tons of nasty diatoms and algae all over it. They try to sell those for $20+ for these smal things. They also had the most pathetic looking yellow tang i've ever seen. If you watch the show Animal Precinct it looked like a super emaciated horse. You could see it's rib bones and a sunken body cavity for sure. I wanted to try to save it but I wouldn't have a tank for it and I think it was beyond saving. The irony of that is they were doing a pet adoption thing with the human society and a sheriff right outside the store. If only they came in and took a look at the fish tanks...

[squirt_12]

Isn't 1.022 a little low for the salinity? It should be around 1.025. Sorry about your loss.