LADD Shipping Delay-swimming in circles

[Reefer_Madness-NorCal]

Hi reefers,
I need some help asap. my live aquaria coral beauty angel fish and flame angelfish took two full days in transit they both just arrived and are clinging to dear life. not doing well at all.
The water in the bags was of course cold and mucky. Upon opening, flame Angel was at the bottom of the bag and coral beauty at the top spinning in circles.
I immediately acclimated them to QT with heater and oxygenation.
Flame angel continues to be sluggish barely moving at the bottom of the QT.

The coral beauty is much worse off and is swimming in circles at the water surface sometimes doing somersaults, stopping to rest at bottom of the tank with no periods of normal swimming at all.

What the heck can I do for them?
I know the erratic behavior can be caused from the cold temperature the ammonia build up in the bags etc. The behavior of swimming in circles I’m wondering if anyone’s had that before because of a shipping delay and if they were able to do anything to resolve it. Hoping I can help these guys and get them at fighting chance

 

[Jeffcb]

I don't think there is much you can do but wait . Good Luck.

 

[Reefer_Madness-NorCal]

I don't think there is much you can do but wait . Good Luck.

. yeah, I was hoping some experienced reefer might know some magic trick to bring them back. Poor things. I hate fed ex.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

. yeah, I was hoping some experienced reefer might know some magic trick to bring them back. Poor things. I hate fed ex.

Sorry to hear, FedEx delays are huge a problem! As said, there is really nothing else that can be done other than to dim the lights and hope for the best. For future reference, one BIG issue we see with shipped fish is that they can arrive at a lower salinity, and then folks try to acclimate them up to full salinity, but the extra stress is just too much. The best way to deal with that is to adjust the salinity of the receiving tank to match that of the shipping water. Marine fish can handle a drop in salinity well, but a big rise needs to be done more slowly than a normal acclimation can accommodate...not sure how your fish arrived though....

Jay

 

[Reefer_Madness-NorCal]

Sorry to hear, FedEx delays are huge a problem! As said, there is really nothing else that can be done other than to dim the lights and hope for the best. For future reference, one BIG issue we see with shipped fish is that they can arrive at a lower salinity, and then folks try to acclimate them up to full salinity, but the extra stress is just too much. The best way to deal with that is to adjust the salinity of the receiving tank to match that of the shipping water. Marine fish can handle a drop in salinity well, but a big rise needs to be done more slowly than a normal acclimation can accommodate...not sure how your fish arrived though....

Jay

Thanks that is helpful and good to know for the future! I didnt think about difference in salinity, so fingers crossed. I hate watching them die, not sure if I should even use the refund to buy livestock from LA again if fed ex delays are such an issue.

 

[Mjrenz]

If the fish are still hanging on there are some things you can try to help them

alprazo's "salvage protocol"

Reposted with permission. Salvage protocol for very sick fish. Almost daily I read a post from someone describing a fish sick from either ich or velvet and can predict that it will not make it to the morning. There are several techniques that can be employed to reduce the metabolic demands...

www.reef2reef.com