Water Works Wonders

Listed below are a number of important factors that could lead to failure with your salt-water aquarium. Check over the list carefully and if one applies to you, you will know what went wrong.

1. Hands were placed in aquarium without rinsing. This could have introduced soap or hand oils to tank, with harmful results.
2. Fish were not introduced to the aquarium properly. If fish were not floated in a jar or plastic bag and introduced to the tank slowly they could have developed “Ick” or they could suffer from shock, especially if changed from natural to artificial water.
3. Coral was not well cured.
4. Insufficient aeration. If not enough air, fish will die, sometimes slowly. Always have strong aeration so the water circulates all over the aquarium.
5. Fish were in poor condition when purchased. This is sometimes a leading factor and if the fish are in very bad condition it may well be impossible to save them. Before you purchase a fish examine it closely and observe whether or not it is swimming contentedly about the aquarium. Also be certain it is eating. If the fish will not eat and if it stays at the bottom or top of the aquarium without swimming around, it most likely is in poor health. Also check the fine, transparent portions of the fins for signs of “Ick” or fin rot and fungus. Never buy fish if they are dashing about the aquarium erratically or are continuously rubbing themselves against the coral as they are diseased and will infect your fish, and soon die unless quickly cured. It is especially important that you observe the fish for ten or fifteen minutes at least, before you buy. Many marine fish are being treated with copper sulfate before shipment and often the solution is too strong. The fish becomes poisoned and although he may not die right away, he will usually refuse food and gradually waste away. That’s why it’s important to see him eat before you buy. Healthy fish have healthy appetites.
6. If you had your fish flown in from an out-of-town dealer there can be complications that could lead to failure, At the present time, many dealers are using artificial sea water to ship their fish, and this could be a source of trouble. The fish first are caught by the collector, who brings them in to his main base, where they are then shipped to jobbers or dealers. Quite often the jobbers are not near the ocean, so they must use artificial sea water. The fish in this case are taken from natural sea water and transferred to artificial water before they are shipped. This is all right if the fish have been gradually acclimated to the artificial water, but sometimes that is not the case. The fish are simply dumped into the man-made water and shipped on to the dealers. Then the dealers, who may have an entirely different brand of artificial water, will put the fish into their mixture. When the customer purchases the fish he may transfer them into still another brand of artificial water. The constant change from one type of water to another, each having a different pH and mineral structure can easily result in the death of the fish. Not only are synthetic sea water mixtures quite different in structure, but the fresh water this salt is mixed with to make sea water can vary tremendously from one state to another. Therefore, if it is possible, hobbyists or dealers should request that their fish be shipped in pure sea water so that they won’t have to go through so many changes of salt solution. This one factor alone results in heavy losses of salt-water fish, both to dealer and hobbyist. If a fish is caught fresh from the sea and then shipped directly to the customer in pure sea water, the customer can float the fish in this same water and add the water to his aquarium. This will lessen the shock to the fish in the transition from natural water to man-made water and also add trace elements to the aquarium water.