acclimating new arrivals with bad results

[ati70cutlass]

So it seems no matter what i do acclimating my new arrivals they always seem to never make it. i have been keeping saltwater for 13 years and am mostly focused on coral. which i have no issues with. so in the last month 4 out of 5 fish have not made it. here is how im doing it.
step one: float bag for 10-15 minutes
step two: put fish in a clean bucket and drip.
step three: set drip rate to about 3-4 drips per second.
step four: drip for 45-60 minutes.
step five: check salinity for match
step six: put fish into new tank , making sure lights are off

so what am i doing wrong. i work in a specialty saltwater store and i never have these problems at the store. in the store we rarely have any deaths
from acclimation... any ideas on what im doing wrong.

 

[blue98ls1]

Is it possible something from the bucket is leeching into the water? I usually leave mine in the bag from the store and drip acclimate them that way.

 

[SDguy]

Need more info. Types of fish? Online or local purchases? What else is in the tank? How they look when they died? Disease? Aggression?

 

[SKurj]

an hour in the bucket maybe too long...

 

[Myka]

How long between introduction to death?

I would strongly suggest you quarantine the fish first not only for the purpose of disease treatment and prevention, but also to acclimate the fish to the new environment (food, you, typical movements and sounds in the house). This way the new fish is much less stressed when it is introduced to the new tank, more outgoing to help repel potential aggressors, and has a fat belly so he is strong. He will have a much better chance.

 

[MrTuskfish]

How long between introduction to death?

I would strongly suggest you quarantine the fish first not only for the purpose of disease treatment and prevention, but also to acclimate the fish to the new environment (food, you, typical movements and sounds in the house). This way the new fish is much less stressed when it is introduced to the new tank, more outgoing to help repel potential aggressors, and has a fat belly so he is strong. He will have a much better chance.

Absolutely! I can't imagine not quarantining every new fish. The vast majority of threads on the disease section of the forum could have been prevented with a QT. Acclimation is much easier.

 

[Dr Colliebreath]

What is your tank's salinity and the salinity of the bag? This may be your problem if your tank's salinity is at the typical 1.025 because most sellers use a SG closer to 1.020.

If your tank is 1.025 and the bag is 1.020, the fish cannot adapt to this level of salinity change over an hour or even a day. This much change should be done over 3 or 4 days.

If not salinity, have a 2-3 gallon bucket that is only used for fish acclimation to make sure it isn't contaminated. You also might use Prime or another ammonia detoxifier to help neutralize the ammonia in the bag, which is converted to a harmful derivative of ammonia upon your opening the bag.

You basic process is correct. I agree with the comments about using a quarantine tank. It lets you set the salinity in the QT to the same SG as the bag the fish are in, and acclimate your fish to it. You can then adapt the fish to captive living without problems from established fish before transferring it to the dt.

 

[albano]

If your tank is 1.025 and the bag is 1.020, the fish cannot adapt to this level of salinity change over an hour or even a day. This much change should be done over 3 or 4 days.

-1
My QT is at 1.026 many LFS, online sellers run tanks at 1.020 and LESS, I can't remember the last time I lost a fish after a ~30/40 min. acclimation

 

[Myka]

Quarantine & Acclimation: The Fishy Medicine Cabinet. Page 28: http://www.reefhobbyistmagazine.com/downloads/pdf/version24.pdf

 

[MrTuskfish]

I know I'm a broken record, but using a QT takes the matching SG possibilities off the table. I buy all my fish from online dealers, can't imagine any other way. I know the SG of the shipping water, pick my fish at a nearby FedEx spot at 9AM (my normal FedEx guy gets here about 3PM) and the QT is all ready for the fish. By the time the fish is ready for the DT, SG has been matched.

 

[FishTruck]

Dumb question... but, are your buckets on a cement or tile floor? The temp can drop rapidly if they are. If you are checking salinity you are probably also feeling the temp of the bucket water anyway.

 

[DarthSimon]

Do you have super high nitrates? I had a similar situation that went on for almost a year. Any new fish would die within a week. My nitrates were over 100... I installed a BioPellet Reactor and have 0 nitrates. Fish acclimate better now...

 

[ntropics]

I have found that the buckets can get very cold during drip acclimation. I always reacclimate temperature afterwards.
Bruce

 

[Dr Colliebreath]

-1
My QT is at 1.026 many LFS, online sellers run tanks at 1.020 and LESS, I can't remember the last time I lost a fish after a ~30/40 min. acclimation

You are fortunate. I know you have a lot of fish so this is based on much experience, but everything I have seen suggests that a .006 increase in SG over less than an hour is very stressful to the fish due to the change in osmotic pressure. Most recommendations are to limit increases in SG to .001-.002 per day.

The change in SG is likely only a contributing factor to the OP's problem. Perhaps it is the last straw on fish that already are weakened. However, it is a factor that is easily within the control of the hobbyist.