Acclimation

[Deleted member 143833]

I have always been an acclimation perfectionist. 99% of the time I perform a drip acclimation, monitoring PH and temp and only when the PH of the new critters matches the PH of the tank and temp do I introduce them.

I suspect that this is way overkill with PH and that there would be some amount of difference that is acceptable but the question is how much; .05, less, more????

Anyone have experiences to suggest what would still be safe?

I don't yet know if I'd change all the time but in cases where I run short on time having the information would be a comfort.

 

[snorvich]

There are three kinds of acclimation: temperature, salinity and pH, social. All three are critical. But as long as your salinity matches, I think pH can be a bit off. However social acclimation is equally if not more important than the other two.

 

[Deleted member 143833]

Oh, I do match salinity (using a refractometer); I didn't mention that and of corse I always make sure everyone plays well together

 

[Gregsgsr]

it depends on the specimen. I usually just temprature acclimate for fish and maybe exchange half the water. For inverts and difficult fish i usually drip alclimate or do several small water changes from tank to bag.

 

[Deleted member 143833]

Thanks for your feedback on the various acclimation methods you use but I am asking a very specific question; how close should PH be before adding critter? I match everything else but PH is always the last value to be matched. I'm researching how close PH can be and still be near 100% safe (e.g., in case I run short of time for one reason or another and Ph isn't matched).

More of a curiosity than anything else.

 

[snorvich]

Since I use tank water for salinity acclimation, the pH match sort of happens automatically. The problem is you can't really accurately measure very small differences. Mine normally comes within less than 0.1 because of the salinity matching process that I use which is 60 minutes worth of adding tank water to transport water then diminishing and re-adding.

 

[Deleted member 143833]

Yea, same effects I get using drip method. Thanks!