Difference in SG, LFS and Me

[vermonter310]

just brought home a coral beauty from a LFS. The SG from the water in the bag is down around 1.020 and My tank is 1.025. Should normal acclimation (I usually drip acclimate for about an hour) be sufficent? seems like a sizeable difference to me. I know LFS usually keep there SG lower due to salt costs.

Thanks...

 

[iamwhatiam52]

Same question.
A store I bought from keeps their fish at 1.015!!

Is this common practice?

 

[anbosu]

Some stores do. Some also continually run low doses of copper in their systems. Just depends on the place, really.

 

[LobsterOfJustice]

This is another good reason to QT, you can alter the SG of the QT while you're floating the bag and then slowly increase SG over a week or more. 1.020 to 1.025 isnt terrible but would you feel comfortable raising your display .005 points in a hour if you found it was low?

1.015 up to 1.025 in the short span of an acclimation is more than enough to kill a fish however IMO.

 

[vermonter310]

I agree LOJ, I did get my QT almost down to 1.023(on my refractometer slightly above the 1.023 line) during the time I acclimated... still drastic but as you said I'll lower over the course of the next week or so... fish looks good though...at least for now...

 

[iamwhatiam52]

1.015 up to 1.025 in the short span of an acclimation is more than enough to kill a fish however IMO.

Until I checked the water that this particular fish was in, I did not know that stores kept fish at lower salinity, so my qt was always at 1.025. Perhaps most less experienced aquarists are also oblivious to this which may contribute to some fish not making it through the first few days in QT.

 

[LKGRenegade22]

Alot of places keep their salinity lower on fish only tanks. Just ask them what they keep their salinity at if you are interested in purchasing a fish. The bigger difference the longer you will need to acclimate.

I just picked one up from a 1.017 tank this past weekend and acclimated him to my 1.026 display over about 2.5 hours and he is doing fine.

 

[suta4242]

AFAIK a fish can withstand a sudden adjustment in sg downwards, but if you make that same adjustment upwards its very stressful for the fish. A lot of local shops run their sg between 1.017 - 1.020. I never take their word for it, always test the sg myself & preadjust my QT to match pretty closely.

This means a lot less physical stress for the fish at a time when its usually weakened & vulnerable. In a couple of months time it could be the toughest fis in the tank. But right now its recovering from the consequences of sitting at trans shippers, wholesalers, retailers & other middlemen often housed in sup par conditions etc... A little effort now could well reduce the stressors it is dealing with. JM2c.