Acclimation guide for Fish

[ashtree68]

So, I've read lots of different threads about different acclimation techniques and problems that have arisen due to drip acclimation after shipments.

Here's some information, feel free to add in and correct me/add your comments/stories/methods etc. These are by no means the best/only/sure fire way and if you have a method that has been working true to you, by all means continue to use it.

If the fish has been shipped:

• 
  Float the bag for a quick 10-15 minutes to get the bag's water closer to the tank's. Do not open the bag.

• Test the salinity of your tank water.

• Open the bag and quickly test the salinity of bag water.

• If the tank is lower than the bag water, catch fish and release it into the tank, monitor and enjoy the happy new fish.

• If the tank is higher than the bag water, lower the tanks salinity to match or be lower than the shipping water. This is another reason why having a QT tank is good idea to have, usually smaller and easier to manage salinity.

• Bring the salinity back up over the QT process until it matches the tank you're going to place the fish into or is back to where you like it.

If the fish was bought at LFS/another reefer:

• 
  Test the bag water and your water (if you don't know your paramaters).

• If the bag's levels are higher than yours float briefly and add the fish to the display.

• If the display is higher than the bag's, use the drip method or cup method.

I'm sure most people are familiar with these methods but just to have a nice summary in one spot:

Cup Method

• 
  Place the fish/bag water into a large bowl/cup/bucket. (You can keep it in the same bag if you'd like just is easier with a rigid edge.)

• Remove a cup full of water from the bag and dispose, add a cup full of tank water to the bag. Wait 5-10 min. (A cup full depends a lot on the amount of water in the bag, so if you have a big 7 gallon bag full of water it'll take forever to get eveything close. Use your judgement, I usually take 1/4-1/2 of the water out and replace with the same amount, depending on how off the levels are.)

• Repeat taking out and replacing water until the levels are close, or when you've diluted the bag water out. (If you're doing 1/4 removal, each time you will dilute the original by 1/4, think of it like doing water changes in your tank.)

Drip Method

• 
  Place the fish and water into a larger container, make sure there is enough water for the fish to still be submerged, tilting the container will probably be needed at first, be careful not to knock it over accidentally.

• Take a siphon pump/airline tubing and place one end into the tank and one into the container with the fish.

• Start the siphon to get water pulling from the tank into the bucket. (Place one end into the tank and suck on the other watch the water so you don't get a mouthful of tank water)

• Tie/bend/dial back the flow until the water coming out is approximately 2-4 drips per second, place the tube in the bucket.

• Let the siphon run until the water volume in the bucket has doubled, remove half of the water and wait again.

• After 2-3 times of this (again use best judgement based on the original levels of the tank and bag water) catch the fish and release it into the tank.

Certain fish, puffers, anglers, frogfish, etc. shouldn't be exposed to air since they can gasp and inflate with air causing buoyancy problems.

The problem about opening the bags right away is that while there is waste in the bag, there is also dissolved oxygen in the water. This is good as it keeps the pH lower, and ammonia/nitrate levels down. When the bag is open additional amounts of atmospheric oxygen enters the bag, which causes the pH to jump as well as the ammonia and nitrate levels which can cause burning of the gills and stress to the fish. I know Greg/Renee have pictures of tests they did of bag water vs tank water somewhere maybe they will chime in here and post those.

Again, this is not meant to be the only way, or the best way, if you have something that you've been using forever and works for you without problems/stress on the fish then keep at it.

 

[namxas]

Nice Post!

What actually happens is the rise in pH from opening the bag causes the NH3 in the bag to become more toxic, the level itself does not rise. However, here's the pic you were looking for:

 

[billsreef]

It's not the oxygen effecting pH levels, it's the CO2 When that CO2 off gasses after opening the bag is when the pH goes back up and the ammonium (NH4) becomes free ammonia (NH3).

With salinity, since fish osmoregulate very well, you don't need to be concerned about small differences in salinity in either direction.

BTW, if overnight shipped fish do better with the float and drop method, why would you need to do lengthy drip procedures with fish from the LFS?

 

[namxas]

Bill is absolutely correct regarding CO2 and pH, it is the gas exchange, in this case, losing CO2 for O2 that results in the pH shift. If the CO2 was not lost, and replaced, the pH wouldn't shift, and drip acclimation would be fine since the NH4 wouldn't convert.

However, I'm not crazy about adding a fish to a HIGHER salinity without some adjustment. The reason being that while fish do osmoregulate fine going from high to low, going from low to high can actually result in dehydration. A non-stressed fish can usually handle this, but it's hard on one that has been stressed by shipping and handling.

FWIW, we've noticed that DD runs their SG pretty high (1.030), presumably so the fish have little chance of being placed in a higher salinity from the shipping water. This is a guess as I've never asked Kevin about it.

Again, we all have our preferences, and the non-drip/match salinity method has worked best for us.
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[Flaring Afro]

Every time I've added a fish freshwater or salt they seem to go crazy in the bag trying to swim to the bottom as soon as it is put in the tank. They can't stand being in the open unknown waters. imo something should be done so they can't see the rest of the tank during the process, or at least wrap a fine black mesh/net around the bag so they feel more hidden or something. I'll probably try the net next time I put the bag in and see if the fish stays calmer, if I can find something to use.

 

[namxas]

Every time I've added a fish freshwater or salt they seem to go crazy in the bag trying to swim to the bottom as soon as it is put in the tank. They can't stand being in the open unknown waters. imo something should be done so they can't see the rest of the tank during the process, or at least wrap a fine black mesh/net around the bag so they feel more hidden or something. I'll probably try the net next time I put the bag in and see if the fish stays calmer, if I can find something to use.

Many shipping bags have dark bottoms to them (lower half of the bag). Turning off the lights in the tank helps too as does walking away from the tank. This is especially true if the fish has been shipped since it has likely been bagged up and in the dark for at least a day.

 

[seahorsedreams]

If you are going to drip, you HAVE to address to ammonia factor. I can't tell you the number of bags I've tested. Different sources.

I really should have paid more attention to white balance, sorry about that. We tested a good 20+ bags. Shipping water to the left, control to the right. (I have to run controls every time I test water because I CANNOT for the life of me see the color difference otherwise. I need a colorimeter).

So, IMO, if you're going to drip, it would be advantageous to use an "ammonia neutralizer".

 

[D5HP]

If you are going to drip, you HAVE to address to ammonia factor.

So, IMO, I've you're going to drip, it would be advantageous to use an "ammonia neutralizer".

Would you recommend something other than Seachem's Prime for this purpose?

 

[seahorsedreams]

I use Ultimate. Some of them start to smell like skunk and I can't use them. I'm not sure if I've used Prime.