Fish in transport ALL DAY! Do they have a chance?

[revhtree]

Had fish shipped out yesterday and there was a plane delay so the shipment didn't get on the Express truck and went on a regular truck. UPS hub spoke with the driver and he said I would get them between 7-8 tonight.

What do you think the chances are that they will make it?

32 Fish......

 

[eatbreakfast]

They should be fine. When they get shipped from their location of collection they are in transit even longer in most cases.

 

[jsker]

Pretty good. I have had one of my deliveries delayed for a day, and they were fine.

 

[Florida Sunshine]

You can only try. It would depend a lot on what fish, how they were packed, how rough of a journey did they have. A thousand variables. Hoping for the best for you.

 

[revhtree]

Good thing the weather is not too hot or cold here today.

 

[sc50964]

I think that depends entirely on what kind of fish. I once bought a fish from reefcorner and it came with water temp well at the lower 60s, and the tang pulled through. Not sure if that would still be the case if it's a more sensitive specie

 

[Brew12]

Just remember they will have some serious ammonia build up. You will need to minimize the air exchange before you 1) get them out of the shipping water or 2) add Prime or other ammonia neutralizer to the water.

Move quickly once you cut open a bag to make that happen!

 

[sc50964]

Ph will likely be low as well. Need to aerate slowly, but u probably already knew that.

 

[revhtree]

Just remember they will have some serious ammonia build up. You will need to minimize the air exchange before you 1) get them out of the shipping water or 2) add Prime or other ammonia neutralizer to the water.

Move quickly once you cut open a bag to make that happen!

So you think I should add some prime to the bag once I open or to the acclimation bucket? I plan on floatin them and then moving them to about 8 buckets for acclimation.

 

[jedimaster1138]

Anything is possible. I once had fish survive a WEEKEND in a shipping depot due to some such insanity. You are in luck that it is not hot, but cold out. That's better for their long term prospects...

Acclimate them to temperature gently.

 

[Brew12]

So you think I should add some prime to the bag once I open or to the acclimation bucket? I plan on floatin them and then moving them to about 8 buckets for acclimation.

As long as you get them from the bag to the bucket quickly it shouldn't matter. Otherwise I would add the Prime directly to the bag as soon as you cut it open.

Going to explain the reason in a post in a minute just so people who see this understand.

 

[Brew12]

pH is impacted by 2 major factors in sea water. Alkalinity and CO2 content. When a fish is bagged and shipped the alkalinity doesn't change but the fish does consume O2 and replace it with CO2. This causes the water to become more acidic which means pH goes down.

The fish is also resperating ammonia during transit and may have food/waste that is also breaking down into ammonia. Fortunately, at lower pH's, ammonia takes a less toxic form, NH4. Once the bag is opened and you get air exchange, the CO2 content goes down and pH goes up. This causes the ammonia to shift to a more toxic form, NH3 - H.

This is why it is important to add a product like Prime to neutralize the ammonia before significant air exchange occurs for a fish that has been in shipping for a longer period of time.

 

[revhtree]

As long as you get them from the bag to the bucket quickly it shouldn't matter. Otherwise I would add the Prime directly to the bag as soon as you cut it open.

Going to explain the reason in a post in a minute just so people who see this understand.

How much prime to you suggest per gallon?

 

[eatbreakfast]

I wouldn't worry so much about ph. Getting them out of the ammonia-rich water is far more important than ph acclimation.

Alternatively, if you have access to aCO2 canister and ph moniter you couls use all new reef water in the buckets and use the CO2 from the canister to drop the ph to around 6.3-6.5 and acclimate them that way.

 

[eatbreakfast]

Also, if the fish came from a medicated system care needs to be exercised using ammonia neutralizers due to possible toxic reactions.

 

[Brew12]

How much prime to you suggest per gallon?

Sorry, I don't use Prime but I would follow the directions. I believe it is hard to overdose with Prime (within reason).

I don't drip acclimate so it isn't an issue for me.

I call the vendor I am getting a fish from and temperature/salinity match my QT to their system. That way I can temp float, cut open the bag, dump the shipping water into a waste container through a strainer and add the fish directly to my QT. I typically have under a minute from open bag to fish in QT.

 

[Brew12]

Also, if the fish came from a medicated system care needs to be exercised using ammonia neutralizers due to possible toxic reactions.

Good call on this. If your supplier uses copper in their water you cannot add Prime.

 

[wkscott]

So you think I should add some prime to the bag once I open or to the acclimation bucket? I plan on floatin them and then moving them to about 8 buckets for acclimation.

I know we all have done this but as a reminder, unless fish come in the same bag, they shouldn't be acclimated in the same bucket because mixing the individual bags in the bucket, with different amounts of ammonia and pH levels could be very stressful. Probably won't matter much at this poini, they just need to get into clean water.

 

[fabutahoun]

I have been importing may times for LFS from Indonesia and Sri Lanka , if they are packed correctly they can survive for more than 24 hours , I never use prime you don't know what exactly in the shipping water, I slowly acclimate the fish after floating them for few minutes and then transport them for packets and drip acclimate them. I Usually check for salinity in shipping Bags to see if a slow long acclimation is needed, or a quick 15 -30 minutes acclimation if the parameters are not that far.

 

[revhtree]

I know we all have done this but as a reminder, unless fish come in the same bag, they shouldn't be acclimated in the same bucket because mixing the individual bags in the bucket, with different amounts of ammonia and pH levels could be very stressful. Probably won't matter much at this poini, they just need to get into clean water.

I usually wouldn't do that but a store ordered these for me and had them shipped to me directly so there was no extra shipping time to the store and then to me. They said this is how they acclimate the fish. Also the water coming in is 1.017 so I can't just add them to the tank water. Gonna have to drop acclimate.