buying fish that's been shipped: what to expect

[manal]

I'm sticking with Flip Aquatics for online purchases after having some subpar experiences with other sellers. Their fish always arrive in top-notch condition, and I've learned the hard way that trying to cut costs can end up costing more in the long run. The overnight shipping can be a bit steep unless you're spending over $100, but I'd rather pay a premium for healthy fish. I'm not looking to shop around unless I'm after some rare or specialty fish that they don't carry. Unfortunately, the local fish store here isn't much better than the big-box pet store.

[bettaMagenta]

I've had my fair share of mail-order experiences, and let me tell you, some sellers are a nightmare. But then there are those that truly stand out, like Dan's Fish - they're definitely one of the best I've come across.

[WildFins]

I've had a great experience with Dan's Fish - 100% survival rate, top-notch customer service. I actually live super close to their warehouse, which is a bonus. I've never had fish shipped from them, but all my fish except my rope are from Dan's. They're really reliable, and I'd definitely recommend them.

I've also heard great things about WetSpot - they seem to have a really good reputation. I don't have personal experience with them, but they might be worth checking out if you're in the market for some new fish.

[coltin]

I'm starting to think I'm the odd one out here, but I've had nothing but issues with shipped fish. Three times I've tried it, and each time it's been a disaster. First time, entire aquarium wiped out. Second time, 50% of the fish didn't make it. And this last time, about a third have died so far after just 2 days. I've used both Aquatic Arts and Aqua Huna, so it's not like it's just one supplier. I tried the drip acclimation method the first two times, and this last time I went with plop and drop. My quarantine tank has been running for 3 months, fully cycled, so I don't think that's the issue. Anyone have any ideas what's going on?

If you're dealing with sick fish, I'd suggest starting a new thread to get more specific help or posting about it here. It's always helpful to include pictures and videos of the fish - just upload them to YouTube and paste the link.

If your fish are dying right after a water change, it's probably chlorine or chloramine poisoning. To combat this, double dose your aquarium with dechlorinator and increase aeration and surface turbulence. Rainbowfish are particularly sensitive to chemicals, so be extra careful.

When adding tap water to your aquarium, make sure you dechlorinate it first.

If your rainbowfish get sick, try adding some salt. I've found this can be really effective. Here's how I do it:

Add rock salt, swimming pool salt, or non-iodized salt (sodium chloride) to the aquarium at a rate of 1 heaped tablespoon per 20 liters (5 gallons) of water. If you don't see any improvement after 48 hours, you can double the dose to 2 heaped tablespoons per 20 liters.

Keep the salt level like this for at least 2 weeks, but no longer than 4 weeks. If you have fish from soft water (like tetras, Corydoras, angelfish, or gouramis), be careful not to overdo it, as high salt levels can cause kidney damage over time. However, for rainbowfish and other salt-tolerant species, this shouldn't be an issue.

The salt won't harm your beneficial filter bacteria, fish, plants, shrimp, or snails.

Once your fish have recovered, start doing 10% water changes each day for a week, using only dechlorinated fresh water. Then do 20% water changes each day for a week. After that, you can do bigger water changes. This will slowly dilute the salt out of the tank without stressing the fish.

If you're doing water changes while using salt, remember to treat the new water with salt before adding it to the tank. This will keep the salt level stable and minimize stress on the fish.

When you first add salt, mix it with a small bucket of tank water to dissolve it. Then slowly pour the salt water into the tank near the filter outlet, adding it over a couple of minutes.

[TwinTankman]

Actually what Collin said about the bacteria and salt isn't entirely accurate. I've been reading up on this topic and from what I understand, the diversity of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria is greater in freshwater than in saltwater. Dr. Hovanec's research and others have shown this to be true.

One study, Se, H et. al., took cycled freshwater tanks and converted them to saltwater to see what would happen. What they found was that there are indeed more strains of ammonia oxidizers in freshwater. This got me thinking about the differences between fresh and saltwater fish when it comes to cycling issues. One major difference is nitrite - for freshwater fish, it's a big deal, but for saltwater fish, it's rarely a problem.

The reason for this is that saltwater fish are constantly exposed to chloride from salt, which helps to combat nitrite. In freshwater, we have to add salt to get chloride into the water, but this is usually only a short-term solution. I'm not sure if adding salt to a freshwater tank for two weeks would cause some bacterial strains to die back, but it's possible that other strains would replace them. I've read that this can cause an ammonia spike, but I'm not entirely sure how this works.

There's a study by Grommen, R., Dauw, L. and Verstraete, W. (2005) that looked at the effects of elevated salinity on ammonia-oxidizing bacteria in aquarium biofilters. What they found was that the community of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria became less diverse in saltwater. This makes sense, given what we know about the differences between fresh and saltwater fish.