phoenixn7g Posted January 11, 2011 Report Share Posted January 11, 2011 Big Al's ph in most of the FW tanks is anywhere from 7.4 to 8.2. It's usually hovering at 7.6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fairdeal Posted January 12, 2011 Report Share Posted January 12, 2011 Personally I doubt that the Ph is that much different between Cranbrook and Calgary. I bring in S. American fish like plecos all the time and the Ph down there can be drastically different than ours but if acclimated slowly most will survive. Fish are for the most part very adaptable to things like that as long as it is not sudden. The most likely cause for your fish deaths in my humble opinion is stress. Stress is for the most part undetectable until it is at the point of being too late and the fish develop symptoms like bacteria or parasite infections and by then the meds simply don't have enough time to save them. It is especially hard on some smaller fish which often don't travel well to begin with. It is of primary importance to relieve as much of the stress as possible to improve the chances of survival. How many times have you seen an employee of a pet store literally chase the fish down with the net and then scoop it out of the water faster than a speeding bullet? Does this cause stress? You bet it does. Wholesalers are no better - catch the fish as fast as possible and get them shipped out. When I receive shipments it is easy to tell if the fish had a stressful trip or not - red streaks on the body and gill plates, laying in the bottom of the bags gasping, etc. It is so easy to give them a fair shot at living - using 2 nets and slowly corraling the fish and then taking them out of the water gently or even better using a wet hand to take them out of the net and placing them into the bags rather than just dumping them from the net into the bag. Then add some stress coat to the bag, add a bag buddy (which is a slow oxygen release as well as a mild sedative) and immediately fill the bag with oxygen or just air. If you see someone blowing into the bag to fill it tell them your fish would prefer oxygen to carbon dioxide. For trips out of town the fish should also be double bagged at a minimum. I have personally shipped to B.C. by air many times and by following these simple steps and triple bagging I have never had 1 single casualty of any fish of any size and I'm guessing the Ph was not exactly the same as Calgary city water at every destination. I don't have an oxygen tank so have just used air as well. If I had to ship somewhere that took longer than 5 or 6 hours to arrive I would seriously consider the use of oxygen before shipping. Anyways that's my 2 cents worth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blitherskite777 Posted January 12, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 12, 2011 Ok, I tested my water here in cranbrook. ITs 7.6 right out of the tap. It tis weird. I talked to Top Crop, our local fish store (which is sad) can import a silver Aro for 125 bucks from there suppier. With Gas, food, buying the fish.. its cheaper for me to take a chance getting one of theres for now..... I hope :chair: Thanx everyone :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blitherskite777 Posted January 17, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 17, 2011 Update, I got a silver aro finally. Got him imported tothe local fish store. He was there for 2 days then I got him home. He has been doing fine for the last 4 days in the same tank the other fish died. So I can only say, it must have been the trip. Thanx again for all the advice! He is now living in his first grow tank of 30Gallons with a Pleco and a Raphy Catfish. And as far as I can tell, happy as a fish in water! Get it :-p Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Okotoks Posted March 2, 2011 Report Share Posted March 2, 2011 Try these guys http://www.canadianaquatics.com/ I know people on the island that have used them with 100% success. I am sure they can ship as far as Cranbrook with no issues. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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