Acclimation Done Right

[stafonb]

Hello to all, I am new to the hobby but have vowed to do it right. I saw the acclimation clip on this site and wanted to know, "Can one simply place the bag a float the water for a couple of hours and then release the fish into the tank?" I use to do this when I was younger during the time I had a freshwater tank and this method seemed to work well. Please help soon so that I don't kill any fish. I would be took hurt!

 

[petjunkie]

I would stick to drip acclimating more sensitive fish and inverts like shrimp, they need to slowly adjust to changes in salinity, ph and temp.

 

[earlybird]

NO you should drip. Fish can become stressed from "bomb" acclimating like you described. The water the fish are in might not match your water which will cause stress and possibly death if not acclimated right. Make sure you keep your lights off for a day after introducing a new fish, this helps reduce stress.

 

[lexluethar]

Too many variables when dealing with saltwater. You can do this with freshwater because all there really is to worry about is temperature (which is why you can just float the bag). For saltwater you need to acclimate them to temperature, PH, salinity, and a host of other measurements. Saltwater fish are also TONS more fragile then freshwater.

 

[breiwa1]

Can anyone expand on this drip method?

 

[stafonb]

Thank you. Your response was very helpful.

 

[tarball]

Originally Posted by breiwa1
Can anyone expand on this drip method?
The biggest adjustments a new fish must deal with is temperature adjustment & salinity adjustment. Most fish stores keep their fish tanks around 1.021 & a reef tank should be 1.025. This is a big jump all at once for a new fish.
Acclimation process.
https://www.saltwaterfish.com/site_11_03/acclimation.php

 

[perfectdark]

Although I agree with the above the answer is far more involed but as a whole drip acclimating is the balance which has more positive results than negative. I have read that acclimation proceedure should be based on how long your fish was in transit for. Time spent in the bag changes a miriad of variables that drip acclimating can actually make worse. Lighting should be dimmed or turned off not only for stress issues but a rapid change in temperature can result in osmotic shock as it not only increases the temp of the water quickly but it also changes the pH rapidly. It can be a very good to disastrous idea to try reducing some of the chemical shock by mixing water from your system with shipping water after floating. Several things happen in a shipping bag the longer it is in transit for. Depending on that time alk decreases, and pH will start to drop. Now carbon dioxide increases as carbonic acid. Ammonia is also a factor from the waste of the fish. Depending on how many changes in the water's chemistry have occured will help you decide to mix-waters or not. The issue is how do you know when its been too long. Its estimated to use an hour as a cut off, in that case its recomended to drip acclimate or blend the tank water in to acclimate. With any trace of amonia or large pH difference, its recomended not to mix waters. A rapid elevation in pH coupled with ammonia is extremely toxic.
It is also always recomended to test the water of the shipping bag against the tank water you are going to put the fish in and make note of the differences.