Proper acclimation procedure??

[mightyoxjuice]

When acclimating new fish and inverts what is the best way to do it? SWF.com has their method, but I was reading from a different mail order site to do something else. There acclimation procedure is to float fish until temperature is equal. After doing this use net to remove fish and place in aquarium. No water is added to the bag that the speciman is being placed into. Their reasoning or explanation is that the ammonia present in the bag will become more potent and burn your new speciman if you add your own tank water. ANY TRUTH TO THIS WHATSOEVER????

 

[bang guy]

There is a problem with ammonia but osmotic shock is even more dangerous.
The problem with ammonia:
Ammonia varies in toxicity directly proportional to the PH. As PH climbs so does ammonia toxicity.
What does this have to do with a bagged fish?
The water in a sealed bag with a fish in it will have a high concentration of Carbonic acid. This is caused by the CO2 released as the fish breathes. This hels in shipping because the Carbonic acid lowers the PH of the water making the ammonia less toxic. When you open the bag the excess CO2 dissipates causing the PH to climb. This makes the ammonia more toxic.
This takes time though.... so you have about an hour IMO to acclimate the fish. Adding small amounts of tank water not only acclimates the fish to your salinity, it slowly dilutes the ammonia in the bagged water.
Hope this helps,
Guy

 

[mightyoxjuice]

The acclimating that I have done has always been to float the fish then add water to the bag slowly. This was just something that I had come across while surfing the net. I was planning on a getting an order via the internet and just wanted to make sure that I would be doing the acclimation correctly. However, I can't seem to remember or find which site I was on.

 

[clarkiiboi]

However, I can't seem to remember or find which site I was on.
Thats probably a good thing. LOL.....I agree with jwtrojan44, but I guessimate the amount of new water added, but I add it just a little at a time.
I just read a post on reef forumn, I believe, about a member going to acclimate, but the bag fell in and fish got out.........not a happy ending.

 

[david8]

please respond ASAP, I just bought two new fish from my LFS and now need to leave for about an hour and a half.. my question...Will it be ok to float them for 2 hours??? if so I will be able to acclimate them properly..please respond soon I need to leave in about 5 minutes..thanks

 

[marineman]

If the lfs filled the bad with 100% oxygen ( cames out of a cylinder) and they are not extremely sensitive fish you may be alright, but no guarentee. SWF.com fish are in a bag overnite but sure these bags are filled with pure oxygen not room air that some lfs use. Good luck

 

[marineman]

oh cut off all light to reduce stress!

 

[jvance]

Float bag for 15-20 minutes....then open bag...pour out all water except enough to cover the fish...guess how much water is in the bag...and add that amout every 5 minutes, after the thrid time, pour off all water except enough to cover the fish, and start the cycle again, acclimation should take around 45-50 minutes.
I work at a saltwater specialist store in AL, and this is the way we recommend to acclimate fish to our customers.

 

[jvance]

Yes, drip acclimation is the best IF you have the water to do it, we use the drip method in our store when we get shipments in, it takes longer, like 2-3 hours maybe, but better overall. If you do drip method just make sure and match up PH, salinity, and temperature, after the water in the bucket matches the water in your tank, then you put the fish in.:happy:

 

[jvance]

yes, test the water in both the bucket and your display tank to make sure everything is matched up
And yes its probably a good idea to have some saltwater to replace what you take out.

 

[jvance]

One more thing...when doing the drip method, keep the water level down in the bucket with the fish (keep enough water so the fish can swim normal), it makes things go faster from my experience