Live fish after 5 days in shipping!

[JAMreef]

I was supposed to receive a delivery from Blue zoo on Friday (9/4). Unfortunately due to some unknown hold up in Illinois and the holiday on Monday FedEx could not deliver the package until today (9/8). I spent so much time on the phone with FedEx this weekend it’s ridiculous. I even offered to come get the fish when they finally landed in Jacksonville, FL (I won’t bore you with the frustration I felt dealing with their customer service).

So obviously I assumed I would be coming home to dead fish. I open the package and holy crap there is a live melanurus wrasse and live urchin! Unfortunately the jawfish perished during the trip.

Got them acclimated the best I could. Fingers crossed they will make it over the next couple days. Obviously they looked very stressed.

Just wanted to say for those out there don’t lose hope even if shipment gets delayed. When you think about it those fish that made it lived 5 days in a plastic bag (when you consider they were packaged Thursday last week and weren’t deliver until today)!

 

[Sleeping Giant]

That sucks, but good the others made it

 

[JAMreef]

That sucks, but good the others made it

I feel so bad. I hope these two make it. I don’t have any experience with wrasses so we will see the if he does well over the next couple days in quarantine.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Nice !!

 

[BlennyTime]

Nice! With all the stories of bad things happening on here, it’s good to see a reminder of how our animals are hardier than we give them credit for.

 

[ReeferWarrant]

Glad it somewhat worked out for you, be careful with the urchin. I'd keep an eye on it in case it decides to start panic spawning and foul up your water.

 

[JAMreef]

Glad it somewhat worked out for you, be careful with the urchin. I'd keep an eye on it in case it decides to start panic spawning and foul up your water.

Interesting, I’ve never heard of this. I will definitely look into it.

 

[JAMreef]

Nice! With all the stories of bad things happening on here, it’s good to see a reminder of how our animals are hardier than we give them credit for.

I really

Nice! With all the stories of bad things happening on here, it’s good to see a reminder of how our animals are hardier than we give them credit for.

So true. I would not want to test to see if it works out again though lol

 

[ReeferWarrant]

@JAMreef, I had a scare with mine. Did a 30% water change, had high nitrates, and I think it fell from the top of my tank to the sand and just started spawning in the tank. My wife warned me, her biology class in Hawaii would collect animals for their class and urchins were the forbidden animal because of this fact.

 

[JAMreef]

@JAMreef, I had a scare with mine. Did a 30% water change, had high nitrates, and I think it fell from the top of my tank to the sand and just started spawning in the tank. My wife warned me, her biology class in Hawaii would collect animals for their class and urchins were the forbidden animal because of this fact.

Good to know! I almost didn’t acclimate the little guy because I thought he was dead. I pulled it out of the bag and I’ll be darned if his little tentacles weren’t moving around. Seemed a little sluggish during acclimation (who can blame him) so I will keep my eye on it for sure sure. Thanks for the info

 

[Squeaky McMurdo]

I had some saltwater mollies that were shipped on August 24 and finally made it alive on the 3rd. Thank goodness they were sent in a breather bag. They were very very hungry but no worse for the wear.

 

[JAMreef]

I had some saltwater mollies that were shipped on August 24 and finally made it alive on the 3rd. Thank goodness they were sent in a breather bag. They were very very hungry but no worse for the wear.

Wow that’s awesome. From everything I had read fish were only meant to last 2-3 days in a bag. I had given up hope. Yours lasted almost double that!

 

[Qasimja]

i had something like that happen to me 2 months ago had a naso tang and chocolate tang both medium/large sized in a box for 48 hours ups delivery delay they werent even all that stressed when i opened the box made it through QT and are in display at the moment

 

[Mark Gray]

Glad you had a couple make it years ago before overnight all fish spent this much time in a box or more.

 

[JAMreef]

I guess you’re right. I never considered that.

 

[saltyhog]

That's amazing! Glad you had some survivors! I had the shipment of my Red Tail Tamarin wrasse delayed to 48 hours after bagging. It was in the upper 90's here and I was sure it would be dead when it arrived. Fortunately not only was it alive but it sailed through quarantine and swims happily in my tank at this moment!

 

[gafoley]

I was supposed to receive a delivery from Blue zoo on Friday (9/4). Unfortunately due to some unknown hold up in Illinois and the holiday on Monday FedEx could not deliver the package until today (9/8). I spent so much time on the phone with FedEx this weekend it’s ridiculous. I even offered to come get the fish when they finally landed in Jacksonville, FL (I won’t bore you with the frustration I felt dealing with their customer service).

So obviously I assumed I would be coming home to dead fish. I open the package and holy **** there is a live melanarus wrasse and live urchin! Unfortunately the jawfish perished during the trip.

Got them acclimated the best I could. Fingers crossed they will make it over the next couple days. Obviously they looked very stressed.

Just wanted to say for those out there don’t lose hope even if shipment gets delayed. When you think about it those fish that made it lived 5 days in a plastic bag (when you consider they were packaged Thursday last week and weren’t deliver until today)!

Blue Zoo obviously knows how to pack. Lately, this has been an ongoing issue with so called 'overnight delivery". But if the animals are packed properly, 72-96 hour transits should be ok. I had FedEx send one of my shipments via Ground service by mistake. It took 6 days to get there. Shipment still had a 60% survival.

 

[JAMreef]

Blue Zoo obviously knows how to pack. Lately, this has been an ongoing issue with so called 'overnight delivery". But if the animals are packed properly, 72-96 hour transits should be ok. I had FedEx send one of my shipments via Ground service by mistake. It took 6 days to get there. Shipment still had a 60% survival.

I should have mentioned that in my initial post. I have in the past read several posts commenting on how bad Blue Zoo’s customer service was. This was not my experience. Greg stayed in contact with me, advised me package was delayed, and even sent me new instructions on how to acclimate the fish now that they were late. They were great to deal with. Even advised how long my refund would be.

They did an excellent job packing the fish as you mentioned. They get a good rating in my book.

 

[OrionN]

Update please. How many still with us. Hope for no further mortality.

 

[JAMreef]

Thank you for asking. Unfortunately the tuxedo urchin is not looking good currently. Has not lost any of its spikes but they look flat and he is not moving around. Tank is 5 mo old but, I placed nori next to him just in case he wasn’t getting any food.

The melanarus is doing well in quarantine and has been eating well the past two days. I will probably start prazi tomorrow.