I was hoping that i can get some feedback on a recent transaction. I'm trying to ground truth that I'm not being unreasonable with an online fish seller or if I did something wrong so that I can avoid doing it again in the future.
I recently ordered a regal angel and a Solon wrasse. This isn't one of our vendors and I will refrain from naming them at this point in the event that I'm at fault. The vendors webpage clearly states that the regals aren't covered by their normal 14 day guarantee but there is a live arrive policy. This is reasonable since they are known to be hard to get to eat and finicky about water quality.
I had the delivery made to fedex and I picked it up first thing in the morning when they opened. When I picked up the box I noticed that one of the corners was slightly wet. The box wasn't damaged. I got home about 15 minutes later and opened it up. The bag that the regal was in had leaked into the cooler and was partly deflated. There was still water in the bag but the fish wasn't looking good. I floated both bags for about 10 minutes and then transferred the water and the fish from the bags into a bucket. The regal just laid on its side and was barely breathing. The wrasse was doing fine. After checking the salinity I started drip acclimating, covered the bucket and turned off the lights. I checked on the fish and the salinity about every ten minutes. After about 30 or 40 minutes I drained off some of the water and continued dripping. At that point the condition of the regal wasn't any better and it's gills stopped moving about 10 or 20 minutes later. Once the salinity was close to my qt I transferred the wrasse. Its doing fine.
I kept the seller notified of what was going on as it happened. I heard back from him later in the afternoon when he asked how I acclimated it. I gave him a summary and asked if he considered this DOA. That was yesterday and I haven't heard back from him yet. I'm of the opinion that an issue with the packing was the problem and that I should be refunded. I don't want to read too much into him not getting back to me yet and before I push him on this I want to make sure that I'm being fair and not to blame with how I handled it. Any thoughts are appreciated.
Thanks
Mike
I recently ordered a regal angel and a Solon wrasse. This isn't one of our vendors and I will refrain from naming them at this point in the event that I'm at fault. The vendors webpage clearly states that the regals aren't covered by their normal 14 day guarantee but there is a live arrive policy. This is reasonable since they are known to be hard to get to eat and finicky about water quality.
I had the delivery made to fedex and I picked it up first thing in the morning when they opened. When I picked up the box I noticed that one of the corners was slightly wet. The box wasn't damaged. I got home about 15 minutes later and opened it up. The bag that the regal was in had leaked into the cooler and was partly deflated. There was still water in the bag but the fish wasn't looking good. I floated both bags for about 10 minutes and then transferred the water and the fish from the bags into a bucket. The regal just laid on its side and was barely breathing. The wrasse was doing fine. After checking the salinity I started drip acclimating, covered the bucket and turned off the lights. I checked on the fish and the salinity about every ten minutes. After about 30 or 40 minutes I drained off some of the water and continued dripping. At that point the condition of the regal wasn't any better and it's gills stopped moving about 10 or 20 minutes later. Once the salinity was close to my qt I transferred the wrasse. Its doing fine.
I kept the seller notified of what was going on as it happened. I heard back from him later in the afternoon when he asked how I acclimated it. I gave him a summary and asked if he considered this DOA. That was yesterday and I haven't heard back from him yet. I'm of the opinion that an issue with the packing was the problem and that I should be refunded. I don't want to read too much into him not getting back to me yet and before I push him on this I want to make sure that I'm being fair and not to blame with how I handled it. Any thoughts are appreciated.
Thanks
Mike
