Acclimating Shrimps and Snails

[mjmarasigan]

So, I've removed my invert-eating wrasse from my FOWLR tank and wanted to add some cleaner shrimps (Lysmata amboinensis) and nassarius snails (also, possibly starfish). So I understand that you have to drip acclimate them like usual fish. But the question is, after acclimating, won't the ich parasites be there (or traces thereof) would remain in the water when you dump it (because I think you can't expose the shrimp to air?), therefore causing the tank not to be ich-free. Am I right in presuming such or just overthinking? Same also towards snails and starfish.

 

[Gladmaker]

Since you didn't say, I'm going to assume these have been shipped, not purchased locally. Reefcleaners will not guarantee their snails and crabs if you drip acclimate. Their reasoning is that the water is fouled during shipping and opening the bag causes an ammonia spike which gets worse during dripping. They say to keep bag shut and float in tank 15 minutes to equalize temperature then promptly put them in the tank. Discard all of the water from the bag. In any circumstance, you don't want water from the bag to get into your tank, even if purchased locally.

 

[Ron Reefman]

Shrimp, snails and crabs can all be out of the water for a while. Sea stars can be exposed to air for a VERY short period of time, but it's better if they aren't.

Take the bag and dump most of the shipping water out and add a lot of your tank water. Do that again and the amount of original water you'll add to your tank is almost insignificant. But I'd just pull the star out and immediately release it in the tank. I've had stars out of the water for short periods of time and never had any issues.

 

[mjmarasigan]

Since you didn't say, I'm going to assume these have been shipped, not purchased locally. Reefcleaners will not guarantee their snails and crabs if you drip acclimate. Their reasoning is that the water is fouled during shipping and opening the bag causes an ammonia spike which gets worse during dripping. They say to keep bag shut and float in tank 15 minutes to equalize temperature then promptly put them in the tank. Discard all of the water from the bag. In any circumstance, you don't want water from the bag to get into your tank, even if purchased locally.

Oh sorry for not mentioning, they will be bought locally.

 

[Gladmaker]

In that case, just quickly move them from the bag to your tank after acclimatizing. That short time in the air won't hurt, especially snails. With snails and shrimp, I just use my hand to capture them.