To acclimate or Not to acclimate

[asfullax]

Hey all,

Well, reading around I was curious about everybody's acclimation techniques. NO FLAMING, just your opinion please.

I typically acclimate Inverts much longer then fish, and corals are usually pretty quick. So far I have had good luck with everything, but to each their own.

I usually do not float the bag because when I acclimate them the temperature becomes regulated from the tank water slowly.

I almost ALWAYS leave my lights on during the addition (mostly because the eel is asleep and it gives everybody time to wipe off the "New Fish" smell.

Corals:Usually about a 20 minute stream tripling the bag / bucket water.

Fish: About 1 hour doubling the bag water and popping them in

Inverts: 2 hours acclimation doubling the bag water once, dumping 50% and re-doubling it.

Just wondering. :smokin:

 

[rabid frog]

I float the bag for 15-20 mins then place corals, fish, inverts in the tank. I only drip acclimate if it is a order from online.

 

[seesick]

Yeah these messages sound good I like to drip-acclimate. I usually go for about 40 minutes and then remove 50% of the water out of the new container that the specimen is in, and then replace the water from my tank and let it sit there for about 10 minutes and now i remove the new specimen and put it in my tank. Then i never put any water from anyone else's tank into my tank .
Just a heads up: some of the stores use copper in their tanks so if you have invertibreds it could be problem-matic adding their water to your tank. So when i buy a fish i usually always ask if the tank if medicated and if the rocks are blue in the tank it is a tall tale sign that they are using copper.

 

[moonpower]

I usually float til waters are same temp ( about 15 min.) then pour out some of their water and add 50% of mine, let stand about 15 min. Then add coral to tank and trash all water.

 

[leena]

Close enough to no difference to SS on local stuff. On the rare occasion that something is shipped a little differently. For slimey things shipped in a little foul water raising temp/water level on old, foul shipping water could possibly start rxn/flood animal with waste.

Don't have a link saved here, think proper information was from Eric Borneman forum - anyone with a working search care to try? Anemone acclimation or somesuch was one. Neat info. Check it out and see what you think. Worked the one time when I rec'd some nearly empty late and leaky bags of coral-smudge-goo. Looked at the info, liked it, usually don't bother.

 

[tigersax7]

I agree with SS too like to drip aclimate every thing and try to get as little water from other peoples tanks into mine as possible.

 

[skyfireblaze]

I'll usually drip for at least an hour or so. The only trouble I've ever had with drip acclimating is keeping the water temp up. So I usually put the new fish or whatever in a small container inside another bucket. I fill the larger, outer bucket with some tank water so I'm basically floating the new specimen, adjusting/maintaining temp, while dripping.

Things like snails, crabs, etc. I just float in the tank in a specimen container. I add a 1/2 cup of tank water every 5-10 minutes. Once double the original water volume, I hand place them in the tank. This way no water is mixed into my tank.

When adding fish, anemones, etc. I keep them in water at all times. So yeah some water will be mixed in with my tank. However, the fish go into QT, not the main tank so I'm not worried about it. Also, the water volume had been doubled once, usually twice, so the LFS water has been diluted.

That's pretty much it.

 

[leena]

From Bob Fenner Article Located at www.wetwebmedia.com
The Conscientious Marine Aquarist
On Acclimating Livestock

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/acclimat.htm

Chemical:

Usually, water will vary chemically from source to your system, even if originally from the same brand of mix, set at a similar specific gravity. Sometimes the successful introduction of new livestock into a tank hinges on the relative chemical composition of the waters involved.

It can be a very good to disastrous idea to try reducing some of the chemical shock by mixing water from your system with shipping water after floating. Allow me to explain. Several "things" happen in an enclosed shipping bag as time ticks by... Even if "pure" oxygen (99+%) versus ambient (@21% by volume), the alkaline reserve gets nicked down bit by bit, pH will start to drop, carbon dioxide increases in concentration as carbonic acid... ammonia from the livestock's in the form excreted wastes, secretion from the gills, body increases... This is enough of the picture we want to portray. Depending on how much of these changes in the water's make-up have occurred, you want to mix-waters or not. How to tell which is the case? For short trips from the dealer, let's say an hour or less, you're probably better off blending in the system's water to acclimate new stock. If you prefer, using a test kit for pH and ammonia will give you a window into whether to mix or not. With any detectable ammonia and any measurable difference in pH, do not mix waters. A rapid elevation in pH coupled with ammonia is extremely toxic to almost all aquatic life. Of course, just like grading school papers, "when in doubt, count it out". If you have a concern about whether it is better to blend a specimens shipping water with the system to acclimate it, don't.