Fish in shock, can't swim

[10GalReef]

I ordered a purple firefish online and he arrived today. He didn't look so good in the bag, inactive and floating on his side. I drip acclimated him for 2 hours and moved him to the tank. He's not swimming. Floating around wherever the current takes him. Flipping upside down and looking very weak.
What can I do to help?? I don't want him to die
First and last time ordering fish online..

 

[CStrickland]

2 hours dripping a shipped fish may have done irreparable damage.
Dimming the lights might help, and if your current is very strong you could tone it down until he finds a spot to hide, also make sure no other fish is bothering him. I think at this point it is what it is, try not to bug him by staring or putting your hands in the tank, and hope for the best.

 

[jayball]

I ordered a purple firefish online and he arrived today. He didn't look so good in the bag, inactive and floating on his side. I drip acclimated him for 2 hours and moved him to the tank. He's not swimming. Floating around wherever the current takes him. Flipping upside down and looking very weak.
What can I do to help?? I don't want him to die
First and last time ordering fish online..

Odds are you killed him during the drip acclimation, he was probably not going to make it if he was unresponsive when you opened the bag anyway.

For shipped fish I do the following:

Float to match temp
Remove a little water from bag with a pipette and seal the hole with tape to test salinity.
Match QT salinity to shipping water.
When ready open bag and either hand lift or dip out with tupperware to minimise water transfer.

As soon as shipping water is exposed to regular air there is a change in PH that causes the ammonia in the bag to become toxic.

EDIT: If you feel you must drip acclimate you may want to treat the water with a couple drops of prime

 

[Sk8r]

Do not acclimate if you can avoid it: how you avoid it is having your qt pre-set to the salinity of the shipper: ask. You put the arriving fish across to qt as fast as you can test the bag water and confirm it matches within .002 salinity. You can generally increase salinity by .002 per stage every five to 10 minutes if you absolutely have to, but generally acclimation is to be avoided if at all possible.

 

[hkgar]

Here is S8tr's thread about this.

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1959576&highlight=acclimation

 

[heathlindner25]

Sounds like he was a goner before you even received him

 

[Sk8r]

That, too. Shipping accident and not your fault to start with. It's fairly unusual, and a bad deal it happened to your on your first order.

 

[BigEZ77]

I am against ordering online as well. Almost did, but the risks outweigh the rewards IMO. Plus, I really trust my LFS here...It takes awhile to get the fish I want but thus far they've all been healthy specimens.

 

[10GalReef]

Wish I had known all this before oh well.. lesson learned. He's still alive. Crossing my fingers and praying he'll make it.

 

[Sk8r]

Well, he's a tough little fish. Hoping with you.

 

[shifty51008]

ordering fish online isn't to bad as long as you get them through a quality dealer, Ive used bluezoo and live aquaria before and had great results each time, yes it is best if you can see the fish before hand to make sure it is healthy and eating but don't let this one incident persuade you from getting fish online.

good luck with the fish, hope he pulls through. I have seen some fish that looked dead in the bag before and still pull through and live a good long life.

 

[tattoosandfrags]

Lfs>>>>

 

[johnike]

Lfs>>>>

Not always possible.
Some people live in areas where an LFS is nonexistant.

 

[Bent]

Drip acclimation kills.

 

[10GalReef]

Even if I didn't acclimate he probably wouldn't have made it anyway. Rip poor fish
I think the shipping is too much stress for any fish.

 

[Sk8r]

I'm so sorry. THe shipping isn't so bad for them---sort of like a storm on the reef: they sit and slosh in the dark in either case. I've ordered many over the years, but the dealer does matter, and that qt waiting for them is a big help. If it was Live Aquaria, they have a 14 day guarantee on fish, and will give you credit toward another. Others have similar policies.

 

[Bent]

I've had no issues with shipping fish in the past.

 

[sde1500]

Even if I didn't acclimate he probably wouldn't have made it anyway. Rip poor fish
I think the shipping is too much stress for any fish.

Shipping is stressful for the fish sure. But how do you think your LFS gets them lol? Sometimes things happen, but the acclimation time certainly didn't help. Sorry for your loss. Better luck next time.

 

[JohnnyHildo]

I think at this point it is what it is, try not to bug him by staring or putting your hands in the tank, and hope for the best.

i agree too.
the less you do to stress the fish out at this point the better off it'll fare.

 

[hkgar]

I'm so sorry. THe shipping isn't so bad for them---sort of like a storm on the reef: they sit and slosh in the dark in either case. I've ordered many over the years, but the dealer does matter, and that qt waiting for them is a big help. If it was Live Aquaria, they have a 14 day guarantee on fish, and will give you credit toward another. Others have similar policies.

I buy almost exclusively from Live Aquaria and although there have been a couple problems - before I learned that drip acclimation kills - any deaths were credited back and more recently they have been issuing credit to my credit card.