Altitude effects on fish?

[Joshuakahan]

So about a month ago I had ordered a few rifties from a place I’ve been ordering from the last 5 years without a problem. But this last time one was DOA and the other two died within minutes of arrival. He replaced them and this time they were all alive but looked stressed and one died that night. The remaining two are doing great now The only thing that was different from my previous orders was that I moved to a new city and my house is at 5450ft. He does use a sedative, so I’m wondering if maybe that along with the altitude had a negative effect on the fish in transport. I highly doubt the conditions in my tank had anything to do with this. All my current fish are healthy, tanks been up for 9 months and parameters are great. So the only thing I can think of is the altitude or that combined with the sedative
Opinions?

 

[Fishyboy🐟🐟🐟]

So about a month ago I had ordered a few rifties from a place I’ve been ordering from the last 5 years without a problem. But this last time one was DOA and the other two died within minutes of arrival. He replaced them and this time they were all alive but looked stressed and one died that night. The remaining two are doing great now The only thing that was different from my previous orders was that I moved to a new city and my house is at 5450ft. He does use a sedative, so I’m wondering if maybe that along with the altitude had a negative effect on the fish in transport. I highly doubt the conditions in my tank had anything to do with this. All my current fish are healthy, tanks been up for 9 months and parameters are great. So the only thing I can think of is the altitude or that combined with the sedative
Opinions?

Maybe the Change in pressure made the oxygen go bye bye?

 

[Midwater]

The pressure in the water is the same, and is related to depth of water. But the dissolved oxygen is definitely related to air pressure.

At five thousand plus feet, there will be difference in air pressure, which maybe added to the travel will over stress the fish.

 

[Joshuakahan]

The pressure in the water is the same, and is related to depth of water. But the dissolved oxygen is definitely related to air pressure.

At five thousand plus feet, there will be difference in air pressure, which maybe added to the travel will over stress the fish.

Makes sense, the bags had definitely expanded, they were shipped from Florida. I had other fish shipped to me without issue, but they had come from Boulder, CO, so there wasn’t much of a change in altitude

 

[duanes]

Not that this has any relevance to your immediate concern, but different cichlids may be found at different elevations naturally.
Most Amphilophus trimaculatus are naturally found at sea level, although there are populations in Guatemala found up to several hundred meters above sea level.

On the other hand, Chuco intermedium can be found at elevations of 1500 meters above sea level, and is known to be the only Central American cichlid to be found at those elevations.

When I collect certain rivers in Panama, at higher elevations, farther away from the sea, Andinoacara are often the only cichlid found, but if I head to lower elevations down stream, more diverse population of cichlid species are found (Isthmoheros, and Darienheros) and less Andinoacara.

Whether or not this is actually elevationally related, or more o do with temperature tolerance, I don't know.

This may also be of some relevance to some Geophagus keepers.
Most Amazonian Geophagines are found at low elevations, but.....
species of the braziliensus group, like iporangensis are only found at higher elevations, in mountain streams,

 

[A201]

I know that companies ship with safeguards to protect the fish from heat & cold, but the current heat wave that has hit a big part of the USA might be too much for those safeguards to work efficiently.
I live in the southern plains, where it's been extremely hot & humid for the past six weeks w/ temps most days 100 - 104 degrees.
Depending where you live & where the fish are shipped from, lay overs, ect, probably a risky time to ship fish.

 

[Joshuakahan]

I know that companies ship with safeguards to protect the fish from heat & cold, but the current heat wave that has hit a big part of the USA might be too much for those safeguards to work efficiently.
I live in the southern plains, where it's been extremely hot & humid for the past six weeks w/ temps most days 100 - 104 degrees.
Depending where you live & where the fish are shipped from, lay overs, ect, probably a risky time to ship fish.

The heat could’ve been part of it. It was about 95-100 when the fish arrived here in NM and they traveled across the country from FL. For some reason the seller thought it was safer to use USPS 3 day over UPS or FedEx over night, which (made no sense to me )even when I requested over night
There was a cool pack and they didn’t seem to be hot though.

 

[Supergeorge123]

Most fish available for sale have already been subject to 8,000 feet of altitude on the planes they were shipped in. Henry's law would tell us that in this scenario, the amount of dissolved oxygen in water would decrease as the altitude increases. So, there is an altitude at which point no fish could survive. However, the amount of dissolved oxygen in water is also impacted by things like temperature, salinity, photosynthesis, etc. All in all i doubt that your altitude is high enough in itself to have much impact on fish and if it did, the mechanism would be through a decrease in the amount of dissolved oxygen in the water, which you could take steps to mitigate.

Here is a chart detailing the changes in atmospheric pressure at altitude, which would also determine the amount of dissolved oxygen (and any other gas) in a body of water at altitude, not accounting for any other factors.