This is an area that has not been given its due, in importance, especially in regards to long term survival of our animals. A lot needs to be said about the way fish are purchased, and then brought to the Aquarists home. Now, many aquarists do not have a Quarantine tank, and take their chances. Many have never experienced any problems, and are probably luckier then most. If you last long enough, or are unluckier then most, you want to stack the odds in your favor.
QUARANTINE ALL NEW FISH ACQUISITIONS FOR A MINIMUM OF THREE WEEKS!
Now, onward and forward: Most fish are purchased locally, at some LFS, although I suspect, a greater volume of M.O. purchases, with the advent of the internet. This applies to fish from LFS's, although I will address special considerations given to M.O. fish.
Now, you are looking (not always) for a new fish, or just 'window shopping' (I do it all the time). First off, KNOW YOUR FISH! The various families, food requirements (predators, herbivores or otherwise) difficulty of maintenance, compatibility with others, your tank set-up, etc. Now I am assuming you have done your homework! Without which all advice is basically useless.
OK, you know your fish, and what it takes, and your ready for it! First thing to do is back away from the tank, and look at all the other fish. Most LFS utilize a system, whereas water flows from one tank to the next, so if anything is wrong, parasites or diseases, its in all the tanks. You sometimes have to look very closely for any signs of trouble. Most LFS's keep invertebrates separate. See if all the fish 'look good' healthy looking, clear eyes, scales and fins. A healthy fish will be quite aware of its surroundings and generally 'spook' when someone suddenly approaches its tank, although if its been there awhile, its used to the traffic, and just might ignore you or even start staring back at you! Some fish are notoriously shy, and one sign of being captured with the use of chemicals, is that these fish, for the most part, have 'lost' their shyness. This is true of many of the 'large' angels, with the notable exception of the Emperor, who, especially juveniles, tend to look right back at you! This is not a sure fire method, but nothing short of being there, when the fish was captured, you have no way (and either does the LFS) of knowing how.
Okay, the LFS has passed the first test, fish look good, many are actively being territorial, chasing others, looking for food (remember they are notoriously underfed in your LFS and therefore should always appear "hungry"). If you approach the top of the tank, fish should rise to the top in anticipation of being fed.
Now, assuming you are not contemplating a fish with very narrow and specific food requirements, as a Butterfly that only eats coral polyps from the Red Sea, or a Mandarin Goby, ask your help-person at the LFS ( I am being kind!) to feed the fish in the tank your looking at. Ask for some flake food. Now if your help-person balks, in any way, NOT A GOOD SIGN! If he (or she) tells you the fish have just been fed, or ANY other excuse, just thank them and leave, post haste!
Well, I didn't want to dwell on the negative too much, so, everything is going well, the fish looks good, its eating, and you are ready!
Now is the time to TAKE CONTROL of the situation! Why, because most fish are highly traumatized in being netted and placed in a plastic bag. They also have lots of sharp fins and some have projectiles on their gill covers, that are easily caught in the webbing of the nets.
Step One: Ask for a large bag, as they will most likely then not, give you the smallest bag they think will fit, and ask for double bagging the fish, if they don't! Even I have to do it, and I've been trading with one LFS for over 15 years!
Step Two: Especially with a larger fish, ask them to catch it with a container, rather then a net. Of course, this is in the realm of the possible. Sometimes this is not, but sometimes it can be trapped in a large net and then scooped out in a container.
Now, the fish is in the bag! Ask for lots of water. Actually this is allright for a smaller fish, but if your out 'fish hunting', always take along a 3 or 5 gallon bucket and an old towel with you. Now that's the way to take a fish home! Sure, your being pushy, but hey, its your money!
For that smaller fish, put the fish bag in a brown paper bag, this will lessen the shock to the fish. Money paid, business concluded. Try to put the fish in your vehicle where it will get tossed about the least, wedged in some corner, etc. When I spend my hard-earned money, I want that fish to come home alive!
Now, assuming your trip home is one hour or less, you want to open the bag, (if not in that bucket), and observe the fish. Many fish will lie down flat, and get very dark, not to worry. I always have some 5 gallon buckets set aside, just for my fish tanks. I rinse it out with tap water and pour the water and fish, ever so gently into the bucket. Now, I also always have a spare air pump, with airline tubing and an airstone (things you will accumulate along the way), and after taking a water sample for testing, start aerating the bucket. Now if its a smaller fish, I have a 1/2 gallon tuppperware which I place into my 5 gallon bucket, and then place the water and fish in that. Now I start a drip process, where aquarium water (hopefully your Quarantine tank) is allowed to flow into your bucket, very slow at first. I also have those minature plastic valves (from FW days) and 1/4 inch airline tubing, so I can regulate the flow of water. (Essential things to get when collecting fish!)
PH and some VERY IMPORTANT CONSIDERATIONS:
I am adding this paragraph, due to a post I recently read and replied to. In general, fish are considered fairly hardy, and considering the abuse they receive, the ones that do survive, are the 'best of the bunch' so to speak. If its of some interest and concern, as you are reading this, its been reported that virtually only about 10% of all marine life collected actually survives, from collection to the aquarist's tanks! That to me is a staggering loss! No wonder so much is being written in the press about how much damage this hobby is doing to the ocean and its reefs.
Because hobbyists are, for the most part, independent people, its easy to attack them as a group, because they do not belong to any organized association, and have no clout, or say so. My intention in writing this paragraph is to emphasize the importance of acclimation, and to bring to attention, the often trivialized and overlooked aspect of water parameters, so necessary for our animal's survival. The three most important and critical parametric aspects of acclimation, in the order of least to most, on the basis of what marine life, and fish in general, can tolerate, are: temperature, salinity, and pH. The first two can easily be adjusted by slow water transference as I outline further down in this chapter. Temperature is easily adjusted by floatation, where greater then a 5 degree discrepancy exists, between the prevailing water temp of the container the animal is in, and the tank its going into. Salinity is easily adjustable by a slow mix of water, once temperature differences have been equalized. Now comes the really important parameter, pH. To fully fathom the importance of this term pH, so casually written and often mentioned, one really needs an understanding of the chemistry and complexity of this parameter.
I hope my explanation, not rooted in the scientific discipline of molecular chemistry, will give you, the reader, a better understanding, as to its critical importance, especially to our fish. First off, marine life has evolved in a fairly stable environment for several eons, and therefore have developed few adaptive mechanisms for dealing with instabilities. Temperature and salinity fluctuations are commonplace in the tropical and semi-tropical parts of the ocean, where most of our marine life comes from. However, NSW's (normal salt water) stability has long been documented in the area of pH. The symbol pH is from the Greek, little p standing for 'potential for' and H the chemical symbol for Hydrogen. Some will argue as to the definition of little p, but mine comes from a fairly scientific dictionary, and will be the one I will use. So pH means 'the potential for Hydrogen'. As far as the water molecule, H�0 is concerned, the element Hydrogen has two ionized forms. It exists as either Hydronium ions H+ (acid) or Hydroxyl ions H� (base). When discussing quantatative values of pH, Hydronium ions are generally referred to as Hydrogen+. This is as technical as one needs to get.
Since pH is a measure for the potential for Hydrogen+, its given a numerical designation. In chemical terms, a neutral pH, where the balance between Hydrogen+ ions and Hydroxyl- ions is equal, is given the number 7. For further clarification the pH scale goes from 0 to 14. 0 being pure Hydrogen+ ions and 14 pure Hydroxyl- ions. This number refers to the balance between the two ions. The pH scale is a negative logarithm of Hydrogen+ ion concentration. Since pH only refers to the Hydrogen+ ion, a higher number then 7, refers to the potential (lack of) for more Hydrogen+ ions, since values measured as greater then 7, contains fewer Hydrogen+ ions, and a lower number indicates a smaller potential for Hydrogen+ ions, i.e. containing a greater number of H+ ions.
As stated, the scale of whole numbers of 0 to 14, has a logarithmic basis. For all of you who either skipped or slept through those chem courses, or math classes (me too), I will try to give you a simple explanation. The measurement of pH is based on a log scale. That simply means that for every numerical change in a whole number, there is an actual molecular increase or decrease in the number of Hydrogen ions, by factors of the log. In the case of the measurement of pH, an increase of, lets say, going from a pH of 7.0 to 8.0 requires you to establish the base for pure hydronium ionic concentration of zero, mathematically defined as 1 times 10 to the zero power = zero. Going to a pH of 1, its 1 x 10-1, and so forth and so forth. When reaching neutral pH [7] the formulation is 1 times 10 to the negative 7 power. This is also true for the hydronium [-] ion, since neutral pH has an equal number of hydronium + and hydroxyl - ions This number is 10,000,000 ions of each value for every molecule of water. [1 x 10 to the minus 7 power] A change from a pH of 7 to 8 represents a decrease of 10 times 10 to the minus 8 for the hydronium ion. Thus there is 100,000,000 fewer hydronium ions at a pH of 8 then 7. [1 x log-8 = 10 times 10 million] and equally that many more hydroxyl ions. This number is actually too large to use for all practical purposes, so we use a ten point decimel system. This simply means that pH is measured in increments of tenths (point one's). So a solution that measures at a pH of 7, has 10,000,000 ions of Hydronium less then pure acid of 0. Going to a pH of 8 means that there are 100,000,000 less ions. The difference between 7 and 7.1 is 20,000,000 fewer hydronium ions and 7.2 is 30,000,000 fewer, etc. etc., ions in each molecule of water. There is 130,000,000 fewer hydronium ions in each molecule of water from a pH of 8.3 (ideal NSW) to neutral pH of 7 and conversely 130,000,000 more hydroxyl ions. Okay, that's going to be over the head of most of you readers, and will probably be shot down by the atomic physicists and molecular chemists (or rocket scientists and brain surgeons) out there! The importance of all this, is that we have a living creature, whose entire body is permeated by all those ions, and in whose long evolution, has accommadated to the balance of all these ions within all the organs and tissues, that make up our creature. Changes in pH, although reflected quite casually as simply changes in decimal points on paper, viz-a-viz, 7.9 to 8.3, actually means that the chemical composition of the fluids within and around our fish has changed to a degree equal to a numerical change of 40,000,000 fewer ions for every molecule of water! Now that's a HUGE change for the animal. Is it any wonder that fish die so soon after we introduce them to our tanks! (Oh, my pH was a little low, I think 7.9 or 8!) The greatest tolerance that most marine animals can take, in changes of pH, is 2 tenths (.2) of a pH in any 24 hour period! Do not be so casual or cavalier about the pH of your tank's water, if you expect to be introducing anything new! Its happened to me, that for some reason (generally overcrowding), my pH has on occasion fallen below 8.0, but I quickly make adjustments and bring it up one tenth a day for 3 or 4 days, until its 8.3 or 8.4. Now what makes pH rise or fall is another whole subject matter. Just be aware how critical and important a stable and normal pH reading is, and get more then one method of checking pH (if you can).
Your own fish can and do accomadate to slow changes in your water's pH, although low pH has a very deleterious effects on fish, their appearnce, health and appetites, when kept at extended periods at those lower levels. The greatest problems occur when your trying to introduce a new fish, who, by and large has been in water closer to the ideals necessary. If you've ever been fortunate to 'hang out' at a 'friendly' LFS, you will notice that they do water changes on a regular basis, almost every two or three days, or so, as that's how they maintain their pH and keep nitrates down. Just as a precaution, and just before you contemplate the purchase of a new fish, the best and cheapest insurance, is a quick water change!
NITRATE
Another thing, not readily apparent, is, many fish are also quite sensitive to Nitrate, especially new arrivals in your LFS. Where fish come from, the ocean, there is NO measurable Nitrate! You see, although its been shown that fish can and do acclimate, to what is considered an unnatural level of Nitrate, over a period of time, any sudden changes in water chemistry can, and does, adversely affect many species, especially Tangs, Angels and Butterflyfish.
Besides pH shock, you can now add Nitrate poisoning, to the list of suspected causes of sudden and mysterious fish deaths!
Back to my fish and acclimation. Now I take my water sample, and check for pH and nitrate, and compare it with my own. Very essential. [In fact, now, whenever I see a fish I want (and can have) I first put a 'hold' on it, and then take a water sample home with me of my LFS's water and check it against mine. I make any adjustments to my water, especially pH, before I take that fish home!] This tells you approximtely how long the acclimation process will take. If you can, also check salinity, but not as critical. If your very close, nitrate within 10 ppm's, and pH within .1 (one tenth) then my acclimation takes about one to 1� hours! If it exceeds that, then I take up to 3 hours! Lets back track for a moment. Lets say its 45 degrees in your car, and your tank's at 80�F, then first float the bag in the tank for at least 45 minutes. If temps are close, its not that necessary, as the acclimation will match temps. DO IT SLOWLY!
Some fish look like their in 'shock', lie on their sides, or otherwise, sideways against the wall of the container. Not to worry too much, as long as they keep their equilibrium, however, a fish having a problem remaining 'right side up', should forgo the acclimation process, especially when parameters are close to each other, as getting that fish into the tank, at this point, is of the paramount importance! Also remember that fish, suddenly introduced into a strong or brightly lit aquarium, will undergo the same shock you would, if you were suddenly subjected to very bright lights after being in a subdued or darker place. Fish have been known to go blind after undergoing this experience. Have you ever noticed that a newly introduced fish, in a brightly lit aquarium acts as if it was blind?
I always at least turn the lights off of my tank, and try to introduce the fish in as subdued lighting as possible. M.O. FISH: (No, it ain't MO Fish, its Mail Order Fish :))] Fish that have been in transport for many, many hours, have accumulations of highly toxic substances in their water, so foregoing this longer acclimation process is sometimes very necessary, in most cases. If you are going to go the M.O. route (I prefer to 'see' my merchandise first) then a Quarantine tank is imperative, otherwise, your taking an awful risk in introducing some horrible and untreatable disease into your tank! Following temp equalization, slowly pour aquarium water into the bag, until full, and release the fish into the Quarantine tank, by submersing the bag and allowing the fish to swim out. Then observe, as always, and treat appropriately when any signs of parasites or disease appears. The reason that fewer M.O. fish survive acclimation has a lot to do with pH, as the pH of the fish's water has been greatly altered, because of the amount of the time, the fish has been confined in so small a volume of water, and the accumulation of nitrogenous wastes.
I have also been fortunate in being present, at a number of large wholesalers, where fish are coming in at all hours. They merely float all the fish (in bags) for about 30 to 45 minutes, and then cut the bags open, releasing the fish and water into their systems. Their saving grace is their systems contains thouands of gallons of water, and they do massive water changes on an almost daily basis. They seldom have problems with those fish that survive (remember that 10%?) because the dilutional effect of a large volume of water quickly dissapates any potential for disaster. The same is true for the LFS, who, also has, many, many gallons of water in circulation. We (most of us) do not have that luxury!
Some say this long acclimation process is unneccessary, and after floating the bag, for temperature equalization, just dump the fish in, sometimes with all the water from the LFS. If you see them acclimating fish in your LFS, that's what they do. However, they pay a lot less for their fish, and their fish supplier will, for the most part, give them credit for any dead fish within 48 hours or so, will yours? I can honestly attest that, acclimating fish this way, and particularily paying attenion to the details outlined, I have encountered fewer problems with losses, feeding and diseases, then from some of my past experiences and the experiences of others. Even my own LFS is surprised at how well my fish do.
Also, you do not want to use the acclimation water, with as little as possible, when removing the fish from the acclimating container. I will generally trap the fish in that tupperware, pour as much water out, and submerse it, allowing the fish to swim into its new home.
Having kept many a fish, for many, many years, rather then weeks or months, and in most cases, this has been standard practice for me, for many years. I do value what a fish represents to me, a unique life form, and now my responsibility, and do go that 'extra mile' in this respect.