Livestock Delivery Delayed via UPS...What Now?

[JasonK84]

Don't be surprised if the color is washed out on the fish. My purple tang was a very light shade of blue (almost white) when they arrived but colored back up in just a couple hours. I'm just hoping the little guys are still alive.

 

[Sonja P]

Remember that this time of year parcel delivery carriers are overloaded. Many hire holiday help to cover what they estimate the volume will be. With online sales up, problems will happen. You have miss routing happening at all levels. Then you have weather issues as well as equipment problems. Running at max rpm is hard on everything. I can say that when I worked for UPS in the next day air program we drove a lot during the holidays. Max at what gov reg would allow. I remember driving 2 packages 150 miles to make a delivery. They missed a UPS flight and were put on a major airline flight. When we got them it was to late to have them go thru normal channels. Stuff happens. I try to avoid ordering delicate stuff when weather is bad near the carriers hubs (Louisville and Alanta) or anywhere near the supplier and around Christmas.

Lesson learned- no clue how I didn’t think of that. I can barely stand going to Target this time of year. Mass chaos everywhere!!

 

[Sonja P]

Don't be surprised if the color is washed out on the fish. My purple tang was a very light shade of blue (almost white) when they arrived but colored back up in just a couple hours. I'm just hoping the little guys are still alive.

Good to know! Thx for the heads up.

 

[MnFish1]

Best procedure is this.

Ask what salinity they keep their fish at, call them.

Have that ready in a bowl / bucket.

Have that water at whatever you keep your tank at.

When you get the fish put the bag in sump let it warm up, do not open bag.

Once warmed up, 10-15 min.
Open bag put in .5 ml of prime and take a water sample, seal bag imediatly do not leave open.

Measure salinitybof sample to ensure it is what they said and yours is at.

Adjust your salinity in bucket if need to.

Once adjusted take fish out of the bag (leave shipper water behind) and put directly into your bucket.

From there you can acclimate to your tank salinity by drip or what ever.

You can also check out the fish treatment for dipping guides, the blue stuff helps with ammonia burns IF i remember correctly.

Thats how you do it.

Curious - if you're going to check the salinity - whats the point of asking what theirs is? What is the point of taking the fish out of the bag and putting it in a bucket - and then acclimating to the tank - rather than just acclimating it to the tank (since the water in the bucket is the same as what you keep your tank at?). Sorry what your saying doesnt make sense - but perhaps im reading it incorrectly - I would match the temperature, add prime if you like - and drip acclimate as usual. Good Luck with your fish - its certainly a frustrating situation...

 

[Sonja P]

This part of the nightmare looks to soon be over...let’s see how it all unfolds [emoji51] wish me luck!

 

[ramabama]

Curious - if you're going to check the salinity - whats the point of asking what theirs is? What is the point of taking the fish out of the bag and putting it in a bucket - and then acclimating to the tank - rather than just acclimating it to the tank (since the water in the bucket is the same as what you keep your tank at?). Sorry what your saying doesnt make sense - but perhaps im reading it incorrectly - I would match the temperature, add prime if you like - and drip acclimate as usual. Good Luck with your fish - its certainly a frustrating situation...

You’re not understanding. You’re confusing the check salanity step. Post is not saying check salinity to see if it matches the display tank. It is saying check to insure it matches what supplier told you it would be.

 

[MnFish1]

You’re not understanding. You’re confusing the check salanity step. Post is not saying check salinity to see if it matches the display tank. It is saying check to insure it matches what supplier told you it would be.

Right - I have no problem with checking the salinity in the bag - I was wondering why you would ask the supplier if you're going to recheck it anyway? (It seemed like an extra step)

 

[JasonK84]

Do we have a package?

 

[cmcoker]

Right - I have no problem with checking the salinity in the bag - I was wondering why you would ask the supplier if you're going to recheck it anyway? (It seemed like an extra step)

To get a starting point? Shipper says I ship at 1.021. Maybe it matches and your all set or maybe it arrives and its 1.018. Now you can dilute down to that.

 

[Sonja P]

All DOA...frozen. Didn’t stand a chance. Sad!

 

[MnFish1]

All DOA...frozen. Didn’t stand a chance. Sad!

Awwwww terrible.

 

[Sonja P]

He was a super fat cute guy too!! Thanks for all the great input- I really appreciate it!

 

[MnFish1]

To get a starting point? Shipper says I ship at 1.021. Maybe it matches and your all set or maybe it arrives and its 1.018. Now you can dilute down to that.

Right - I think testing is fine - the poster said "Ask what salinity they keep their fish at, call them." in his post saying "Thats how you do it". If you're going to test it anyway (in the bag once it gets to your house) - whats the point of calling the shipper to ask what it's shipped at. The sad part is that she lost her fish. And hopefully will get some recourse from the shipper (the store) - because UPS and FedEx dont guarantee arrival of livestock.

 

[JasonK84]

All DOA...frozen. Didn’t stand a chance. Sad!

So sorry this happened.

 

[davocean]

Bummer to hear.

I think you may have just added your location or I just did not notice it before, that's a big factor.
I think it was already mentioned it's pretty tough this time of year for online orders for you even when it's not Holiday chaos.
Hopefully there is some kind recovery effort on shippers behalf if not vendor or both

 

[Reefbuds]

All DOA...frozen. Didn’t stand a chance. Sad!

Ahh man that sucks. Sorry for this I know how excited one gets waiting on a shipment of goodies.
Contact seller immediately and see if they offer credit or replacement.

 

[Sonja P]

Ahh man that sucks. Sorry for this I know how excited one gets waiting on a shipment of goodies.
Contact seller immediately and see if they offer credit or replacement.

Right?! I feel like I lost the past three days with anticipation...

He said he would make it right as soon as he found out there was a delay. Just a bummer all around!

 

[RamsReef]

Curious - if you're going to check the salinity - whats the point of asking what theirs is? What is the point of taking the fish out of the bag and putting it in a bucket - and then acclimating to the tank - rather than just acclimating it to the tank (since the water in the bucket is the same as what you keep your tank at?). Sorry what your saying doesnt make sense - but perhaps im reading it incorrectly - I would match the temperature, add prime if you like - and drip acclimate as usual. Good Luck with your fish - its certainly a frustrating situation...

As soon as you open the bag oxygen/co2 raises the ph of water. Raise in ph makes ammonia deadly.

Salinity is the biggest factor when acclimating.

So by moving the fish quickly into seperate container you free them from ammonia stress. From the seperate container you can choose to further dip them before adding to your qt or dt. Such as mythel blue dip or formulin.

 

[Sonja P]

Bummer to hear.

I think you may have just added your location or I just did not notice it before, that's a big factor.
I think it was already mentioned it's pretty tough this time of year for online orders for you even when it's not Holiday chaos.
Hopefully there is some kind recovery effort on shippers behalf if not vendor or both

I inquired before placing the order and he didn’t think it was an issue. Lesson learned I guess! He packed it strange in my opinion too. I literally received all items in a ropak bucket with heat packs, no styrofoam or anything! I believe that played a huge part to their demise.

 

[RamsReef]

Right - I have no problem with checking the salinity in the bag - I was wondering why you would ask the supplier if you're going to recheck it anyway? (It seemed like an extra step)

If is, but what they tell you should be close to what you measure. Its easy to go from 34 to 35 or 33, but what if they keep fish in hypo salinity, then what?