Can a belly up fish recover?

Bam327 · Jan 28, 2021

in my experience once a fish starts listing it’s over, and belly up it’s for sure a goner. Well I ordered a purple tang and a convict tang and they were shipped over night. The vendor apparently didn’t check the weather or something as it got into the teens last night. Well I was home when they were delivered this morning and opened the box right away and they were both in bad shape but the convict was worse being belly up albeit still alive. I floated them for an hour and they were looking a little better but not great. I started dripping and the purple was showing signs of life by being more responsive to me but the convict was still belly up. After acclimation I dropped the purple tang in my DT and he seems to be fine. I put the convict in my fuge to eliminate any new comer harassment, thinking he would perish anyways. Well it’s been about 3 hours and he’s not belly up anymore. Not even listing anymore. He is still breathing heavy but definitely showing improvement from when he was delivered. Is there hope for him? The water was 55 degrees F when they arrived.

Jay Hemdal · Jan 28, 2021

The only time I've EVER seen a fish survive being moribund (unable to swim upright) has been in cases of cold shock like this. I once had a garibaldi damsel get delayed in shipping by an extra 24 hours. It arrived upside down and barely breathing. As I watched, it took one final breath and stopped. I pulled the fish out of the bag, and held it in a pump effluent. that revived it and it is still alive today, many years later. No acclimation at all....

Jay

Deephouse_jedi · Jan 28, 2021

I had a clownfish survive a tank crash. It was belly up when I found it. Did massive WC 3 days in a row and saved it. Almost everything else died. Clownfish are super hardy to though.

Skynyrd Fish · Jan 28, 2021

Also the drip acclimation could cause ammonia burn. How is the convict tang doing? Purples are my personal favorite.

Bam327 · Jan 28, 2021

I didn’t know that about drip. Why is that?

I have the convict in my DT now. He’s a bit stressed and breathing heavy but he is surprising me. He’s free swimming, hasn’t once shown that he is going to go moribund (thanks for the term Jay) again. My Foxface of all things is giving him a bit of a hard time but it’s mild. I would have given him a 5% chance of making it when I saw him. I think it’s better than 50% now. If he makes the night I think he will be good. Although I just about lost it when my coral banded shrimp literally grabbed him by the spine. He shook it off though. If he makes it I need to get him to eat next then I will fee a whole lot better.
The purple took a hot 10 mins to get comfortable and has been picking away ever since. He looks like he’s finally home.

Jay Hemdal · Jan 28, 2021

Bam327 said:
I didn’t know that about drip. Why is that?

I have the convict in my DT now. He’s a bit stressed and breathing heavy but he is surprising me. He’s free swimming, hasn’t once shown that he is going to go moribund (thanks for the term Jay) again. My Foxface of all things is giving him a bit of a hard time but it’s mild. I would have given him a 5% chance of making it when I saw him. I think it’s better than 50% now. If he makes the night I think he will be good. Although I just about lost it when my coral banded shrimp literally grabbed him by the spine. He shook it off though. If he makes it I need to get him to eat next then I will fee a whole lot better.
The purple took a hot 10 mins to get comfortable and has been picking away ever since. He looks like he’s finally home.

Ammonia isn't toxic at low pH levels. During drip acclimation, the pH rises faster than the ammonia in the bag is being diluted, making it toxic. Never drip acclimate fish that have been shipped overnight. Better to match salinity, pH and temp and just move them right into clean water, then acclimate from that point.

Jay

Bam327 · Jan 29, 2021

Well unfortunately the convict didn’t make it through the night. I’m incredibly disappointed in the vendor I used. The loss of life was totally avoidable. These were also my last two fish that I wanted to go in the tank together. His policy is that he will replace the fish but not the shipping. I am going to call and ask that he ship a replacement out today and not charge me shipping because the fish died due to his mistake. If I have to pay shipping again I’m done with that vendor.