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LFS water

Andries

New Member
5 Year Member
Messages
6
Location
New Zealand
Hi

A few weeks ago I got my first A. Borellii(7 fish). After a day or two they stopped eating and eventually 6 of them died(one female left). Three days ago I was fortunate enough to get another pair,- Apisto's are quite hard to get hold of in New Zealand and very expensive. I tested the conductivity of the LFS water and it was 3900 uS/cm! I am fortunate to have rainwater on tap at 40uS/cm. After acclimating them to quarantine tank they also stopped eating and are not looking good. They were lively at LFS and for the first day with me. I presume the shop uses salt in their water, what is the best way of acclimating fish from these conditions?
My water: pH 6.5
Conductivity 40uS
Ammonia:0
Nitrites:0
Nitrates: 10 ( How accurate is API test Kit?)

I feed BBS and white worm.

Thanks
Andries
 

gerald

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Messages
1,491
Location
Wake Forest NC, USA
I'd suggest using a low does of Rift Lake Cichlid salts, R.O. Right, or similar salt mix to add some Ca, Mg, K, Na, and Cl ions. A. borellii is not a blackwater endemic species. If they've been living in ion-rich water for awhile, then their ion-uptake cells have adapted to those concentrations, and the sudden switch to ion-poor water might be more than they can adjust to. My other thought (if osmotic shock is not the problem) is whether some toxic material might be getting into your tank from decorations, cleaning products, airborne chemicals, ...???
 

ButtNekkid

Active Member
5 Year Member
Messages
315
Location
Finland
How long did you acclimate?

When I´ve gotten fish straight from the importer they´ve been in the 900-1000 µS region. Several hours of acclimation has worked for me.
 

Andries

New Member
5 Year Member
Messages
6
Location
New Zealand
Hi
Thanks for the advice Gerald and ButtNekid. I live on a farm, to far to quickly go to a shop to buy those salts. I do have access to well water of around 280micro siemens. I slowly did a 90 to 95 % w/c over 12 hours. The fish both had a good meal last night of white worm and some bbs! So hopefully they survive.
I don't think my rainwater is polluted, it is collected from an old roof and I keep neons and corydoras, they all spawn and I have to manay of them!
I only acclimated them for an hour, next time I will use drip method over several hours.
Thanks.
 

gerald

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Messages
1,491
Location
Wake Forest NC, USA
Your well water, or a mix of well+rain water might be perfect. "Several hours acclimation" may not help much if the final water is lacking certain ions that the fish need. Ultra-soft water is a difficult environment to survive in for fish that did not evolve as blackwater-endemic species.
 

central tanks

Active Member
Messages
109
Location
Dallas, Tx
I hate to be that guy but i dont think acclimating fish really matters unless you moving them to more acidic water. Slowly drip acclimating them isnt making them used to the water, it takes a long time for them to be used to new water, so dripping for like 12 hours may actually help. Dripping for smaller time frames only lowers shock of the sudden change, however keeping them in a container with water constantly changing is probably just a stressful. I only acclimate to temperature by floating then pour into net then release to tank. I only drip for super sensitive fish and inverts.

Gerald's input is very likely, there not used to such low tds that it slowly kills them. I second try mixing both to aim for a tds around 100 -150. Or if your well water at 280 is working well just leave it there.
 

Andries

New Member
5 Year Member
Messages
6
Location
New Zealand
Your well water, or a mix of well+rain water might be perfect. "Several hours acclimation" may not help much if the final water is lacking certain ions that the fish need. Ultra-soft water is a difficult environment to survive in for fish that did not evolve as blackwater-endemic species.
Thanks for your advice once again. Looks like I should have done more research. Both my new fish are still alive and eating well.
 

Andries

New Member
5 Year Member
Messages
6
Location
New Zealand
I hate to be that guy but i dont think acclimating fish really matters unless you moving them to more acidic water. Slowly drip acclimating them isnt making them used to the water, it takes a long time for them to be used to new water, so dripping for like 12 hours may actually help. Dripping for smaller time frames only lowers shock of the sudden change, however keeping them in a container with water constantly changing is probably just a stressful. I only acclimate to temperature by floating then pour into net then release to tank. I only drip for super sensitive fish and inverts.

Gerald's input is very likely, there not used to such low tds that it slowly kills them. I second try mixing both to aim for a tds around 100 -150. Or if your well water at 280 is working well just leave it there.
 

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