Ammonia in shipping bags

[flyingfish]

I am curious if anyone besides myself has ever checked the ammonia in shipping bags for fish. Am passionate about them as you all are, and decided to check (never did before). I knew they came from a. Great place, packing was perfect, temp was 80.9. They shipped overnight. Ammonia is 3.0-4 in the bag. I would worry if they were going to be in there longer than overnight. I worry anyways :). Just curious. There was not a ton of shipping water was the only thing I noticed. There are 2 clowns in the bag, 1.5-2". They seem fine just hanging out in the current right now. Hoping they venture out some. Thanks

 

[twilliard]

That is the thing about shipping fish. They should not be fed prior to shipping (purging) to avoid the dangerous ammonia levels in the bags.

 

[eatbreakfast]

It's not as dangerous as you would think during shipping. When the bag is sealed CO2 cannot escape, which drops the ph. At a certain point ammonia isn't toxic at a low ph. However, once the bag is opened the CO2 can escape, the ph rises, and the ammonia becomes dangerous. Because of this, it is important to not have a long acclimation process.

 

[AQSstudent]

Many wholesalers recommend to not acclimate fish after they ship for over 12-24 hours.

Fish, in the confined space of a plastic shipping bag, can produce quite a bit of ammonia - even if they haven't been fed prior.

Fortunately, fish also produce quite a bit of CO2.

Why would co2 be a good thing? Well, CO2 forms carbonic acid in ocean water which drives the pH down, as we all know. With a pH substantially lower than that of natural seawater, all the ammonia the fish produces during shipping ionizes, or turns into ammonium - which is substantially less toxic, at least during the short time during shipping.

When fish in their bag water are exposed to a drip acclimation or atmospheric oxygen levels, the CO2 in the water offgasses, and the pH rises - leading to ammonium turning into ammonia.

This swift spike in ammonia can cause certain death for fish that are left to acclimate for too long.

Long story short - there will be high ammonia levels in the shipping bags they are in, but as long as they are removed from their bag water in a timely fashion the ammonia should naturally not pose too great of a threat to them.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

It's not as dangerous as you would think during shipping. When the bag is sealed CO2 cannot escape, which drops the ph. At a certain point ammonia isn't toxic at a low ph. However, once the bag is opened the CO2 can escape, the ph rises, and the ammonia becomes dangerous. Because of this, it is important to not have a long acclimation process.

Thank you.

Many wholesalers recommend to not acclimate fish after they ship for over 12-24 hours.

Fish, in the confined space of a plastic shipping bag, can produce quite a bit of ammonia - even if they haven't been fed prior.

Fortunately, fish also produce quite a bit of CO2.

Why would co2 be a good thing? Well, CO2 forms carbonic acid in ocean water which drives the pH down, as we all know. With a pH substantially lower than that of natural seawater, all the ammonia the fish produces during shipping ionizes, or turns into ammonium - which is substantially less toxic, at least during the short time during shipping.

When fish in their bag water are exposed to a drip acclimation or atmospheric oxygen levels, the CO2 in the water offgasses, and the pH rises - leading to ammonium turning into ammonia.

This swift spike in ammonia can cause certain death for fish that are left to acclimate for too long.

Long story short - there will be high ammonia levels in the shipping bags they are in, but as long as they are removed from their bag water in a timely fashion the ammonia should naturally not pose too great of a threat to them.

Thank you.