New fish late arrival/DISTRESS

[G Santana]

Well this was the first time that I ordered fish online and low and behold, they were held up at Fedex.
They arrived this morning a day late and the Flame Angel was in deep distress, he was in the bag bobbing out of the water and the first thing I thought about was amonia burning. So rather than a slow drip acclimation I poured both fish into the shipping box and slowly changed out the water a cup at a time.
Initially the angel was flipping and bobbing out of the water but after 4 cup changes over the hour or so, he calmed down and is swimming mostly normal
I feel pretty confident that he will make it...I hope.
The other guy is an algae blenny, he was fine, nothing bothers the inexpensive fish lol
My daughter was quick to name them so Chilli and Ranboo

 

[bday1335]

Crossing my fingers that they both make it and live a long healthy life!!!

 

[G Santana]

Well after 3 hours of swapping box water for tank water a cup at a time, his breathing settled down. I was able to transfer him and his buddy to a holding tank and watch them carefully.
I've no doubt that he would have died if he were delayed much longer and I attribute that to amonia build up in the bag. But we dodged a major bullet... for now anyway.

 

[Mikedawg]

Well after 3 hours of swapping box water for tank water a cup at a time, his breathing settled down. I was able to transfer him and his buddy to a holding tank and watch them carefully.
I've no doubt that he would have died if he were delayed much longer and I attribute that to amonia build up in the bag. But we dodged a major bullet... for now anyway.

Good work on stabilizing conditions; see from your avatar you got a good hug, lol.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Well after 3 hours of swapping box water for tank water a cup at a time, his breathing settled down. I was able to transfer him and his buddy to a holding tank and watch them carefully.
I've no doubt that he would have died if he were delayed much longer and I attribute that to amonia build up in the bag. But we dodged a major bullet... for now anyway.

Here is a trick - when fish arrive after a delay, the ammonia is very high, but the pH is very low. This renders the ammonia non-toxic to fish. However, as you acclimate, the pH of the shipping water rises faster than the ammonia is being diluted. This causes the ammonia to shift to its more toxic form and it can harm/kill the fish. What you should do is measure the pH and salinity of the water the fish are in when they arrive. Then quickly change some tank water to match those two parameters and move the fish immediately over. You can now acclimate for pH and salinity without fear of the ammonia killing the fish.

Jay

 

[DeniseAndy]

As Jay said, I do this with any long shipped fish. I make a bucket with matching pH and salinity and temp and move immediately to it. Then I bring it up to normal levels over time.
Glad they made it so far. Hope they do great!

 

[puffy127]

How do you lower pH?

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

How do you lower pH?

I use muriatic acid, but you can use aquarium pH reducer, that is safer. You need a good pH test kit or pH meter also.

Jay

 

[G Santana]

Here is a trick - when fish arrive after a delay, the ammonia is very high, but the pH is very low. This renders the ammonia non-toxic to fish. However, as you acclimate, the pH of the shipping water rises faster than the ammonia is being diluted. This causes the ammonia to shift to its more toxic form and it can harm/kill the fish. What you should do is measure the pH and salinity of the water the fish are in when they arrive. Then quickly change some tank water to match those two parameters and move the fish immediately over. You can now acclimate for pH and salinity without fear of the ammonia killing the fish.

Jay

Lesson learned, thank you. This will be something I won't soon forget!!!

 

[DeniseAndy]

There is pond pH reducer at any local fish store (used with freshies).

 

[ZoWhat]

You've done your part... now let the Intelligent Designer above take over