Help with macmasteri

[Don cheech]

Looking for opinions on what to do. I had issues with keeping my Macmasteri in the tank that he’s been in and relocated him to another tank it’s been four days and doesn’t seem to be doing so well. The problem was that he was in a tank with 6.0 ph and the new tank is 7.0 pH l acclimated him of course but I think it was a mistake. Should I try to put him back in the other tank again or just wait it out and see what happens.

 

[MacZ]

We lack a lot of info to really help. What do you mean by not doing well? More context would be great, as well as pictures of the fish and both tanks. If you don't know what may be relevant information use the emergency template as a shortcut (saves time for everybody):

Template for disease/parasite/death cases

This template contains the most important questions to be answered when dealing with sick or dead fish to find causes and advise on treatments. Please copy and paste into a new thread and answer the questions as precise as possible. Water parameters should be given in numbers. "Fine" or "good"...

apistogramma.com

 

[Don cheech]

We lack a lot of info to really help. What do you mean by not doing well? More context would be great, as well as pictures of the fish and both tanks. If you don't know what may be relevant information use the emergency template as a shortcut (saves time for everybody):

Template for disease/parasite/death cases

This template contains the most important questions to be answered when dealing with sick or dead fish to find causes and advise on treatments. Please copy and paste into a new thread and answer the questions as precise as possible. Water parameters should be given in numbers. "Fine" or "good"...

apistogramma.com

OK thanks I will take pictures of him tomorrow when I’m off from work. Not doing well. In the sense of not eating breathing heavier than normal and just not swimming around hiding and floating near the top sometimes a bit sideways. And color is not there like before

 

[Mike Wise]

I hope you put him in his own quarantine tank. He seems ill with something.

 

[MacZ]

OK thanks I will take pictures of him tomorrow when I’m off from work. Not doing well. In the sense of not eating breathing heavier than normal and just not swimming around hiding and floating near the top sometimes a bit sideways. And color is not there like before

Oh boy. That does not sound like the acclimation was successful. What exactly did you do? Describe it all, please.

I hope you put him in his own quarantine tank. He seems ill with something.

Advisable, yes.

 

[Don cheech]

Oh boy. That does not sound like the acclimation was successful. What exactly did you do? Describe it all, please.

I Put him into a bag with his aquarium water then put the bag into the new tank and added a 1/2 cup of the aquarium water he was going into every 15 minutes 6 times then put him in. He was totally healthy prior, and did good for the first day, but then after that he started with these issues. I took him out of a 20 gallon well established which was heavily planted and Aquascape with great water, parameters and transferred him into a 29 gallon great water parameters well established only difference was the pH from 6 to 7 which is what I’m thinking could’ve been the problem now I’m wondering should I leave him there and see how he does or put him back in the other tank acclimating him, of course, but I’m afraid it might make things worse

Advisable, yes.

 

[Don cheech]

Oh boy. That does not sound like the acclimation was successful. What exactly did you do? Describe it all, please.


Advisable, yes.

 

[Don cheech]

I hope you put him in his own quarantine tank. He seems ill with something.

I didn’t think it was necessary to quarantine him since he was very healthy going from one tank into another both with excellent water, parameters and well-established With no issues in the tanks at all

 

[MacZ]

I Put him into a bag with his aquarium water then put the bag into the new tank and added a 1/2 cup of the aquarium water he was going into every 15 minutes 6 times then put him in. He was totally healthy prior, and did good for the first day, but then after that he started with these issues. I took him out of a 20 gallon well established which was heavily planted and Aquascape with great water, parameters and transferred him into a 29 gallon great water parameters well established only difference was the pH from 6 to 7 which is what I’m thinking could’ve been the problem now I’m wondering should I leave him there and see how he does or put him back in the other tank acclimating him, of course, but I’m afraid it might make things worse

If you move the fish now it might be the final blow. The acclimation was definitely not enough. The pH depends on the KH unless you use 100% RO with Humic substances. So a tank with a pH of 6 has also a lower conductivity than one with 7. It might have been too much of a difference for the cup method.

great water, parameters

That says nothing, to be frank. What is great to one species of fish is, detrimental to another. And what one fishkeeper considers great is awful to the other. There's a reason I linked the template. Because it asks for numbers not relative descriptions that may be understood very differently from one person to another.

I didn’t think it was necessary to quarantine him since he was very healthy going from one tank into another both with excellent water, parameters and well-established With no issues in the tanks at all

I think what Mike meant, the fish NOW belongs in a quarantine. I think so too, but it sounds as if it was already in critical condition. And then moving it is usually the end.
I would get used to the idea of probably loosing this fish.

 

[Don cheech]

I hope you put him in his own quarantine tank. He seems ill with something.

I didn’t think it was necessary to quarantine him since he was very healthy going from one tank into another both with excellent water, parameters and well-established With no issues in the tanks at all

If you move the fish now it might be the final blow. The acclimation was definitely not enough. The pH depends on the KH unless you use 100% RO with Humic substances. So a tank with a pH of 6 has also a lower conductivity than one with 7. It might have been too much of a difference for the cup method.

That says nothing, to be frank. What is great to one species of fish is, detrimental to another. And what one fishkeeper considers great is awful to the other. There's a reason I linked the template. Because it asks for numbers not relative descriptions that may be understood very differently from one person to another.

I think what Mike meant, the fish NOW belongs in a quarantine. I think so too, but it sounds as if it was already in critical condition. And then moving it is usually the end.
I would get used to the idea of probably loosing this fish.

yeah that’s my feeling. I still have a lot to learn. I have quite a few apistos and rams doing very well in my other larger tanks. The bottom line was that it was a mistake to move him and it’s upsetting because he is such a beautiful fish I did several breedings with him oh, well, who knows he might pull through
Thanks for the info

 

[Mike Wise]

I didn’t think it was necessary to quarantine him since he was very healthy going from one tank into another both with excellent water, parameters and well-established With no issues in the tanks at all

ALL fish that I bring into my fish room go into a quarantine tank for a minimum or 6 weeks, no matter how healthy they appear or who I get them from. Only then, if they appear healthy, do they go into my other tanks. Do I lose fish? Yes, sometimes, but almost never in my other tanks. There is less chance of spreading diseases to healthy tanks.

 

[MacZ]

ALL fish that I bring into my fish room go into a quarantine tank for a minimum or 6 weeks, no matter how healthy they appear or who I get them from. Only then, if they appear healthy, do they go into my other tanks. Do I lose fish? Yes, sometimes, but almost never in my other tanks. There is less chance of spreading diseases to healthy tanks.

But once they have gone through quarantine you move them around more or less freely in your fishroom, right? That would be more akin to the situation here.

yeah that’s my feeling. I still have a lot to learn. I have quite a few apistos and rams doing very well in my other larger tanks. The bottom line was that it was a mistake to move him and it’s upsetting because he is such a beautiful fish I did several breedings with him oh, well, who knows he might pull through
Thanks for the info

So... you are not going to investigate what parameters besides pH are different between the tank to retrace what actually might have been the decisive factor besides pH? (Which I doubt is the only difference between the tanks.) Moving the fish is surely not the problem in itself. (Unless it was a stressful 30+ minutes chase until you had 'em.)

 

[Don cheech]

But once they have gone through quarantine you move them around more or less freely in your fishroom, right? That would be more akin to the situation here.


So... you are not going to investigate what parameters besides pH are different between the tank to retrace what actually might have been the decisive factor besides pH? (Which I doubt is the only difference between the tanks.) Moving the fish is surely not the problem in itself. (Unless it was a stressful 30+ minutes chase until you had 'em.)

Last time I checked all the parameters, nitrate, temperature, GH, KH they were all pretty much The same Except for the PH.
I did get him out quite quickly, but I’m going to recheck the parameters tomorrow just for curiosity to see if anything was off

 

[Mike Wise]

But once they have gone through quarantine you move them around more or less freely in your fishroom, right? That would be more akin to the situation here.

No, I move them to their permanent breeding or community tank and typically never get moved again.

 

[MacZ]

No, I move them to their permanent breeding or community tank and typically never get moved again.

Ok. So a rare occasion.