Use overnight delivery service

[beachcichlid]

I can't stress enough to the members of this forum to use an overnight delivery service when ordering any fish online. Within the past months, I have ordered a total of 12 apistogrammas; I've had them delivered twice by US Postal Priority and once (thinking I had learned my lesson) by Express. Of the 12 fish only 3 have survived the journey. The rest were dead in the bag. Save yourself the grief and have them delivered the next day.

 

[tjudy]

Sorry to hear that. I am curious to know what the high temperatures were when the fish were being shipped? Did the shipper use breather bags?

I use Priority Mail and have had very few problems, but I follow a few 'rules':

• Breather bags.... take up less space so I can use a smaller box with thicker insulation. I usually use a pharmaceutical styro. Breather bags also are less likely to overheat because there is no air. Water heats up more slowly than air does. The opposite is true in Winter. Warm water loses heat more slowly than warm air does.
• 85 F limit. If the high temps where I live or where the fish are going are above 85 F, I do not ship Priority. I do not like shipping into a place with high temps at all. Most temperature-related problems are caused on the receiving end. Boxes are in delivery vehicles most of the day.

When I am receiving fish and cannot be home to accept them, I leave a large cooler (yes, large enough for a standard fish styro) in a shaded place (luckily my deck is north-facing) and leave a not for the delivery driver to put the box in the cooler.

When temperatures are high, not even overnight is a guarantee of shipping success.

 

[animalmgc]

yea me as well.Once did I have a problem but found out from the
shipper that it was -15 were he was at.So I suggested laying off sending replacements til the weather got better.And I've had fish shipped from New York to San Diego

 

[Nebraska_cichlids]

Ted, I don't use breather bags because of some bad experience I've had. The sellers put the bags in a box with newspaper and/or corn-based packing chips. Since the breather bags always get moist on the outside, the bags were a slimy mess when they arrived, due to the dissolving paper and starch. Once I lost all the fish, the other time they all survived.

 

[beachcichlid]

For the most recent delivery, the temperature from the departing location was 65 to 70 degrees, and the arriving location was 75 to 80 degrees. The fish traveled for 2 days in doubled plastic bags. All fish were in a styrofoam container in a cardboard box. The water was clear upon arrival and all the fish, even the dead ones, looked "good." The breeder of the fish is a professional; I'm just grumbling about my luck. I talked to my LFS owner who used to work in the wholesale tropical fish business about this incident. He told me that there was always some loss (10% to 20%) when fish are shipped. He asked if they were sent with a heat pack since, in his words, "it gets cold on airplanes." I didn't order a heat pack, but I think I'll request it in the future. I suppose in lieu of overnight, you should request insulation and a heatpack. Anyway, I did have 2 apistos survive (interestingly enough, the two smallest ones) and I'm going to focus on the positive.

 

[jmtrops]

I ship about 100 orders a year, 90% are shipped priority mail and I have maybe a 1% loss rate. First, I always use a thick molded styro. Second, dont feed the fish for 2 days before you ship. Third, I bag them 1 per bag. Even 1/2 " fish are bagged that way. I cant remember how many times Ive got 1/2" fish packed all together in a 6" wide bag all dead. I use bag buddies and no oxygin. I use heat packs if the temps are below 60 and I don't put a hole in the styro for the heat pack. This works for me.

 

[Hassles]

10 Cents Worth

I recently ordered a pair of Apisrogrammoides pullcapaenas and specified overnight freight (post). The fish were individually bagged (double bagged) with some Stress Guard added. The bags were wrapped in newspaper and placed into a foam box. 5 days later the parcel arrived!!! upon opening the box in noted that both fish were alive and lively enough. I was stunned! The usual acclimitisation procedure was followed after the exchange of 'some' water (I was paranoid about oxygen depletion). Both fish survive to this day. I am still amazed and hopes of their breeding soon.

Personally I only freight airport to airport which in this country has the fish safely delivered within a few hours. I also only add a single fish to any bag.

take care