recieving fish and corals from singapore

[BARUCH MOR]

hi all.
we have a fish shop in ISRAEL and until recentlly we use to sell marine fish that we bought from israeli importers.
on sunday we are going to recieve our first shippment from singapore by ourselves.

what do we need to do when the fish and the corals (softies) arrive to the shop?

 

[mr.wilson]

I hope you have CITES permits, as they're necessary for soft corals as well.

Singapore doesn't have a marine fish collecting industry. They import from Indonesia, The Philippines, and Sri Lanka. You would be wise to do the same. Sri Lanka imports quite a bit of Red Sea fish for re-export. Perhaps you could arrange a trade. You can find suppliers through the chamber of commerce or foreign consulate office.

Fish coming from long distances should be added to water of the same parameters and NOT dripped in containers. Dripping and floating bags is too stressful and allows ammonia to become toxic as the PH rises in the bag. Dripping and floating is still the best method for locally purchased livestock.

You can use water or salt to match the salinity, ice or heaters to match the temperature, and Co2 or hydrochloric (muriatic) acid to match the PH.

The fish will probably arrive at 68 F, 1.018-1.019 SG, and 6.7 PH. You may need them to ship extra ice packs for Israel.

Unpack in the dark and place the new fish directly into corrected water. Discard the shipping water and add copper and antibiotics accordingly.

You should dip the corals in saltwater with iodine.

 

[billsreef]

Go with the hydrochloric acid for dropping the pH, not the the CO2. Reason being, elevetated levels of CO2 are detrimental to respiration.

 

[mr.wilson]

Some people choose Co2 because they are matching the gas composition in the shipping bags. Co2 is off-gassed quicker than acid, so I use the latter, as it slowly raises the PH over 6-12 hours.

The other argument I've heard for the use of Co2 is Boyles Law. Something about gases not being able to exchange freely, and swimbladder damage. Chemistry isn't my thing.

 

[BARUCH MOR]

what about O-PHOSPHORIC ACID?
i use this to lower the ph for f/w fish coming from south america

 

[billsreef]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8854835#post8854835 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by BARUCH MOR
what about O-PHOSPHORIC ACID?
i use this to lower the ph for f/w fish coming from south america

It will work In fact it used to be what was used for the liquid pH down solutions sold for use in FW tanks, till they realized it contributed to phosphate problems and algae growth.

 

[BARUCH MOR]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8851584#post8851584 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by mr.wilson

You should dip the corals in saltwater with iodine.

i have heard that but wanted to know why...

 

[billsreef]

A brief iodine dip can knock back some protozoan and bacteria, whose populations have likely become astronomical in the shipping bag. It's not a cure all, but will improve your DAA rate compared to not dipping.

 

[GreshamH]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8853110#post8853110 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by billsreef
Go with the hydrochloric acid for dropping the pH, not the the CO2. Reason being, elevetated levels of CO2 are detrimental to respiration.

I've had the opportunity to work at facilities using both methods (even tried using soda water with quinine (like some french importers do). The acid method proved to be easier to use, as well as produced a lower DOA/DAA/ Especially on the DAA side. Don't know why, but the numbers couldn't lie to me.

 

[GreshamH]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8855374#post8855374 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by billsreef
A brief iodine dip can knock back some protozoan and bacteria, whose populations have likely become astronomical in the shipping bag. It's not a cure all, but will improve your DAA rate compared to not dipping.

But you have to be careful with certain species of corals when dipping. Some don't like it as much as others, especially ones that sat in the bag for 24 hours. Most wholesalers do not do any dipping, at least on the west coast.

 

[billsreef]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8855378#post8855378 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by GreshamH
I've had the opportunity to work at facilities using both methods (even tried using soda water with quinine (like some french importers do). The acid method proved to be easier to use, as well as produced a lower DOA/DAA/ Especially on the DAA side. Don't know why, but the numbers couldn't lie to me.

It allows the fishes blood chemistry to get back to normal faster than the CO2 method

 

[mr.wilson]

Phosphoric acid also causes calcium to fall out of solution to form calcium phosphate precipitate. Your holding tanks will look like it's snowing if you use phosphoric acid.

Corals react well to saltwater dips with oxidizing agents like iodine, potassium dichromate, potassium permanganate, peroxide, or mercurochrome. Freshwater dips are where you see major problems with certain corals.

You need to make sure you frequently change the oxidizing/disinfectant dip, or you will spread disease and toxic compounds.

Leather corals will need some help sloughing off their "skin", for the first few days.

Unpacking the fish in very subdued lighting is very important. Photo-shock is very hard on fish.

Hatch brine shrimp so they can eat as soon as they're ready.

 

[toddlaco]

I hate to hijack this thread, but I am setting up a Red Sea Reef Flat biotope and having a hard time getting true Red Sea SPS.

Bob Fenner advised me to try and contact European reefers. I noticed the author of this thread is from Isreal and thought that I may be able to grab a lead on acquiring some TRUE SPS from the Red Sea here.

Once again sorry for hijacking and thanks for any help you all can offer.

 

[PSFB]

Has anyone tried acclimating in normal system water with an ammonia neutraliser added to the water? Something like Ammo-loc from Hagen? If you put soem system water into a holding tank and then added amm-loc to it, and then used this water to acclimate the fish it would neutralise the ammonia as the water mixed?

I'm normally on the other end of the equation - packing the fish for a 36 hour+ journey.