How long can they live??

[kas2247]

My order shipped last night from swf.com, so of course I've been refreshing the fedex.com page every 15 minutes tracking it. Apparently, the truck from Pittsburgh got to State College after the delivery truck left. So now the site says "delay beyond our control". BUT, it still is listing today as the estimated delivery date. Part if me is P'd and thinks that they were paid for priority overnight shipping, they sure as heck better get it here tonight. But I'm even more worried that the fish won't be able to survive another night all packaged up. SWF.com does an AWESOME job packaging, but is there any way my order could still be okay? Will there even be enough air in the bags for them?
NOT to mention, I have to work all day tomorrow and have no idea when I'll be able to get home to start acclimation if anything's still alive... grrrrrrrrrr.

 

[krautburner]

so......
did they show up last night?
how was everything?

 

[kas2247]

No, they haven't come yet. And now there is no delivery date listed on the tracking info... I hope that means they're on their way. I live an hour & a half from the last warehouse, so I'll be surprised if they even come this morning. I know swf.com has a 15 day guarantee, but what does FedEx guarantee for their "overnight" shipping? I'm going to be terrified to open that box.

 

[kas2247]

My order didn't come until 1pm... 24 hours late.
EVERYTHING was still alive... including some pretty fragile little critters. So far, so good... I've been VERY slowly acclimating for a few hours already because the temp in the package had dropped quite a bit.
Thanks to swf.com for such a good packaging job! I really thought my whole order would be a gonner. This place is awesome

 

[spiderwoman]

That is always great news!! Now everybody is waiting for you to post some pics!

 

[kas2247]

I'll definitely get some up in the next few days. I'm hoping I can get a pic of my 2" cleaner shrimp next to the new 1/2" cleaner shrimp or the 1/2" fire shrimp. They are TOO cute!

 

[spiderwoman]

Originally Posted by kas2247
http:///forum/post/2505610
I'll definitely get some up in the next few days. I'm hoping I can get a pic of my 2" cleaner shrimp next to the new 1/2" cleaner shrimp or the 1/2" fire shrimp. They are TOO cute!
They grow FAST!

 

[browniebuck]

I know what you are saying about the packaging...last year we got an order in February that happened to fall on one of the coldest days of the month. It arrived like 6 hours late (not a full day like yours, but still frustrating). We opened the box and I immediately went to get the camera to start taking pictures for the full $$ back guarantee, as we thought everything was dead. My wife actually kinda sorta shook the bag that had our green mandarin dragonet (which was very tiny) bobbing up and down like a bobber in the bag. I had to grab the bag out of her hand to stop her when I saw the little fishy's little mouth open and close very slowly. A year later, she has doubled in size and is still, by far, my favorite critter in my tank.

 

[keri]

Originally Posted by browniebuck
http:///forum/post/2506214
I know what you are saying about the packaging...last year we got an order in February that happened to fall on one of the coldest days of the month. It arrived like 6 hours late (not a full day like yours, but still frustrating). We opened the box and I immediately went to get the camera to start taking pictures for the full $$ back guarantee, as we thought everything was dead. My wife actually kinda sorta shook the bag that had our green mandarin dragonet (which was very tiny) bobbing up and down like a bobber in the bag. I had to grab the bag out of her hand to stop her when I saw the little fishy's little mouth open and close very slowly. A year later, she has doubled in size and is still, by far, my favorite critter in my tank.
Oh sad! I'm glad she lived.
Hope your 24hrslate order does just as well!!
I'm too scared to order anything live online, I live in what is classified as an "isolated community" (even though it's Very close to a city of a million there ois a ferry ride involved).

 

[kas2247]

My communitiy isn't officially clasified as isolated, but I'd definitely call it that. We're a half hour from the closest Walamrt and an hour from the closest mall (which sucks) with nothing in between but deer, bear, elk & turkey. The closest LFS is over an hour away and is actually a pet store that just happens to have a small strip of sw tanks. They have a decent selection for their size, but I don't make it there often. Sooo, I don't have much choice when it comes to ordering online. I've been very happy with everything I've gotten from here though, and if you find the sales it can be a lot cheaper! Not to mention their guarantee is way better than you'll find at most fish stores.
PS, everything is doing GREAT the next morning. As far as I can tell, everything is still alive and being very active.

 

[sh00tist]

Kudos to SWF on their packaging,as a hard fast rule my experience has been if the paclage is late everyone is dead,so ive given up on mail order all together. My wife however can take a lot more punishment than myself and continues to order through the mail. None of these were from SWF but in the last few weeks she ordered 2 fish which showed up on a monday,the same day they sent us an email saying they were shipping that day,they had actually shipped out the thursday before so they were both dead. They replaced the fish several days later and the package was very cold(no heat packs,no foam liner)both fish were alive however and the wrass in my display is doing great,her little clown goby is presenting with ich now in her nano which was about a day away from being plumbed into my system but is on a major delay now. So that wasnt enough for her she ordered two more fish this week which came promptly and both appeared healthy she however had one die not 24 hours into her tank. So now shes 3 for 6 and one of the 3 living has ich. She says shes through with mail order now but I seriously doubt it and will do my best to persuade her to try SWF after reading this thread.