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Fish arriving DOA, freezing cold

It was Sims, who I've had good experiences with before, so I was surprised. They always seemed one of the better retailers, with a very wide range of stock. I'm hoping it was an oversight.
 
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I ordered some shrimp a few days ago, not realising that there was a Royal Mail strike happening (I don't watch the news!). The seller has dispatched them, via Royal Mail, with a delivery date of 17th!! No contact to say about delays etc as I'd have been happy to wait or use a courier. I'm not expecting many to survive and won't be using them again either. This wasn't Sims btw.
 
It was freezing and below that night. Scotland isn't South Carolina. In my experience most shops use a heat pack, for a reason. I don't really understand why you'd suggest they can have policies which would harm animals; the amount they charge covers the costs of a heat pack.
All clarification not originally explained so thank you. I’m no stranger to weather changes, it can be 70+ Fahrenheit here in the winter and drop to freezing here at night easily during the winter. Some retailers will require you to add heat packs/cold packs on your own when checking out, that’s why I mentioned that. Glad they are replacing them for you.
 
Last time l ordered online,(shrimp,)from AE they gave a specific time frame for the delivery because dealing with livestock not anything like a typical parcel. So couriers have a indefendsable duty of care to keep to it and in transit must meet all the needs. and the purchaser also to recieve . @AlecF the courier is at huge fault IMO
 
Yes, that's why I sent the seller such a clear message, with time of arrival and temperature. If they consider it undue to deliver they should decline the order. However, I think the absence of heat packs makes the shop also responsible.
 
Yes, that's why I sent the seller such a clear message, with time of arrival and temperature. If they consider it undue to deliver they should decline the order. However, I think the absence of heat packs makes the shop also responsible.
Did you not get a message from dx express either? You should get a notification telling you delivery time.
 
I got a notification time, but that doesn't really help with weather conditions. They always advise they are delivering them and they were eon time, the issue is the conditions in the van. They did come overnight, so despite the weather I think with enough heat packs they could be OK.
 
Couriers don't have heated vans and you pay the premium for a speedy delivery. It might be livestock but all the early parcels just go on the delivery van together.

Poly boxes are pretty good and it's the lack of a heatpack, I believe in this instance, that's the issue. We used to get boxes delivered in this kind of, and much colder, conditions, where the transit time was a couple of days, rather than overnight, and it's the preparation of the shipper that makes the difference.
 
Personally I think it’s too risky in these conditions. I think the retailers should be considering the welfare of the fish here. The two I use definitely won’t ship now. In fact one of them personally delivered the fish instead of making me wait for when the warmer weather returns which I thought was great.

Cheers
 
I was a bit hasty in my judgement of the seller I purchased from - 2 heat packs and a ton of insulation for 10 juvie shrimp and actually arrived the next day despite the estimated delivery date of 17th! It was mild when I ordered but now it's really dropped, I won't be ordering anything that can't tolerate low temps. Pity, as I was hoping for some killies.
 
I was a bit hasty in my judgement of the seller I purchased from - 2 heat packs and a ton of insulation for 10 juvie shrimp and actually arrived the next day despite the estimated delivery date of 17th! It was mild when I ordered but now it's really dropped, I won't be ordering anything that can't tolerate low temps. Pity, as I was hoping for some killies.
Try some eggs! Not that they'll handle heat better, but much easier to insulate
 
I've raised killies from eggs. It's easy and fun, and the p&p is a lot cheaper :)
But I was already set up to produce lots of fry food, which is the main factor in success.
 
I'm only feeding 3 Betta fry at the moment so I have a few microworms spare! Mind you, my Sparkling Gourami are also getting it on so may have a few of those to raise too. What other foods were your killie fry raised with? I'm failing with white worms but they'd be a bit big!
 
Newly-hatched Brine Shrimps and microworms for the killies.
You will probably need infusoria if your Sparkling Gouramis breed, unless their tank is mature enough to be full of tiny food already. My Sparkling, and Croaking Gouramis weren't impressed with microworms, even when they grew a bit bigger (they are very tiny when they hatch).
But yours might take to them, it's worth trying as you have got the culture. :)
 
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