Yet another acclimation question!

[woodnaquanut]

I've read thru the stickies for fish, inverts and corals. Makes good sense to me. I understand the issues with drip and ammonia.

Does anyone use a product like Amquel or Prime to knock back the ammonia and thus be able to drip for extended periods?

My latest purchases raised this issue.

I bought two cleaner shrimp. At the not so LFS (1.5 hr away from home), I asked what the SG was of their water. They said 1.025. Cool, I thought, my holding tank is at 1.026. I get home and test the bag water. It's 1.029! I'm using a refractometer recently calibrated with 1.026 water, so I'm confident my values are correct. It would be easy to lower SG, it's not so easy to raise it in a holding tank.

At a LFS I bought three snails. The store water was at 1.019! They were going into a tank with other life so I couldn't adjust the receiving tank.

What would you do in these situations?

Thanks...

 

[sleepydoc]

Drip over a couple hours. The amount of NH4 produced over a couple hours is not that great. The recommendations Sk8r and others make for rapid transition of new fish to the QT is for mail-order fish that have been in transit for 15+ hrs.

 

[woodnaquanut]

Thanks SleepyD. That's what I did.

Suppose these were mail order. Is there any reason NOT to use ammonia neutralizers? I would think the risk of osmotic shock would be great and if ammonia could be neutralized a long, slow drip would be OK.

I'm just wondering why there is such a big deal made about 'don't drip - ammonia is dangerous' when it seems like it's easy to deal with.

What am I missing? Are some creatures sensitive to Amquel?

Comments?

 

[Sk8r]

I'm curious too. Let us know your result. Only immediate downside I see is that you're intervening in a ph shift situation, which makes the ammonium in the bag convert to ammonia, and you're adding something to try to convert the ammonia---to what, I'm honestly not sure without doing some research. Back to ammonium? Maybe.

YOu have a good idea. And one that might work. The way it stands in the hobby now, I'm pretty sure more fish and inverts have been killed by acclimation than by osmotic shock, and when you get in a bind due to bad info from the fish store, you have a problem...

The reason shrimp are delicate is that shell, which limits exchange. Fish swim between salinities all the time, different currents, depths, etc... Inverts are a little more restricted in scope.

So do let me know when you figure that out, whether or not it's ok. It's certainly worth a try.

 

[woodnaquanut]

I'm curious too.

So do let me know when you figure that out, whether or not it's ok. It's certainly worth a try.

Oh NO. I was counting on the sticky author to HAVE the answer!

What am I to do now? Research it myself?? :thumbsup:

A quick read thru the Seachem products - Prime, Safe and AmGuard - seem to be different concentrations of similar/same substances. The blurb states, "Prime® converts ammonia into a safe, non-toxic form that is readily removed by the tank's biofilter." There is also mention of converting free ammonia to ionic. I'm assuming this is ammonium. (sorry, high school and college chemistry was a LONG time ago!)

Kordon's AmQuel Plus is even more vague. From their website, "When AmQuel Plus detoxifies ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, and other organic compounds, it breaks the links of molecules apart." Sounds to me like converting to ionic forms.

All the above products claim to be safe for fresh and saltwater fish, invertebrates and plants. They also claim to have no effect on pH.

Anybody use these during drip acclimatizing? Especially useful would be reports from those receiving lots of animals - retailers or wholesalers.

 

[Lucubration]

For my freshwater livestock, I have always used a drop of Seachem Prime as soon as I open the bag, before I start an hour of drip acclimation. This is both for the creatures from my LFS 5 minutes away and for the ones I receive in the mail. I haven't lost anything yet out of maybe 50 assorted animals (fish, snails, crabs, shrimp).

I have not yet acclimated anything in saltwater (live rock goes into my first marine tank next weekend), but Prime claims to be for fresh and saltwater. I also intend to use it during all drip acclimation for my reef animals and we'll see how it goes.

If you choose to use it, please let us know how it works for you! Good luck.

 

[Spork3245]

I always drip acclimate for 60-120 minutes without issue when buying from a LFS. Personally, I don't buy online unless it's something hard to find, I'd like to see the fish in person before purchase and since one of the LFS near me has similar pricing to online stores and I don't have to pay crazy shipping costs, they're my go-to. But I'm getting off on an OT rant here

BTW - This has been my best purchase *ever*: http://www.amazon.com/Doradon-FA18X...7380961&sr=8-1&keywords=saltwater+acclimation
It allows you to drip acclimate and "float" the fish to adjust temperature simultaneously.

 

[pmt81777]

I just temp acclimate and in they go. Everytime I drip they die within a day or so. I believe dripping causes more stress than a temp and dump. Ever since I've been doing it I have never loss a single piece of livestock even inverts.