When will a fish (coral, anemone) die if not properly acclimatized ?

[joegoersch]

If a fish dies a month after introduced into an aquarium, could that be from improper acclimatization ? How long before a fish improperly acclimatized would die ?

Same question, but for coral and anemone ?

 

[mcgyvr]

Ive only drip acclimated 1 fish ever in my 15+ years of this hobby..
I only float the bags for 10 minutes to temp adjust and in the tank they go..
Only had 1 fish die a few days after being added to a tank.
Ive never done a QT on anything either..fish or corals

If there is a problem from acclimation its hours to a few days max IMO...not a month

 

[tjm9331]

Ive never done a QT on anything either..fish or corals

I'm really surprised to hear this from you Mac, I certainly don't have a problem with it cause I don't really QT either. I do however put any new fish through TTM. Do you at least do this?

 

[mcgyvr]

I'm really surprised to hear this from you Mac, I certainly don't have a problem with it cause I don't really QT either. I do however put any new fish through TTM. Do you at least do this?

I'm a straight up rebel!!!!

I don't do anything but float the unopened bag for maybe 10 minutes then cut open the bag and pour it right into my tank.. water/creature and all..

Never had a problem..

 

[aquamann183]

Yeah, I'm a little surprised too mcgyvr! You always seem like a by the book kind of guy, haha.

Sent from my SM-G935T using Tapatalk

 

[sde1500]

:hmm3:

Yeah, I'm a little surprised too mcgyvr! You always seem like a by the book kind of guy, haha.

Sent from my SM-G935T using Tapatalk

:hmm3:

 

[mcgyvr]

Yeah, I'm a little surprised too mcgyvr! You always seem like a by the book kind of guy, haha.

I would say that QT/acclimation is probably the only thing I don't do by the book in this hobby (well..close to it anyways)..
It just hasn't come back to bite me in the arse yet..

Acclimation though IMO is something that can cause more harm than good and I feel that often the stress of acclimation is worse than the quick shock of not doing it.. Sort of a pull of the bandaid quick type of thing..

I almost always buy locally too so long shipping times,etc.. aren't an issue and I make sure that I trust the supplier and don't buy from a tank where I can see ich/sick fish,etc...

But yes.. I'm rolling the dice and it will likely eventually come back to haunt me.. But I just haven't done it and haven't had a problem so I keep pushing my luck..

 

[tjm9331]

I would say that QT/acclimation is probably the only thing I don't do by the book in this hobby (well..close to it anyways)..
It just hasn't come back to bite me in the arse yet..

Acclimation though IMO is something that can cause more harm than good and I feel that often the stress of acclimation is worse than the quick shock of not doing it.. Sort of a pull of the bandaid quick type of thing..

I almost always buy locally too so long shipping times,etc.. aren't an issue and I make sure that I trust the supplier and don't buy from a tank where I can see ich/sick fish,etc...

But yes.. I'm rolling the dice and it will likely eventually come back to haunt me.. But I just haven't done it and haven't had a problem so I keep pushing my luck..

Fair enough.

I don't acclimate either, I do the same as you, float the bag in the bucket. I do however poor the fish into a small colander and discard the LFS water, although given the fact that I'm discarding the bucket water in 3 days anyways I suppose I can just dump fish, water and all in the first bucket...

I unfortunately have been burned by not at least performing TTM so I at least do that for the allotted 12 days after that though fish goes in the DT

 

[Daddyrawg]

Ive only drip acclimated 1 fish ever in my 15+ years of this hobby..
I only float the bags for 10 minutes to temp adjust and in the tank they go..
Only had 1 fish die a few days after being added to a tank.
Ive never done a QT on anything either..fish or corals

If there is a problem from acclimation its hours to a few days max IMO...not a month

what about the difference in salinity from LFS and your tank? that doesnt cause any issues when not drip acclimating?

I too am shocked you don't QT lol.. my LFS owner is against QT also.. interesting.. more stress in QT environment he says.. but I like to observe without treatment for 2-3 wks just to be safe

 

[Uncle99]

what about the difference in salinity from LFS and your tank? that doesnt cause any issues when not drip acclimating?

I too am shocked you don't QT lol.. my LFS owner is against QT also.. interesting.. more stress in QT environment he says.. but I like to observe without treatment for 2-3 wks just to be safe

That a great question and consideration if your DT is a reef. If your tank is 1.026 and most fish are transported/kept at 1.019 ish, this will cause some respiratory stress. It generally looks like the fish gets lathargic and stays quiet. Sometimes they recover, some say not. But likley days.......

So I first check the bag salinity then float the bag. I adjust the water in the bag for both salinity and temp, but just over an hour. Since I have done this fish go in the DT and are swimming around normally almost instantly.

In addition, snails do poorly when salinity is not matched, same with stars and clams.

I do QT where it makes sense, but only for a period that makes sense.
I only medicate if there is a need.
I did not QT the pod eaters cause they would starve.
I did not QT the sand sifters for the same reason.
I do QT tangs always as they are prone to Ick. But I don't QT for 30, 1 week, at 1.019, then a daily upgrade of .002 for the the second week up to DT salinity and then drop.
Just dropped a yellow and blue in 2 weeks ago and I am amazed, both went instantly to swimming/grazing mode.

Corals, no QT, but dipped, brushed and inspected
Nem, again just salinity and temp

I think each stress you remove leads to better success.

 

[Daddyrawg]

That a great question and consideration if your DT is a reef. If your tank is 1.026 and most fish are transported/kept at 1.019 ish, this will cause some respiratory stress. It generally looks like the fish gets lathargic and stays quiet. Sometimes they recover, some say not.

So I first check the bag salinity then float the bag. I adjust the water in the bag for both salinity and temp, but just over an hour. Since I have done this fish go in the DT and are swimming around normally almost instantly.

In addition, snails do poorly when salinity is not matched, same with stars and clams.

I do QT where it makes sense, but only for a period that makes sense.
I only medicate if there is a need.
I did not QT the pod eaters cause they would starve.
I did not QT the sand sifters for the same reason.
I do QT tangs always as they are prone to Ick. But I don't QT for 30, 1 week, at 1.019, then a daily upgrade of .002 for the the second week up to DT salinity and then drop.
Just dropped a yellow and blue in 2 weeks ago and I am amazed, both went instantly to swimming/grazing mode.

I think each stress you remove leads to better success.

I have had some poor results with snails lately.. like buy 6 and only 1 survives..i dont have hermit crabs either.. cant figure out why they dont last.
LFS has salinity usually from 21-23.. so I drip acclimate but still they dont last.. wonder why that is.. dont think I have any crazy parasites in tank causing there demise.... although my 3 nessarius snails havent died..

it's mainly turbo snails or trocheuas snails that dont make it

 

[Uncle99]

Are they LFS or shipped?
If dripped more than half hour, temp drops unless you heat.
I do them in the bag, float and adjust salinity day 20-30 minutes then in they go
No deaths yet, and I have no snail predators so all still alive 24 months now

 

[hkgar]

Not doing TTM/Qt has bit me in the arse. Lost 8 of ten fish several years ago to Ick as I was tom the bag to the tank. Now I adjust he first TTM tank to the sg of the incoming fish and temp acclimate and then into the TTM

 

[Daddyrawg]

Are they LFS or shipped?
If dripped more than half hour, temp drops unless you heat.
I do them in the bag, float and adjust salinity day 20-30 minutes then in they go
No deaths yet, and I have no snail predators so all still alive 24 months now

LFS... wonder if it has something to do with my water temp always at 80

 

[Tripod1404]

Ive only drip acclimated 1 fish ever in my 15+ years of this hobby..
I only float the bags for 10 minutes to temp adjust and in the tank they go..
Only had 1 fish die a few days after being added to a tank.
Ive never done a QT on anything either..fish or corals

If there is a problem from acclimation its hours to a few days max IMO...not a month

Me neither, corals and fish go directly in after temperature equalization and I have been doing it this way for at least 10 years. Funny enough, I drip acclimate snails and shrimp.

I dont qt fish that look healthy. I am very selective in terms of the fish I buy. I wont buy a sicky fish or a fish that shares the tank with a sicky fish. And if the store has any bluntly sick fish (something like a fish covered with ich etc.) I wont buy any fish from that store. For tenish years, it worked for me. I probably have ich in my tank, I had it about 3 years ago and not treated any fish for it. It disappeared on its own in about ~1 years, it might be still present but even then at very low numbers, so I dont really care.

I did buy some sick expensive fish for very cheap treated them in a qt. Like a $10 purple tang. But I wont do it for a healthy fish.

 

[ibryson]

Interesting advice on this thread! I planned on setting up my current 40gallon as a QT for my 180g once I get it set up. Maybe I shouldnt focus on a QT as much as I originally planned. It seems to be quite common to skip on the full QT process!

 

[Tripod1404]

Interesting advice on this thread! I planned on setting up my current 40gallon as a QT for my 180g once I get it set up. Maybe I shouldnt focus on a QT as much as I originally planned. It seems to be quite common to skip on the full QT process!

No dont. Just because it worked for us doesn't mean it will always work. After several years, with more experience, you might eventually switch to no qt route. No qt requires good observation skills, you need to know what to look for on a healthy and sick fish. FOr now just do the qt and enjoy. Plus no qt route will only work with mature systems. On a new tank, anything can wipe a tank.

In other words, do what people tell, not what they do .

 

[ca1ore]

I QT more religiously than I did when first coming to this hobby. I do think acclimating fish to exact salinity is overrated but a proper QT is not.

 

[mrg02d]

No QT for me, I just temperature acclimate corals and do the cup of water routine for fish.

 

[Pslreefer]

No qt club here. I can almost guarantee there are far larger fish losses by qt'ing a fish than not due to the increased stress of doing such.