Question about Ora clown shipments.

[Ssteve]

Planning on getting a couple clowns from my lfs but they aren't something that's normally stocked, so therefor they will need to special order them for me. I'm wondering what my best practice would be for receiving them and acclimation? Here's the conundrum; my lfs gets their shipment in the early afternoon. 11:00-1:00, I'm off work at 5:00-6:00. So that's 4-6hrs sitting there. Should I let them tank them and then repackage them and take them home(I'm about 10min drive from my lfs)? Or should I make them keep them over night and get them the next day? I would hate to loose one, not to mention I plan on a grade A Picasso so I can't really afford to be purchasing multiple Picasso's.

 

[seamonkey84]

I personally do that myself, although working at the store and recieving them myself allows me to asses the state of the fish and the water it's shipped in. If you have them set it aside for you to pick up, as long as the water quality isn't bad, then have them remove the heat pack and keep them in the styrofoam box, as the slightly cooler temp will slow the metabolism down so not to further degrade the water.
In my opinion this is a better way to pick up your fish, so they don't have to acclimate twice in a day or two span, plus it doesn't expose them to whatever may be in the stores system. They pack the fish so that even if the shipment is delayed, there is still a good chance of survival, as long as external temps aren't extreme.

 

[Ssteve]

Question, could I leave them floating in their bags in my tank for about 4hrs? Given my lunch schedule I could always grab them from my LFS and set them in my tank, but I wouldn't have time to drip acclimate them.