Acclimation

[cprdnick]

I just read a thread regarding a sick brittle star, and the one thing that stood out to me was the question " how did you acclimate it". I've also read this with any thread having to do with a sick invert or fish or anything else for that matter.
Here's the question, for everyone because I know there will be different opinions or techniques when it comes to this subject. What is the proper way to acclimate? Is it more detailed for a certain creature or is it the same with everything. I've never lost anything that I've put in a tank, but I would hate to lose one in the event that I wasn't just "getting lucky" like I probably have been.
I would love to hear everyones feedback on this.

 

[bdhough]

There is no one way to do it. But what is key in doing it is matching ph,salinity, and temperature as much as possible. That process should take at a minimum in my opinion an hour if not longer for more prized things....

 

[iluvfish]

Good question cprdnick. I'd love more answers too! Also - do you have to acclimate snails and hermits (cleanup crew) the same way?

 

[bdhough]

Yes you do need to acclimate snails. Hermits i've heard you don't need to since they are so durable but i would go ahead and do it anyways just to make sure. I guess rule of thumb acclimate any life you place in your tank. Live rock and live sand being the only exception. If you want to be super safe then set up a drip system and let it run until you double the water volume. Like i said you need to match ph, salinity, and temperature as much as possible. I usually dump out a bunch of the water from the bag and then use a turkey baster to slowly add water over an hour to two hours. Its generally worked. Just remember no matter how well you acclimate an organism there is really no way of knowing how stressed it is and whether or not it will survive in your tank. For example i've kept a fire shrimp for about 6 months but can't keep a peppermint shrimp alive longer than 3 months.... My most recent one died in 2 weeks for an unknown reason.

 

[cprdnick]

well, I acclimated my first REAL SW fish today. I've had a Perc on hold for 4 days and got him today after I pulled all of my LR out and spent 30 minutes chasing three Damsels around. I did like I was told and poured out about half of the bag. I put the fish and the rest of the water (along with two more scarlet hermits and a fighting conch) in a big jar and about ever five minutes I would add about an ounce of water. The process took me a little over an hour to get over the equal amount of water added plus some. The fish doesn't seem too stressed, looks like he's breathing well. And didn't argue with me when I tried to had feed some flake. I've named him "Omen", which if you didn't get that is "Nemo" backwards.

 

[lovethesea]

love the name, ours is Bozo.(kids picked it) Anyway, we also turn off our lights for awhile. We remove them with a slotted spoon and ditch the water. (after adding tank water and acclimating them)

 

[bdhough]

Thats a good sign if he's eating. Its a big sign with the introduction of anything into an aquarium. He should be fine.
If you are going to see any type of disease it will probably manifest in the next couple days.... Thats the next hurdle.

 

[cprdnick]

what kind of diseases should I look for in him? Are all diseases considered 'ick' or is that one of its own?

 

[bdhough]

You can't look for disease persay well yes you can.... Most have their own symptoms and look. Just look for white growths on the fish. Missing scales, films, cloudy eyes, breathing, eratic jerking(except for clowns they do that on their own sometimes), spots, missing fins, etc, etc.
I don't meen to get you panicked or anything. If you buy a healthy fish from the store and properly QT him then you shouldn't have any problems. You have a small chance of getting a fish with something he's carrying. Where the problems usally arise is introducing a sick fish into a sterile environment and the almost defeated parasite has new fish to prey on.