acclimatioan

[D.Barta]

Could you share with me the proper method to acclimate a new fish?

[JimD]

I do it by first, emptying out all but a couple of cups of water from the bag, depending on the size of the fish, float the opened bag in the tank for about 15 minutes to bring the water to tank temp, then every 15 minutes I add a about a half cup of tank water to the bag, I usually do this every 15 minutes for 2 hours, then net the fish and introduce it to the tank,,. NEVER add water from a foreign source to your tank! I do it this same way for corals too..

[matt]

People have different methods, but the principle is to not subject the fish to sudden changes in salinity, temp, and ph. The first thing I do when acclimatng animals is to check the salinity and ph of the water the animal's in, and also check my tank. If it's really close, I'll just gradually add some tank water to the bag, floating the bag in the tank with the lights off. After I've doubled the volume, i might dump some out, add some more a few times, then release the animal.

If there's a big difference in salinity and/or ph, it's better to drip tank water into the container the animal's in (it helps to have a bucket for this) over a period of a few hours before releasing. If you're talking about a fish, there's another issue; quarantining. Probably you don't have a quarantine tank set up, right? Most of us don't. In that case, best is to only buy fish from a place that has quarantined the fish for a few weeks to make sure it doesn't have any parasites which will almost certainly spread to the rest of your tank, causing a huge headache for you and probably death for your fishes. (They get the worse end of the deal!)

[D.Barta]

That's about what i do just lookin to improve their chances.
Thank's

[D.Barta]

What lfs quaratine their fish.

[JimD]

Only one that I know of, CB pets in SA I think...

[Instar]

If a fish is quarantined or not has nothing to do with acclimation.

A proper acclimation to adjust salinity will be a prime factor in preventing ick or bacterial, viral and fungal attacks of the fish'es fins at the ends.

First - I check the salinity in the bag by measuring it. Then, measure the tank they will go into.
2nd - Fish get placed gently into a bucket for a fine air line drip tube. The air line is held in the tank by a shell or piece of coral and with a rubber band around it. (always rinsed in tap water after use to prevent the rubber band from rotting for as long as possible)
3rd - let the water drip from the tank into the acclimation bucket with the new arrival in it. How fast depends on water volume and how much I have to change the animal up or down to match my reef. When the bucket starts to get full, or maybe even half full, I scoup some water out. Drip rate - Perhaps at a rate of 2 to 4 drops per second. If the water level changes too fast over the next 15 minutes in the bucket, then I cut down the drip rate.
Add an air line, not an air stone. Just a small air pump with open air line about one to 2 inches under the water in the acclimation bucket. If you use and air stone, it will blow the pH and cause injury to the animal during acclimation.
4th - measure the salinity. If a fish from a lfs, it can come home at 1.017 and bringing it up to my reef at 1.025 may take me all night! I've had acclimations take 12 to 14 hours! Its worth it, it doesn't harm the fish.
5th - when the salinity matches in the bucket and tank, they get floated in a tupperware plastic container or plastic bag to adjust temperature.
Why is it worth it? I have no disease issues or ick, even with fish newly imported from the wild. Be it copperbands or shrimp or gorgonians (especially things from Reeftopia!), those all get a long acclimation to change salinity very slowly over perhaps even 18 hours. Changing salinity too fast will kill shrimp, crabs, gorgonians, some corals, clams and fish. If the fish sinks and doesn't swim normally from the beginning and acclimation was as recommended over and hour dumping of a few cups of water in the bag, then thats called salinity shock 99 times out of a 100. Why do lfs keep fish in diluted water? It helps bring disease organisms under control. Too fast an acclimation and temperate/pH swings at night combined with the already unparalleled stress from moving in a bag are responsible for most ick problems on new arrivals. Minimize the shock from changing water conditions and minimize the problems. (jumping off soap box now...)

[Yano]

I use those red baby medince things syringe things. I float the bag and put in 5mL of tank water in the bag every so often for 2 hours. But I do like Larry's method, I think that would help me sleep at night.

[matt]

Larry, you're right that acclimation and quarantining are not related, but buying wild caught non-quarantined fish is a real risk IMO. Aquatic Warehouse and CB pets quarantine their fish. In Austin I don't know, but maybe some of the Austin members will post about that.

18 hours acclimating a fish? We always knew you tend to extremes... :-D

[wkopplin]

I took 12 hours to acclimate my Emperor Angel. Got airline with one of those air regulator valves on it and siphoned water a drip at a time.

[D.Barta]

Thank you for your replys.I used to do the drip method until someone(lfs) told it stressed the fish to much.however I shall get back into that practice.
I use a coralife deep six to check specific gravity ,which you must fully submerge.what should I use for smaller samples such as bags fish come in when purchased?
DAB

[MikeDeL]

I use a coralife deep six to check specific gravity ,which you must fully submerge.what should I use for smaller samples such as bags fish come in when purchased?
DAB

I use the deep six also, and I just suck some water out of the bag with a turkey baster and fill up the hydrometer with that.


Mike

[D.Barta]

Cool I'll try thay next time
Thanks!

[GaryP]

Your other option is to get a refractomerter. They are usually more accurate anyway. It only requires a few drops of water.

Gary

[z28pwr]

Thank you for your replys.I used to do the drip method until someone(lfs) told it stressed the fish to much.however I shall get back into that practice.
I use a coralife deep six to check specific gravity ,which you must fully submerge.what should I use for smaller samples such as bags fish come in when purchased?
DAB

I have two deep six hydrometers and when I bought my refractometer I noticed they were both off. One was off by .003 and the other by .004 Which means when I thought my water was at 1.023 it was really at 1.026 on one Hydrometer and 1.027 on the other . Get a Refractometer it's well worth the $50 dollars.