UPS is the Devil

as already said before, drip acclimating after being in a sealed bag for so long was not the best thing. When you unsealed the bag the pH dropped like a rock and the waste that was in the water turned the water into ammonia soup in short order. That being said for any one reading this thread and has had a fish shipped and has been bagged longer than 12 hours best procedure would to be to float the sealed bag for 15 min then cut the bag open and immediately remove the fish from the shipping water into your tank. the stress from a difference in ph/salinity is much more desirable than having the fish be ammonia poisoned.

To the op, you may be able put him in a separate small tank with methelyne blue and an airstone (5 gal or smaller would be plenty, just giving the guy a therapeutic soak, not a new home) let him hang out in that for a while.
 
Gotsoup said:
Here is a video of him before I seperated him from the DT. He is still doing the same thing. Tried live crayfish this evening to no avail. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NFj6e6F7YwI
Click to expand...

That's too bad. Puffers eyes are always changing direction and looking around, you can tell his arent moving at all, he definitely looks blind plus he is running into everything.

Not much you can do at that point but hope that with good TLC he might recover some sight.
 
Yea, I do not have a long term 2nd tank and he still hasnt eaten, so I am hoping a long starvation or fish attacking him isnt the result. Sucks for sure.
 
Hard to watch...that's a beautiful fish and Recty is right. Absolutely no movement from the eyes.

I would watch him and if he doesn't eat for another week or two and is losing weight I'd give him a nice ice bath to keep from having to watch it any longer. I would have already though and he obviously is a fighter.

If he starts eating...who knows what will happen...he might grow legs and go postal on UPS.

Good luck.
 
How much did this fish cost?

You should consider a quarintine tank, for future purchases. All you need is a 10-20 gallon, heater and a sponge filter.

Will certianly pay for itself fast.

Swimming issue was probably due to air in the body.

Puffers will often ingest air when pulled out of the water. It may take several days before they can expell it all.
 
Bah, and it's a nice golden....so sad.

I had a very similar experience when I lived in Iowa. I ordered a nice yellow-throat dogface puffer from Diver's Den and they sent it FedX(WAY better than UPS for live fish ime. I knew my driver and he'd actually call me in the morning to tell me he was on the way because he knew it was a live fish and put me first of the days dropoffs).

Problem is there was a freak blizzard and the puffer got stuck in Denver for two days. When he finally got to me I figured dead fish but he too was still alive just like yours. Both of his eyes were milky white and he wasn't doing well at all but he was fighting.

Long story short a week of pain and suffering later he finally just died in the night after I did everything I could to save him, spending what seemed like a fortune on salt and medicine. It was a total failure and I almost quit keeping fish that day.

Of course LiveAquaria credited my card immediately which was helpful but tbh it wasn't worth it. I HATED that week of my life and have never felt more sorry for a fish. You couldn't pay me to go through that again, let alone me paying them.

Watching such a personality-based fish like a puffer (who usually is always watching you and interacting with you to make you smile/laugh) not be able to see and just bump around the tank like a blind man without a cane is DEPRESSING.

You buy a nice puffer like that to love and laugh at, not feel bad about everytime you look at the tank. I was almost relieved when he finally died. Sad as that sounds...total bummer.

I hope he recovers fully, but having been through it myself I feel bad for you regardless of how it turns out. UPS...bah!
 
Thanks, I usually use a Quarantine, but it really didn't matter in this case. Air in the body was not a factor in this situation. I am familiar with that issue and have burped a couple puffers in my time..lol. The puffer was $400 and ReefHotSpot did not charge me and is looking for a new one for me. I am debating about giving him to my LFS to see if they have any better luck getting him to eat now that he is blind. RHS also changed from UPS to FedEx because of this experience, which I thought was impressive. The owner has actually called me every night to to check on the progress. But yea it sucks, He was perfect color and is exactly what I was looking for... Damn UPS. Thanks for everyones advice, I was really hoping for a happy ending but I appreciate everyone trying to help via Internet.
 
This sucks because that is a beautiful fish. I'm impressed with RHS you got him from though I have never herd of a fish being shipped in that much water. I may have to check them out.
-Bill
 
Looks more like brain damage to me than blind. I've seen a blind scooter blenny before and its eyes where more cloudy.
 
Q?
Why has this gone to a topic about reef hot spot. They are not even a RC sponsor. The puffer situation is not fun for any of us to watch but I see no evidence of poor caretaking, just a bad ups deal - and yes the only way to ship is fedex - I had a guy in the military send a 16 inch horn shark overnight mail thru th usps and it showed up 36 hrs later. - same kind of deal the shark fine now, this fish is blind I wonder what the long bag time effect was. It may not have been 100 percent from the start.

-good luck I woulld take the blind puffer if I was close

- how bout a handi capped fish adoption house?
 
FishBoy05 said:
Q?
Why has this gone to a topic about reef hot spot. They are not even a RC sponsor. The puffer situation is not fun for any of us to watch but I see no evidence of poor caretaking, just a bad ups deal - and yes the only way to ship is fedex - I had a guy in the military send a 16 inch horn shark overnight mail thru th usps and it showed up 36 hrs later. - same kind of deal the shark fine now, this fish is blind I wonder what the long bag time effect was. It may not have been 100 percent from the start.

-good luck I woulld take the blind puffer if I was close

- how bout a handi capped fish adoption house?
Click to expand...
Cause this a hobbyist forum and it is good to know that a business like reef hot spot is willing to honor there guarantee for those that plan future purchases.

Imo the blind eyes are probably due to severe ammonia burns, and no matter who you use as a shipper this stuff happens whether it is Delta cargo southwest fed ex ups or usps some are just better than others.

Back to topic hopefully he can pull through for you if not good luck on your next one.
 
Thanks, I agree with the possible ammonia burns. The reason I brought up the company was because the owner called me daily and changed from UPS to Fed Ex after the whole situation took place. Many on line retailers do not give that sort of customer service. Regardless it sucks to watch. I am thinking about giving him to a LFS to see if they maybe can give him more attention. He still hasn't eaten so I am running out of ideas.
 
Do you have a large sump you could keep him in to live alone? That's what I'd do with him. If not, I'd call up the lfs and see if they will take him for one of their sumps...

Hope he at least starts eating
 
Recty said:
I dont think fish experience pain like humans... they know something is wrong but I dont think it's sitting there hurting and wishing for death. We always want to put our "advanced" human emotions and intellect onto animals but for the most part it isnt needed.
Click to expand...


Seriously?????????
 
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