do we over-acclimate?

[E.intheC]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14407225#post14407225 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Obi-dad
I am not sure that water temp really needs to be matched. I have been snorkeling over reefs where the temp change from one side of the reef to the other is large (ocean side to lagoon side) - and fish move back and forth between the different temps, no problem.

In addition to this: I'm sure the salinity changes a lot near the freshwater river inlets. Not only do brackish fish thrive here, but I'm sure the water around these areas isnt' at full salinity either..

Not to say that all ocean areas are like this

 

[tmz]

Again Marine fish have an internal slainity of about 1.008, so they can tolerate lower slainity than their usual natural surroundings of 1.024 to 1.029 in the short term as long as it doesn't go below thier internal salinity. Invertebrates have an internal slainity that matches the water around them and can not regulate it internaly, so they are much less tolerant of slainities out of thier natural range.

 

[Young Reefer 03]

i aclimate evrything the same, whether its a coral, or snail. i first float the bag for 20ush minutes, then i dump out majority of the water, and drip aclimate for about an hour in an open bucket. i let the water double, or triple

 

[Sk8r]

That's the standard now: I think it needs to be much shorter, or, in some cases, non-existent.

 

[miwoodar]

:beer: Thanks folks. This has been a very enlightening thread so far.

 

[nutcase]

I have been keeping up with this thread and I have a question?

I have a shipment arriving on Tuesday with a couple of Anemones. These are arriving overnight from a major online company. How would you acclimate them?

BTW I used the short temp adjustment and dump for a shipment of shrimp, snails, and crabs and all survived which was a better result than the long aclimation that I used on a shipment last year.

 

[tmz]

Anemones are sensitive to sg in my experience. They don't do well if it's low. If you can find out the sg of the shipment and it's close within.01 of your tank I would just float em for 15 minutes in the unopened bag and then pick em out of th bag and put them in your tank. If you don't know the sg of the shipping wter and your tank is in teh 1.025 nieghborhood , I would do the same float for 15 minutes in the unopened bag and them put the m in the tank.

 

[greenbean36191]

If you're getting the anemones from an experienced company there's a good chance they won't come shipped in water. If that's the case you can basically just plop them in the tank.

If they are shipped in water, dump it all out and slowly add the new water.

 

[Harry_Fish]

I used to do the long acclamation.

Over the years have had a few oops, like the rubberband popping
off the bag as it was floating and the fish swims out, or they jump
out and into the tank etc. They all seemed to do just fine.

Now...

Fish:

I float them for about 10-15 minutes then dump most of the shipping water.

I then add some tank water to the bag and let it float for about 15 minutes.

Then I pour the bag out through a net to catch the fish and release it in into the tank.

----

Corals:

Swish them around to make them close up then just place in the tank.

 

[joeychitwood]

I float the bag in my tank, add a couple of cups of tank water, and place the fish only into the tank after about 10 minutes. I'm a diver, and I've seen tremendous changes in temperature and salinity in various sections of the natural reef. The fish tolerate the changes as part of life on the reef.

 

[luther1200]

I never agreed with the long acclimation. Even when I first started, I never dripped anything. I just float them for 5 min. Then keep adding a little water every 5 minn, for 20-25 min. And I've never had a problem. I think its much worse with fish, than with coral. If I'm floating a fish and he looks stressed I let him out right away.

 

[MarkusII]

Hello,

I posted allready a few weeks ago this in another post:

Hello,

I stopped aclimating fish and other animals since a while (except shrimps species). I have an excellent vendor with a good fish quality and just catch the fish out of the bag and put them in the main tank ( with no losses ever since I changed). Healthy fish normally have no problem with this - and even fishes in a bad condition from shipping I would insert quickly into the tank instead of putting them in a bucket and slowly adding water exposes them more to stress.

regards

Markus

 

[spsfreak]

I agree with Bill on this one. I too am a believer (and always have been) of - get the fish\coral\other out of the bag as soon as I am home and put it in the tank. I have only ever lost a shrimp to this method, but I am not convinced it was due to the acclimation process. Again, as discussed on many threads here on RC, the ocean is not a place of consistency either, especially in tidal pools and shallow reefs. The tide does wax and wane, therefore every parameter in said area has the possibility of changing drastically in some form or fashion. The animals we bring home are much more resilient than we think them to be. Having said that, we still have to respect how we handle them. Just my 2 pennies.
Matt

 

[spongebob281]

I dont think we over acclimate (drip method) if anything we under acclimate. I find dripping is a steady and safe method for most fish

 

[DaveG99]

I float the bag for about 10 minutes. Then I throw the fish in.
I have never aclimated any coral.