smurf Posted October 3, 2008 Share Posted October 3, 2008 We just purchased 8 or so quite large cichlids tonight which were transported in 2 x 25 litre drums for a time frame of around 35 mins drive, so I guess were in there for around 50 mins. Now 2 of the fish seem to be looking a bit worse for wear & keep lying on their sides with their gills moving rapidly. We have put an extra air pump in the tank to help circulate the water & are thinking of putting another in on top of that, but am wondering if there is anything else we can do to help them? They are quite large fish (6inches) and we want to do whatever is needed to try & save them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Dave Posted October 3, 2008 Share Posted October 3, 2008 Ooohh.. seasick cichlids? Lots of air, lots of room. I prefer the large rectangular type containers than drums.. No contaminants in the drums? Temperature changes? Were they fed before transport? This can add unnecessary stress due to waste in the transport water and cause quality issues. How slowly did you acclimatise them into your new water? Do you know what the pH etc was of the original tank? Check tank water quality again if possible. Bright lights will stress them more. Got any stress-coat or similar? Even a little water ager can help. HTH, JMO, Hope they pick up quickly, Old Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smurf Posted October 3, 2008 Author Share Posted October 3, 2008 We have lost them. Not sure if they were fed before transporting but the water did seem have a fair amount of waste in it when we removed them from it. The fish came out of the drums very sick so not something that happened in the new tank. I guess heat could have been a big issue as tonight is so hot here in Sydney & the drums possibly weren't big enough to stop the water changing temp quite quickly. The rest have picked up now they are in the big tank but should we still turn the lights off & add the stress coat just incase? 5 extra large fish added all at once is quite a big strain on the tank. We will be testing the water again in the morning to make sure there aren't an major changes. Water was optimum condition this morning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Dave Posted October 4, 2008 Share Posted October 4, 2008 Sorry about the ones you lost, but good to hear the rest have survived. As you noted, the next hiccup will be the increased bio load from six sizeable fish on your filtration system. I would only feed them minimally, if at all, over the next few days. Keep an eye on the ammonia/nitrites. What size tank? How many fish already in the tank? The lights off is more of a comfort thing for the new additions, unless the tank is planted. Take your time and enjoy your fish. Keep an eye out for diseases like white spot or parasites. HTH, Old Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh Posted October 4, 2008 Share Posted October 4, 2008 What had been in the drums before the fish were in there and how did you acclimatise them to your tank? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smurf Posted October 4, 2008 Author Share Posted October 4, 2008 The drums are the plastic ones used to store water in. They were last used to transport our own cichlids when we moved a year or so ago. We spoke to the guy at the aquarium shop today & he seems to think our error was filling the drums 2/3 full with water. Apparently they should have been 1/3 full to allow for more air in the drum. We did a gradual tranfer of tank water to acclimatise the fish in a small tank we had set-up before transferring them into the larger tank. The tank itself is around 450litre. We tested the water this morning & a small amount of ammonia had become present overnight due to the amount of waste coming out of the new fish...the sand in the tank was covered in it. We have added stress zyme to help the bacteria form in the filter plus added our old filter to the tank for the day which has something in it to remove ammonia as well as adding a product to lock the ammonia & make it safe until it is removed. We also did a 15% water change this afternoon. All the fish now seem really healthy/happy in the tank & we will keep testing daily to monitor the water. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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