Joyous day turn really bad.

[eNox]

Im not even sure whether im posting this under the correct thread nor how to start the thread but please mod let me finish what i had to say and i apologise for any inconvenience cause. Please read the whole story. Thank you.

Today 17/12/12 is my first time having a completely new tank , i had contacted many tank makers and asked for quotation however i had to get a tank not more than 4ft total height requested by my father . And only gerald from tank_maker was able to do it , so after going thru the quotation , price and everything was agreed upon , i settled for a 75inch x 2.5ft breath x 2 ft height . With a 5ft sump x 2ft breath and 1ft height due to space constrain. And chengai wood. waited for 4weeks and 17/12 finally arrived.

I woke up early and prepare for the tank to arrive , i took some last few picture of my old tank with the fishes and stingray inside when they arrive for reminiscence sake. They arrive at 10:30am.





They began to transfer the old tank water to a big blue tub and packing up my fish in prawn bag and stingray in tog yo(not sure how it is spelt) boxes.






They look really professional and this is confirm by a guy in the phone im later with , so i just sat back and relax while they did all the stuff and i observe them. They added tap water into the tub and after wards when i was walking around , they asked whether i had add in the anti chlorine than i said no and thought they would do it as gerald(tank maker) has told them that i uses seachem prime and pointed to the huge bottle beside the blue tub before he left( i will get to that on why he left) and also reminded them a bunch of things before he go. So i went to proceed to add in the anti chlorine i make sure i put more than sufficiently i had the 2L one so (by the directions) 1 capful (10ml) can cure 400L of new water , i dose in 7 capful just to be in case . (i notice very small amount of aeration later on in the blue tub ) and than i added another 2 capful 30 minutes later . (im kiasu).

Gerald had to leave because he told me he has something really important and that he will be back by 3-4pm when the sgbros is done , i was thinking ok sure as even if he is here he would have nothing to do as it was sgbros work , and thought they are professional enough to handle that on their own. (how wrong was i....)

They finish setting up the tank and began pumping back the water from the tub to the new tank . After finish pumping , they proceed to acclimatize my fishes first in the bag , i assume that they had done this everyday so i left them as i had to do something in my room.



After like 20mins? 25mins? 30mins top. i came out and they are already preparing to release my stingray into the tank i was a bit surprised as i was taught or learned that stingray would require much more time than that, i asked them whether they had acclimatize the rays and the in charge assured me that he had done it over a couple of times already . ( the fishes is inside already and is behaving normally) than i say ok as i trusted them .

They release the rays into the tank and all hell break lose , the rays was so active ( i was taking pictures) and i felt that they must be really excited or something however they became too active as if they are trying to get out of the tank and swimming vigorously all over the tank and this is when the in charge and i knew something was wrong . He began to try to save the rays by bringing in a togyo box and pour water from the tank into it however it seems it is too late the rays began to start floating on the surface of the area. I did not know what i was suppose to do as this is the first time happening to me . So i leave it to the sg bros again. he place all 3 of my rays(still barely living) into a togyo box and left it at the side with lots of aeration . They began packing up and starts to leave , and remind me to try to acclimatize the rays again they ask whether is there anything else (my brain was thinking as the ray they could also do nothing except wait so i said no there is nothing else)

However after 10-15mins i check on the ray again and discover the biggest one died and had stop breathing and stop moving . Upon this , i called gerald immediately and he tried to rush back , however when he arrive , another piece died too ( the same one in the picture above) .

YouTube Video

(Rays no longer breathing , please watch in hd)

Than here comes the part on who what why how where when?
I felt that the water is totally not suitable yet for the rays and the acclimatizing was too fast and hustle and the conditioning of the water was bad after i analyse properly in my head. ( this is what i THOUGHT , there might be OTHER SCENARIOS , i dont know. ) I at that point of time is mix with all sorts of emotion , angry , sad, dumbfounded and disappointed on how could this happen. Gerald and i concluded that it might be ph shock and confirmed that there is a lot of chlorine burn as my third rays survive however there is a lot of shedding of scales/skin/coat. and breathing heavily.

Gerald felt that he was partially responsible and offered me a 30% of the total loss. and also hope to contact the sgbros in charge believe to be paul to see what they can do about this .

Side story- I only hired Gerald the tank maker to do like a plug and play set without the media and pump . So he was in charge of hiring sgbros to help deliver the tank and the conditioning of water and livestock.

Gerald explain to him what had happen and he put me through him , i talked to him and he began telling me about that there is risk in stuff like this and that it is unavoidable i tell him "yea i know but i hire professional like you so i could ensure that everything will be smooth sailing." and also how badly his men had handled the conditioning of the water with the anti chlorine and so little aeration and how they place tap water for a period of time before adding anti chlorine , he said that the tap water does not matter and i said fine ( i learned and taught that was not the right way , need confirmation on this and I was agitated at that point of time however i kept my cool , i may still sound pissed off .) i began to tell them that how could this happen when you are the most commonly used tank transporter in singapore and he retorted saying i believe i am and the only one left in singapore and also states that i believe my men is professional enough to handle this to ensure there is no mistake. and began talking bout the risk again . After he finish i ask him now what? and he said i guess im sorry? ( what is with his attitude?..... ) and he said that he cannot do anything about it .

Gerald felt really bad about this and we came to a conclusion that he pay 50% of the damage. What i would like to say is sometimes is not about the money , the rays has been with me for a quite a period of time and affection grow when time passes. They were also young when i bought them and they had grow quite a decent size. This is the first time in my hobby having such massive losses and still trying to find ways to cope with it. I know death is part and partial of life and especially this hobby. The men from sgbros that help with the tank has at least basic etiquette to come back and apologise to me unlike some one....

I dont want to blame anyone and would just hope to share my experience and my story to peoples out there when they are about to get a new tank or changing tanks that they would still take extra precaution even if 'professionals' are helping them.

Overall , i am still happy and satisfied with my new tank as it had met all my requirements however the bitter taste of losing two precious stingray over clouds the happiness of owning a new tank.

My main purpose of the tank was to be able to prove the stingray with ample space to swim and grow however what i did cause them their death. Irony isn't it? and i just hope that my third ray could pass through this nightmare and my other fishes would not be affected.

Thank you for reading.

[mictok]

Sorry for your loss and it is a nice setup just below the window for some natural light to shine thru.Hope you can get more nice rays to keep.

[Zhuoyuting]

Well bro you need to have a lemon rule.
You pay them to transfer your live stock did you mention if anything goes wrong they are going to pay for all the live stock?

If you never mention and this kind of issue happen. All i could say it down to bad luck, i agree with paul his worker are professional well just get over with it ya.
At least not all the life stock are wipe out.

[harrysoo]

So sad to hear of your losses.

[sebarau]

sound like PH shock to me.

[Dyna]

Sad to hear of the loss of your two rays and thanks for sharing your experience. I guess no one intend to see this happened and this is really suay. Hope you will get over this sadness soon.

[wei_yuan86]

So sorry to hear about this.
I hope you get some answers soon from the related parties and move on the bigger and better things in future

[sbtanpatrick]

Sorry for your loss bro...hope you will get over this soon...

[itchy]

Sorry to hear this bro. Hope you can get over it and find time to do some shopping.

[mediacraze]

Bro, sorry for your lost....

However, doesn't new tank all have strong silicon smell?
Is it safe to transfer fish over new tank with the silicon smell in the first place?