Acclimating a fish that was delayed during shipping

[ygwilliam]

So I ordered a fish from LiveAquaria for the first three me this week and some unfortunate events have happened. Only one of the fish I ordered shipped. It is an African butterflyfish. It was supposed to arrive yesterday when I received a call and found out it was delayed and should arrive today. Well it’s now 9:30 pm and my package is still in transit so I don’t believe it is going to be here tonight. The fish will mostly likely have been in the bag for 36 hours by the time I get it. Assuming it’s still alive are there any suggestions on how I can make the acclimation procedure as stress free as possible?

 

[ygwilliam]

Also if somebody could explain to me why they would ship my fish from California to Kentucky then back to California where I live?

 

[duanes]

Dripping as much new water from your intended quarantine tank that the shipping bag can handle, without shocking the fish is the way I do it, 36 hours shipping may have caused a lot of ammonia to build up, and used up most O2, I open the shipping bag and start pouring water from the Q tank in by the cup, after a few moments i pour "most" water away to waste, and without adding water from the bag use my hand to add the fish to the tank (and toss the old water).
If packed right 36 hours may not have killed it.
Te airlines and shipping companies use of Hubs seems to be the reason.
Most everything I have received, or shipped goes thru Memphis, whether its the long way around, or not.
If the vendor has used the US Postal Service you should be able to receive a refund on shipping because its late (dead or not), if you paid for guarantied 24 hour over night, (that is, if you covered the cost of shipping) but if the shipper is UPS or FedX you probably will not.

 

[Hendre]

If you have prime dose it on arrival! If the temperatures are okay then the fish may be fine. Someone in one of my circles got a group of killifish from the Netherlands. Took 39 days to get to South Africa and 5/6 survived! If all goes well I hope the butterfly gets there in one piece

 

[RD.]

An old thread, later made a sticky.

https://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/threads/acclimating-large-fish.5350/

I add a pinch or two of salt to the qt tank prior to arrival to assist in osmoregulatory stress, open bag, and drop fish directly in tank. The shipping bag will be a toxic soup by the time it reaches you, the faster you get that fish out into more ideal conditions the better for the fish.

This is also how my friend and I dealt with shipments of stingrays shipped from the Netherlands, and numerous shipments of Asian aros from Singapore. A lot of BIG $$$$ fish. Open bag, get fish into fresh water. Never once lost a fish using this method.

Good luck, hopefully it survives the trip.

 

[PYRU]

An old thread, later made a sticky.

https://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/threads/acclimating-large-fish.5350/

I add a pinch or two of salt to the qt tank prior to arrival to assist in osmoregulatory stress, open bag, and drop fish directly in tank. The shipping bag will be a toxic soup by the time it reaches you, the faster you get that fish out into more ideal conditions the better for the fish.

This is also how my friend and I dealt with shipments of stingrays shipped from the Netherlands, and numerous shipments of Asian aros from Singapore. A lot of BIG $$$$ fish. Open bag, get fish into fresh water. Never once lost a fish using this method.

Good luck, hopefully it survives the trip.

This is exactly what I was going to suggest and what I do. Works great with wc puffers as well

 

[RD.]

I think that the biggest thing one has to pay attention to is TDS values, some species of fish can be very sensitive to a major shift in TDS, especially when going from high TDS to low TDS. Doing so can cause osmoregulatory stress, often referred in the past as pH shock.

An example of some fish that as juveniles went straight from a bag from Singapore, and the Netherlands, to a local tank full of fresh dechlorinated tap water. (with mature filters)

 

[Lepisosteus]

Strongly don’t recommend drip acclimate. Temperature acclimate then right into QT.

 

[ygwilliam]

Thanks for all the advice

 

[spotfin]

Dripping as much new water from your intended quarantine tank that the shipping bag can handle, without shocking the fish is the way I do it, 36 hours shipping may have caused a lot of ammonia to build up, and used up most O2, I open the shipping bag and start pouring water from the Q tank in by the cup, after a few moments i pour "most" water away to waste, and without adding water from the bag use my hand to add the fish to the tank (and toss the old water).
If packed right 36 hours may not have killed it.
Te airlines and shipping companies use of Hubs seems to be the reason.
Most everything I have received, or shipped goes thru Memphis, whether its the long way around, or not.
If the vendor has used the US Postal Service you should be able to receive a refund on shipping because its late (dead or not), if you paid for guarantied 24 hour over night, (that is, if you covered the cost of shipping) but if the shipper is UPS or FedX you probably will not.

Just about any package shipped through FedEx goes through Memphis.