# Siamese algae eater died in less than 2 minutes



## Phish (Apr 29, 2009)

Pri said:


> I added 2 siamese algae eater to my 33g planted tank yesterday and the time for me to go to the bin to throw the plastic bag and to come back in front of the tank both of them were dead.
> 
> There are 4 wild guppies in the tank since the set up on 06/02.
> 
> ...


Did you allow time for them to acclimate to the new water temp?


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## sick lid (Jan 13, 2008)

and ph


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## Pri (Oct 20, 2010)

> Did you allow time for them to acclimate to the new water temp?


Yes acclimated them 15 minutes...



> and ph


Using DIY CO2 and drop checker is between blue and green


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## ridewake210 (Jan 12, 2007)

15 minutes? 

All new fish should be placed in a separate established aquarium for up to a month.


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## LICfish (Oct 9, 2010)

I would acclimate for at least 1 hour.


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## Pri (Oct 20, 2010)

ridewake210 said:


> 15 minutes?
> 
> All new fish should be placed in a separate established aquarium for up to a month.


why?

If someone doesn't have an established tank, how to proceed?


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## takadi (Dec 13, 2010)

Don't do the whole floating the bag technique.Try drip acclimation. Put an airline tube in the tank and extend it out to a bucket. Put some suction on the other end so that the water flows out. Tie as many knots into the airline until it starts dripping slowly. I have 95 percent survival rates with this method


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## antbug (May 28, 2010)

> Don't do the whole floating the bag technique.Try drip acclimation. Put an airline tube in the tank and extend it out to a bucket. Put some suction on the other end so that the water flows out. Tie as many knots into the airline until it starts dripping slowly. I have 95 percent survival rates with this method


+1 and drip for 1-2 hours.


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## Pri (Oct 20, 2010)

antbug said:


> +1 and drip for 1-2 hours.


Thanks...I'll try the drip method next time.


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## Phish (Apr 29, 2009)

ridewake210 said:


> 15 minutes?
> 
> All new fish should be placed in a separate established aquarium for up to a month.


 
In a perfect world, sure, but in all likelihood I doubt that happens all that often.

A solid 60 minute drip acclimation is what I typically do.


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## sick lid (Jan 13, 2008)

Pri said:


> Yes acclimated them 15 minutes...
> 
> 
> 
> Using DIY CO2 and drop checker is between blue and green


Yes, but what was the ph of the water the fish came from?


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## Pri (Oct 20, 2010)

So you all think that these fishes died because of the acclimation? 
Have anyone encounter water problems which can cause this type of rapid death?

Btw since now I've always acclimated my fishes 15 - 30 minutes and it's the first time that this happens.


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## Pri (Oct 20, 2010)

sick lid said:


> Yes, but what was the ph of the water the fish came from?


I don't know!


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## sick lid (Jan 13, 2008)

its the sudden difference in ph that shocks them


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## Pri (Oct 20, 2010)

sick lid said:


> its the sudden difference in ph that shocks them


Ok...will it be OK if I do the drip acclimation?


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## sick lid (Jan 13, 2008)

It will definitely give them the biggest chance, as long as there isn't a drastic difference to start with.


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## Bettatail (Feb 12, 2009)

first, why you add the SAE? got algae?
second, when was the last time you did a water change that replace 50% of water?
third, are you sure the PH is within normal range? 7+0.5
and last, TDS?

for new fish, amonia dont' kill them that fast, it is the sudden change of temp, Ph value, and TDS value bring them shock, and they die.

in your case, 15 minutes to equalize the temp different is Ok if the temp different is less than 10 F.
Ph value, get a reliable ph test kit, you need it anyway because the tank might have old tank syndrome and Ph is low.
TDS value, it is the hardness of the water, some fish store don't change their water often and TDS is high, and fish could endure hard 700+ TDS(my old tank without water change for 9 month), but a change of TDS over 200 will bring them shock, depends on what kind of fish.
Tetra generally do better for large TDS change, but most Asia origin tropical fish can't take it.

I suspect your fish had TDS shock, if the Ph is acurate and normal.


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## takadi (Dec 13, 2010)

It's definitely the pH. I don't know about SAE as I've never had them, but before I did drip acclimation, I used to buy twice as much neon tetras as I needed as I knew that lots of them would die. Now that I do drip, I only have 1 or 2 die at most


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## H2OLOVER (Apr 29, 2010)

My flying fox when i first got them came from a ph of 8.5 and went into my tank with a ph of 6.5 just floated them for 15-30min and netted them out and threw them in...and theyre still going strong


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## takadi (Dec 13, 2010)

It might have been from a bad stock, because SAE's are relatively hardy


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## Pri (Oct 20, 2010)

> first, why you add the SAE? got algae?
> second, when was the last time you did a water change that replace 50% of water?
> third, are you sure the PH is within normal range? 7+0.5
> and last, TDS?


Got some brown algae...
I did a 50% on saturday.
Not sure for the pH...need to buy get a test
I don't know the TDS value


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## Betta Maniac (Dec 3, 2010)

ridewake210 said:


> 15 minutes?
> 
> All new fish should be placed in a separate established aquarium for up to a month.


Quarantine and acclimation are entirely separate issues, bringing the first into a discussion of the second only confuses people. 

Just floating a bag to even out the temperature is not acclimating. Adding small amounts of the tank water to the bag over a period of at least an hour (either by drip or small, manual methods) is what is necessary not to shock your new fish.


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## Pri (Oct 20, 2010)

> Quarantine and acclimation and entirely separate issues, bringing the first into a discussion of the second only confuses people.


You're right about that...I was a bit lost with this suggestion...1 month is long!


Most of you here are suggesting the drip method and you have experienced it's efficiency. I will proceed like this now...Thanks for sharing it.


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