how to acclimate a fish that's been on a ups truck for 4 days

match the salinity. test the bag it comes in and test the DT/QT salinity if the fish is not moving up in salinity than the acclimation can be short but if the fish is moving up and its by more than .002 i would try to adjust the tank salinity if its an empty QT and then temp match and drop.
 
I would suggest that the longer a fish has been in the shipping bag, the shorter the acclimation should be. Frankly, if it truly has been 4 days, then I'd not expect the fish to be alive.
 
IF it was DD or LA then they pack enough O2 for two days. Was told this by a late shipment of fish when I called them.
Tim
 
As I mentioned in your other identical thread, do not drip acclimate. They should be temperature acclimated in the bag and then immediately placed in water that matches the SG of the bag.
 
:twitch:
As I mentioned in your other identical thread, do not drip acclimate. They should be temperature acclimated in the bag and then immediately placed in water that matches the SG of the bag.

Agree, and if it makes it four days that's a tough fish
 
Agree on temp only then pour water though a net discard the water and put fish in tank.
 
The fish was still alive and seemingly doing good and still is. She even ate shortly after adding her.

Dascyllus punctatus in case anyone was wondering.
 
Good to hear the fish is doing well. For other's reference, the most critical thing here is that the water in the bag becomes extremely poisonous the moment you open it and expose it to air. You can prevent this by adding several drops of Prime to the bag water.

As previously said, the best thing is to match the temp, and get the fish into new water with a salinity that is either equal, or lower than the bag water(don't open the bag to test, unless you add Prime).
 
It is sometimes important to adjust the pH. If the fish has defected in the bag, if the transit time is long, or if very little water was used to decrease shipping costs, the pH may drop dramatically. I have seen it as low as 5.5.

Add a couple drops of Prime or Amquel. It is best then to decrease the pH in newly made up water and adjust pH downward to match that of the bag, temp too and transfer fish. I make up water in a bag the night before arrival. I float it in the QT tank so the temp is equal when my fish arrives. As soon as temp is equal in both bags, it is time. I then bring up the pH in the new bag.

A large pH swing from 5.5-8.1, like temperature, will send many fish into shock. Sometimes they pull through, others die quickly. Sharks commonly have large pH drops.
 
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