Bad LFS or is my tank a death trap?

when i order from reefcleaners, i use this method. however i assumed that this method was recommended since out of 100 snails, they expect some deaths which would drive up the ammonia level. When you order a fish, you don't expect anything in the bag to be dead.

 

With shipped fish, it's the poop in the bag that causes the ammonia. Fish poop a lot.

 

I think this is the longest lived thread I have started here! I see there are very different opinions on acclimating, like everything else in this hobby. Thank you everyone for all of the help.

 

i agree wrasses are buggers they will often pretend they are dead. my mystery wrasse (liveaquaia fish)did that and so did my green wrasse. the green wrasse was a bugger though. i pushed him three times with my finger as he layed on his side.... no reaction i thought darn this fish just died. i had him 10 minutes the time it took the ride home from the store. well i went to dump the water out of the containor i put him in and he jumped into the air. what a bugger! he is one of my favs now

 

and yes fish do poop a lot but most places dont feed their fish right before shipping for that very reason, they know this.

i just dont agree with the float them and throw them in way. And the top places that sell fish online say to acclimate. im sure thats for a good reason
but to each there own

 

Do you buy the fish the same day that they arrive? You should try keeping an eye on a fish to see if it survives a couple days at the LFS. Some fish are doomed to die from the transition to aquarium life.

 

I haven't drip acclimated anything in months, with good results - just temp-and-drop. I've had corals shipped, and I've bought a purple linckia star, melanurus wrasse, the purple tang, and corals from the LFS. All the stuff from the LFS were in awesome condition before and after I got them. They were all in the tanks there for at least a month before I bought them.

 

true, didn't think about the poop.

 

I follow whatever method the online seller tells me to follow. When buying from Reefcleaners.org, I temp adjust and dump. When buying from Liveaquaria.com I acclimate according to what they say (1/2 cup every 4 minutes or drip acclimate with 2-4 drips per second). That way, if something dies, I'm covered since I followed their rules.

 

I know this is a little late, but this is correct. IMO and IME, people are much too concerned with acclimation. For most fish and coral, all you really need to do is temp acclimate, maybe add a little bit of tank water and release. I'm sure this will be argued against, but it's true. Keeping a fish in a bucket for several hours will only stress the fish out more. I've acclimated approximately 20 fish for my tank, all different types from tangs, to clowns, wrasses and gobies. I've never lost a fish due to acclimation.

I should also say that it is more important to pick out heathy livestock. I've noticed many people at LFS just pick a fish out, even though it may not be totally healthy and buy it, then complain later when it dies. If you start with healthy livestock, then you should have very little problems with acclimation.

Now, there are some fish, coral and inverts that do requires more precise acclimation. Starfish, certain wrasses, some sps depending on where it comes from, sea horses etc. However, the vast majority of animals can just be temp acclimated and added.