Shipping Fish- Am I The Best Or The Luckiest?

[TwoTankAmin]

On Tuesday the 30th of April I filled a box with 20 young L450 plecos ranging in size from 1.5+ to 2 inches TL. @ bags held 5 fish each, 2 bags held 4 fish each and one smaller bag held two fish and one bag was filled with assorted ferns. I packed the fish for a 3 day trip and used a 40 hour heat pack and the bags were surrounded with packing peanuts.
 
The box arrived today at 1 pm after I had them trace it. That is close to 8 days.
 
The recipient reported she opened the box, took out the first bag, the water was clear but the temp was 62F. And the fish were all alive. In fact all 20 were alive.
 
The largest one was in the worst shape. It had lost all its color and was very listless. She used an old trick more common with larger fish and took it in her hand and placed in front of the outflow of a powerhead to move more water across the gills and body. (Incidentally this is my plop and drop friend.)
 
The fish revived and started to color some.
 
She will keep me posted as to how they do. I think if they make it 24 hours they should be OK.
 
What makes this all the more unusual is the fact that the parents of these fish survived the great boiling incident where they went up to 105F and now their kids suffered a drop to 62F.
 
So now I wonder- am I a great packer or just lucky as heck?
 
 

 

[Noahsfish]

I vote lucky as heck haha

 

[Aquamaniac]

I vote both.
But lucky is definitely the best way to put it.
Besides 20 lucky fish thats alot of luck to go around.

 

[NeonBlueLeon]

Wow you've got a fish family of fighters!  I vote both as well.

 

[daizeUK]

Me too... but why were the fish in transit for 8 days?  Maybe you need to look for a new courier!

 

[Shelster]

Me too... but why were the fish in transit for 8 days?  Maybe you need to look for a new courier!

I totally agree with this.

Super lucky, but obviously your packaging paid a considerable part - phew!

 

[PrairieSunflower]

Yeah, I'd never use that courier again!

 

[the_lock_man]

The courier is the lucky one, I reckon.

 

[CezzaXV]

I agree, a bit of both. You were lucky they survived that long, but them being packed the way they were would definitely have improved their chances.

 

[TallTree01]

A bit of both I think.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

It was the US Post Office that messed up. Delivery was expected in 2 days which was Thursday. When it did not arrive I assumed it was a day late. By the time I learned it was not there Friday I had misplaced my receipt with tracking info. I finally located it doing paperwork on Monday and called to file a report.
 
The Post Office had only one scan- the one for it leaving the P.O. The box was labelled in a super clear fashion on all sides saying Fragile- Live Tropical Fish. I waited until Wednesday morning to check online and they listed it as out for delivery or available for pickup.
 
I have probably shipped 100 boxes over the years using Priority mail with nary a one lost and only a few a day or so late. I even sent fish from NY to Alaska in early spring and had the fish arrive late (almost 5 days) with no losses. But this was the worst experience I have ever had sending fish through the mail.
 
I have not heard yet today how the fish fared overnight. I am a bit worried about the biggest one that arrived in the worst condition and needed to be revived.

 

[Shelster]

Fingers crossed for the big guy, lets hope you have a result from the post offices incompetence!

 

[TwoTankAmin]

Just got the final tally.

I lost 4 of the plecos, but the others *seem* fine. The four that I lost just wouldn't move. I have no idea. Have their temp up to 83ish and good air circulation. The rest are feeding well and seemingly active.

 

[daizeUK]

Sorry for the losses.  That must be gutting after raising the fish and doing your best for them.  It's great that so many survived though!

 

[TwoTankAmin]

This was the second disaster with these fish. Last year she had 26 of them in her fish room which flooded. they were pumping out a casement window over night and the temp dropped in the room. Three tanks got really bad ich and nothing cured it. All three tanks were wiped out, the pleco tank was one.
 
What got these fish as far as i can tell was the low temp.
 
Fortunately, the breeding group go like rabbits and I likely have another 50-75 assorted fry. Spotted a very recent spawn out today while cleaning the tank.