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Tips for Mail Ordering Saltwater Livestock
Important Shipping and Packing Considerations - Page 5
 More of this Feature
• Shipping Considerations Before Buying
• About Packing Procedures
• About Shipping Bags
• About Shipping Water
• Before & After A Shipment Arrives
 Learn More About
• Tips for Pre-Acclimating Livestock
• What Acclimate Means & Reasons for Acclimating
 How to Acclimate
• The Drip Line Way
• The Measuring Cup Way
• The Turkey Baster Way
 Related Resources
• How to Acclimate Mangrove Plants
 
 From Other Guides
• How to Add Fish to a Freshwater Aquarium
 
 Elsewhere on the Web
• About Acclimating & Moving Livestock
• About Fish & Invertebrate Care
 

Before & After A Shipment Arrives

  • Prior to buying and receiving a shipment, you should already have an acclimation procedure of choice picked out.
  • No matter what procedure you use, it is especially important to ventilate the shipping bag(s) as soon as possible, because even though a shipper may use an ammonia buffer to reduce or eliminate ammonia build up, CO2 (carbon dioxide) accumulates as well.
  • Once the shipment arrives, promptly acclimate the livestock into their new home, preferably by way of a QT (Quarantine Tank) for a few weeks of observation first, then acclimate for introduction into the main aquarium.
  • The only exception for bypassing proper acclimation procedures is during a critical situation when a fish has poked a hole in a bag and almost all the water is gone or their is none, but the fish is still alive. The only thing you can do to remedy this situation is to immediately hang the bag in the tank, pour in tank water, insert an airstone to provide oxygen relief, and pray the fish doesn't go into shock. We have revived many a near death fish using this method, even a very delicate juvenile Regal Angelfish once.
    • NEVER just dump a stressed fish in this type of situation into a tank where other established fish are present unless it can be separated, because harassment is sure to occur and this lessens it changes for survivability.

Stan & Debbie Hauter
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