Live Aquaria Acclimation Question

[Cancun]

Hi everyone! I have bought fish and inverts from my LFS for the past 3 years....about a month ago I started ordering fish from LA and Divers Den due to their excellent reputation. I have a reef tank so my salinity is 1.025...but the salinity from LA is 1.020 on each order. DD is usually 1.025. I know I know I don't run a quarantine tank. I have always done the drip acclimation to match the tanks parameters. What I am doing is float the bags for 15 min or so to match the temp of my tank....check salinity and PH of bag water...put fish and bag water into acclimation container....add a drop of amquel or Prime...start the drip process 2 drips a second....when water doubles take some out....after the first 45 min or so check salinity with refractometer...also check PH....if parameters match put fish in tank minus water in container. ..if not continue process until parameters match tank....I want to know what you all seasoned aquarists think??? Thanks a bunch!

[Cancun]

Also...the reason I am asking is because I am new to buying online....and I know that different care has to be taken to acclimate fish that has been bagged for several hours as opposed to my LFS who is 15 min from my house. Thanks again!!

[Dkuhlmann]

I've purchased a few fish from LA and follow their directions of 1/2 cup of tank water to the bag every 4 minutes, I do however put a cap full of Prime or similar into the bag with the fish. LA doesn't say this in their directions but an old LFS owner friend of mine use to do this when he got orders in weekly. I never saw him lose a fish.

My tank is 1.026, I've never had one die on me from acclimation this way. I've been acclimating fish the same way for years and there were a lot of fish. Yes the water has to go up from 1.020 to 1.026 but again I've not seen it be any problem what so ever doing the 1/2 cup per 4 minutes, then when bag full, dump half out and add 1/2 cup per 4 minutes until full again then put the fish in the tank. I also do not quarantine.

So I also never even check PH, I don't see any need for doing so, it's mostly a FW thing IMO. Many of us old timers never check PH.

I'm sure I'll get flamed for posting this but honestly this is what I do. Oh yes I do a Formalin dip after the acclimation process before going into the tank. I let the fish stay in the Formalin/tank mixed water for 10 minutes or so. This kills most parasites that are on the fish. IMO and IME

[Jade5051]

I don't really check water parameters. I have a small container the I fill about half way with bag water. I simply add about 8oz of tank water every 10 minutes until it's full. Then drain it to half and add 8oz every 5 mins until full. Drain it once more and I'll fill the container with two larger pours with 5 mins in between. I then float them in the container for 15 mins to ensure the temp is right and release. Total process takes about 45-90 minutes depending on how the fish is behaving. If I can tell the fish is doing well I speed the process up if I can tell they are stressed I slow it down. I've taken up to 2 or 3 hours to acclimate some fish.

[Cancun]

Thank you for your responses! You guys make me feel better. Is Prime better then Amquel do they both serve the same purpose?

[Dmorty217]

Much more than I do. I temp acclimate and if my salinity is lower than what the fish arrived in I will put directly in the tank and skip drip acclimating all together

[Dkuhlmann]

Originally Posted by Cancun

Thank you for your responses! You guys make me feel better. Is Prime better then Amquel do they both serve the same purpose?

Prime, Amquel and there are others. Any one of them will neutralize the ammonia. This is used for making tap water safe to put in our tanks. Many of us back in the day say 10 years or so ago would only use tap water. There are some people that still do.

[Cancun]

Thank you!!! I looked all my over online and everyone gives diff r rent answers. ..like not to bring salinity from low to high more than 1 pt in 24 hours....1 pt every hour.....and so on....don't drip for more than 30 min when buying a fish that is shipped to your house...never buy a fish that is shipped to you because of ammonia build up...always buy from your LFS......totally crazy....so that is why I decided to post my own question.

[kcinnick]

Most fish will be much happier in DT tank water than the water in the bag. Match temps, and put them in your QT tank...

[Cancun]

Now another question for you experts....if I drip how long is too long...? Providing I add Prime or Amquel.....? I really like Live Aquaria....they seem to have good fish...good customer service. ..and from what I have seen the best 14 day arrive alive stay alive...so with that being said...has anyone had LONG term success with their fish? If so what acclimation tips...or advice can anyone provide? Thanks again everyone for responding. I know I am very new to this forum....8 )

[Cancun]

Originally Posted by kcinnick

Most fish will be much happier in DT tank water than the water in the bag. Match temps, and put them in your QT tank...

Yea but my concern is I don't use a QT....my DT is 1.025...and LA water is 1.020.....

[thegrun]

Originally Posted by Cancun

Yea but my concern is I don't use a QT....my DT is 1.025...and LA water is 1.020.....

Ammonia is not the big problem here (well of course it is something to be concerned with, but it can be taken care of relatively easy), salinity is. Many fish cannot handle a jump in salinity from 1.020 to 1.025 unless they have the salinity increased over several days, not an hour or two. I would strongly recommend at least placing them in an ice chest or 5 gallon bucket and slowly raise the salinity over several days, but you are playing with fire not setting up a QT and taking proper precautions!

[CStrickland]

I use the styrofoam box the animals come in to acclimate them. You can poke a hole in the side and run your siphon tube through it, then set the lid on at an angle so air can pass but it stays dim. I think keeping them dark and warm helps a lot, as opposed to the temp drop of sitting in a bag.

The salinity jump is deff bad, but if you aren't quarantining idk what you can do about it. Idk which is worse, long drip or that much of a jump, neither is good.

[thepotoo]

Originally Posted by thegrun

Ammonia is not the big problem here (well of course it is something to be concerned with, but it can be taken care of relatively easy), salinity is. Many fish cannot handle a jump in salinity from 1.020 to 1.025 unless they have the salinity increased over several days, not an hour or two. I would strongly recommend at least placing them in an ice chest or 5 gallon bucket and slowly raise the salinity over several days, but you are playing with fire not setting up a QT and taking proper precautions!

Exactly. This is not the answer you want to hear, but it is the correct answer. Set up a QT tank, drip acclimate, and do it right.