Pairing question and irresponsible shipping

[BHF]

Okay, so I ordered a pair of black ocellaris from a vendor I'm not going to name just yet, as they deserve a chance to make things right. For the moment I'm going to right this off as a horrible oversight. This vendor shipped them via UPS overnight (not my preffered method, but whatever), in a package (A) not marked as fragile, (B) not marked as containing live animals, and (C)...this one is the real winner, with no heating packs at all. Nothing other than a styrofoam box and some plastic wrap around the bags.

One of the fish is DOA, and obviously I'm not terribly optimistic about the other. I'm hoping a nice, slow acclimation may save him, but we'll see.

But here is my question (yes, I looked at the FAQ, but I wanted just a little more specific of an answer), should the one fish make it, and the vendor do the right thing and ship another next week (the next available time I'll be around during shipping hours), how much of an issue am I going to have adding a fish later (as opposed to using the grow out technique I had planned)?

 

[MarinaP]

Sorry to hear that one of your fish was DOA. How much water/O2 was in the bags?

If you get another fish from the same vendor, chances are you will be getting a sibling of the clown that you already have. They will go through domination game and hopefully pair up nicely. One week gap in adding them to the tank should not matter.

If you decide to order from a different vendor, I would try and make sure that your next clown comes from a different hatchery. That way, if your clowns decide to breed, you will be mixing two blood lines (hopefully). I would grow the one that you have for a couple of months and then order the smallest one to create a pair.

Good luck.

 

[BHF]

The water/O2 levels looked fine. Not great, but certainly enough to survive the trip. Didn't think of the fact that they're probably siblings. Excellent point. And I'm not even worried about breeding at this point. I was just looking for a nice pair for my tank. If they breed, well...cool...but it certainly isn't my focus.

Thanks for the clarification.

 

[MarinaP]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8291050#post8291050 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by BHF
I was just looking for a nice pair for my tank.

If you end up ordering again, ask for a clown with three full bars and no jaw deformities.

 

[BHF]

More good advice. The one I have has three full bars...doesn't look to have any jaw deformities, but then again, he (soon to be she, I guess) won't sit still long enough for me to get a good look.

Did a two hour aclimation on him, and recently let him loose in the tank. Wasn't interested in food (no great surprise), but is swimming well and exploring the tank. Little guy looks to be a survivor.

 

[RC Anemone]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8291125#post8291125 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by MarinaP
If you end up ordering again, ask for a clown with three full bars and no jaw deformities.

Is it common for some clowns to have jaw deformities? Like black clowns or true percs? What does a deformed jaw look like? I'm just wondering because this is the first time I've heard of this. Thank you.

 

[Raibaru]

I just got one today too that didn't make it. Its jaw did look a little deformed and it didn't have full stripes.

But when I unpacked him he was very faded and stressed out. He colored up good during acclimation but remained pretty lethargic and such. After 2 hours of acclimating I put him in and he sank to the bottom. He would try to swim and make darts for the surface and such (almost like he was trying to breath air) but after only a couple hours he settled to the bottom and died.

A shame too because I have a feeling if I drove to the shop to get him instead of having him mailed he probably would have made it.

Everything else from the order survived though.

 

[Geogal17]

Not sure if the jaw problems are just with black oc. but I think I remember reading it had something to do with too much inbreeding from a particular hatchery. I used to have one such poor fish, the bottom jaw had a very pronouncable "overbite" where its lower jaw looked smashed in....kinda like the poor clown was always biting on its lower lip. Too bad I cant find the pictures I had of it just now or Id post them for you.


Our of curiosity marina is there a vandor/breeder you can recomend for finding a nice black ocel.? I miss the pair I had may they RIP- and its such hit and miss at LFS sometimes, Im almost just willing to special order them if its a reputable vendor.

 

[RC Anemone]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8293197#post8293197 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Geogal17
Not sure if the jaw problems are just with black oc. but I think I remember reading it had something to do with too much inbreeding from a particular hatchery. I used to have one such poor fish, the bottom jaw had a very pronouncable "overbite" where its lower jaw looked smashed in....kinda like the poor clown was always biting on its lower lip. Too bad I cant find the pictures I had of it just now or Id post them for you.

Thank you. I'm glad I saw this thread before I purchased a pair from my LFS. All five in the tank looked like you described (I think). Their bottom jaw "hooked" up and in. So like you say, it almost looked like they were biting their bottom lip. I wish I could see a picture of this, because I have a true perc that seems to have a longer lower jaw than his top jaw. And his forehead is not as round as my other clown. Which is different from the black clowns I saw.