How Many People Actualy Acclimat?
- Thread starter keeffie
- Start date
merredeth
Active Member
Originally Posted by INTOSW
WHAT ARE SOME DIFFERENT WAYS TO ACLUMATE? I SEE DRIP IS ONE OF THEM CAN YOU HELP ME OUT AND EXPLAIN THE DRIP SET-UP I WILL BE ADDING FISH TO MY 70g IN ABOUT THREE WEEKS I WANT TO MAKE SURE I AM PREPARED!
I use the drip method and have had more success than failure with it. The only time I have really failed at acclimation is when I hurried it a long.
Here is the method according to saltwaterfish.com for acclimation. Follow it and you should be good to go. For more details click on the icon on the left.
The most important step to success in keeping a saltwater aquarium is the acclimation of your new aquarium friends. Saltwaterfish.com highly recommends you follow our drip method procedure. With the proper acclimation you will find your new friends adjust much better and live a lot longer.
Saltwaterfish.com suggests you prepare the following items before your order arrives:
Acclimation Instructions:
1. First, you will need Clear Vinyl Airline Tubing. You will need 8-10 feet of the 3/16 X 1/4, which will cost about $1. Yes, that’s all.
2. When your order arrives be sure your aquarium lights are off. Next, place all of the bags – or as many as will fit at one time – into your aquarium. Leave them floating unopened for 20-25 minutes.
3. Do not mix the water from the bag with your aquarium. Divide fish into buckets never used for cleaning.
4. Rinse tubing in freshwater. tie off at the end into a knot so it will drip after the siphon is started. Use a small rock and attach the tubing with a clean rubberband keeping the end if the tube submerged.
5. After bags have been in your tank about 20 minutes, cut bags and put each bag into a bucket. You can tilt the bucket so the fish or invert is submerged completely. Do not do them at the same time or in the same bucket. We suggest you start with the fish.
6. Fish are in shock & won't move much. This is normal.
7. Once all of the fish suck on the tubing to create the siphon. Tighten the knot more so water drips steadily but doesn't stream into the bucket.
8. Let drip for about two hours. Water volume in the bucket should have quadrupled.
9. Fish may or may not still be on their side. They aren't dead, but in shock. Net them and slowly drop into your tank with the lights & powerheads off. Leave them off for at least three hours (I don't turn them on for the remainder of the day.) I also suggest you feed any fish you already have in the tank prior to placing new fish into the tank.
Fish: May breate rapidly during acclimation -- this is normal.
Angels, Triggers, & Tangs: Lay on their side when in the bag or acclimating
Wrasses: Lay on their side when in bag or acclimating; may spin harmless cottony substance in bag and "play dead".
Shrimp: May act motionless for up to 30 seconds when first introduced into tank, move them around
Sand Crabs: May act motionless when first introduced, move them around
Starfish: May stay motionless or not move for days at a time, pick up and inspect for signs of disintegration
Snails & Conchs: May not open or move for days at a time, pick up and see if it smells rancid
Puffers: Like to lay on bottom
Corals & Anemones: May take hours or days to fully open or inflate
Anemones: Shipped in little or no water, will inflate and shrink, disintegration is only indicator of death
Denise M.
WHAT ARE SOME DIFFERENT WAYS TO ACLUMATE? I SEE DRIP IS ONE OF THEM CAN YOU HELP ME OUT AND EXPLAIN THE DRIP SET-UP I WILL BE ADDING FISH TO MY 70g IN ABOUT THREE WEEKS I WANT TO MAKE SURE I AM PREPARED!
I use the drip method and have had more success than failure with it. The only time I have really failed at acclimation is when I hurried it a long.
Here is the method according to saltwaterfish.com for acclimation. Follow it and you should be good to go. For more details click on the icon on the left.
The most important step to success in keeping a saltwater aquarium is the acclimation of your new aquarium friends. Saltwaterfish.com highly recommends you follow our drip method procedure. With the proper acclimation you will find your new friends adjust much better and live a lot longer.
Saltwaterfish.com suggests you prepare the following items before your order arrives:
Acclimation Instructions:
1. First, you will need Clear Vinyl Airline Tubing. You will need 8-10 feet of the 3/16 X 1/4, which will cost about $1. Yes, that’s all.
2. When your order arrives be sure your aquarium lights are off. Next, place all of the bags – or as many as will fit at one time – into your aquarium. Leave them floating unopened for 20-25 minutes.
3. Do not mix the water from the bag with your aquarium. Divide fish into buckets never used for cleaning.
4. Rinse tubing in freshwater. tie off at the end into a knot so it will drip after the siphon is started. Use a small rock and attach the tubing with a clean rubberband keeping the end if the tube submerged.
5. After bags have been in your tank about 20 minutes, cut bags and put each bag into a bucket. You can tilt the bucket so the fish or invert is submerged completely. Do not do them at the same time or in the same bucket. We suggest you start with the fish.
6. Fish are in shock & won't move much. This is normal.
7. Once all of the fish suck on the tubing to create the siphon. Tighten the knot more so water drips steadily but doesn't stream into the bucket.
8. Let drip for about two hours. Water volume in the bucket should have quadrupled.
9. Fish may or may not still be on their side. They aren't dead, but in shock. Net them and slowly drop into your tank with the lights & powerheads off. Leave them off for at least three hours (I don't turn them on for the remainder of the day.) I also suggest you feed any fish you already have in the tank prior to placing new fish into the tank.
Fish: May breate rapidly during acclimation -- this is normal.
Angels, Triggers, & Tangs: Lay on their side when in the bag or acclimating
Wrasses: Lay on their side when in bag or acclimating; may spin harmless cottony substance in bag and "play dead".
Shrimp: May act motionless for up to 30 seconds when first introduced into tank, move them around
Sand Crabs: May act motionless when first introduced, move them around
Starfish: May stay motionless or not move for days at a time, pick up and inspect for signs of disintegration
Snails & Conchs: May not open or move for days at a time, pick up and see if it smells rancid
Puffers: Like to lay on bottom
Corals & Anemones: May take hours or days to fully open or inflate
Anemones: Shipped in little or no water, will inflate and shrink, disintegration is only indicator of death
Denise M.
stanlalee
Active Member
for corals I dont do anything but temp acclimate. for other livestock I'll put the water and livestock in a container and over a period or 30 minutes to an hour I'll add tank water using a medicine cup. how long, much and often I do it is solely based on my gut feeling. Havent lost anything yet (mushrooms, zoo's,candy cane, open brain, hammer, green star polyps, yellow polyps, xenia, christmas tree, green emerald, hermits, astrea snails, fire shrimp, peppermint shrimp, lawnmower blenny, false perc, damsel. bicolor dwarf angel as well although I didn't keep him once I converted to reef).
I really havent had any exotic or fish known to be sensitive or unhardy so I cant say all will do as well. Supposedly shrimp and crabs are suppose to be easily distressed by improper acclimation but I havent found this to be true at all. I think I've had enough corals now with no acclimation except temp to summize most dont need any other form or acclimation. either that or I'm the luckiest person in the world to have not only not lost any but havent had any that didn't open up within an hour or being but in the tank (except green star polyps, they take their time, took them four hours). also except for my first three corals (bought all at once overnight mail order) all of my livestock travels no more than 45 minutes from pet store to home.
I really havent had any exotic or fish known to be sensitive or unhardy so I cant say all will do as well. Supposedly shrimp and crabs are suppose to be easily distressed by improper acclimation but I havent found this to be true at all. I think I've had enough corals now with no acclimation except temp to summize most dont need any other form or acclimation. either that or I'm the luckiest person in the world to have not only not lost any but havent had any that didn't open up within an hour or being but in the tank (except green star polyps, they take their time, took them four hours). also except for my first three corals (bought all at once overnight mail order) all of my livestock travels no more than 45 minutes from pet store to home.
teen
Active Member
i dont do the drip thing, i float the bag for about half an hour, then slowly over about an hour and a half to two hour time period add tiny amounts of my water to the bag. then i dump the water out and keep the lights out usually until the next morning because i usually get my fish home at night. u shouldnt add any water from your lfs to your tank, because they may have copper or other meds in there fish only tank, then you add it to your tank with inverts, and they die.
mikeyjer
Active Member
Originally Posted by tnt
Definitely acclimate correctly. Animals are too expensive in this hobby not to.
Hey Mikeyjer, is that your macaw in your avatar? I've got two conures- a nanday and greencheek.
Yea, that's my Macaw, his name is Willie, we have the same birthday, not the same year of course, he's 4 years old. I used to have a Nanday, she's with my best friend. She likes him better anyway, plus she annoys me....I used to raise parrots for 5 years so I knew what I was getting into before I picked Willie up and it was weird. The lady raised him as a baby and she was sad to sell him. She said if the bird likes me, we can work out a deal. He came to me right away without a problem. She was surprised!!! He's never done that before she says, he wouldn't go to anyone else. Now he's with me, he won't go to anyone else not even my partner except when I'm not home or when he's on the floor, but no petting or anything like that. He would only let me pet him, he was preening my hair last night, but I still don't trust those big beaks near by my face, I've seen what happen to a lot of folks who trusted their beaks, they can and will turn on you if they're not in the right mood. I have once read a lady who was scarred for life by her parrot, she had many plastic surgerys done to her face, but she still kepted the parrot. I wouldn't get rid of mine just because he hurt me. Now back to the acclimating subject....
I forgot to mention this earlier, I only temp acclimate my corals like I was saying earlier. But some of you folks needs to know this, you SHOULD QT your new coral arrivals!!!! In some of the recent subjects mentioned in our local reef club is Red Bugs or Flat Worms!!! It's either QT them to see process or do a Iodine or Freshwater Dip to rid the pests. :happyfish
Definitely acclimate correctly. Animals are too expensive in this hobby not to.
Hey Mikeyjer, is that your macaw in your avatar? I've got two conures- a nanday and greencheek.
Yea, that's my Macaw, his name is Willie, we have the same birthday, not the same year of course, he's 4 years old. I used to have a Nanday, she's with my best friend. She likes him better anyway, plus she annoys me....I used to raise parrots for 5 years so I knew what I was getting into before I picked Willie up and it was weird. The lady raised him as a baby and she was sad to sell him. She said if the bird likes me, we can work out a deal. He came to me right away without a problem. She was surprised!!! He's never done that before she says, he wouldn't go to anyone else. Now he's with me, he won't go to anyone else not even my partner except when I'm not home or when he's on the floor, but no petting or anything like that. He would only let me pet him, he was preening my hair last night, but I still don't trust those big beaks near by my face, I've seen what happen to a lot of folks who trusted their beaks, they can and will turn on you if they're not in the right mood. I have once read a lady who was scarred for life by her parrot, she had many plastic surgerys done to her face, but she still kepted the parrot. I wouldn't get rid of mine just because he hurt me. Now back to the acclimating subject....
misfit
Active Member
I have heard that!! Thank you for the info though we only purchase from an lfs who happens to be a personal friend, he keeps for us for 2 weeks or so. We reaaly dont purcase fish to much cause we have everything we want already but when we were we QT'ed them cause we purchased from all over.
tnt
Member
Mikeyjer-
Thanks for sharing your bird story! It was fate! I would love to have a bigger parrot, but my husband already gripes about the noise from my conures. I "rescued" my two birds from people who had absolutely no idea how to care for a parrot. They're so smart, I hate to see them in bad situations. The pet stores are just as bad with their birds as they are fish!
Thanks for sharing your bird story! It was fate! I would love to have a bigger parrot, but my husband already gripes about the noise from my conures. I "rescued" my two birds from people who had absolutely no idea how to care for a parrot. They're so smart, I hate to see them in bad situations. The pet stores are just as bad with their birds as they are fish!
mikeyjer
Active Member
Originally Posted by tnt
Mikeyjer-
Thanks for sharing your bird story! It was fate! I would love to have a bigger parrot, but my husband already gripes about the noise from my conures. I "rescued" my two birds from people who had absolutely no idea how to care for a parrot. They're so smart, I hate to see them in bad situations. The pet stores are just as bad with their birds as they are fish!
Yea I guess it was fate....Conures are noisey, but so is my macaw... :hilarious
I know what you mean about the fish and the bird thing. ***** just leave their birds sitting in a room by themselves with no handling! Lately I see a lot of dead fish in their store too....Very Sad!!!
Mikeyjer-
Thanks for sharing your bird story! It was fate! I would love to have a bigger parrot, but my husband already gripes about the noise from my conures. I "rescued" my two birds from people who had absolutely no idea how to care for a parrot. They're so smart, I hate to see them in bad situations. The pet stores are just as bad with their birds as they are fish!
Yea I guess it was fate....Conures are noisey, but so is my macaw... :hilarious
I know what you mean about the fish and the bird thing. ***** just leave their birds sitting in a room by themselves with no handling! Lately I see a lot of dead fish in their store too....Very Sad!!!