Drip acclimation

[Janina]

I am well familiar with drip acclimation and use it regularly. However, I've always struggled with figuring out how to both drip acclimate and equalize the temperature. If I drip acclimate into a seperate container housing the specimen, after 1-2 hours, the water in the specimen container is not the same as the tank since there is nothing to keep it warm and thus it cools to room temp. I could potentially see that you could hang a specimen container into the sump to get water to same temp as tank but if sump is too far away or there is no sump, then this doesn't work.
How do the rest of your deal with this problem.

 

[pecan2phat]

If it is a coral, I just do a med to fast drip regardless of the room temp. If it is a fish and the fish was shipped and sat for 24 hrs, I would add an airstone but am not that concerned with water temp because:
Over the years, I find slow acclimation not really beneficial unless the salinity is off by more then 6 ppt. So since I do a med to fast drip, temp drop is less pronounced.
You never get enough bagged water to add a heater so I would suggest that you get a rubbermaid tote, use freshwater with a heater to stabilize and sit your acclimation vessel in the temp controlled rubbermaid tote.

 

[CulturedAquatic]

I don't do a drip method ... if I did, I'd still be acclimating my order I placed December 2007 !!!

Seriously, I know the problem. What I would do is to dump all the fish into the same 5 gallon bucket. Then add a heater to the bucket. I would also dump in all my inverts into a separate 5 gal bucket and do the same thing.

The other option if you can't or don't get a large order, is to place a juice bottle in the same 5 gal container and stick the heater in the juice bottle. Use fresh tap water in the juice bottle as it's not going to get mixed in with the saltwater. It's just used as a heat source. Get warm water from the tap so it stays warm in the beginning.

The last option is just keep swapping out the juice bottle with warm (80 degree) tap water. When the temp drops to 78, replace the bottle with more warm water. Now you don't even have to buy another heater.

How's that? Make any sense?

 

[fishieness]

Oooo. The juice bottle is a great idea if you have a few bags.
What I've always done is put the bag in the sump, and siphon out water via a drip from the display. That way you get both. And if there is any spillage it is in the sump anyways.

 

[Janina]

Thanks for the responses guys. That got my brained juiced up. I like the idea of putting fresh water in a bucket with heater and then jsut letting the bag float in that while drip acclimating. Don't know why I never thought of that before. Seems to simple...

 

[caseyjones]

You could also drip acclimate until the levels match and then re-tie the bag and float for 5 minutes...not as fun as setting up a tub with heated fresh water but equally effective.

 

[CulturedAquatic]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14909405#post14909405 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by fishieness
Oooo. And if there is any spillage it is in the sump anyways.

I'm not a big fan of this idea. The reason is you don't want or take the chance of water from the bag going into your tank (via the sump). I understand what you are trying to do, but I think you should try to isolate the "water in the bag" from the "water in the tank". The other reason I don't like this is because bags (I'm dealing with hundreds at a time), sometimes have holes in them. This water again can go into your tank.

I'm not knocking your idea, it's just the part about putting the bag in the sump when doing the drip method.

 

[CulturedAquatic]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14910402#post14910402 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Janina
Don't know why I never thought of that before. Seems to simple...

When you are acclimating animals for hours ... on a regular basis, you have lots of time to think of better ways. That's why it is good to ask questions, we can collectively, get you answers (or at least ideas).

 

[fishieness]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14910732#post14910732 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by CulturedAquatic
I'm not a big fan of this idea. The reason is you don't want or take the chance of water from the bag going into your tank (via the sump). I understand what you are trying to do, but I think you should try to isolate the "water in the bag" from the "water in the tank". The other reason I don't like this is because bags (I'm dealing with hundreds at a time), sometimes have holes in them. This water again can go into your tank.

I'm not knocking your idea, it's just the part about putting the bag in the sump when doing the drip method.

I understand and agree that that risk is there. I usually stand the bag up with a container or something so it doesn't spill over. Most of the time, I will put it in a tupperware container so that it wont tip over, and if it does by any chance, no water is leaked out. Although I forgot to mention that part.

 

[eddiesylas]

Just throwing it out there. Establish an air line as a passive "siphon" from the tank into the bag while the bag is floating. Then drip siphon OUT of the bag to a disposal container. This slowly draws new water into the bag at the same rate that the water is dripping out of the bag. The only problem is watching that the "bag" remains rigid and continues to siphon, not shrink.

 

[renogaw]

personally, i don't use the drip acclimation process siimply for the temperature reason (and i don't feel like setting a drip up.

i use the water transfer method--suck water out of the fish/invert's water and toss. suck water out of the tank and put in the fish/invert. i do this every 10-15 mins, for about an hour to an hour and a half (depending on hardiness), and have never lost a fish and rarely lose inverts. corals i've never had an issue just floating them.

 

[FroMan]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14908962#post14908962 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by CulturedAquatic
I don't do a drip method ... if I did, I'd still be acclimating my order I placed December 2007 !!!

Seriously, I know the problem. What I would do is to dump all the fish into the same 5 gallon bucket. Then add a heater to the bucket. I would also dump in all my inverts into a separate 5 gal bucket and do the same thing.

The other option if you can't or don't get a large order, is to place a juice bottle in the same 5 gal container and stick the heater in the juice bottle. Use fresh tap water in the juice bottle as it's not going to get mixed in with the saltwater. It's just used as a heat source. Get warm water from the tap so it stays warm in the beginning.

The last option is just keep swapping out the juice bottle with warm (80 degree) tap water. When the temp drops to 78, replace the bottle with more warm water. Now you don't even have to buy another heater.

How's that? Make any sense?

no, you're not an engineer by training

 

[iamwrasseman]

i always putthe container that i am dripping into in my sump and that keeps it at the same temp as the rest of the system . i know that every one cant do it that way but i have the room and the right sized bucket so it works well for me . another way you can keep it closer temp wise is to use a styro cooler and it will stay warmer longer . remember its not a perfect world and just do the best you can ,thats all you can shoot for !