Reef nutrition

How do you acclimate fish that have been shipped to you?

Patio

Supporting Member
I have never received a fish in the mail before however I am expecting my first to deliver early next week. Is there anything different about receiving a fish in the mail, as opposed to picking one up form LFS, that I should consider?

Appreciate any helpful advice!
 
It is a pre qt fish.

I am wondering if there is anything extra to worry about with a fish in a bag overnight vs a fish I pick up from the LFS. I was planning on following Live Aquaria acclimation process.

 
Some people inject Seachem prime to the bag to neutralize ammonia built up during shipping, prior to opening the bag and introducing fresh oxygen. However, don't do this if the water has copper meds in it, as the ammonia reducers warn not to do this (supposedly breaks the copper med compound into a more toxic form).
 
I usually just treat them the same.
Low light.
Float bag 15 minutes, to get temperature correct.
Slowly add small scoops of water, and removing small scoops of old water.
Should take 2 hours.
Then QT as normal.

Since I use bucket tank transfer method for QT, I usually try to never touch them with a net for 24 hours.
That means some leftover ammonia from original shipping water is in the bucket, but small enough I think it is worth it.

I prefer float method over drip, but that is personal preference. There are subtle pros/cons to each, but I really don't see any serious difference.
 
I was more worried than I needed to be... Went with the normal process (same as rygh mentions above) that I always do for LFS purchased fish. The lights had not turned on yet so no adjustment there.

White Tail Kole was grazing off the rock work within seconds of releasing from the bag, a pleasant surprise. Hopefully things continue to go well.

Ocean Devotion LA did the quarantining. I would purchase from them again with confidence.
 
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I was more worried than I needed to be... Went with the normal process (same as rygh mentions above) that I always do for LFS purchased fish. The lights had not turned on yet so no adjustment there.

White Tail Kole was grazing off the rock work within seconds of releasing from the bag, a pleasant surprise. Hopefully things continue to go well.

Ocean Devotion LA did the quarantining. I would purchase from them again with confidence.
I’ve purchased a lot of fish from Adam at ocean devotion. I second the recommendation.
 
  • Like
Reactions: JVU
I have never received a fish in the mail before however I am expecting my first to deliver early next week. Is there anything different about receiving a fish in the mail, as opposed to picking one up form LFS, that I should consider?

Appreciate any helpful advice!
I was more worried than I needed to be... Went with the normal process (same as rygh mentions above) that I always do for LFS purchased fish. The lights had not turned on yet so no adjustment there.

White Tail Kole was grazing off the rock work within seconds of releasing from the bag, a pleasant surprise. Hopefully things continue to go well.

Ocean Devotion LA did the quarantining. I would purchase from them again with confidence.
I’m glad it turned out well!

Reading between the lines I think you were asking about what you hear online about ammonia buildup and low pH in shipped fish bags, with the ammonia becoming suddenly more dangerous when the pH rises from your room air and drip acclimation. My understanding is that this is mostly applicable to fish traveling more than overnight delivery and/or very small water volumes, like from a wholesaler/collector. For quality retail outfits that send overnight and give enough water it generally isn’t a problem, just acclimate temp and salinity and you’re done. If you are worried you can add a tiny bit of Prime at first.
 
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