Just got Live Fish Shipped...

There are two guards as to how to acclimate. Personally, I would follow how each guarantee stipulates as "correct." I've been luck to have never lost any livestock with slow acclimation, though I have only had one fish fished to me. All the rest were purchased locally.
If the cucs are stressed, keep them in the dark, it helps lower stress levels. Feather dusters are wierd, but don't count them out too fast. They retract their feathers when stressed, but it doesn't mean the worm is dead. Spray a little phyo to see if it will come out.
How have they done since you received them?

 

Come on...really?? I have a hard time believing this. The ONLY reason I'm even entertaining the thought is because I remember seeing a thread somewhere around here a long time ago about some guy who used this method with corals. But his success was limited even with corals. I'm not a marine biologist but don't fish need to be passing water through their gills at all times?

 

+1. I like to get them out of the bag ASAP.
As far as retailers go, a lot of them are changing their acclimation process to just this. I know reefcleaners has already, and I believe saltwaterfish.com has as well.

 

I lost one cuc... and the feather duster is making it... Watching it carefully and so far so good...

Everything else is A-OK!

 

Sorry to hear about losing one of the cucs. Dr. Fosters is really good about compensating losses like that though. I'm glad to hear everything else is coming along though.

 

I agree when they have been in the bag for a long time too. I ease them into the tank if it comes locally though. Just my personal preference. I would float the bag and dump them into QT right away too I think. I know when my LFS gets their shipments, they float for 30mins and then release.
As far as fish being sent only between wet newspaper sheets, that is hard to believe. Maybe I'm wrong, but I would think the fish would suffocate like that.

 

I am with Stepho. Bigtime. Hard to go against that which voids the guarantee, and, of course, I would never tell you to do such a thing. But if it were me, and I received livestock via Internet ordering, whether the guarantee is voided or not, I would float for ten minutes and dump them in. .......and then hope for the best. I am certain I killed a very nice Linkia by drip acclimation.

The chemistry behind the movement of the hydrogen atom is sound. It has a greater affinity for oxygen. You add oxygen, four hydrogens are going to leave (four separate) NH4+ (Ionic compounds are not that stable) and attach to O2 to make two H2O and four NH3. So six stable molecules are made.....and while stable is good in most cases, this is an exception to the rule. The stability attained in this closed system when O2 is introduced equals an overall more toxic environment.

 

I'm with Stepho and John. The chemistry makes sense. Both orders I received from reefcleaners I floated for 10 minutes and dropped in. I lost maybe 3-4 snails, tops, and the rest are alive and walking around. The ceriths I lost were shell-jacked by hermits, but that's another story.

As for newspaper, I would think the fish would need water flowing through their gills to breathe. Are you sure the newspaper wasn't just used for insulation?

 

It's true. Some of the more delicate species would obviously be shipped using other methods, but quite a few fish were shipped this way. I did actually get one detail mixed up... It was wet paper towels not newspaper.

Some species of fish have no problem breathing air for 24 hours or longer as long as their gills stay wet.

 

Wow, you learn somethign new everyday. Thanks.