Do you worry about temperature drop during drip acclimation?

bassinprof

New Member
I've done the drip acclimation process with airline tubing several times and it makes sense regarding water chemistry but what about the drop in temperature in the bucket that likely occurs? After just 30 minutes I've noticed that the drip bucket was several degrees cooler than the main tank, and because of that I've been reluctant to give a long drip period.
How do you guard against this effect? I suppose I could rebag and float the fish/inverts in the tank afterwards but that's a lot more work and more stress on the animals.
 

xcali1985

Active Member
It is something to be concerned about, in the end, you worry about temp, pH and salinity when acclimating. I have never ran into this issue as my tank pretty much stays steady with the room temp, so the bucket that I acclimate in stays the same also.
I would look into how fast your line is dripping. There should not be a pause between the drips however you should be able to see individual drops. If I was to notice the temp start to drop I would do 1 of 2 things, increase flow rate from airline or put the fish into the tank.
There are still people who simply float the bags to match temp and nothing else. My parents did that for years when I was younger and had no problems that I can remember.
Only 1 of our LFS currently drip acclimate new arrivals. The other 3 here simply float and dump.
I personally drip, and use my refractometer to check salinity. I remove water every now and again, I also monitor with a cheap digital thermometer.
 

al&burke

Active Member
I have a small heater, it is flat meant for betta tanks, I put it in the bucket keeps water at 75 i keep my tank at 77 or 78 pretty close.
 

florida joe

Well-Known Member
You can take a larger container get tap water heat it to about 3 degrees hotter than your tank water. Place the smaller container into the larger container and acclimate this should keep your temp fairly stable
 
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