Fish arrived - Not too happy

[Tartufo]

I had fish shipped directly from Ora, overnight of course. They are frostbite clowns, so not cheap. I got the box directly from the driver and quickly got it inside, opening the box right away, after turning off the lights. When I opened the box I was shocked at how cold it was inside. Within two minutes of getting the box, I had thermometer in the water. Both bags were 64 Fahrenheit!

One of the fish is moving, but the female is just laying there with her tail curled. There is also a lot of debris in the bags. This is my first time ordering saltwater fish online. I've purchased well over 40 freshwater fish online, and all of them have been in pristine condition with a great water temp. There is always a few heat packs taped to the lid of the cooler, but not in this box.

I'm wondering the following.

1. What is the debris in the bags and is it a concern? With freshwater, the water is always pristine.
2. The water temp, how much of a concern is that? 64 is awfully low.
3. The female, is her just laying there with a curled tail a really bad sign?
4. While they arrived alive (the guarantee), is this something that the seller should help with? I can't imagine the fish are doing well. My daughter is distraught.

1. 

 

[daikaijureefer]

That’s fish poop in the bag. They look pretty healthy. I’d suggest slowly acclimating them to their new tank water, bringing their temp up slowly… I would give them at least an hour in their bags floating in the tank water and slowly introduce the new tank water over an hour or more.

 

[PPBlimpy]

I would send an email asap to them and report the temperature and findings as you opened the box. along with pictures etc

Stuff in the bag is just poop, no big deal. They seem healthy and as mentioned above i would start a drip acclimation and bring temp up slowly.

 

[Tartufo]

That’s fish poop in the bag. They look pretty healthy. I’d suggest slowly acclimating them to their new tank water, bringing their temp up slowly… I would give them at least an hour in their bags floating in the tank water and slowly introduce the new tank water over an hour or more.

Oh, that is interesting that they have so much poop in less than 24 hours. I'm used to the fish fasting for 24 hours to keep organics out of the water during shipping. Dan's fish (freshwater) has excellent shipping procedures. I am gathering that they spoiled me.

 

[Tartufo]

I would send an email asap to them and report the temperature and findings as you opened the box. along with pictures etc

Stuff in the bag is just poop, no big deal. They seem healthy and as mentioned above i would start a drip acclimation and bring temp up slowly.

I sent the seller pictures, as well as pictures of the temps.

 

[NanoSteam]

I would temp acclimate them until temps match and drop them straight in the tank... if that's fish waste in the water you'll just stress them even more or kill them by drip acclimating, spiking the PH and releasing that ammonia.

 

[FishLvR]

I saw one of these at my sort of local petco the other day. It was already being hosted by a BTA. So cute. Too bad my old B world clown is such a B word. LOL!

 

[Tartufo]

I would temp acclimate them until temps match and drop them straight in the tank... if that's fish waste in the water you'll just stress them even more or kill them by drip acclimating, spiking the PH and releasing that ammonia.

I did that. The female isn't moving.

 

[Tartufo]

I saw one of these at my sort of local petco the other day. It was already being hosted by a BTA. So cute. Too bad my old B world clown is such a B word. LOL!

That was my daughter's first choice. The second were the stubbies, but they were out of stock. My wallet wasn't happy.

 

[BryanM]

Add an airstone if you can. Stress is common, I do hope this is not going to end in death :(

 

[PPBlimpy]

Did they get up to temp? I would have figured at least an hour of floating

 

[Tartufo]

Did they get up to temp? I would have figured at least an hour of floating

Yes, they got up to temp. It was close to 45 minutes.

 

[PPBlimpy]

ok, i was just going more or less by the thread timeline. got a little worried. lol

 

[NanoSteam]

It's not looking good

 

[Tartufo]

Also, only two of the four fish came. There were supposed to be a pair of extreme misbars too. That is easier to remedy though.

 

[Tartufo]

ok, i was just going more or less by the thread timeline. got a little worried. lol

Oh, yeah, I understand. We weren't sure what to do, so we just stood there staring at them as they were acclimating. Eventually I thought I should get other's opinions and posted here. It is so much nicer getting positive feedback than the negative feedback you get from Reddit and Facebook.

 

[FishLvR]

ok, i was just going more or less by the thread timeline. got a little worried. lol

Oh, yeah, I understand. We weren't sure what to do, so we just stood there staring at them as they were acclimating. Eventually I thought I should get other's opinions and posted here. It is so much nicer getting positive feedback than the negative feedback you get from Reddit and Facebook.

The negative feedback has actually been extremely helpful to me. Those people don't care and I respond well to that. But I get it not everyone is dead inside like me. LOL! I bet she survives. Just give it some time. Clowns are bullet proof.

 

[MikeReefs]

Fingers crossed she pulls through clowns are tough and this pair look healthy

 

[Tartufo]

The negative feedback has actually been extremely helpful to me. Those people don't care and I respond well to that. But I get it not everyone is dead inside like me. LOL! I bet she survives. Just give it some time. Clowns are bullet proof.

I used to be like you, but something happened several years ago and now I can't handle it. I'm not sure if it is me getting older, or if there was a subconscious trigger.

Fingers crossed she pulls through clowns are tough and this pair look healthy

Angela is doing much better, but she still doesn't seem to be quite right. She is swimming but isn't quite keeping up with Frosty. It is amazing the size difference. As my daughter said, Frosty is so much smaller that he could be her offspring! This is the first time we've seen a bonded pair to notice the size difference.

 

[Biokabe]

That's a very good sign that she's swimming around, but obviously not out of the woodwork just yet. She might just be lazy - my female doesn't swim nearly as much as the male does. They both spend most of their days huddled up in their preferred corner, making sure to push everything that they don't approve of out of their little spot.

Most places that I've ordered from include heat packs with livestock, and as big a supplier as ORA is I'm surprised that they didn't do so. It is true that clowns are very hardy fish, but 64 is awfully low for fish adapted to warmer waters.

My bonded pair (Snowy and Iced T) likewise have a pretty big size difference. Give them enough time, and they might even spawn in the tank - mine spawn every few months. We're not interested in raising clowns, so the eggs eventually just turn into a community potluck for the tank.