Do you always drip acclimate your fish?
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Forum Name: Fish
Forum Description: This is the place to ask questions about fish.
URL: http://www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=78533
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Topic: Do you always drip acclimate your fish?
Posted By: Chevmaro
Subject: Do you always drip acclimate your fish?
Date Posted: December 18 2015 at 10:53am
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Do you always drip acclimate your fish? I never do, never have, haven't had a problem. I know it is a bit irresponsible and I should. I got a really nice Coral Beauty a couple days ago. She was a big girl 4". Threw her in and she was dead the next day. Checked water parameters and everything seemed normal. I can only think she did not acclimate well. Are angels just sensitive? Lesson learned. |
Replies:
Posted By: Hogie
Date Posted: December 18 2015 at 11:12am
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I used to drip acclimate everything. Then after the Sustainable Aquatics guy came and talked about drip acclimating, I stopped. They don't do it because they've found the added stress is harder on the fish then just putting them in. So, I hardly drip anymore unless the fish has been in a bag for a long time, the water they're coming from is different than mine (I check salinity), or I think something might be weird for some unknown reason. I haven't had any problems yet. Where did the fish come from? Pet store? Hobbyist? I find the salinity is typically lower and sometimes drastically lower in pet stores. I don't know if that's on purpose or not (I think it is to do a little hypo-salinity treatment plus saves $$) Normally when I get it from a hobbyist, the salinity is plus or minus 0.002 which I don't think is a big deal for a fish. |
Posted By: proskier101
Date Posted: December 18 2015 at 2:38pm
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I drip acclimated once. Then I kept on letting them float for 15 minutes and then dumping them in the tank. lol.
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Posted By: Chevmaro
Date Posted: December 18 2015 at 3:02pm
So i'm not crazy then lol.
I just can't think of a reason this fish died 24 hours later. |
proskier101 wrote:Posted By: Reefboy4life
Date Posted: December 18 2015 at 3:34pm
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i have always drip acclimated my fish ------------- 90 gallon mixed reef |
Posted By: Hogie
Date Posted: December 18 2015 at 3:40pm
But, Dennis, you're totally hardcore. How many times a day do you test your tank and clean the glass?! 
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Posted By: Adam Blundell
Date Posted: December 18 2015 at 3:40pm
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Never do. Adam ------------- Come to a meeting, they�re fun! |
Posted By: Mark Peterson
Date Posted: December 18 2015 at 10:28pm
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More is not better, except in specific situations like nasty water in the bag. The ensuing pH shock kills them. Getting scared to death is a real danger. Cleaner shrimp are very susceptible to this and every once in a while a fish dies of fright. It's often recommended to reduce the light or even turn off the lights for the rest of the day so that fish hide and not bother the newcomer. An acclimation box with rubble and macroalgae helps the fish feel less threatened until released into the tank. Aloha, Mark  ------------- Reefkeeping Tips, & quick, easy setup tricks: www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9244 Pay it forward - become a paid WMAS member 
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Posted By: phys
Date Posted: December 21 2015 at 12:47am
| What did the sustainable aquatic guy say about it? |
Posted By: Mark Peterson
Date Posted: December 21 2015 at 1:33pm
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John Carberry, CEO of Sustainable Aquatics was the guest speaker at the Friday evening gathering of the 2014 MWRF. What I remember him saying is that fish don't need to be acclimated to temperature, because they are genetically built to go through thermo-clines several times daily. The rest of what he said is here: www.sustainableaquatics.com/docs/Acclimation-White-Paper.docx Based on my own experience and things I've learned over the years, when I obtain fish locally from the LFS or hobbyist (non-coppered water) and the transport time is less than say 45 minutes, I may simply dump the fish into the acclimation container and drop it in the tank. Where there is a concern about water quality and especially where the LFS uses copper I take 10-20 minutes to gradually replace the coppered water with tank water, having placed the fish and it's entire bag of water in a separate small container. I then move the fish by hand or by net into the aquarium or the acclimation container. If the fish has been in the bag for an hour or more I open the bag, remove the fish and set it in the aquarium immediately without delay. It needs to go into good water ASAP, because water that has been closed up in the bag for that long goes real bad real fast when exposed to fresh air. It's a chemical change thing. Also, if transport time is over an hour, I ask for the fish to be put in a larger bag with about 1/3 water and 2/3 air. Ideally, I use a 5 gal bucket or cooler where the fish can make the trip in a lot more water and a lot more air.  Aloha, Mark
------------- Reefkeeping Tips, & quick, easy setup tricks: www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9244 Pay it forward - become a paid WMAS member
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Posted By: Jeremyw
Date Posted: December 21 2015 at 2:21pm
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I only Drip inverts. And some corals. ------------- Next meeting: |
Posted By: phys
Date Posted: December 21 2015 at 5:38pm
| After reading their article, the seemingly best method is neither drip nor immediate insertion. Looks like its best to have some low ph water ready, add the fish into that then do a slow rise in ph before adding it in. Seems to make sense. |
Posted By: ReefdUp
Date Posted: December 21 2015 at 9:27pm
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Huh...my post disappeared. ------------- www.reefdup.com Diving since 2009, reefkeeping since 2007, & fishkeeping since 1987 200g, 75g, & 15g Systems PADI Advanced Open Water |
Posted By: Mark Peterson
Date Posted: December 21 2015 at 10:00pm
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What did you write? I'm interested to read your POV. I have never checked pH. Maybe I'm a rebel. Is it really as important as the article seems to indicate?Aloha, Mark ------------- Reefkeeping Tips, & quick, easy setup tricks: www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9244 Pay it forward - become a paid WMAS member
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