I received a shipment of fish and coral today from a friend who has taken his tank down as he's moving and will be unable to rebuild his tank for the next year or so. I got two perc clowns, a bicolor blenny and many corals, to include Frogspawn.
My friend, and to his credit, is anal retentive. He does nothing half-way or "good enough," and so I was shocked when the box came today and it was crushed and wet. FedEx hated the box and wanted to see it die!
I opened the box to find it soaking wet and the bags containing the female perc and the bicolor were nearly empty, except for the fish themselves. They were breathing heavily and it was clear I had to act quickly if I were to save them. Drip acclimation would have been great! But there was nothing to drip into! I began filling a container with the water they did have and filled it to the point they were able to breathe upright. Then I did my best to acclimate by pouring in water at intervals over a 30 minutes period. I'm certain they had a shock... not only from being in a near-waterless bag, but the acclimation, too. The other perc's bag was full and I acclimated him in temp and drip as normal... over a 30 minute period, constant dripping.
The corals' bags were in bag shape, too. I measured the salinity of the water and it came to 1.023 (slightly above) and mine is 1.025 (slightly below). The corals were dipped and dipped again in fresh salt water and them simply put into the tank. I've been told acclimating corals is not that big an issue so I figured I better get them in before they too ran out of water.
So that's my experience... FedEx I'm so disappointed in you. But what's done is done and now I wait.
The percs are rubbing up against one another and being close while exploring. The bicolor is no where to be found (not a surprise). The corals are slowly opening.
Any advice from here on what I might do to help the refugees? I figure the next 24hours will tell me if I will have survivors or not.
My friend, and to his credit, is anal retentive. He does nothing half-way or "good enough," and so I was shocked when the box came today and it was crushed and wet. FedEx hated the box and wanted to see it die!
I opened the box to find it soaking wet and the bags containing the female perc and the bicolor were nearly empty, except for the fish themselves. They were breathing heavily and it was clear I had to act quickly if I were to save them. Drip acclimation would have been great! But there was nothing to drip into! I began filling a container with the water they did have and filled it to the point they were able to breathe upright. Then I did my best to acclimate by pouring in water at intervals over a 30 minutes period. I'm certain they had a shock... not only from being in a near-waterless bag, but the acclimation, too. The other perc's bag was full and I acclimated him in temp and drip as normal... over a 30 minute period, constant dripping.
The corals' bags were in bag shape, too. I measured the salinity of the water and it came to 1.023 (slightly above) and mine is 1.025 (slightly below). The corals were dipped and dipped again in fresh salt water and them simply put into the tank. I've been told acclimating corals is not that big an issue so I figured I better get them in before they too ran out of water.
So that's my experience... FedEx I'm so disappointed in you. But what's done is done and now I wait.
The percs are rubbing up against one another and being close while exploring. The bicolor is no where to be found (not a surprise). The corals are slowly opening.
Any advice from here on what I might do to help the refugees? I figure the next 24hours will tell me if I will have survivors or not.
My tank isn't big enough to house 30+ heads, I think!
