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Diver's Den ammonia binder?


AlanM

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Anyone know if Diver's Den ships their fish with ammonia binder in the bag water?

 

I did an order for some fish last week when the forecast was 60 degrees here.  They held it up because of bad weather in Wisconsin and shipped on Monday.  It got delayed in Kentucky overnight so instead of arriving today it will arrive tomorrow morning.  

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I don't know, but ammonia shouldn't be an issue in a sealed bag as it turns into ammonium as the pH drops in the bag. The issue is when you open the bag and oxygen brings the pH back up converting it back to ammonia. I always add a binder (prime) when I first open the bag. I also adjust the salinity in my QT to match the source water prior to their arrival. I read online that DD typically runs around 1.025, LA is typically around 1.018-1.019. Adjusting water in your QT allows for a faster acclimation instead of the drip method.

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I'm going to float to temperature acclimate and then dump into a plastic colander over a bucket and then right into the QT tank.  No drip acclimation.  I have the SG set to 1.025.

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Box arrived at 9:30 this morning. The warmers were still a bit warm. I floated the bags for 30 minutes and started opening and dumping into a bucket with a colander in it. Two scissortails out of the trio I bought were dead with very stinky pink water in the bag. No idea why the water was so pink, but it seems like they must have been dead for a while in those bags.

 

Everything else survived. Two banggai cardinals, one remaining scissortail dartfish, a firefish, a tailspot blenny, and a 2.5 inch blue maxima clam. The clam is in my invert qt and the fish are in my fish qt. I don’t plan on medicating to start, just observing for two weeks and only medicating if I see problems.

 

By the way, DD says they do not put ammonia binder in the water. They put in a chemical that supposedly increases the dissolved oxygen in the water, but no Prime or Amquel.

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Hopefully the survivors will fare well.

 

You'll be contacting DD for replacements for the scissortails? It's a shame that the shipment was delayed. It happens, but not often. 

 

You can increase dissolved oxygen levels with a little hydrogen peroxide in the water. I wonder if that's how they do it.

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DD was great when I called. They refunded me for two scissortails immediately with no hassle. When weather is better nationwide I will order some more. I really wanted a bunch and am always sad at fish losses.

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My liveaquaria order also got delayed past weekend. Supposed to be on Saturday but I did not get the shipment till Monday so that 48hrs stuck in Kentucky cold weather. Everything near frozen. Poor fishie

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My liveaquaria order also got delayed past weekend. Supposed to be on Saturday but I did not get the shipment till Monday so that 48hrs stuck in Kentucky cold weather. Everything near frozen. Poor fishie

They all alive?

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Nope. They were cold like ice. I don't think I will do Saturday delivery ever again because if it delays then it's 72 hours instead of 48 hours.

Edited by bk_market
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Nope. They were cold like ice. I don't think I will do Saturday delivery ever again because if it delays then it's 72 hours instead of 48 hours.

 

That's a good observation and lesson to learn from.

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My last 2 LA deliveries within the last 3 weeks were late by UPS, one didn't get delivered till 8pm and the other one didn't get here till the next morning, most fish and corals died.  

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I got an order in from LA Friday. I prefer not to order during the extreme cold/heat. However this time I made an exception. I planned around the weather as Thursday and Friday were the nicest days in a while. UPS is consistent at my place, always show up around 9:30am.

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I have had excellent luck with hold at location. To the point where I often just put the local UPS or FedEx shipping location as the shipping address. It is often available for pickup super early in the morning (8am) whereas the truck delivery may happen in the afternoon/evening. Plus, yearround it is sitting in a 70 degree room vs a 20-100 degree truck/porch.

 

Highly recommend this. The drive is worth the increased survival rate and lack of stress to rush home to rescue a shipment. Obviously this still doesnt help when the shipment is delayed in transit.

 

 

You can also have your order delivered to a UPS care center and pick it up as soon as they open. The one around me opens up at 9:30am. I have done this with Pacific East orders.

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You can also have your order delivered to a UPS care center and pick it up as soon as they open. The one around me opens up at 9:30am. I have done this with Pacific East orders.

 

I've done this with several of their Maxima clams in the past. I agree!

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I have had orders shipped to ups customer service centers and held for pickup when retailers offered that service (often with a discount). How do you do this when that is not an option that retailers provide? I saw above that someone said put the customer service center as the shipping address, but then when do you/can you request for it to be held for pickup?

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I have had orders shipped to ups customer service centers and held for pickup when retailers offered that service (often with a discount). How do you do this when that is not an option that retailers provide? I saw above that someone said put the customer service center as the shipping address, but then when do you/can you request for it to be held for pickup?

With Fed Ex, you have it delivered in your name but use the pick up center's address, checking the "Hold for Pickup" box. I receive live goods this way by having it sent to my nearest FedEx Office (formerly Kinko's). My experience has been that FedEx delivers packages to my local FedEx Office, typically, by 8:30 AM. If the livestock started its journey at, say 3 PM, this keeps transit time down to under 24 hours. 

 

I'm not sure how UPS does it. I have, in the past, had to pick up from some of the larger UPS centers but have never tried shipping to one of their smaller (third-party?) outlets.

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You can request hold at location after entering the tracking number in the shipping company's website. Usually you will have to register for an account (free). The only caution I will mention with this is timing your request. You have to wait until the package is actually received by the shipping company (which generally happens well after you get the shipping notification-which is just when the label is created). But if you wait too long and they receive the request after it's already on the truck, the truck won't deliver it to your address and will drop it back off at the local center at the end of their route. Given this narrow window on an overnight shipment, I usually just opt to put in the actual FEDEX/UPS location address (see below).

 

Never use one of the third party "locations" like the ones in Office supply stores. Do a location search on the shipping company's website and look for "hold at location (or similar)" in the list of service offerings. These locantions don't have to be the regional "hubs", I usually just use the local retail store.

 

In my experience, they will see "Live Fish" on the box and call you ASAP. You will present your drivers license when you arrive and state the name of the shipper and sign a pickup slip. Once you do that once or twice they get to know you...hearing you describe what is in the box is quite memorable for most of those folks.

 

Using this method I could usually get the shipment and have it acclimated and be showered, dressed, and on my way to work by 930/10am.

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By the way, the fish that arrived alive seem to be doing well. Still shy in the QT, but I have seen them all eat so I think they will recover and do fine. It probably helps encourage them to eat that I am giving them live baby brine, nutramar ova, and LRS nano.

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