liveaquaria delayed

[A.ocellaris]

Hey,

 

I saw a few items on sale and decided to place my first order here on Sunday. The package was shipped yesterday with an expected delivery date of today.... However, I got a notification that the package was delayed and will be delivered on THURSDAY... I am very concerned, not for the money but for the fish! I called LiveAquaria and they told me they are packaged in a way that can survive a week. Anyone with a similar experience? What would  the acclimation procedure be for these animals? I was thinking about doing 15 temp and 15 min water in bag, but not sure now that they will be in the bag for that long.

Edited July 3, 2018 by A.ocellaris

[BowieReefer84]

https://www.liveaquaria.com/article/157/?aid=157

 

Not a bad place to start. Some will say don't drip b/c once air hits the water it will quickly go foul. 

[A.ocellaris]

Yes, I read about that issue when you open the bag the ammonia becomes toxic. I do have Amquel, but this will consume the oxygen very quickly and I am not sure if it's good for inverts.

[flooddc]

I am very optimistic that the fish will survive that many days shipping, especially in the heat of the summer. 

Nonetheless, I'd just prepare to receive it in case the fish survive and let them out in QT/observation As soon as you rx it. no point in doing acclimation. 

Edited July 3, 2018 by flooddc

[Jon Lazar]

IME LiveAquaria ships their fish in water with about 25ppt salinity.  I always prep my QTs to that salinity.

[Steve175]

Same issue here :-( Father’s day gift certificate: purple tang, a BLACK tang, and some inverts. Very bummed. Kind of pissed: was irresponsible for them to ship on a Mon before a Wed holiday. Ordered them late Sun thinking I would receive them late in the week when I am off of work. So the group thinks float for temp and then dump into QT without any acclimation? I, too keep my QT salinity a bit low (24-25 range)

[A.ocellaris]

Wow. My package is still in Kentucky.

[Mattiejay6]

They shouldn’t have shipped this close to the holiday! It is almost a guarantee the shipment will be delayed... Very irresponsible. Especially in this heat wave! They will be stuffed in the back of a tractor trailer at the hub most likely.

 

IF and that’s a big IF they do survive you are going to float the bag make sure you have sea chem prime on hand or some thing similar to neutralize the ammonia for when you bring that water temp up. Check out some transship acclimation videos.

 

I’ve always been a big proponent of a long drip.. that’s me though.

[cpu933k]

This is a total bummer. I feel for you guys.

 

However, I would disagree that it was irresponsbile of them to ship it out on Monday. They tell you what day it will be shipped out on when you checkout. If you missed that or weren't sure and didn't want them to ship it out on Monday, you could have called them to make sure they shipped it later in the week.

 

They also have a shipping schedule chart on their website:

 

https://www.liveaquaria.com/general/general.cfm?general_pagesid=28#title%202

 

I generally wouldn't think that the 4th of July was a big shopping/shipping holiday. I think it's just bad luck.

[A.ocellaris]

This is a total bummer. I feel for you guys.

 

However, I would disagree that it was irresponsbile of them to ship it out on Monday. They tell you what day it will be shipped out on when you checkout. If you missed that or weren't sure and didn't want them to ship it out on Monday, you could have called them to make sure they shipped it later in the week.

 

They also have a shipping schedule chart on their website:

 

https://www.liveaquaria.com/general/general.cfm?general_pagesid=28#title%202

 

I generally wouldn't think that the 4th of July was a big shopping/shipping holiday. I think it's just bad luck.

 

Agreed. I didn't think about that because of the Next Day shipping. Lesson learned!

 

I am ready to receive the package. I set up a qt tank with salinity around 25ppm, heater, airstone, and small power head. I have some vinegar to lower pH once I test the pH in the shipping bag. I am going to retrieve water from the shipping bag (test for salinity and pH) using a syringe so that I do not add oxygen to the bag and trigger the ammonia issue. 

 

I am still not sure what to do with the snails/hermits, just float and release?

Edited July 5, 2018 by A.ocellaris

[Mattiejay6]

This is a total bummer. I feel for you guys.

 

However, I would disagree that it was irresponsbile of them to ship it out on Monday. They tell you what day it will be shipped out on when you checkout. If you missed that or weren't sure and didn't want them to ship it out on Monday, you could have called them to make sure they shipped it later in the week.

 

They also have a shipping schedule chart on their website:

 

https://www.liveaquaria.com/general/general.cfm?general_pagesid=28#title%202

 

I generally wouldn't think that the 4th of July was a big shopping/shipping holiday. I think it's just bad luck.

It isn’t a shopping/shipping holiday. However it is a holiday that creates travelers. Also they weren’t operating on 4th of July as well so you lost the buffer delivery day. Where it would delivered if there was a delay. When I was shipping my clowns everywhere I never shipped the week of a standard holiday or If a shopping holiday the week before, week of, or week after. Never lost a fish in shipment!

[A.ocellaris]

I received the package! It was warm and I thought all of them were gone, but to my surprise they were all still alive! 

 

I already had a qt with low salinity and pinched with a syringe the shipping bags (below water level avoiding introducing air) to test for pH and salinity. pH was around 7.8 and salinity was 1.017. I then adjusted my qt water adding more salt and vinegar to lower pH. After a few mins for temp, I open the bag and scoop them out of that dirty water in less than 10 seconds. They looked very stressed at the beggining, but they are now recovering and look much better.

 

I did also add Methylene blue to help with any burning in their gills.

 

FYI, the Ammonia after I opened the bag was more than 8.0ppm, this is why I think it's important to do it quickly and test the shipping bag water with a syringe (then add tape to cover the hole).

Edited July 5, 2018 by A.ocellaris

[YHSublime]

Your prep really helped keep them alive! Glad to hear it was a success. Keep us posted on the continuation! 

[Mattiejay6]

I received the package! It was warm and I thought all of them were gone, but to my surprise they were all still alive! 

 

I already had a qt with low salinity and pinched with a syringe the shipping bags (below water level avoiding introducing air) to test for pH and salinity. pH was around 7.8 and salinity was 1.017. I then adjusted my qt water adding more salt and vinegar to lower pH. After a few mins for temp, I open the bag and scoop them out of that dirty water in less than 10 seconds. They looked very stressed at the beggining, but they are now recovering and look much better.

 

I did also add Methylene blue to help with any burning in their gills.

 

FYI, the Ammonia after I opened the bag was more than 8.0ppm, this is why I think it's important to do it quickly and test the shipping bag water with a syringe (then add tape to cover the hole).

 

So glad to hear!!!! that is awesome!!! 

[Steve175]

I met the (somewhat sheepish looking) UPS driver on my driveway, opened one of the 2 boxes and the first bag was purpotedly 20 mexican turbos. Thankfully it was labeled as the dark brown opaque fluid would have allowed no such direct ID. Imagine, if you will, an entire army wiped out completely from dysentery rotting in the open field with festering, unwiped butts: it smelled exactly like that. . . through the bag. . . They were toast. All of them. I checked. Despite the festering butts. . . Also lost an urchin and 2 stars. 84h was too long for all but 1 of the inverts (a 2nd urchin). Similarly, the 4 fish were very stressed with NH3 above 10 [i never hope to see that color again] and pH 7.6-7.7. Thankfully S.G. my of QT was almost exact at 1.025 and pH was 7.9 in absence of kalk stirrer. The powder blue was swimming upside down in the bag and the magnificant rabbitfish was dazed and confused and I am pretty sure was trying to do that new floss dance. Thankfully, after a float for T equilization and a careful scoop (avoiding adding any of the stanky, stanky water) all 4 reverted upright, stopped seizing, hid for a while and are now eating. Actually the black and purple tanks actually seemed quite underwhelmed by it all and wanted to know the lunch menu. Overall it could have been a lot worse. Regardless, a lesson leanred the hard way. And I am pretty sure I need to add $1K of therapy for my 8yo (introduced at an early age to the smell of dysentery) to my LA bill.