Acclimation question for Sk8r....

Cancun

Member
Hi! Okay here goes....say I bought a fish from a lfs....my QT is set at 1.024.....I get the fish home..open the bag and to my horror the salinity in the bag is 1.017....what would you do?

Second question...same scenario. ..but bag water is 1.022....?

I always do the drip acclimation when buying from a lfs....I rarely biy fish online....I try to support my lfs which I have many good ones in my area....but sometimes their stores have tanks at low salinity....

Before you say anything LOL....I usually go out of my way to buy fish out of their coral tanks because the salinity is at 1.024-1.025. I always ask what the salinity is before I buy and even have them check...but sometimes you get a new person etc.....just wanted your thoughts....

Anyone else is welcome to chime in! Thanks in advance! 8):)
 
I have ran across this in the past. I float the fish in the bag. Pull 2-3 gallons of water out of the QT tank. I then replace that water with fresh ro/di water. I usually then have to raise the temp of the QT tank. I use a gallon milk jug filled with hot,hot tap water . Float the jug, and refill with hot water as needed. While all of this is going on I slowly add tank water to the floating bagged fish. Once I get within . 002 ( may have to add more ro/di) I acclimate as normal.
HTH
 
if you quarantine, you can match the salinity and slowly raise it over time to match your dt.:thumbsup:
 
Hi! Okay here goes....say I bought a fish from a lfs....my QT is set at 1.024.....I get the fish home..open the bag and to my horror the salinity in the bag is 1.017....what would you do?

Second question...same scenario. ..but bag water is 1.022....?

I always do the drip acclimation when buying from a lfs....I rarely biy fish online....I try to support my lfs which I have many good ones in my area....but sometimes their stores have tanks at low salinity....

Before you say anything LOL....I usually go out of my way to buy fish out of their coral tanks because the salinity is at 1.024-1.025. I always ask what the salinity is before I buy and even have them check...but sometimes you get a new person etc.....just wanted your thoughts....

Anyone else is welcome to chime in! Thanks in advance! 8):)

Whenever I bring a fish home I always ask what the salinity is. Which is what you did, so great job on that :)
Sadly, life isn't perfect :( I've had plenty of scares with this. I usually try to keep the salinity a little higher than what they tell me, and have at least 10 gallons of RODI on hand. Lowering salinity will take 10 seconds and you can do that while the fish is temp acclimating. Ta-da! No harm to the fish, no stress for you, everyone wins!
 
I have ran across this in the past. I float the fish in the bag. Pull 2-3 gallons of water out of the QT tank. I then replace that water with fresh ro/di water. I usually then have to raise the temp of the QT tank. I use a gallon milk jug filled with hot,hot tap water . Float the jug, and refill with hot water as needed. While all of this is going on I slowly add tank water to the floating bagged fish. Once I get within . 002 ( may have to add more ro/di) I acclimate as normal.
HTH

The first part of your answer I agree with. Kind of. Just setting the salinity before you start temp acclimating is just easier.

However, even if the temp of the QT goes down a little, it's not a big deal. You're temp acclimating the fish anyways. And unless your RODI is kept in a fridge, the water should be around room temp. Since the QT should already be around 78-79 degrees, adding a couple gallons of room temp RODI should drop it to 75 max. Which is fine for a QT, and the heater will make that up in a couple hours.
 
Whenever I bring a fish home I always ask what the salinity is. Which is what you did, so great job on that :)
Sadly, life isn't perfect :( I've had plenty of scares with this. I usually try to keep the salinity a little higher than what they tell me, and have at least 10 gallons of RODI on hand. Lowering salinity will take 10 seconds and you can do that while the fish is temp acclimating. Ta-da! No harm to the fish, no stress for you, everyone wins!

I agree, also fish can handle going down in salinity much better than increasing salinity quickly.
 
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