Mildly controversial topic, prestressing fish for shipping

[SubRosa]

Thanks RustyRay. I have not found any journal papers, only experiences and stories from people who have experienced these deaths. I may send Frank Falcone an email and ask him to share what he knows.

Frank spoke at the Bucks County Aquarium Society on Corys a few months ago (like having Manny Pacquiao lecture on boxing technique) and one thing that he said which I distinctly remember was that he advised (I am paraphrasing a bit) that when buying Corys at an lfs to find the most inept fish catcher to catch them. His reasoning was that by the time the klutz got the fish into the net that the toxin would have already been released.

 

[Cerianthus]

btw, has anyone seen how gbr are packed from SE Asia? I couldnt believe my eyes when first received as they are individually packed with droplets of water to keep them wet in similar, not same bag, to male bettas. To my surprise, in better shape than ones from Florida (lot shorter trip and bagged in one large bag).
I was amazed at their packing skills but not on their ability to produce so unnatural fishes, such as tattoo fish, glo fish, parrots, flowerhorn, etc, etc.

 

[Cerianthus]

Frank spoke at the Bucks County Aquarium Society on Corys a few months ago (like having Manny Pacquiao lecture on boxing technique) and one thing that he said which I distinctly remember was that he advised (I am paraphrasing a bit) that when buying Corys at an lfs to find the most inept fish catcher to catch them. His reasoning was that by the time the klutz got the fish into the net that the toxin would have already been released.

Personally, I would never net them out as many can get tangled up on the net. I would gently herd them into container in the water.
Perhaps I shouldve chase them a bit.
I dont recall any complication with my methods locally though but what you heard makes sense as packing staffs at the farms are usually fighting against time (departure time of flight).

 

[msjinkzd]

Thanx Rachel! Looking forward to it.

How many do you usually ship in what size bag & volume of H2O vs O2? I usually shipped/received in box lot. Are you pumping O2? Perhaps not as O2 tank should not be inadequately stored at home (bomb in case of fire).

I do use o2, my husband is a welder I have a travel bottle and one in the fishroom (secured to the wall, no worries). How I bag depends on the size of the order as I do some wholesale as well as sell to hobbyists. The majority of my orders are in the 4x18 bags. I usually do 10 cories per bag, 1/3 water 2/3 air which is about 3C ( I think) of water. The majority of the cories I ship are subadult or just around 1.5". Dwarf species are obviously smaller but proportional quantities are used though I use the smaller bag as the corners are tighter and less chance of a less than 1" fish getting stuck.

Now back to degree of prestress, I am guessing what weve been discussing in ref to vid is totally unneccessary as Ive been saying that precedure involved with shipment may be enough stress factors.
What is mild agitation?? not what's on the Vid.

The video was dramatic. I think it was meant in good fun but taken in poor taste. Typically if only netting 10 or so cories, I put them in a large dip and pour. Depending on how hard it was to catch them, I may just let them sit for a few minutes before the initial water change. When I have ALOT of something and it takes me 2.47 seconds to catch 20 fish, I put them in the bucket/dip and pour, give it a solid 2 or three thwacks for them to dart side to side then leave them for a few minutes. I usually notice the water gets a cloudy appearance, I pour them into a net and put them back into freshwater. I then go about catching whatever else I am shipping out that day (usually takes me 10-20 minutes or longer) then I repeat the action of tapping the corners of the buckets or dip and pour and repeat the water change. Then I bag and they are good to go.

 

[msjinkzd]

as a side note, when I got in wild rams...its was 200 in ONE bag from SE asia, lol. Depends on teh company sending them out. Most of the shipping methods employed by bulk shipping are just frightening though most fish arrive alive because of the airport to airport expediency.

 

[Cerianthus]

Air port to Air expediency? Are you kidding me? Especially thru Large International Airport such as LAX, Kennedy. etc. etc. I would be happy if they find my fish shipment w/o difficulty. They dont know one cargo from another, just another box with bar code, imo.

Afa I know Wild rams are not from SE Asia but from SA via Florida. They came somewhat roughed up but not as in good shape as when ind packed gbr from SE Asia.

btw, use tape on the corner to round them off a bit. It worked for me.
Flat bottom bag works well but cost more.

 

[msjinkzd]

yup! LOL Regardless, they come in in bags of 200 or more.


edit: this is why one should just go to bed when one is tired!

 

[Cerianthus]

yup! LOL Regardless, they come in in bags of 200 or more.


edit: this is why one should just go to bed when one is tired!

Are you suggesting me to go to bed? LOL!

Good Night!

 

[excuzzzeme]

FWIW - O2 in the home is not usually stored in large enough containers to be a hazard. As a fabricator, I had the huge bottles of Acetylene, Argon, Nitrogen, CO2, O2 in my garage at all times and piped a drop (O2) into the house for fish. To be able to use an O2 tank, the tank comes with an anti-flashback device precluding an explosion from accidental release. For there to be heat sufficient enough to cause an explosion, it is highly unlikely you would survive the heat anyhow. No O2 tank in the US is sold/leased without an anti-flashback.

BTW - cute video!

 

[Manolin]

Jetajockey,

That's a great idea pre-stressing the corys before you ship them. When I worked at the LFS I always found that it was always the catfish orders that had the worst mortality (it wouldn't be unusual to have a third to half of the incoming fish be dead or dying) and required the most recovery time before they were healthy enough to be taken out of quarantine and sold. My guess is that it was due to toxin releases during shipping that led to the number of deaths in those shipments. If the breeders we had bought from had taken the time to do what you did, I'm sure a lot more of the fish would have survived shipping.