do you use water from acclimation process? not for newbies.

[naturelover]

the reason I am asking this is to see how many of you use the water from your qurantine tank or drip methode.
if you don't use it then what is the point of acclimation since you have the fish in air without water in a temperature that is not even same as your tank.
I don't acclimate any of my fish since i don't use the water. i don't have a Q-tank. i keep the fish til it feel like it is going to get killed and then let it in my tank and i have yet to fail and haven't had any ich issue so far.

 

[daniel411]

I'm not quite following what you're saying. If you place the bag that the fish comes to inside your aquarium, clipped to the rim so that water won't be exchanged or the fish escapes. Than it will slowly match the temp of the main tank.
What do you mean "having the fish in air without water"?
The purpose of a slow or drip acclimation is so that the fish can slowly convert/acclimate to the water chemistry of your aquarium. PH, chemical, temp, etc. variations. Even if they are small, a sudden change could cause shock.

 

[wablondie98664]

i'm sorry, i didn't understand what you are trying to say

 

[naturelover]

ok what i ment is after you drip and acclimate to the water chemistry of your aquarium do you dump the whole bag of water and fish inside or do you take fish out of the water and put it in your tank. if you do take the fish out of water and put it inside without using the water from the bag then what is the reason of acclimating. I should have asked this as a poll and explaining.

 

[wablondie98664]

oh, when i am done acclimating i cut a hole in the corner of the bag to let the water drain out and when the water is only just barely covering the fish i pour the fish and the bit of water that's left into the tank

 

[naturelover]

ok that's the kind of answer i was looking for. I assume many of you know that using water from stressed fishbag is another reason many have trouble with ich.

 

[daniel411]

I try to avoid mixing water with only a few exceptions.
The fish doesn't lose it's acclimation to your water chemistry by being exposed to air for a few seconds. So that does not negate all the acclimation process.

 

[moopiespoo]

What I do is use a plastic container filled with tank water. When the acclimation process is finished I hold the container close to the water surface of the accl. bucket water and net the fish to the container. The fish is out of water like a nanosecond.

 

[bang guy]

I use a 5 gallon bucket. I empty the bag of water into the bucket and then drip tank water into the bucket.
When the bucket if full the fish is acclimated. I float the fish for 5 minutes in a container to get it acclimated to the temp and then I simply use my hand to push the fish into the tank.
I don't like nets.
The major damage to fish comes from PH and Temp.
The major damage to inverts comes from Salinity.

 

[naturelover]

Bang guy i like your methode. I have been using a crueal methode that i always used for freshwater fish. where you keep fish out of water for awhile and then drop it(like out of water and going to die stress is beat other stress). yet to fail for me and i am used to this methode in freshwater and saltwater now.

 

[dreeves]

Cruel method? That is beyond cruel...
Brain damage begins in fish at about 4 minutes in the air...
You will find marine fish are far more sensitive then their FW counterparts...mostly due to the changes constantly occuring in a FW environment, temp, ph, etc.
Always remember one thing with Ich...it only tanks one outbreak to destroy your tank. When dealing with ich...there is no such thing as too many precautions.
Given your methods of acclimating...one could only imagine the horrors..your pets must endure on a day to day basis...fortunately for most marine life...they will die a painful death in your beginnings versus living a long drawn out, suffering death....
Have you ever considered keeping rocks as pets? They can be readily abused, neglected, dropped, or whatever ones heart desires...
Wow...

 

[737mech]

I think plenty of "newbies" know better than to use your cruel methods of acclimating.

 

[naturelover]

well the methode has been working for me, and I doubt I would change. atleast I haven't had any disaster yet(even tho wife yells at me always) . maybe I might change it after I experience one.
Think of it like you fish in the ocean, pull it out unhook and throw it back to the ocean type deal Fish is happier to be alive rather than get killed. I still have fish I cycle the tank with 3yrs ago and it went through the same process. Ofcourse I don't keep fish in the air more than a min, and it does the trick. I have lost fish not because of the way I add fish but for other reasons like everyone else. In 3 yrs I have used Q-tank only once for a sick fish from display, other than that never used Q-tank and everything I buy from LFS goes direct into display. I know everyone will say you are inviting disaster but I have been doing it for awhile. I know there are other people probably add fish direct to display tank rather than putting through Q-tank.

 

[737mech]

You are right...In a reef tank that method could lead to a disaster. FO is a different story. Best of luck

 

[naturelover]

here is a link that backup my methode. Hope it is ok i post this link since it's a research.
acclimation

 

[daniel411]

I just read the article. Has some interesting points, but it does go against conventional aquarium keeping. Not necessarily a bad thing. However, the site is owned/managed, by the company that makes the two products it reccommends to always be used!
So, I'm hesitant to believe with out additional independent research or opinions.

 

[moopiespoo]

I read the article and while they do have some good points, I think I stick with my tried and true method.

 

[ophiura]

Ah, but this is a different situation. They appear to be offering suggestions to RETAILERS, who receive bags of fish with sometimes 50 or more individuals in it (eg in freshwater) and some fish that may have been in the bags for 10 or more hours during transport. Their logic is that the fish are very stressed, they are in water with a low pH and high ammonia (because of the exceedingly high number of fish in the bag and/or duration of transport). In this case, it is considered better to briefly temperature acclimate (in most cases 10-15 minutes) and then dump the fish in (pour them through a net and discard water).
The reason for this is that at lower pH (which the shipping water will be due to the fish prodiving CO2 which combines with water forming carbonic acid and dropping pH) ammonia is less toxic...and there will be lots of ammonia. So if you drip acclimate, you raise the pH, and the high levels of ammonia suddenly become quite toxic, resulting in rapid fish loss.
Betta fish, for example, come packed from Asia in tiny bags with perhaps a tablespoon of water in it (and it is mighty nasty)...getting them out of that seems far less stressful than leaving them in for any minute longer than necessary.
But, you missed where they suggest fish be kept in a Q tank for 7-10 days before selling? This is to allow the weak one's to die, and any stress related diseases to settle or become apparent before selling the fish. Now if an LFS losed a dozen fish out of 50, what the hey...it is different for you, no?
IMO, this has NOTHING to do with acclimation of fish at home, where the animal has been in a bag maybe an hour or two at most, with very minimal pH drop or ammonia production. Totally different scenario. The above issues no longer come into play, and therefore, the major stress comes from the risk of salinity, temperature or pH shock simply from differences between the LFS and your tank.
I would follow Bang Guy's advice on this.
Q tanks are also helpful because they allow fish to settle in without having to fight with established fish. It also allows you to deal with any diseases that are commonly contracted by fish in transport through an LFS.

 

[naturelover]

I have seen in some other saltwater articles where they mention to use those products. But I don't use it and it does work fine. The way i do is, dump the water completly, keep fish in the bag without water for awhile (never kept it in air since i prefer keeping slimecoat of fish as much as possible. I mentioned keeping it in air earlier, what I ment was without water) and then just dump it in the tank. this methode works without those product. I never in my 30yrs+ of freshwater or 3+ of saltwater (as of january 2004 it will be 4yrs) yet to experience ICH.
Hope i will never experience.
A search on google with "acclimation by dunk" will give you alot info on it, ofcourse there are not so much studies on it but in my experience it works.
Atleast I am not only the crazy one.

 

[madd catt]

You can buy a hang on the tank acclimator and then just net the fish and place it in the tank.