Ammonia poisoning during shipment

[exodus1500]

So, I ordered a bunch of small Geo's and USPS decided to ship them from Florida to Texas, then to Michigan. They got delayed by a day and when I got them they are all alive but the ammonia level was around 6ppm.

They are in their quarantine tank, is there anything I can do for them besides good water, or is it hope for the best time?

Thanks!

 

[Aquanero]

Add one drop per gallon of methylene blue and one teaspoon of salt per 5 gallons of water to the QT tank. Don't feed the fish for a couple of days unless they are very young and feed sparingly.

 

[exodus1500]

Thank you for your quick response. I read your response too late, and only had time to check the local Petco before closing and they didn't have any. Will it still be beneficial after 24 hours to treat them with the methylene blue, or would the toxins mostly be removed from them from being in clean water?

Thanks!

 

[Aquanero]

If you can get the methylene blue use it. If not use the salt by itself.

 

[Charney]

also aerate the tank really well. Ammonia burns the gills

 

[exodus1500]

Thanks again for the methylene blue tip. I only lost 1 of the 16. All seem to be doing great now. Today they were all sifting sand, eating and no longer have clamped fins.

 

[Wailua Boy]

Try drip acclimating, to reduce ammonia slowly

 

[exodus1500]

Try drip acclimating, to reduce ammonia slowly

I have been reading a lot that drip acclimating is not a good idea on shipped fish. As soon as the water is exposed to air it causes an ammonia spike.

Since the ammonia was so high, I just matched the temp of the water and put them into the QT tank as quickly as possible.